Knuckle Down
| Knuckle Down | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 25, 2005 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:07 | |||
| Label | Righteous Babe | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Ani DiFranco chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.[1]
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (73/100)[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Blender | [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[3] |
| Filter | 84%[2] |
| musicOMH | (positive)[4] |
| Paste | [5] |
| PopMatters | (6/10)[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| Slant | [8] |
| Uncut | [9] |
The album so far has a score of 73 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".[2] 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")."[10] 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."[11]
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."[9] Q, however, gave it two stars out of five and called it "Deliberately sparse and bare."[2]
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) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[12] | 82 |
| US Billboard 200 | 49 |
References
- ^ a b Allmusic review
- ^ a b c d e Critic reviews at Metacritic
- ^ "Short Takes (Ani DiFranco: Knuckle Down)". Entertainment Weekly. No. 803. January 2, 2005. p. 85.
- ^ musicOMH review
- ^ Lewis, Cathering P. (February 1, 2005). "Ani DiFranco – Knuckle Down :: Music :: Reviews". Paste. Archived from the original on March 6, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 21, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Slant review
- ^ a b Album reviews at CD Universe
- ^ "Billboard review". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 11, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ The New York Times review
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 81.
