Tasmin Archer
Country of origin:
England
Type of music generally:
Soft rock/mainstream pop
Status:
Most recent release, Sweet Little Truths—The EMI Recordings 1992-1996 (compilation, 2020)
See also:
Tasmin Archer's site
Comparisons:
Other soft pop singers. (Neile)
Covers/own material:
Own, co-written
General comments:
Mainstream soft pop singer. (mapravat@prairienet.org)I thought her pop music was damn good, and had more brains behind the lyrics than most—her cd has many favorites. Perhaps she would experiment more if she didn't listen to what they're telling her so much—it seems like she's very creative and has a lot of passion. (rholmes@cs.stanford.edu)
Recommended first album:
Bloom
Recordings:
- Great Expectations (1993)
- Bloom (1996)
- On (2006)
- The Best of Tasmin Archer (compilation, 2009)
- Sweet Little Truths—The EMI Recordings 1992-1996 (compilation, 2020)
Great Expectations
Release info:
1993—SBK (U.S.)—0777-7-80134-2-6 (CD)
Availability:
Wide in U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for those who like soft pop. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Group members:
Tasmin Archer—vocals, backing vocals
Guest artists:
John Hughes—guitar
Robbie Mcintosh—guitar
Elliott Randall—guitar
John Beck—keyboards
Paul Wickens—keyboards
Charlie Morgan—drums
Tessa Niles—backing vocals
Carol Kenyon—backing vocals
Gary Maughan—Fairlight
Peter Kaye—Fairlight
Comments:
Not totally out of the ecto tradition, but much closer to straight commercial pop than most of what we deal with. I find it good of its kind, but nothing pathbreaking about it. The lyrics lack any particularly imaginative wordplay or other claims to exceptional memorability. There are a few attempts at social commentary here, but they're very superficial. The choruses are repeated between verses with what seems like unusual frequency; it gets boring after awhile. The most effective song on the album from a musical standpoint, if not a lyrical one, is "In Your Care," which pretty much eschews the usual electric accompaniment in favor of a piano and one guitar.
In terms of the traditional number-of-stars rating system, I'd tend to give this album between 2 and 2 1/2. You may enjoy it—a number of people on the ecto list have already said they do—but I can think of other recordings more worth betting the farm on. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Bloom
Release info:
1996
Availability:
Europe
Produced by:
Mitchell Froom
Comments:
This is in my opinion better than the first one (Great Expectations) but did not contain any hit single material at all. (marcel@kimwilde.com)
Thanks to Marisa Woods for work on this entry.
