Strange Angels (Laurie Anderson album)

Strange Angels is the fifth album overall and fourth studio album by performance artist and singer Laurie Anderson, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1989.

Strange Angels
Studio album by
Laurie Anderson
ReleasedOctober 24, 1989
GenreArt pop
Length46:04
LabelWarner Bros. (25900)
Producer
Laurie Anderson chronology
Home of the Brave
(1986)		 Strange Angels
(1989)		 Bright Red
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideA[2]

With this release, Anderson attempted to move away from her previous image as a performance artist into a more musical realm. Although music had always been part of her performance, it was never brought to the fore as much as it was on Strange Angels. Anderson did more singing on this album than she did on previous albums. As a result, completion of this album was delayed for nearly a year when Anderson decided that she needed to take singing lessons; in the process she discovered that she was a soprano.

The album includes contributions from vocal artist Bobby McFerrin. Its cover photo was shot by Robert Mapplethorpe, who died several months before the album's release. One of the songs on this album, "The Dream Before" (also known as "Hansel and Gretel Are Alive and Well") had been introduced several years earlier in her short film What You Mean We? while she had performed "Babydoll" and "The Day the Devil" years previously on Saturday Night Live.

Reaction to Anderson's new direction was mixed, with some critics praising her new style, while some accused her of abandoning her performance art roots, even though Anderson soon began work on a major piece titled The Nerve Bible. Her next album would not be released for five years.

Strange Angels received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

"Beautiful Red Dress" was covered in Portuguese by the Brazilian singer Marina Lima, on her 2006 album La nos Primordios, titled "Vestidinho Vermelho" ("Little Red Dress").

"The Dream Before" contains the iconic phrase "history is an angel being blown backwards into the future" and further references and quotes Walter Benjamin's musing on Paul Klee's painting Angelus Novus, the ninth of Benjamin's Theses on the Philosophy of History.

Track listing

All lyrics and music composed by Laurie Anderson; except where indicated

  1. "Strange Angels" – 3:51
  2. "Monkey's Paw" – 4:33
  3. "Coolsville" – 4:34
  4. "Ramon" – 5:03
  5. "Babydoll" – 3:38
  6. "Beautiful Red Dress" – 4:43
  7. "The Day the Devil" (Anderson, Peter Laurence Gordon) – 4:00
  8. "The Dream Before" – 3:03
  9. "My Eyes" – 5:29
  10. "Hiawatha" – 6:53

Personnel
Technical

"Babydoll"

The lyrics to this song appeared on the liner for the vinyl recording, centered and formatted into the shape of a doll.[3]

Music videos

In lieu of filming a standard music video to promote the album, Anderson instead taped a series of 60-second "Personal Service Announcements" in which she humorously discussed the economy and American culture. She later produced a music video for "Beautiful Red Dress".

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Anderson (1989). Strange Angels (vinyl). Laurie Anderson. Warner Bros. 25900.
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