Play It as It Lays - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Patti Scialfa can't utter a sentence, let alone issue an entire album, without the world scanning it for Bruce Springsteen-related subtext, so on Play It as It Lays--the sharpest, most assured, and best record of her solo career--she gives up. This beautiful, world-weary record, rich in girl-group harmonies, folk-roots rhythms, and clear-eyed lyrics, gets to the heart of what it means to be in a long-term relationship, whether it's with a rock god or a shoe salesman. There are sacrifices ("Like Any Woman Would"), concessions ("Town Called Heartbreak"), thrills ("Rainy Day Man"), and long spells of casting aside wistfulness and scraping up hope ("Looking for Elvis"). Most of all, though, there is honesty. Scialfa, a longtime E-Street band member and mother to the three Springsteen teenagers, sings these songs in the dark, grainy voice that's distinguished her from the start, but here it takes on a weightier, more lived-in quality. She's as comfortable with this material as she was with her backing band for the project--Willie Weeks, Nils Lofgren, Cliff Carter, and Mr. Springsteen himself all piled into a room in her New Jersey farmhouse for the sessions, christening themselves the Whack Brothers along the way--and it shows. Play It as It Lays is Scialfa's Born in the USA; her masterpiece. --Tammy La Gorce

Patti Scialfa Photos

More from Patti Scialfa

23rd Street Lullaby

Rumble Doll

Customer Reviews: Read 48 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Another Stellar Recording September 4, 2007
40 out of 49 found this review helpful

I have never actually suffered waiting for an album to come out, so this was a brand-new experience for me. At the moment, I'm feeling not so much happy or sad as just plain relieved! The waiting was becoming insufferable! I am a huge fan of Patti Scialfa's solo work. Rumble Doll is my all-time favorite album by ANY artist (which to this day remains a mystery, even to myself, since most people have never even heard of it.) Each of Patti's albums is completely different, and this one follows that trend. It is much more R&B/blues-oriented than her first two. Personally, I am more into pop/rock, so I will have to wait and see whether this album grows on me to the point of obsession as her first two albums have done. The recording itself is first-rate. Her singing has never been stronger or more soulful, and the musicians backing her are obviously the best in the business. Time alone will tell whether I will still be reaching for this CD years from now when I go outside for my daily walk (as I routinely do with her other two albums). For the moment, I am giving it FIVE STARS for a single track, the title track, "Play It As It Lays." The reason being that when I listened to this song for the very first time I cried like a baby. I don't think I've ever done that before, listened to a brand-new song for the first time and cried. It is quite beautiful, perhaps even surpassing "Spanish Dancer" (from Rumble Doll) to become what may henceforth be known as her signature song. Imagine if Patti's husband came back 20 years later and wrote another "Thunder Road," only even better, deeper, more profound. That is the effect that "Play It As It Lays" is likely to have on Rumble Doll fans. So get out the Kleenex!

5 out of 5 stars

One of the year's strongest album September 4, 2007
25 out of 34 found this review helpful

This is not just Patti Scialfa's strongest album yet, but one of the strongest and most soulful of the year. It's a song cycle that reminds me of Laura Nyro, Dusty Springfield with a little Creedence thrown in for good measure.

5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully Bluesy/Souful Album September 16, 2007
20 out of 22 found this review helpful

Would I have ever heard of Patti Scialfa, much less bought a CD by her, were I not already a fan of her husband and his famous backing band? Probably not (although I have to admit that I'm not much of a fan of some of the other Jersey Shore bands who were brought to my attention because of their affiliations with or support from Bruce Springsteen). But that doesn't change the fact that this is an excellent album that demonstrates what a powerful and literate singer/songwriter Patti is. She seems to have toned down the vibratto in her vocals that many people find annoying, and her singing has a definite edge and roughness that fits the material very well. She reminds me of a cross between Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris, but creates a style that stands on its own independent of any comparisons. "Waiting for Elvis" would make a very good single if artists of Patti and her husband got any regular radio airplay anymore, but the whole album is very accessible and listenable with no filler to be found. I would love to see Patti on her own tour, or have her sing some of these songs on an E Street Band tour. I'd also like for Bruce and Patti to do a "duet" album together, rather than just making background appearances on one another's records. Live renditions of songs like "Mansion on the Hill" and "If I Should Fall Behind" prove that they have great chemistry and that they can achieve gorgeous harmonies. Regardless of your opinions about Bruce Springsteen, however, don't let your views about how she may have gotten a recording contract jade you or prevent you from enjoying what is a genuinely fine album.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent CD from an often overlooked singer/songwriter September 6, 2007
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

I was so excited to find out that Patti Scialfa was releasing a third CD, that I was worried I might be disappointed ultimately. Not to worry. This is a fantastic CD. With each CD, she changes her perspective some. "23rd Street Lullaby" was told by a woman looking back at her past and how that past had helped to make her the person she had become. On "Play it As It Lays," the woman is a little more world-weary, battered around by life and love, but still optimistic. Her lyrics are like poetry and reflect some of the very things I, a long-married, middle aged mother of teenagers, often think about my life and relationships. She's really put my thoughts into words, and done it beautifully. Also, I love her singing voice; it's tender and tough, playful and sad. Extremely interesting. Like her famous husband said, it's "sawdust and sugar."

Favorite tracks are "Looking for Elvis," "Like Any Woman Would," "Town Called Heartbreak, "Run,Run,Run," and the hauntingly beautiful "Play It As It Lays." I love the message of "Play It As It Lays," that no relationship is perfect, you take the good with the bad and because you love the person, you play it as it lays. The chorus is so beautiful.

I highly recommend this CD. Also recommend Rumble Doll and 23rd Street Lullaby.

PS--I don't know how anyone can say they cannot understand the lyrics. I had no trouble. What I heard was eloquent. I also don't see how anyone can say she wouldn't have a recording contract if it weren't for Bruce. She had this contract BEFORE she was even involved with Bruce, i.e. since the early 1980s.

5 out of 5 stars

Breathing in these winds of change September 5, 2007
17 out of 23 found this review helpful

Patti Scialfa is one of my favorites. I'm glad to see that her third album came pretty quickly on the heels of 23rd Street Lullaby. The ten songs on Play It As It Lays are concise and seem to draw quite a bit on her musical and literary inspirations. Her lyrics are as tough and delicate as ever. It's a satisfying listen all the way through, but some of my personal favorites are Looking for Elvis (a layered, bluesy tune with a great harmonica part), Like Any Woman Would (in which she manages to work in a reference to Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar), Play Around (beautifully understated), the lovely, reflective title track (inspired by the Didion novel), and Black Ladder (short, sweet, and gentle, a very pretty little closer).

The other half is just as impressive. Patti's thoughtful side shines through on The Word and her love of rockabilly is clear on Run, Run, Run. Rainy Day Man has an awesome groove to it, and Bad for You is very seductive and sassy, with shades of Bonnie Raitt. Town Called Heartbreak has a rough-edged vocal delivery and a catchy, memorable melody.

Patti is really underrated and deserves so much more recognition than she gets for continuing to write such intelligent, clear-eyed songs. Her third offering is another wonderful set and I definitely have to rate it highly!

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