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Ghost Stories | 
 enlarge | Artist: Amanda Ghost
Label: Warner Bros UK
Category: Music
List Price: $22.98
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $22.97 (100%)
New (17) Used (55) Collectible (2) from $0.01
Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 126875
Format: Enhanced, Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 093624766322
EAN: 0093624766322
ASIN: B00004U9ZJ
Release Date: September 12, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Filthy Mind | | • | Idol | | • | Glory Girl | | • | The Wrong Man | | • | Cellophane | | • | Blind Man | | • | Silver Lining | | • | Empty | | • | A Child Believes | | • | Numb |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 50 more reviews...
 I can't get enough of this CD! July 5, 2006
Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I discovered Amanda Ghost's music by accident, and I liked her brand of edgy pop/rock so much that I had to buy her CD. Her voice has the purity of a pop star, but her music, all composed and written by Ghost herself, has the range of a true musician. The most well-known cut, "Idol," and the less played "Glory Girl" are perfect for the pop airwaves, while the edgy "Filthy Mind" and the haunting "Cellophane" sound more like alternative rock. "Empty" is reminiscent of the classical instrument-driven, sultry rock of Rasputina. In the end, though, Amanda Ghost has her own sound which makes this CD stand out from other artists.
The best part of Ghost's music is the marriage between excellent music and equally accomplished lyrics. Too often artists emphasize sound over substance, and as a result, they don't lend themselves well to multiple listenings. Ghost is an exception. "Wrong Man" equates one-night stands with a psychological need to substitute physical contact for emotional stability: "No matter what I say, you're just filling a void in me." In fact, many of the songs deal with the human desire to numb oneself to reality. Not only does "Numb" bemoan that Ghost is "falling out of love with you/I'll find defenses," but "Empty" declares "tonight I'm yours, but I don't feel it," and in "Cellophane" claims that "nobody moves me." "Blind Man" is a supposedly an attack on soulless music executives: "It must be wonderful/To think you know it all." Despite the recurrent themes, each cut sound distinctive. You won't finish this CD thinking that all the songs sound alike.
Amanda Ghost deserves all the listeners she can get. I only hope that she continues her maturation as an artist.
Their loss November 15, 2005
Jim Boles
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Can't believe that the CD is going for 39 cents at 11/05. This is a great work. It is a shame that the CD was mismanaged, or, we all just pasted it up somehow. Hey, you've got little to lose. Get this CD.
What is it like...? Well, maybe just a little to truthful for most of us most of the time. Or, maybe just explores where most pop stuff just skims.
My theory of life is that most of us prefer to skim and that is why this CD failed to reach us.
39 cents .... give me a break.
 Visceral, moving. October 28, 2005
Stephen Doig (New Zealand)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Amanda Ghost is a British recording artist of Indian and Spanish descent who writes dramatic, bittersweet and beautiful pop songs. She is also the woman behind James Blunt's recent hit single 'Beautiful'. I like neither Blunt, nor that song. I am, however, irresistably drawn to this album, Amanda Ghost's 2000 debut Ghost Stories.
During the course of my working day I'm lucky enough to be able to listen to a wide variety of new music, and maybe it's the fact that I'm getting older & fussier, but I feel as though you have to listen to alot of so-so stuff in order to uncover the really good stuff. Ghost Stories is the REALLY good stuff.
In terms of her vocal style, Amanda Ghost sounds to me, somewhat bizzarely, like a cross between Alison Moyet and Shirley Bassey - suffice to say, she has a warm, full and character-rich voice that is utilized to great effect on Ghost Stories.
The pulsating 'Filthy Mind' opens proceedings and would fool many into thinking they've just purchased a Hi NRG/trance type of album instead of the pop album it really is. It's an excellent track but is the exception rather than the rule here. The following tracks 'Idol' and 'Glory Girl' are devasatingly good songs - full of impassioned singing, soaring choruses and honest, cutting lyrics. 'Blind Man' is also a stunner and provides the album's other real highlight.
Ghost Stories is pretty dark, introspective stuff, but crucially, it is also frequently electrifyingly beautiful - the sort of music that gets you in the guts and taps your emotions with the greatest of ease. A month ago, Amanda Ghost didn't even exist in my consciousness - now she seems to have direct access to the pleasure centers in my brain.
Ghost Stories has already become a firm favourite in my record collection and I can't wait for the new one - scheduled for release this year!
Will Amanda Ghost find her audience? August 2, 2005
A. Griffiths (London)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I had never heard of Amanda Ghost until I heard the track "Cellophane" while listening to the original soundtrack to the movie "Sweet November", and I thought it was exceptional - obviously quite personal and really poignant lyrically, but with a hard and uncompromising edge. It made me want to seek out more by this performer, and I wasn't disappointed with her album.
"Cellophane" is still my favourite track, I love the bitter helplessness of Amanda's vocal delivery. But the other tracks on the album are equally strong and each one has a character of it's own. Amanda's voice is quite gravelly, and comparisons have been made to Belinda Carlise and Bonnie Tyler (not in musical style, obviously, just voice similarity), which are fair enough to give you an idea. It's a vocal style that best suits the darker material that Amanda is highly capable of writing, otherwise she risks sounding like everybody else in this overcrowded market. The opening track "Filthy Mind" is among the best examples of what she can do, it's suprisingly danceable but with a dirty punk feel to it like - a bit like the great early songs by Curve. A shame she does not reproduce this style in the rest of the album, as some of the tunes are a bit flat in places, like the song "Idol", which has a very bland sing-song chorus that renders Amanda's voice totally unremarkeable. Her songs need to be edgier than this to really grab the listener's attention.
Luckily there are better ones. Aside from that great opening number mentioned above, "Glory Girl" and "Wrong Man" also fare better, even though the former actually takes on quite a positive mood, Amanda has a way of writing enigmatic lyrics that withstand different ways of interpretation. And that's quite a talent, it means each listener finds what they want when playing this album. It also helps that the sleeve and packaging is quite minimal, featuring just one distorted image of the artist, which is a brave marketing move for an unknown artist, but it pays off in my opinion.
I hope to hear a second album by this singer soon, if she mines deeper into her fertile imagination and doesn't go soft with the musical production (this album has excellent production when it tries), it will be even better than the first.
Britain's Amanda Ghost has the voice, the talent, and the presence of a star July 30, 2005
J. Mcclary (LA, USA)
With the husk of Janis Joplin, the vulnerability of Victoria Williams, the rasp of Joan Osborne, the melancholy of Robert Smith, the emotional timbre of Laura Branigan, the dramatic appeal of Edith Piaf, and the resignation of Marianne Faithfull - too many cigarettes, too much booze, too many disappointments - Ghost's voice is confessional without being self-pitying, strong while still being warm, confrontational while simultaneously asking for compassion. She faces you with her experience and offers no apologies.
A born storyteller, her voice conveys tales most people don't have the imagination to imagine. Ghost Stories, her debut, is a journey, emotionally and aurally. Each cut takes a moment to grab you, but just as you're reaching to hit rewind because you have got to hear that last song one more time, the next track grips you and you can't change it. Despite the coldness of some techno touches (the captivating "Blind Man" could be a big dance anthem, and "Numb" is like a techno/lounge march), there is something innately human about the entire album - vocals, lyrics, and production.
Something of a torch singer, Ghost goes from tough "Filthy Mind" to tender "Idol" to romantic "Glory Girl," and then she turns it all around to find something nostalgic and evocative in the simplicity of the melodies of "Blind Man," "Silver Lining," "Empty," and "A Child Believes."
This is a solid, confident debut that will be difficult to follow up.
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