Play Me Backwards

This 1994 release finds the iconic folk singer in a pop/rock setting. Song such as "Stones in the Road", "I'm With You", and "Edge of Glory" have strong backbeats and electric guitars; "Through Your Hands" even features synthesizers. Conversely, songs such as "Isaac and Abraham" and "Steal Across the Border" hark back to a largely acoustic, folk sound. more...

On PLAY ME BACKWARDS, Baez's songs are less concerned with political issues of the day, focusing more on personal expression and inner struggle. For instance, on "The Dream Song" she sings, "I had a dream, I was following a barefoot girl...and I thought I woke and my mother was standing there...And my heart broke.".. Baez is backed here by a smartly arranged string quintet, a change of pace for the guitar-based singer. A creative and deeply poetic album, PLAY ME BACKWARDS is one of Joan Baez's most compelling later releases.

Rolling Stone (1/21/93, p.49)
- 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...her best record since her 1972 album COME FROM THE SHADOWS...Baez's singing has reached new levels of mature expressiveness. The texture of her voice may have darkened, but its beauty remains untarnished..."

Q (2/93, p.78)
- 3 Stars - Good - "...Joan Baez has succeeded against the odds with this album in adapting her straight-laced delivery to a body of songs styled in an elegantly fashionable new country vein..."