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UncutApr 2, 2014An album that feels joyously cathartic as well as musically stunning. [May 2014, p.76]
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Q MagazineMar 14, 2014Much as Get Direct and New Year's day cry to be fleshed out, the reggaefied Ask Me suggests another way forwards, while the fiercely intelligent songs Shame and Stay sum up all that's right about this most singular artist. [Apr 2014, p.112]
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Mar 11, 2014While the album's brightness may take some getting used to, listeners who love her music for how well she expresses feelings that are universal yet hard to articulate will appreciate how vividly The Classic captures joy and what it takes to get it.
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Mar 10, 2014There are hooks and tunes galore, and whether you’re looking for destructive enormity or a quaint Sunday morning soundtrack, you’ll find it in this album somewhere.
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Mar 7, 2014Too much is still being worked through, though, for this to be the exhilarating, post-depression party its best music suggests.
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MojoMar 21, 2014The truth is, her lion's mane voice is best suited to expressing thick-browed emotions like paranoia or picking at the carcass of a long dead relationship. [Apr 2014, p.94]
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Mar 20, 2014The Classic is a flawed piece of work, no doubt; overly cluttered and in sore need of reining in at times, it suffers for the hubris of its title. But when Wasser hits the sweet spot, as she does on 'Ask Me', 'Get Direct' and its ebullient centrepiece, she hits it with conviction.
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Mar 11, 2014Whether or not The Classic finds that audience, it’s comforting to know that an artist like Joan As Policewoman is still out there to counterbalance the auto-tuned pop tartlets of the music business.
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Mar 10, 2014It’s not an easy listen and moments, notably the faux-soul of ‘Shame’, can grate, but this is a fascinating and rich record.
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Mar 7, 2014Her fifth album is full of the kind of stylish, brassy fare that made huge stars of Amy Winehouse and Plan B. However, it often sounds more like a calculated stab at broader appeal, rather than coming from anywhere deep emotionally.
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Mar 7, 2014An uplifting and varied listening experience, if only some of the other tracks didn't have a habit of passing you by.
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Mar 7, 2014The real problem with The Classic is it just can’t often enough avoid the pitfalls of mediocrity, whether pastiche grooves, lackluster songwriting, or Joan’s own vocal limitations.
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Mar 7, 2014Although Wasser has perhaps sounded better in the past and too many of the songs stretch past their welcome, The Classic is a welcome addition to Joan As Police Woman's repertoire and a recommended addition to any album collection due to its impressive ability to surprise and innovate as it moves forward.
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Mar 24, 2014While there are plenty of technical elements to recommend it, The Classic just lacks that indefinable quality that would make you return to it repeatedly.
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Mar 13, 2014No matter how much fun it appears to be for Wasser to try on all these different hats, developing a stronger focus on soul--or doo-wop, or girl groups, or R&B--would improve the impact considerably.