| Rating |
Summary |
|
| 2.5 by Rolling Stone |
The girl's
got indie cred, no doubt. Lost in Translation wrapped her in a
dynamite alt-rock soundtrack, and she's sung with the Jesus and Mary
Chain. So it makes sense that, for her debut, Sca... |
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| n/a by NME |
This is a brilliant album that will no doubt top some ‘best of 2008 lists, but its hard to work out if its a one-off or not. |
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| n/a by music.guardian.co.uk |
You might wish there was more from Waits' 70s barfly period--what would Johansson have made of Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis?--but it's a measure of this album's surprising allure that you're left wanting more. |
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| n/a by www.drownedinsound.com |
Perversely given the records comprehensive musical overhaul its perhaps a surfeit of respect for the source material that proves Anywhere's undoing; for all its undoubted accomplishments theres a lingering suspicion that this is too safe, too respectable a record to do justice to an artist who remains forever mid-topple from the bar stool in the popular consciousness. |
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| n/a by www.uncut.co.uk |
Johanssons bland, flat contralto leaves you admiring the Cocteau Twins-style sonic backdrops and wondering how another singer--Liz Fraser, perhaps?--might improve them. |
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| n/a by www.blender.com |
Sonically, it's a tour de force.... But the success of this record depends on Johansson and she's not up yo the task. [June 2008, p.73] |
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| n/a by Pitchfork Media |
On several songs, Johansson gets lost in Sitek's swelling production, which may suggest a weak interpreter or a dearth of vocal personality but adds to the album's pervading dreaminess. |
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| n/a by www.avclub.com |
She isn't a traditionally talented vocalist, which in itself can be fine. But she isn't much of an interpreter, either; she brings the flat, throaty tones of the heavily drugged to songs that beg for passion. |
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| n/a by www.slantmagazine.com |
The album itself is kind of an afterthought; what its creation says metatextually about the artists responsible for it is more interesting than any of the music it contains. |
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| n/a by www.ew.com |
In burying Johansson's vocals so deeply in the druggy ambiance, producer David Andrew Sitek (of TV on the Radio) means well but ends up obscuring Waits' great tunes. |
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| n/a by www.boston.com |
The balance is tenuous, and the Tinkerbell on cough syrup effect that Sitek describes in the liner notes as his aesthetic brass ring sometimes comes off more like Scarlett out of her league. |
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| n/a by www.dustedmagazine.com |
Anywhere I Lay My Head falters on Johanssons vocals, or lack of a distinctive voice. |
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| n/a by www.pastemagazine.com |
Through it all, Johansson is just another instrument in the mix, and her willingness to allow the arrangements to transform Waits creaky intimacy into wide-eyed atmosphere ultimately results in the rare covers album that actually has its own identity. |
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| n/a by www.hotpress.com |
Nouveau synth-pop and shoegazer drones mightnt seem like the wisest bedding for Tom Waitss compositions, but Scarlett and Sitek know exactly what theyre doing. |
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| n/a by www.lostatsea.net |
While Johansson's debut is not as pleasant as Zooey Deschanel's work with M.Ward, Anywhere I Lay My Head will surely surprise Johansson's doubters; having grown to appreciate Scarlett Johansson for being more than a pretty face and mediocre actor, I can speak from experience. |
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| n/a by www.villagevoice.com |
Against all odds, Anywhere I Lay My Head doesn't feel like a vain stunt. Mostly. |
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| n/a by Billboard |
The whole set is heavily dosed with reverb and electro-swirls, perhaps to cloak Johansson's vocal limitations as much as to add psychedelia. |
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| n/a by Popmatters |
Theres no in between for this one; it will go down as one of those love it or hate it records. |
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| n/a by www.courant.com |
At its core, though, Anywhere I Lay My Head is a curious project that never seems to light on any raison d'etre beyond indulging Johansson's love of Tom Waits. |
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| n/a by www.sputnikmusic.com |
Anywhere I Lay My Head is a vanity project made by Scarlett Johansson, for Scarlett Johansson, and what's more, it sounds suspiciously like a desperate cry for credibility from a woman who doesn't actually need any. |
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| n/a by www.nowtoronto.com |
Sitek attempts to do Johansson (and us) a favour by burying her monotonous voice deep in the mix, but unfortunately, the musical support isnt interesting enough to carry the album. Skip it. |
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| n/a by uk.launch.yahoo.com |
Scarlett Johansson has proved herself as much a rock queen as a roll queen. |
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| n/a by www.cokemachineglow.com |
Siteks technique is, successfully, fascinating and unexpected. But so many purposes and conceits, both avoided and embraced, collide over the course of the albums eleven tracks that technique simply overwhelms melody and Johanssons voice both, but mostly whatever it is about the song that Waits nailed to the wall in the first place. |
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| n/a by www.spin.com |
Beyond the fact that her voice is deep enough for her to front Crash Test Dummies, there's nothing particularly compelling about Scarlett Johansson's singing. |
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| n/a by www.adequacy.net |
This isnt a horrible album by any means, but it also isnt very good. Sitek has done an astounding job of creating misty atmospheres and its these small touches that aid the album in becoming an interesting listen. |
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