Knuckle Down is the 14th studio album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. It is the first album where DiFranco has collaborated with a producer; Joe Henry. The record is also her first studio album to feature a string section. It is considered among her most accessible records, and compared to the stark Educated Guess, it is more abundantly produced.
Reception
The album so far has a score of 73 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". Billboard gave the album a favorable review and stated: "The results are a selection of high quality that veers between brightly spirited ("Manhole," "Lag Time") and somber ("Callous")." The New York Times gave it a positive review and said that DiFranco "is still self-sufficient, but an extra pair of producer's ears gives her some new dimensions."The New York Times review
Other reviews are very average or mixed: Mojo gave the album three stars out of five and said it was "More honed and richly-textured than former offerings."Album reviews at CD Universe Q, however, gave it two stars out of five and called it "Deliberately sparse and bare."
Track listing "Knuckle Down" – 4:34 "Studying Stones" – 3:53 "Manhole" – 3:45 "Sunday Morning" – 4:49 "Modulation" – 4:31 "Seeing Eye Dog" – 4:02 "Lag Time" – 5:13 "Parameters" – 5:58 "Callous" – 5:46 "Paradigm" – 4:33 "Minerva" – 4:55 "Recoil" – 5:08
Personnel Ani DiFranco – guitar, vocals Patrick Warren – piano, sampling, Chamberlin Todd Sickafoose – string bass; Wurlitzer (track 3) Jay Bellerose – percussion, drums Andrew Bird – violin, Glockenspiel, whistling (2, 3, 7, 9, 12) Tony Scherr – electric guitar (4, 8, 10, 12) Noe Venable – vocals (2, 3, 10) Niki Haris – vocals (10) Julie Wolf – melodica (11) String section on tracks 2 and 7
Production Ani DiFranco and Joe Henry – record producer S. "Husky" Hoskulds – engineer, mixing Jason Mott – assistant engineer Greg Calbi – mastering Ani DiFranco and Brian Grunert – design Danny Clinch – portrait photography Eric Frick – photography
Charts Chart (2005) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA Charts) 82US Billboard 20049
References
External links