The Divine Comedy (album)
Encyclopedia
The Divine Comedy is the actress-model-designer Milla Jovovich
's first and only official studio album
; she was billed as simply Milla for this release. The album is named after the work
of Dante Alighieri
.
Despite the positive reception, Jovovich has yet to release an official follow-up album, although she has contributed several songs in guest appearances and on various movie soundtracks over the years.
Only one music video was produced for the album in 1994: "Gentleman Who Fell", it charted at number 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
chart. "Bang Your Head" and "It's Your Life" were released as the next singles, but no music video were produced for them.
A 1998 release, The People Tree Sessions, was reportedly unauthorized, and Jovovich launched legal action in order for it to be taken off the market. In recent years, Milla has opted to release her new songs for free on her official website. With these demos, she extends to all listeners the right to re-mix the songs, but reserves the right to sell the songs, preventing unauthorized resale of her material.
after the company heard a demo she recorded. Many of the songs were co-written by 1970s Australian pop star Mark Holden
- best known currently as one of the judges on the talent show Australian Idol. Jovovich released the track "Gentleman Who Fell", with an accompanying music video
, as the sole single from the album. The music video was originally directed by Lisa Bonet
and featured Harry Dean Stanton
, but Jovovich was unsatisfied with the results and decided to film another version. The second version of "Gentleman Who Fell", a homage to Maya Deren
's short film Meshes of the Afternoon
(1943), was subsequently played on MTV
. Milla has also collaborated musically with longtime friend and musician Chris Brenner, who co-wrote with her on the Divine Comedy Album and who was the musical coordinator for the supporting tour. She and Brenner met in 1993 and have been working creatively on different ventures ever since. Following The Divine Comedy, she expressed interest in releasing a second album, having had ten songs ready for a future recording that was intended for a Summer 1996 release. However, Jovovich has yet to release a second album.
In the end, Richard G. Feldman was one of the two music producers of the album, with Rupert Hine being the other; Mark R. Holden and Richard Feldman composed songs with Jovovich writing-composing partner.
, Sinéad O'Connor
, This Mortal Coil
, and the Cocteau Twins
". After it was initially presented by SBK strictly as a pop
album, Jovovich protested, insisting on using her personal poetry for lyrics and recording her own instrumental material. Jovovich had written the songs when she was fifteen, with the exception of a Ukrainian folk song, "In a Glade", that she covered. The album features pop-infused traditional Ukrainian folk songs that led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos
and Kate Bush. Slant Magazine said about the album: "The Divine Comedy remains one of the best kept musical secrets of the 90's. Acoustic, folky, and hard to categorize, Milla's music is similar to that of Kate Bush (who she cites as a major influence) and Sarah McLachlan. Her rich voice is coupled with seldom used instruments like the mandolin, dulcimer, and flute to create an oddly unique and airy sound. The final track, In a Glade, is a beautiful traditional Ukrainian folk song that Milla sings in her native tongue."
The songs in this collection are for the most part acoustic, and are inspired by Jovovich's Slavic background, as well as from other philosophical roots based on various authors and poets she enjoys. She also credited Kate Bush
as a musical influence.
The album was released in 1994 during April 5 and 8 in CD edition. Jovovich toured the United States during most of 1994 to promote the album, opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket
and Crash Test Dummies
, as well as playing smaller acoustic sets. Jovovich had opted to perform in smaller and more intimate settings, turning down a musical appearance on Saturday Night Live
.
The Divine Comedy Tour
comprised 3 Legs and 50 Shows in total. The tour began with a small concert at the Borderline in London on 2 January 1994. The 1st leg if followed by twenty-two shows, occurred in North America, at bars and cafes. The 2nd and 3rd legs followed by fourteen shows both, occurred in North America too.
Three singles were released from the album, "Bang Your Head", "It's Your Life" and "Gentleman Who Fell", which charted at #21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
chart. Two music videos were produced for it, the first version is shown more like a children's story in color and directed by Lisa Bonet
. Milla wasn't pleased with the result and filmed another more artistic one in black and white. "Gentleman Who Fell" appears on the soundtracks for The Leading Man
and Rules of Attraction; "It's Your Life" appears on the soundtrack for the Randal Kleiser
film It's My Party
Milla also made a tour to support the album. "Bang Your Head" was released in 1994 by SBK.
"The Alien Song" is in the 1993 Richard Linklater
film Dazed and Confused
. "In a Glade" plays on many of the in-game radios in the Oblivion Lost mod of the game Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl which takes place in Ukraine.
"The Divine Comedy" is a reference to the epic poem by Dante Alighieri
of the same name. The "Divine Comedy" is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri
between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature
The poem's imaginative and allegorical
vision of the afterlife
is a culmination of the medieval world-view
as it had developed in the Western Church
. It helped establish the Tuscan dialect
in which it is written as the standardized Italian
. It is divided into three parts, the Inferno
, Purgatorio
, and Paradiso
, like Milla does in her album, the first track "Alien Song" tell's about hell (Inferno). Milla said:
Jovovich had chosen the title after seeing Russian artist Alexis Steele's proposed cover artwork sketch for the then untitled album.
called the album "remarkable", "strikingly mature and rich in invention", and as featuring "angst-laced poetry with vivid melodies and arrangements that find a common spirit in synth pop, European folk and psychedelic dream rock". CD Review also gave the album a favourable review: "This waiflike Russian emigre has modeled and made brief appearances in the films _Chaplin_ and _Dazed and Confused_. She's a decent songwriter with a poetic style (in the Kate Bush vein) and a smoky provocative voice. A wide range of exotic flavors--pipes, panflute, Eastern strings, and chants--make this first effort interesting and different from the onslaught of grrrl rock." Chicago Tribune gave the album a mixed review and said: "Backed by gently percussive arrangements spiced with unusual instruments like kalimba and harmonium, Milla impressively keeps both her imagery and her import-implying vocals in check; she's more akin to Tanita Tikaram, say, than Tori Amos (or soulmate Martha Davis, who supports Milla on the standout "Gentlemen Who Fell"). She supplies just the right touch of the dark drama suggested by the album's unnecessarily pretentious title, and gives all indications of a bright future." The Washington Post said: "is forever struggling with words and emotions on her debut album The Divine Comedy, forever trying to make sense of love or the lack of it. She never succeeds, of course, but her tenacity is what makes the album worth hearing. Evoking a curious combination of childlike innocence, Harlequin romance and hippie sentimentality, her songs are tone poems of a sort, inspired by vulnerability and wariness, sung in a small, plaintive, unguarded soprano. At times she seems hopelessly lovesick, a prime candidate for any heartbreaker's ruse, but on "You Did It All Before," "Clock," and "Don't Fade Away" she sounds a lot older and wiser, no stranger to hurt and disillusionment." Let It Rock said: "Milla Jovovich is not only attractive to the eye, but also pleasing to the ear. Her songs take form in fairytale poetry, as if she were some medieval storybook princess, held captive against her will in a Dragon's Lair. Authentic Russian acoustic instruments create a soundscape of delicate beauty, ethereal, yet soulful and heartfelt. An original". Microsoft Music Central said the album: "At times it's all too ethereal for its own good (though the second half is brighter and catchier), or a tad adolescent (she's still only 18). Milla already floats like a butterfly; now she needs to sting like a bee. Better will come".
Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
's first and only official studio album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
; she was billed as simply Milla for this release. The album is named after the work
The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature...
of Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
.
Despite the positive reception, Jovovich has yet to release an official follow-up album, although she has contributed several songs in guest appearances and on various movie soundtracks over the years.
Only one music video was produced for the album in 1994: "Gentleman Who Fell", it charted at number 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart. "Bang Your Head" and "It's Your Life" were released as the next singles, but no music video were produced for them.
A 1998 release, The People Tree Sessions, was reportedly unauthorized, and Jovovich launched legal action in order for it to be taken off the market. In recent years, Milla has opted to release her new songs for free on her official website. With these demos, she extends to all listeners the right to re-mix the songs, but reserves the right to sell the songs, preventing unauthorized resale of her material.
Background and production
Jovovich had begun working on a music album as early as 1988, when she was signed by SBK RecordsSBK Records
SBK Records was a record label of the EMI Group that was founded in 1988.Stephen Swid, Martin Bandier, and Charles Koppelman formed the production company SBK in 1989 after they purchased the music publishing division of CBS Records in 1986....
after the company heard a demo she recorded. Many of the songs were co-written by 1970s Australian pop star Mark Holden
Mark Holden
Mark Holden is an Australian singer, television personality and barrister. He was one of a panel of three judges on the television series Australian Idol.-Acting career:...
- best known currently as one of the judges on the talent show Australian Idol. Jovovich released the track "Gentleman Who Fell", with an accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, as the sole single from the album. The music video was originally directed by Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet , also known as Lilakoi Moon, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Denise Huxtable Kendall on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and originally starring in its spinoff A Different World.-Early life:Bonet was born in San Francisco, California...
and featured Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
, but Jovovich was unsatisfied with the results and decided to film another version. The second version of "Gentleman Who Fell", a homage to Maya Deren
Maya Deren
Maya Deren , born Eleanora Derenkowsky, was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist of the 1940s and 1950s...
's short film Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon is a short experimental film directed by wife and husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a...
(1943), was subsequently played on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Milla has also collaborated musically with longtime friend and musician Chris Brenner, who co-wrote with her on the Divine Comedy Album and who was the musical coordinator for the supporting tour. She and Brenner met in 1993 and have been working creatively on different ventures ever since. Following The Divine Comedy, she expressed interest in releasing a second album, having had ten songs ready for a future recording that was intended for a Summer 1996 release. However, Jovovich has yet to release a second album.
In the end, Richard G. Feldman was one of the two music producers of the album, with Rupert Hine being the other; Mark R. Holden and Richard Feldman composed songs with Jovovich writing-composing partner.
Music and lyrics
In August 1990, she asserted in an interview that the then-forthcoming album would be "a mix between Kate BushKate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
, This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil was a gothic dream pop supergroup led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were technically the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating cast of supporting artists, many of whom...
, and the Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
". After it was initially presented by SBK strictly as a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
album, Jovovich protested, insisting on using her personal poetry for lyrics and recording her own instrumental material. Jovovich had written the songs when she was fifteen, with the exception of a Ukrainian folk song, "In a Glade", that she covered. The album features pop-infused traditional Ukrainian folk songs that led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
and Kate Bush. Slant Magazine said about the album: "The Divine Comedy remains one of the best kept musical secrets of the 90's. Acoustic, folky, and hard to categorize, Milla's music is similar to that of Kate Bush (who she cites as a major influence) and Sarah McLachlan. Her rich voice is coupled with seldom used instruments like the mandolin, dulcimer, and flute to create an oddly unique and airy sound. The final track, In a Glade, is a beautiful traditional Ukrainian folk song that Milla sings in her native tongue."
The songs in this collection are for the most part acoustic, and are inspired by Jovovich's Slavic background, as well as from other philosophical roots based on various authors and poets she enjoys. She also credited Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
as a musical influence.
Release and promotion
Before the album's release, SBK Records released an EP called "Music from the forthcoming album "The Divine Comedy" featuring five songs from the album, they were: "Gentleman Who Fell", "It's Your Life", "Bang Your Head", "Clock" and the traditional song "In a Glade".The album was released in 1994 during April 5 and 8 in CD edition. Jovovich toured the United States during most of 1994 to promote the album, opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986. The band consists of singer/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss. The band enjoyed chart success in the 1990s with the singles "Walk on the Ocean," "All I Want,"...
and Crash Test Dummies
Crash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...
, as well as playing smaller acoustic sets. Jovovich had opted to perform in smaller and more intimate settings, turning down a musical appearance on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
.
The Divine Comedy Tour
The Divine Comedy Tour
The Divine Comedy Tour was a 1994 concert tour by Milla Jovovich.-History:The Divine Comedy Tour comprised 3 legs and 50 shows in total.The tour began with a small concert at the Borderline in London on January 2, 1994....
comprised 3 Legs and 50 Shows in total. The tour began with a small concert at the Borderline in London on 2 January 1994. The 1st leg if followed by twenty-two shows, occurred in North America, at bars and cafes. The 2nd and 3rd legs followed by fourteen shows both, occurred in North America too.
Three singles were released from the album, "Bang Your Head", "It's Your Life" and "Gentleman Who Fell", which charted at #21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart. Two music videos were produced for it, the first version is shown more like a children's story in color and directed by Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet , also known as Lilakoi Moon, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Denise Huxtable Kendall on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and originally starring in its spinoff A Different World.-Early life:Bonet was born in San Francisco, California...
. Milla wasn't pleased with the result and filmed another more artistic one in black and white. "Gentleman Who Fell" appears on the soundtracks for The Leading Man
The Leading Man
The Leading Man is a 1996 British romantic drama film directed by John Duigan. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996 but was not released in the United States until March 1998. The film is set in London in the winter.-Plot:...
and Rules of Attraction; "It's Your Life" appears on the soundtrack for the Randal Kleiser
Randal Kleiser
John Randal Kleiser is an American film director and producer, perhaps best known for directing the 1978 musical film Grease.-Life and career:...
film It's My Party
It's My Party
It's My Party may refer to:*"It's My Party" , a 1963 number-one single by Lesley Gore*It's My Party , a 1996 film*It's My Party , a weekly reality TV show broadcast by RTÉ in summer 2006...
Milla also made a tour to support the album. "Bang Your Head" was released in 1994 by SBK.
"The Alien Song" is in the 1993 Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
film Dazed and Confused
Dazed and Confused
"Dazed and Confused" is a song by Jake Holmes, which was covered by The Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin who hold a separate copyright on the song.-Jake Holmes:...
. "In a Glade" plays on many of the in-game radios in the Oblivion Lost mod of the game Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl which takes place in Ukraine.
"The Divine Comedy" is a reference to the epic poem by Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
of the same name. The "Divine Comedy" is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature
Italian literature
Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....
The poem's imaginative and allegorical
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
vision of the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
is a culmination of the medieval world-view
Medieval philosophy
Medieval philosophy is the philosophy in the era now known as medieval or the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD to the Renaissance in the sixteenth century...
as it had developed in the Western Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. It helped establish the Tuscan dialect
Tuscan dialect
The Tuscan language , or the Tuscan dialect is an Italo-Dalmatian language spoken in Tuscany, Italy.Standard Italian is based on Tuscan, specifically on its Florentine variety...
in which it is written as the standardized Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. It is divided into three parts, the Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as...
, Purgatorio
Purgatorio
Purgatorio is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno, and preceding the Paradiso. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of Dante up the Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil...
, and Paradiso
Paradiso (Dante)
Paradiso is the third and final part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno and the Purgatorio. It is an allegory telling of Dante's journey through Heaven, guided by Beatrice, who symbolises theology...
, like Milla does in her album, the first track "Alien Song" tell's about hell (Inferno). Milla said:
"When I was first working on the sketch for the album cover my mom introduced me to a young Russian artist named Alexis Steele. I looked at his sketch for the cover and I saw that struggle - all the struggle that I'm singing about. It IS the divine comedy."
Jovovich had chosen the title after seeing Russian artist Alexis Steele's proposed cover artwork sketch for the then untitled album.
Reception
Jovovich had to fight for her rights to have her own music released. While the album was not a commercial success, it was highly praised and well-received by critics. Allmusic gave a favourable review: " the good results of The Divine Comedy are not as common. Produced by Rupert Hine, the album is a low-key, laid-back affair featuring guest appearances by Eric Bazilian and Martha Davis. Milla has a pleasant voice and above-average songwriting ability, and the songs are organic, light, airy concoctions that work well in their understated settings. The jaunty, folk-inflected "Gentlemen Who Fell" was an alternative rock hit. Other noteworthy cuts include the otherworldly "The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen)" and the medieval "Charlie." John McAlley of Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
called the album "remarkable", "strikingly mature and rich in invention", and as featuring "angst-laced poetry with vivid melodies and arrangements that find a common spirit in synth pop, European folk and psychedelic dream rock". CD Review also gave the album a favourable review: "This waiflike Russian emigre has modeled and made brief appearances in the films _Chaplin_ and _Dazed and Confused_. She's a decent songwriter with a poetic style (in the Kate Bush vein) and a smoky provocative voice. A wide range of exotic flavors--pipes, panflute, Eastern strings, and chants--make this first effort interesting and different from the onslaught of grrrl rock." Chicago Tribune gave the album a mixed review and said: "Backed by gently percussive arrangements spiced with unusual instruments like kalimba and harmonium, Milla impressively keeps both her imagery and her import-implying vocals in check; she's more akin to Tanita Tikaram, say, than Tori Amos (or soulmate Martha Davis, who supports Milla on the standout "Gentlemen Who Fell"). She supplies just the right touch of the dark drama suggested by the album's unnecessarily pretentious title, and gives all indications of a bright future." The Washington Post said: "is forever struggling with words and emotions on her debut album The Divine Comedy, forever trying to make sense of love or the lack of it. She never succeeds, of course, but her tenacity is what makes the album worth hearing. Evoking a curious combination of childlike innocence, Harlequin romance and hippie sentimentality, her songs are tone poems of a sort, inspired by vulnerability and wariness, sung in a small, plaintive, unguarded soprano. At times she seems hopelessly lovesick, a prime candidate for any heartbreaker's ruse, but on "You Did It All Before," "Clock," and "Don't Fade Away" she sounds a lot older and wiser, no stranger to hurt and disillusionment." Let It Rock said: "Milla Jovovich is not only attractive to the eye, but also pleasing to the ear. Her songs take form in fairytale poetry, as if she were some medieval storybook princess, held captive against her will in a Dragon's Lair. Authentic Russian acoustic instruments create a soundscape of delicate beauty, ethereal, yet soulful and heartfelt. An original". Microsoft Music Central said the album: "At times it's all too ethereal for its own good (though the second half is brighter and catchier), or a tad adolescent (she's still only 18). Milla already floats like a butterfly; now she needs to sting like a bee. Better will come".
Accolades
On the 9th anniversary of the album, Slant magazine named Milla's The Divine Comedy to their list of 50 Essential Pop albums, they said: "Though some of the singer's lyrics can err on the loopy side (the songs were written when she was just 15, recorded when she was 16, and released by the time she was legal, which, I suppose, makes this the sole "teen pop" selection on our Vital Pop list), Milla's messages are mostly conveyed through passion, not words, a claim only the finest performers can make. The listener is transported into Milla's medieval faerie land of Russian folk influences and contemporary synth-pop via a series of eclectic yet seamless tracks like the mesmerizing "Charlie" and the dramatic "Don't Fade Away" (produced by Richard Feldman and Rupert Hine, respectively. Feldman's tracks have a more Celtic sound while Hine's are more pop-friendly and otherworldly). Although many were quick to dismiss Milla for attempting to crossover into yet another industry (she has since gone on to headline the Resident Evil film franchise and continues to record music independently), The Divine Comedy stands as one of the best lost pop albums of the '90s."Track listing
Unreleased Tracks
- Gentleman Who Fell (Acoustic)
- Can You Bend Your Back Like This? (live)
- Come As You Like (live)
- Falling (live)
- Precious Time (live)
- Strange Behavior (live)
Credits and personnel
- Milla JovovichMilla JovovichMilla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
- main vocals - Chris Brenner - keyboard, mandolin
- Bjorn Myers - bass guitar
- David Limerick - acoustic and electric guitar
- Johna Dean - violin, mandolin, key fiddle
Charts
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Heatseekers Charts | 23 |
Release history
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Austria | April 8, 1994 |
| Denmark | |
| France | |
| Ireland | |
| Italy | |
| Netherlands | |
| Switzerland | |
| Finland | April 5, 1994 |
| Greece | |
| Norway | |
| Portugal | |
| Spain | |
| Sweden | |
| United Kingdom |