•
Rating:
THE REVIEW
Janis Joplin: one of the greatest "white" voices to sing "black" music (forget about Eminem...). This album was released posthumously in early 1971, a few months after Janis had already left us (she died in October '70). The album is the true masterpiece of this sad, melancholic woman, who searched for love she never found.
The album is produced by Paul Rotchild, the same producer of the Doors. It starts with "Move Over", a piece written by Joplin herself: it's an intense, acid, loaded track that immediately captures the listener's attention!! We've started with a bang! Next up is "Cry Baby", one of the most famous tracks, where the singer's desperate screams contrast with a very soft verse, and the finale while she shouts "C'mon, c'mon" is spine-chilling, another 5-star track!! With "A Woman Left Lonely" (a prophetically autobiographical piece), we're in the same territory as the previous track: desperate screams that give you goosebumps and another great interpretation by the singer... "Half Moon" is a return to calmer climates, but it's definitely not a track to discard, quite the opposite!! "Buried Alive With The Blues" (literally "burned alive in the blues") is a very interesting instrumental piece, the classic cherry on top of this fine album; legend has it Janis was supposed to record the vocal part of this track but couldn't, precisely because of her untimely passing. Even in My Baby, it's the voice that takes center stage, although the musicians in the album are truly excellent. "Me And Bobby McGee", a country ballad written by Kris Kristofferson (an eclectic actor-singer-songwriter who had a brief relationship with her), is another track that adds points to the album and brings us to the album's masterpiece "Mercedes Benz", a track for voice and hands only, a prayer, a pearl of rare beauty whose strength lies in its simplicity. Again, it's hard not to feel something when you listen to a track like this: a piece worth not 5 but 6 stars!! "Trust Me", unlike the previous tracks, isn't angry; here Joplin is sweet, tender, lovable... a track of bitter tears. It all closes with "Get It While You Can", epic, with the voice finding its relaunch, its strength.
A beautiful blues album indeed, if it's true that the blues is sadness, suffering, melancholy, then Janis represents it all best. Few women have represented the sadness of blues better than she did.
R.I.P. Janis.
Loading comments slowly
Summary by Bot
Pearl, released shortly after Janis Joplin's death, stands as her finest work blending blues and rock. The album showcases her powerful, emotional vocals across intense and tender tracks. Produced by Paul Rothchild, it features classics like "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Mercedes Benz". This album perfectly captures the melancholy and passion that defined Joplin. A genuine masterpiece of blues music and heartfelt expression.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin (1943–1970) was an American singer from Port Arthur, Texas, who rose to fame with Big Brother and the Holding Company before pursuing a solo career. Known for her raw, emotive voice, she became a defining figure of late-60s blues rock and soul.07 Reviews
Other reviews
By andrea biacca
Pearl is perhaps, at the level of recorded albums, the greatest musical expression of the singer.
Listening to 'Pearl' is like making love with 25,000 people, savoring in the air the scent of those years.
By enbar77
For those who don’t know her, or haven’t yet listened to her, I would introduce, as a simple mortal, the most beautiful illegitimate daughter the black blues ever produced.
I write to you to thank you, for having gifted us a vocal experience worthy of Billie Holiday, for breaking the sound barrier with that shrieking, sulfurous, deep, deadly voice...
