I have been a fan of Amanda's really since Who Killed Amanda Palmer from 2008.
I enjoyed The Dresden Dolls, but I never got attached to any of their albums like I did with WKAP and then Theatre is Evil I thought was even better than WKAP.
Her use orchestral elements and the melodies especially often stayed with me.
Now with her new record There Will Be No Intermission, it seems more stripped back and overtly more singer/songwriter.
Almost in some ways, a response to the people who gave her shit on the TiE tour by asking musicians to play with her without being paid; ala Fuck You to all the critics. Basically saying I can write music where I don't necessarily need all those extra musicians, etc.
Which if that is the case, I can respect that, but ultimately for me, it comes down to the music. And often with her singer/songwriter and more stripped-down acoustic, lyrical music, it can be hit or miss for me.
I mean I enjoy the Ukele Anthem because the lyrics are funny and inspiring, but this album, many of the songs are more blah, blah, blah and they don't really go too far (the last track talks about diapers and other motherhood things, that is nice, but not necessarily something that I can relate to).
I do enjoy the single she put out a couple of months ago "Drowning in the Sound" but that is kind of the 1 track I keep going back to.
I will say, in fairness, I have not listened to the whole thing yet as this past week I didn't have enough time, and had some other stuff to listen to as well. But the two times I tried listening to it from the start, I honestly struggled with a lot of it. Even the little instrumental parts kind of go in 1 ear and out the other.
As I wrote on rym, she can't win em all.
At least I didn't put a lot of $ into preordering an album I may ultimately not care for that much. That and the fact it's not like I was anticipating this album for months, like probably thousands of her other fans have.
I like her and a lot of her music, but her Social Media activity can be pretty flood-filled, I gave up trying to follow her on Twitter and FB.
And I would agree for someone new to her, definitely check out Theatre is Evil 1st (and Who Killed Amanda Palmer soon after).