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http://www.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/e4bdf0f2cb32115e2f95727dc50516ff36eae575.jpg Gifted & Black

Nina Simone

Gifted & Black

Rolling Stone: star rating
Community: star rating
5 0 0
August 6, 1970

It's not that this album, recorded around 1967 (?), is misrepresentative of what Nina is currently up to, and does a disservice to an exceptional artist's career. It's not that the strings, which are dubbed over her piano trio are in poor, nay, bad taste. It's not that it sounds as though the recording mikes were placed down the hall from the studio, in the toilet, perhaps. It's not that "The Thrill is Gone" is absolutely the most embarrassing musical miscarriage I've ever heard. No, it's not any of these at all. It's just that this album is pisspoor.

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