Bmg/Arista
I've never done a music review before. I'm the movie girl, the one who sat through two movies in a row yesterday. I usually stick to movie soundtracks. But -- and I blame Roswell, because the first song on this CD is the show's theme song -- I haven't taken Dido's "No Angel" out of my car's CD player for three weeks. Three weeks, people! Even my CD player is starting to get sick of the thing. 

But I'm not, which is why I'm typing this review. What? You say you've never heard of Dido? I'm not surprised. Here I am, sitting around listening to one of the best albums of the year, and I'm starting to doubt the existence of anyone else who's bought this CD. 

Okay, remember when Sarah McLachlan was good -- back before popular radio drilled that "Angel" song into our heads with jackhammers every hour on the hour? Well, Dido sounds like Sarah McLachlan, but with funkier music, and Dido's not as annoying. (Let's face it -- I don't think Sarah knows the meaning of the phrase "up tempo.") 

"Here With Me", the Roswell song, takes that 30-second clip you hear at the beginning of the show and expands it into a vocal performance that rips the stuffing right out of you. And remember "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette? Well, take the same theme of the ex-girlfriend getting over the ex with a new girl, a not- so-wailing voice, and a terrific string background, and you've got the butt-kicking "Don't Think Of Me." 

Personally, I'm hooked on "All You Want," a soulful little ditty about a woman who wants her old boyfriend back, and "Thank You," which, for some odd reason, makes me want to go out and write poetry on a park bench in a rainstorm. Don't ask me why. I mean, it could be the voices telling me to write poetry on a park bench in a rainstorm. Of course, the last time I listened to the voices, I got arrested for trying to kill the Pope with a salami, so maybe you should just disregard this entire review. 

Shhh ... no, the whippersnappers don't travel this far north after Arbor Day... argh! 

Jennifer Matarese

Readers Respond:

I only got No Angel today. I've been wanting to get it so much but I always find something better to get when I'm in the shop. I don't usually listen to this kind of music, but when it's Dido I can't help myself, and I don't know how anyone else can either.

I can't get over "Here With Me." It's my favorite song of the year, easily. She sings with such a passion, and the song just builds up around her until it makes me want to cry. It's pretty easy to identify with her lyrics too, even though I am male. I can totally relate to and understand them, and not just "Here With Me." Most of the album just kills me to listen to it. It's almost unbearable at times, but at a certain point in each song the pressure just bails, and it's the best feeling in the world. Anyone who doesn't have the album, I suggest you get it now.

Eric

Here's the deal. I've owned Dido's CD No Angel for about five or six months, and I absolutely love it. It's one of those rare albums where you can pop it into your player and play the entire thing all the way through -- comparable to the likes of Incubus' new album and Travis' newest also. All three of these are fab picks, and you don't have to keep flipping back and forth to the good songs b/c they're all great. Dido's got the voice of Sarah M., the spunk of Fiona A., and the past relationship material of Alanis M. I'm no critic, but I think her album has been ignored long enough.

Sara from North Carolina

Click here to share your views.