Track Listing

1. Looking For Elvis
2. Like Any Woman Would
3. Town Called Heartbreak
4. Play Around
5. Rainy Day Man
6. The Word
7. Bad For You
8. Run, Run, Run
9. Play It As It Lays
10. Black Ladder

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2612 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Patti Scialfa can't utter a sentence, let alone issue an entire album, without the world scanning it for Bruce Springsteen-related subtext, so on Play It as It Lays--the sharpest, most assured, and best record of her solo career--she gives up. This beautiful, world-weary record, rich in girl-group harmonies, folk-roots rhythms, and clear-eyed lyrics, gets to the heart of what it means to be in a long-term relationship, whether it's with a rock god or a shoe salesman. There are sacrifices ("Like Any Woman Would"), concessions ("Town Called Heartbreak"), thrills ("Rainy Day Man"), and long spells of casting aside wistfulness and scraping up hope ("Looking for Elvis"). Most of all, though, there is honesty. Scialfa, a longtime E-Street band member and mother to the three Springsteen teenagers, sings these songs in the dark, grainy voice that's distinguished her from the start, but here it takes on a weightier, more lived-in quality. She's as comfortable with this material as she was with her backing band for the project--Willie Weeks, Nils Lofgren, Cliff Carter, and Mr. Springsteen himself all piled into a room in her New Jersey farmhouse for the sessions, christening themselves the Whack Brothers along the way--and it shows. Play It as It Lays is Scialfa's Born in the USA; her masterpiece. --Tammy La Gorce

Patti Scialfa Photos

More from Patti Scialfa

23rd Street Lullaby

Rumble Doll

Customer Reviews

Tales from the dark side; stories for women
I had to repost the reviews and response to another reviewer on glide (dot) com on 9.18.07. I'm finally listening to this CD and it's got so many fine tracks, and the lyrics are really astounding when I listen closely. She's quite a poet, really. I will agree that as Scialfa comes into her own, no longer a backup singer, she will really blow our minds. Most admirable effort, especially on Play It As It Lays, Play Around, Bad for You and Black Ladder. These two reviewers say everything I would have said, if I knew how to say it better! Here goes:

"Posted by anne on 09/30/2007 at 10:05 AM ET
Patti Scialfa is a storyteller.In a world where "todays singer" lip synch their way to stardoom.Patti is a breath of fresh air. She tells a womans journey. She strikes a cord . Jersey100, You are right on.Bob no disrepect meant ,perhaps a woman should review this CD.

. Posted by jersey100 on 09/18/2007 at 12:56 PM ET
Contrived??? Scialfa is a confessional singer/songwriter whose lyrics are always heartfelt and based on personal experience. This album is like a short story about the ups and downs of a long-term relationship, told with incredible guts and honesty considering her day job and high-profile personal life. I think you missed the point of the album--she deliberately bows to many conventions of rock and its roots (blues). But she twists them to serve a different purpose. In "Like any Woman Would," she has a girl-group singing like a Greek Chorus behind her, deliberately tapping into "He's So Fine" territory. But they aren't singing about how fine he is, now are they? (!!!) She may be singing in character or about Mr. Scialfa, but her complaint is fairly universal among women--and hardly contrived! In one song a woman lays down the law for her faithless man. In another a woman agonizes over her own temptations. In the end the character concludes that her love is deep enough to stay in the relationship and "Play It as It Lays" This is an extremely brave album. You might not like it, you might not relate to it. But that doesn't mean it's contrived or that the artist phoned it in. There's a lot of blood on these tracks. Consider giving this one another spin. Scialfa's songs reflect the lives and concerns of women who've lived enough to gain some wisdom--and thats an under-served constituency on the airwaves. She deserves better than this dismissive review."

4-1/2 stars -- GOOD for me
For those that don't know it yet, Patti Scialfa is Bruce Springsteen's partner not only in marriage, but in music as well as a member of the E Street Band. And while her own albums have been critically acclaimed, she took her time releasing them (her solo debut Rumble Doll was released in 1993 but her sophomore set 23rd Street Lullaby didn't come out until 2004). But her latest album, Play It As It Lays, might be her best album yet.

Actually, three years off isn't a REAL long time, but it doesn't matter because there are highlights upon highlights to be found on here, like "Rainy Day Man", "Bad for You" and the title track. And if "Like Any Woman Would" makes some females take offense, all I can say is: lighten up; it's just a song. Also good are metaphors like "Looking for Elvis" and "Town Called Heartbreak".

Speaking of that song though, the only reason I knocked off half a star is because the radio edit of it at the end of the album is unnecessary. Still, despite being only ten tracks in length, Play It As It Lays is a smooth album that will make you want to do just that.

Anthony Rupert

Good Shot
This album goes good w/ her husbands release on the same label, Magic. Both conjure up images of an America gone retro.