Paula radiates more power, both vocally (Tori Amos, watch your back) and musically (she sings, plays piano, Juno, tube Wurlitzer, harmonium, beat box, toy xylophone, didjeridu and clarinet, and produced the whole kit and kaboodle) on this 1996 sophomore effort -- it's mature, complex, intense and very intelligent pop music. Peter Gabriel guests on Hush, Hush, Hush, and I can't help but notice a similiar aesthetic. Also includes Tiger, Carmen, Throwing Stones, I Don't Want to Wait and more.

This Fire is Paula Cole's second album and was a commercial success. Writing and producing the album herself, she recorded the record in roughly 2 weeks. According to the RIAA, the album has gone double platinum, selling over 2 million copies in US and peaked at #20 on the Billboard 200 chart. According to the booklet, the album is dedicated to "the inner fire of all life. May our seeds of light open, brighten, and sow peace on earth".

Cole released a total of three (official) singles from the album. The first, Where Have All the Cowboys Gone, (1997) peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 (number 4 on the Adult Top 40). The single, I Don't Want to Wait, (1997) peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was used as the theme song for the teen drama Dawson's Creek. The third and final single, Me, was released in mid-1998 but did not track as well as Cole's prior two singles. The song, Feelin' Love, was featured on the original motion picture soundtrack to the movie City of Angels.

The album was a critical success and was nominated for seven awards at the 40th Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Album, "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?" for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Cole was also nominated for Producer of the Year and Best New Artist, winning the latter.

Released singles

# "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" - 3:47

# "I Don't Want to Wait" - 4:07

# "Me" - 3:36

Musicians

* Drums and percussion: Jay Bellerose

* Bass and chapman stick: Tony Levin

* Guitar, pedal and lap steel: Greg Leisz

* Uillean pipes and whistle: Seamus Egan

* Guitar on "Carmen" and "Hush, Hush, Hush": Gerry Leonard

* Strings on "Hush, Hush, Hush": Wenyi Shih, Elizabeth Knowles, Judith Insell (violins) and Chase Morrison (cello).

* String arrangement: Seyi Sonuga

* Shimmer on "Hush, Hush, Hush": Kevin Killen

* Vocals, piano, juno, tube, wirlitzer, harmonium, beat box, toy xylophone, didjeridu and clarinet: Paula Cole.

Personnel

* Produced by: Paula Cole

* Recorded and mixed by: Roger Mountenot

* Recorded at the Magic Shop, NYC, assistant: Joe Warda

* Mixed at Room With a View, NYC, assistant: Jack Hersca

* "Hush, Hush, Hush" basic track recorded and co-produced by: Kevin Killen at Bearsville Studio, Bearsville, NY, assistant: Paul Marconi

* Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME.

* Art direction: Paula Cole

* Photographs: Jodie Olson

* Stock photographs: David Skernick, W.S. Edwards, P.E. Penn and D. Schiefelbein

* Design: Dirk Walter

References

Category:1996 albums

Category:Paula Cole albums

pt:This Fire

This text has been derived from This Fire (album) on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0

Artist/Band Information

Paula Cole (born April 5, 1968) is an American singer/songwriter. Her single "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and the following year she won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Early life

Cole was raised in Rockport, Massachusetts; her mother was an elementary school art teacher, and her father was a professor of biology and ecology at Salem State College and a polka musician., Northshore Magazine (Mass.), July 10, 2010. She attended Rockport High School, where she was president of her senior class and performed in school theatrical productions such as South Pacific.Gail McCarthy, , Gloucester Daily Times, August 8, 2010. Cole then attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied jazz singing and improvisation. She was offered a record deal by a jazz label, but decided to turn it down.

Recording career

Cole got her first big professional break when she was invited to perform on Peter Gabriel's 1993-1994 Secret World Live tour. Shortly after this, she was signed on with her first record company Imago Records. Through this record company, she released her first album Harbinger in 1994. Within that year of Harbingers release, Imago Records went out of business. In 1995, she was signed on to Warner Bros. Records. The record company reissued Harbinger in the Autumn of 1995.

Harbinger

Cole released her debut album, Harbinger, in 1994 with Imago Records. She appeared with Melissa Etheridge to sing a duet on VH1 though she was not well-known at the time.

Harbinger featured songs dwelling on Cole's personal thoughts on discrimination and unhappiness. The songs were musically lush but driven and bleak. The accompanying artwork featured photographs of Cole with a boyishly short haircut, wearing loose fitting black sweatclothes, combat boots and nose ring. The Imago label folded and promotion of Harbinger was limited, affecting its sales. A single, "I Am So Ordinary", was released with a black and white video that reflected the album's artwork.

This Fire

In late 1996, Cole released her second album on Warner Bros. Records, This Fire, which was entirely self-produced. The albums' debut single, "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone", became an instant smash radio (reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's pop chart) and MTV hit. The follow-up single, "I Don't Want to Wait," was a #11 pop hit single, its popularity in part due to its usage as the theme song for the hit teen drama series Dawson's Creek. The single "Me" (#35) was also released. The title "Hush, Hush, Hush," a duet with Peter Gabriel, talks about AIDS and about a young man dying in his father's comforting arms. "Feelin' Love" was a single that was included on the soundtrack to City of Angels.

Cole toured with Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair and garnered even more critical acclaim due to her live performances. Cole was nominated for several Grammy awards in 1997. Among them was "Producer of the Year" (Cole was the second woman to ever be nominated in this category); she did not win, but she did go on to win "Best New Artist" that same year.

Amen

Cole took a hiatus to have and begin raising her daughter Sky. In 1999 Cole released Amen with the newly formed "Paula Cole Band". The album's debut single "I Believe In Love" was initially not a success but was remixed by producer Jonathan Peters into a successful dance song. The album which had guest appearances by DJ Premier and long-time Cole fan Tionne Watkins featured some R&B and hip-hop influences but failed to match the success of This Fire. A fourth album was recorded with Hugh Padgham but the label refused to release it; in 2005 Cole uploaded one of the tracks, "Singing Out My Life," to her own website to get her sound out there. She also recorded a song called "It's My Life" during these sessions, which can be heard in Mercury automobile commercials. Cole also made a home recording of a politically charged "country-esque" song called "My Hero Mr. President".

Courage

Cole returned in June 2007 with her fourth studio album Courage, which was released on Decca Records and produced by Bobby Colomby at the Capitol Studios in Hollywood.

Ithaca

Cole's fifth studio album, Ithaca, was released September 21, 2010. It is a true return to form for Cole, in which she has written all the songs on the album and co-produced them all as well. Cole says it "represents that inner fortitude and the journey I’ve been on."McLaughlin, Moira E. Washington Post, 16 October 2009. "". Accessed 23 January 2010.

Instruments

In addition to singing, Paula performs on numerous different instruments throughout her songs, including her main instrument, piano, as well as a Roland Juno synthesizer, Juno bass, tube Wurlitzer, harmonium, beat boxing vocals, toy xylophone, didjeridoo, clarinet, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Rhodes bass, Moog synthesizer, and low tuned-electric guitar in different songs. She was endorsed by Ephiphone guitars and for years played Baldwin pianos.

Current status

Cole performed a two-hour set at Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts on February 16, 2007 during which she debuted several songs from her then yet to be released fourth studio album, Courage. The set began with a solo piano version of "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" which was replayed toward the end of the concert by the full band. Her performance was reviewed favorably in The Boston Globe on February 19, 2007.Rodman, Sarah (February 19, 2007). "Returning to the limelight, Cole is as striking as ever". The Boston Globe, Living/Arts

In March 2007, her official previewed three new songs from Courage, which include "Comin' Down", "El Greco", and the album's first single entitled "14".

On July 10, 2007 Cole sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch of the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In August 2007, Cole toured with Mandy Moore, playing mid-size venues in the western United States.

On June 17, 2008 she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Boston. In August 2008 and 2009, Cole continued to tour and promote her CD Courage.

Discography

Albums

*Harbinger (1994)

*This Fire (1996) U.S. #20

*Amen (1999) U.S. #97

*Greatest Hits: Postcards from East Oceanside (2006)

*Courage (2007) U.S. #163

*Ithaca (2010)

Singles

References

This text has been derived from Paula Cole on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0