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THE REVIEW
Approaching a Laura Nyro album is always very difficult: a disarming sensitivity, a crystal-clear talent, and a horrific and premature death cannot leave the listener indifferent. A sweet and breathtaking voice does the rest.
This Eli And The Thirteenth Confession is an absolute masterpiece of female songwriting: the 13 tracks flow quickly and pleasantly, despite a strong vein of nostalgia always present. This concept album about a girl's (Eli) evolution from adolescence to adulthood skillfully mixes folk, jazz, and blues like few other artists have been able to do.
The peaks of the album, overall excellent, are the opener "Luckie," "Sweet Blindness," and "Stoned Soul Picnic," which made the fortune of the 5th Dimension.
Unfortunately, success never smiled upon the New York singer-songwriter: the album (dated 1968), produced under the guidance of the visionary David Geffen, who signed her for four million dollars, did not achieve the anticipated success.
After creating another great album, New York Tendaberry, again with little commercial success, the relationship between Nyro and Geffen deteriorated, and when he founded Asylum Records, the singer-songwriter decided to stay with Columbia. In '71, nauseated by the music business, she took a break that would last five years.
Nyro's career would continue on this path until 1997, the year of her death, caused by ovarian cancer.
We are left with the work of an extraordinary singer-songwriter, never too appreciated, who received the recognition she deserved only after her death and cited as an inspiration by singer-songwriters such as Lisa Germano, Jane Siberry, Suzanne Vega, and especially Tori Amos, whom I consider to be her most likely heir.
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Summary by Bot
Laura Nyro’s Eli And The Thirteenth Confession is a timeless masterpiece showcasing her exceptional songwriting and vocal abilities. Blending folk, jazz, and blues, the album narrates a coming-of-age story with emotional depth. Despite its artistic brilliance, it saw limited commercial success. Nyro’s influence continues posthumously through artists like Tori Amos.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro (born Laura Nigro, 1947–1997) was an American singer-songwriter and pianist from New York. Her genre-blending, piano-led songs bridged soul, jazz, gospel, folk, and pop. She wrote classics popularized by others—And When I Die, Wedding Bell Blues, and Stoney End—and released landmark albums including Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry.05 Reviews
Other reviews
By manliuzzo
This 'Eli and the Thirteenth Confession' is indeed proof that, at least from an artistic point of view, women are certainly not inferior to men.
3 minutes and 48 seconds of virtual perfection.
