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Despite Our Differences  >>

The Indigo Girls, now marking their 20th anniversary, were in a bit of slump before turning to producer Mitchell Froom, who serves them well on this energized effort--their 10th studio album and first for a new label. Recorded at Froom's home studio in Santa Monica, California, the album finds Ray, Saliers & Co. trying a few new things--recording with everybody in the same room, for example, and stepping further out of their acoustic framework for an enhanced sonic landscape, e.g., the Beatlesque "Little Perennials." They also invited impressive newbie Brandi Carlisle to harmonize on "Last Tears," one of the disc's most memorable tracks, and called on Pink (the IGs appeared on I'm Not Dead) for "Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate." All this contributes to a fresher sound and attitude, but the songwriting (Amy's rock leanings, Emily's moody balladry) is up a notch, too, with the social activism ("Pendulum Swinger") better expressed and more sophisticated than their usual banner-waving. What hasn't changed is the way the duo's vocal lines entwine like tangled lovers--at their best, it's hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins, their corduroy-and-denim harmonies becoming a sort of third tone. That's a neat trick for voices as diverse and distinctive as these, still commanding as they enter their third decade. --Alanna Nash

Rites of Passage  >>

Strange Fire  >>

1200 Curfews  >>

Amy and Emily take a page from the Jackson Browne'sRunning on Empty notebook in compiling a fascinating melange of live tracks pulled from 12 different stages, dressing rooms, radio broadcasts, and a Hopi Indian reservation. For fans this is a gift, pure and simple, and even skeptics will be sucker-punched by the emotional power of the songs and performances. --Jeff Bateman

Retrospective (Ltd.Ed)  >>

Try to think of an enduring, widely respected, artistically progressive female songwriting duo. Now, try to think of one besides the Indigo Girls. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been pounding the folk-rock pavement since the early 1980s, filling the ears of eager listeners with their ethereal harmonies, lush arrangements, and evocative lyrics. Retrospective traces their progression from budding singer-songwriters to stunning musicians, arrangers, activists, and artists. Progressing chronologically, the album allows the listener to appreciate the depth and breadth of the pair's musical growth--from the reedy, passionate plea of "Strange Fire" to the blithe bounce of "Least Complicated" to the dark electricity of "Go." As time passes, more instruments are added, more sensitive political topics are addressed, and more experimental techniques are incorporated. The two new cuts--Ray's uptempo but slightly turbulent "Devotion" and Saliers's heartfelt road ballad "Leaving"--are reminiscent of the Girls' younger days but also reflect their artistic growth through subtle lyrical turns and deft melodic variations. --Sally Weinbach

Indigo Girls  >>

Playlist: The Very Best of Indigo Girls  >>

Rarities  >>

Have the Indigo Girls hit the doldrums? Their concerts of late often prove to not only be lackluster, but dated, as singer/songwriter/guitarists Amy Ray and Emily Saliers veer dangerously close to seeming more like relics than icons. Part of that stems from their reliance on familiar material, as if their writing has slowed to a trickle. Now comes more suggestion of that in Rarities, an album made up of leftovers, odds and ends, demos, other previously unreleased material, and contributions to side albums. The good news is that there is much here to enjoy, all of it wrapped in the Girls' trademark corduroy-and-silk harmonies. Their demo version of "Ghost" is fraught with fevered longing, a remix of "Shed Your Skin" delights with its swirling, hypnotic soundscape, and the cameos by Michael Stipe ("I'll Give You My Skin") and Ani DiFranco ("Ramblin' Round") resonate with artistry and star power. But the 18-song album bloats with less-than-sparkling cuts (for example, a cacophonous rendering of Vic Chesnutt's "Free of Hope," two early and undistinguished songs from both Emily and Amy, and a techno-meets-country remix of "Free in You"). In the end, this is more a collector's disc than a window on the duo's "rarest" moments. --Alanna Nash END

Shaming of the Sun  >>

Nomads, Indians, Saints  >>

Amid a musical landscape where "alternative" had quickly been co-opted by MTV and the fashion industry, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray tapped a vein of cultural and sexual dissatisfaction and yearning (if not rebellion) in their 20-something peers. Their first hit, "Closer to Fine," had an insinuating folk-pop groove and enough philosophical trappings to suggest this feisty acoustic duo had bigger things planned. Their third album proved it: the arrangements are aggressive and their pop temperament bubbles to the fore on songs like "Hammer and a Nail" and the handsome, sweet "Southland in the Springtime." --Roy Francis Kasten