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The Real Ramona

 
Album Review: The Real Ramona

  • Artist: Throwing Muses
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: March 12, 1991
  • Total Time: 40:10
  • Genre: Rock

Review

The Real Ramona marked the perfect balance of Throwing Muses' angular songwriting and latent pop tendencies. Where Hunkpapa tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to mix these elements, this album succeeds with surreal pop songs like "Counting Backwards" and "Red Shoes." They're catchy and riveting, clearly linked to the band's early material yet more focused and accessible. "Graffiti" and "Two-Step" are two of Kristin Hersh's most appealing pop snippets, but dark, uncompromising tracks like "Say Goodbye," "Ellen West," and "Hook in Her Head" reaffirm that she can still write troubling, fascinating songs like nobody else. And just before she left the Muses to form Belly, Tanya Donelly finally arrived as a full-fledged songwriter with the giddy, gleeful "Not Too Soon" and "Honeychain," proving that she could be a charming foil to Hersh's more challenging style. Their final album as a quartet, The Real Ramona highlights the best points of the group's sound, making it a great starting point for new Throwing Muses fans. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Counting Backwards Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (3:15)
Him Dancing Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (1:11)
Red Shoes Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (3:32)
Graffiti Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (2:37)
Golden Thing Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (2:25)
Ellen West Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (2:49)
Dylan Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (1:41)
Hook in Her Head Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (6:32)
Not Too Soon (Lyrics) Tanya Donelly Throwing Muses (3:10)
Honeychain (Lyrics) Tanya Donelly Throwing Muses (4:23)
Say Goodbye Kristin Hersh Throwing Muses (3:54)
Two Step Throwing Muses Throwing Muses (4:36)

Credits

Throwing Muses (Main Performer), Throwing Muses (Remixing), Kristin Hersh (Guitar), Kristin Hersh (Composer), Kristin Hersh (Vocals), Fred Abong (Guitar (Bass)), Dennis Herring (Producer), John Beverly Jones (Engineer), John Beverly Jones (Mixing), Paul Q. Kolderie (Remixing), Csaba Petocz (Remixing), Doug Sax (Mastering), Tanya Donelly (Guitar), Tanya Donelly (Composer), Tanya Donelly (Vocals), David Narcizo (Drums), David Narcizo (Design), Andrew Catlin (Photography), Jim Anderson (Photography)
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Wikipedia: The Real Ramona
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The Real Ramona
Studio album by Throwing Muses
Released March 12, 1991
Recorded May 13, 1990
Genre Alternative
Length 40:10
Label 4AD (UK)
Sire(U.S.)
Producer Dennis Herring
Professional reviews
Throwing Muses chronology
Hunkpapa
(1990)
The Real Ramona
(1991)
Red Heaven
(1992)

The Real Ramona is an album by Throwing Muses. Released in 1991, it was the last album recorded by the band before the departure of founding member Tanya Donelly.

The album marked the end of a time for the band, and a transition into a new one. The band's two heavyweights, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, had been the anchor holding the entire group down. After this album, Donelly left and formed Belly, taking the bassist on this album, Fred Abong, along with her. Hence, the album can be seen as an epitaph to the early days of the band.

The Throwing Muses' sound is hard to quantify, and this record is especially difficult. Despite having the hallmarks of their unfamiliar song structures and Hersh's voice, The Real Ramona's sound has been considered as quite poppy. Though this album was the last to feature Donelly, it carried many of her signature sounds. While she only wrote two songs for this album ("Honeychain" and "Not Too Soon"), the Muses had a jumpier, poppier sound that Donelly kept with her when she moved to Belly.

Track listing

all songs written by Kristin Hersh except where noted.

  1. "Counting Backwards" – 3:15
  2. "Him Dancing" – 1:10
  3. "Red Shoes" – 3:33
  4. "Graffiti" – 2:37
  5. "Golden Thing" – 2:25
  6. "Ellen West" – 2:49
  7. "Dylan" – 1:40
  8. "Hook in Her Head" – 6:32
  9. "Not Too Soon" – 3:09 (Tanya Donelly)
  10. "Honeychain" – 4:24 (Donelly)
  11. "Say Goodbye" – 3:54
  12. "Two Step" – 4:34 (Throwing Muses)

Personnel

Production


 
 
Learn More
Not Too Soon (1991 Album by Throwing Muses)
Counting Backwards (1991 Album by Throwing Muses)
Star (1993 Album by Belly)

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Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Real Ramona" Read more

 

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