Bachelor No. 2

1	How I Am Different 5:03
2	Nothing Is Good Enough 3:10
3	Red Vines 3:44
4	The Fall of the World's Own Optimist 3:06
5	Satellite 4:10
6	Deathly 5:37
7	Ghost World 3:30
8	Calling It Quits 4:09
9	Driving Sideways 3:49
10	Just Like Anyone 1:22
11	Susan 3:51
12	It Takes All Kinds 4:06
13	You Do 3:43

Barnes & Noble

Aimee Mann has long boasted one of power pop's most delightfully poisoned pens -- fueled as much by her nuanced take on matters of the heart as her contentious relationship with the music industry. Her triumphant third solo effort, the independently released Bachelor No. 2, finds Mann's world as lyrically edgy as ever. Coming on the heels of the hit soundtrack Magnolia, which included nine Mann songs, Bachelor refines the former 'Til Tuesday songbird's glowing pop sound -- imagine Matthew Sweet and Burt Bacharach channeling Dusty Springfield. Four songs from Magnolia reappear on Bachelor No. 2, and they all deserve another listen. "Deathly," which begins with the wining line "Now that I've met you/Would you object to/Never seeing each other again," is now layered with lush harmonies and spun around a beautifully airy chorus. The piano-based "Driving Sideways" has a swagger that recalls both Bacharach and Elvis Costello. The previously instrumental "Nothing Is Good Enough" now has lyrics, which trace a relationship -- could be music biz or personal -- gone sour, and the plaintive "You Do" makes a lovely, melancholy album-closer. New songs like "How Am I Different," "Red Vines," and "The Fall of the World's Own Optimist" confirm Mann's skill at elevating her own personal stories to a more universal level and at sewing them to melodies that just keep giving. Lydia Vanderloo

All Music Guide

It's no shock that Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2, or the last remains of the dodo sounds identical to her songs for Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, since it was written and recorded at roughly the same time (the two records share four songs). Yet Bachelor No. 2 is hardly a retread, having its own identity and flow; it's more intimate, a little more fragile, a little more craftmanslike -- more like an Aimee Mann record, really. That, of course, is not a bad thing, especially since Mann has never sounded as assured as she does here, nor has she ever had a better set of songs. Surprisingly, this cohesive album was produced by a handful of different producers and Mann collaborated with three songwriters (Jon Brion being the most noteworthy of both categories). It sounds like the work of one writer and one production team, which is testament to the fact that Mann has finally found the ideal sound to match her literate, mildly self-deprecating, clever, melancholy, melodic style. Bachelor No. 2 is crisp, clear, and direct, but deceptive. It's hardly a guitar-and-voice record, there are layers of details in the arrangements, particularly in how the various guitars and keyboards weave seamlessly together. There has never been a better sound for her songs, and she's never been more consistently compelling as a writer either. To call Bachelor No. 2 a masterpiece may be overstating the matter somewhat, since an album this unassuming (but not unconfident) is too intimate to be labeled as such, yet it isn't hyperbole to call it the finest record Mann has made to date. Stephen Thomas Erlewine