2006
4.8/5
In my opinion, a lot of modern music is way too autobiographical. Quite a lot of whining about personal problems and the like (although I guess this has always been present in music.) I'm not claiming to fully understand the album, but I can definitely see that a lot of thought and inventiveness went into it's creation. Unlike some other albums I've picked up recently (which as a general rule are usually composed of 8 mediocre break-up songs slapped together without much thought towards the order), Begin to Hope is truly something unique and enjoyable.
The best thing about Regina Spektor's music is that nothing she attempts fails to work. Funny little breaks in the vocals or the song becoming almost entirely different in the middle of the track are acceptable things on her albums. Nothing sounds off about them.
Most of Regina Spektor's music is pretty much exclusively piano and vocals, but occasionally some percussion or guitar is brought into the mix. The amazing thing about this, is that despite the fact that throughout the album the music is generally being made by a woman and a piano, the songs feel completely different from one another.
Track 1, "Fidelity" is Begin to Hope's most well known song, and the music video is pretty nifty as well. The lyrics seem to be about preventing yourself from falling in love in order to avoid being hurt in the aftermath (although I've heard it's actually about the film "High Fidelity.") Track 2, "Better" has a sort of cutesy, childish sound to it and is horribly catchy. It's followed by "Samson", a comparatively slow song that references the biblical story of Samson and Delilah. This is actually a faster-paced version of "Samson" from Spektor's album Songs. Track 4 is "On the Radio" is a bouncy and extremely well-written song, but it's difficult to interpret parts of it. The next track is "Field Below" which is a beautiful, melancholic song, and the lyrics often flow from soft to powerful. "Hotel Song" is another reasonably bouncy song. "Apres Mois" is a truly amazing piece of music; the lyrics are intriguing, possibly written from the point of view of a statue, and it also quotes Madame Pompadour. "That Time" is the first song on the album that I wasn't completely thrilled with, because the ending struck me as a wee bit cheesy, but I still like it a lot, especially everything before the verse about overdosing. "Edit" incorporates a lot of neat sound effects. "Lady" is reminiscent of the kind of blues my cousin would take me to hear in coffee shops the 90s, if that makes any sense. It has a very smooth, sad vocal track. "Summer in the City" has a similar feel.
All in all, I would say that it's more than worth the money.
