I'll make the most of it (Extraordinary Machine)

Like oh-so-many others, I too believed the gossip and rumour surrounding Fiona Apple's third album, Extraordinary Machine; namely that Sony had shelved the finished product since it was felt to not be mainstream enough. I happily downloaded the tracks that had been leaked online, played them an awfully large number of times, and barely gave Sony another thought.

On the 2nd of October I was Googling for a lyric from the album when I saw a release date noted on the webpage: October 03. Tomorrow! (There had apparently been an announcement in August which had totally passed me by.) And it would not be the same as the copy I had, as nearly all the songs had been "substantially reworked" (this is evidently what was holding up the publishing process). I scuttled off to Amazon, Play.com and CD-Wow.co.uk, all of which gave different release dates — respectively, 04/10, 11/10, and 03/10. I went for the earliest (and cheapest) and waited for my CD to arrive.

And waited. Then waited some more.

Checking my order on the 8th resulted in the discovery that the album was still considered "pre-release". All three sites had now changed the stated release date to the 11th. I grumbled a bit, but consoled myself with the thought that it would only be a few more days.

About ten more days, as it turned out, since the release date was pushed back by another week to the 17th. I don't quite understand what happened, but am uplifted by the fact that the 17th is today, and also is when the CD finally came through the door :-)

So this afternoon I've been listening to the album and, I'm sorry to say, am consequently about to give you my thoughts on all the songs as compared to the original, bootlegged versions. Sorry.

The title track, Extraordinary Machine, has been moved to track #1 in the new ordering, which seems a little strange since it hardly sets the tone of the album. This is thankfully one of the two songs that hasn't been reworked (although the vocals have been re-recorded). It's still wonderful, and it's even more wonderful having it at CD quality, which means I can actually hear all the twiddly bits and musical curlicues that escaped my ears on my downloaded copy.

Get Him Back was definitely my least-favourite song of the unofficial album, and I think the new version is a little better. I had hoped to get rid of that piano bass line and have a different drum beat to take away the clunkiness I objected to in the first place, but oh well. I do like the slower-sections to "So I say and on I go / To another one who disappoints me so".

And so to a newly sped-up version of O' Sailor, which thereby manages to knock a whole minute off the original. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's why it was done, since I can't think of any other reason. Where the original was gently shimmering and langourous, this is just slightly slower than most songs, and yet sounds rushed. I do like some of the extra tuned percussion (metallaphones) during the choruses, though.

Next, and most painful, is Better Version Of Me. There's no doubt that it is, in fact, a Worser Version. It's the only album track that actually induced face-scrunching because of how poor an adaptation it is. The beginning is curiously flat, and then Apple launches in on the off-beat, just as she did in one bootlegged copy that circled the net marked "Alternative version". It was horrible and jarring then, and I'm afraid it still is. I do quite like the instrumental section, but unfortunately it then goes into a bizarrely slow and chime-y section that I probably only don't like because it wasn't in the original. Never mind. I like the way it kicks back into the main thrust of the song again.
(It should be pointed out that BVoM was one of my favourite songs from the leaked album, so any bad points have probably been magnified.)

Tymps, previously known as Used To Love Him, is fantastic. I was smiling from the beginning to the end of this song (apart from the bizarrely intrusive electric guitar section at 1m52s). Other than that, thumbs-up. They took one of my favourite songs from the album, and made it better! And in a way that's so different I can happily have the two versions co-existing and probably regard them as different songs.

Parting Gift is entirely new to me, and is a lovely Fiona+piano ballad. 'Nuff said.

I'm torn about the reworking of Window. I can accept it if I have to, but I'd rather have the original (which probably means they're both fine but I'm biased). The first verse especially still retains the playfulness, but discards the slightly ominous feeling that the original had. I like the dramatic entry into the chorus, but then it sounds a bit too jazzy and laid-back for my liking. To be honest, it's a bit of a strange song anyway. Disregard my comments; I'm just longing for the original. I also miss the delicate, subdued ending to the bootleg copy, not replicated here since they tagged an interesting instrumental bit onto the end.

Oh Well hasn't been altered that much except for the slightly increased tempo, which I actually (shock horror) approve of. The stop-start on "what wasted unconditional love" is also good. I even prefer the (barely different) re-recorded vocals. I do, however, lean more towards the slightly less heavy styling of the original, but give me a week with this version and I won't even notice.

Please Please Please almost gave me the scrunched face again, but that's mainly because I listened to the original about four times this morning. This version isn't actually terribly different (apart from the Dr Who sound effects after "steady going nowhere"; what's with those?), and I do like the ghostly chorus of voices about 2 minutes in, and at the very very end, but I'm still sticking with the original as my first love.

Surprisingly, I really, really like the new version of Red, Red, Red. It's totally different to the original, which I liked on the first few listens but rapidly became a bit much for me. This is lovely. I'm sure it'd be repulsive to anyone who was enamoured with the original, but I never was.

I have only one thing to say about Not About Love. (Well, that's not true, but bear with me; it's more dramatic.) Where's My Cello??!? What the hell happened to the fabulous string section, where's the orchestration, why have you replaced it with electric guitars and a percussion track? What have you done to my favourite song? It's been turned into Just Another Song. With bizarre and unnecessary syncopation in the second verse. (It has an unexpectedly good bridge, given the rest of the travesty, but let's ignore that and just spit and splutter for a bit.)

And finally, we come to Waltz. Which, given that it's the other song that hasn't been reworked, is somewhat of a relief after the new Not About Love. I want to say that the sound has been enhanced, the string section has been made slightly more prominent, but I think it's just the CD vs bootleg quality at work.

(To anyone who is still waiting for their CD to arrive, or is merely curious having heard the leaked album, you can listen to 30-second snippets via the iTunes Music Store. Which I completely forgot about until yesterday afternoon, silly Cathy. The snippet they play for Please Please Please does indeed contain the Dr Who sound effects, should you be interested.)

My problem now is that I have two separate, different albums by the same person, both entitled Extraordinary Machine. How do I select one and not the other in iTunes, on my iPod, and so on? I decided I would have to rename the original version to something more inventive than "Extraordinary Machine: version 1", and decided to pick one of the song names as the new album title.

The very obvious choice, and the one I picked, is (of course) Better Version Of Me.