Garden In The City - MELANIE***

Garden In The City/Love In My Mind/We Don't Know Where We're Going/Lay Lady Lay/Jigsaw Puzzle/Don't You Wait By The Water/Stop I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore/Somebody Loves Me/People In The Front Row

Garden In The City comprises leftover tracks from Buddah recording sessions which Melanie appears to have repudiated. She set up her own record label Neighbourhood for future releases. (US:115 UK:19)

“This might not be the best folk record ever made but it has a lot of heart. Melanie sings with such a honesty that it’s hard not to feel her words. The arrangements are good too but it’s her vocal work the one that will keep me coming back.”

“It was compiled without Melanie's involvement and she consented to its release almost under duress, repudiating it as soon as it appeared. Its songs have since been scattered across numerous albums, not all of them still available.”

“Even though it's a compilation consisting mainly of outtake material, it plays better than several of her proper albums. Anyone who prefers her earliest material, when she was at her most fearless and experimental as a singer and songwriter when all her eccentricities were still intact, they will love this.”

“Sneakily marketed by Buddah as a new album after Melanie had left the label, Garden In The City was made up of recordings that failed to make the grade for earlier albums, plus a couple of songs from film soundtracks. That didn't augur well for the set, but in fact it isn't too bad. Melanie makes light work of Jigsaw Puzzle, tackles Lay Lady Lay with aplomb, and even turns in a respectable standard, Somebody Loves Me. People In The Front Row finds her battling it out against a full-piece orchestra; it's a hammy piece, full of nonsense lyrics and staged laughter that is either a hoot or a travesty, depending on your tastes. It's no surprise that Melanie was apparently dismayed at the appearance of this album, any listener unaware of its true origins would have assumed she was regressing.”

“This LP contains many gems and is an important musical addition to any Melanie collection. There are only four original tracks, others being covers, but I'm really fond of the treatment she prescribes to songs such as Dylan's Lay Lady Lay or the Stones' Jigsaw Puzzle. I don't see any low points here. Several songs have an eastern flavour such as the splendid Love In Mind, plus there's People In The Front Row an incredible vocal challenge.”