''Miracle Row'' is the ninth studio album by Janis Ian, and her fourth for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, released in 1977. In contrast to her previous three albums, ''Miracle Row'' was recorded in New York City with her recent touring band and lacked the orchestration. Following her previous album ''Aftertones'', Ian would spend much time in Spanish Harlem with her mother, and aimed to capture that vibe on her new album.

Reception

''The Kingsport News'' gave the album "A" upon release, saying that Janis was "the best realist woman poet around today" and also one if its best vocalists. The ''Irving Daily News''’ Jason Christopher also praised the album, saying that Janis Ian "scored another triumph" and that the album was "highly recommended for rainy-day listening". Joe McNally writing for the '' San Antonio Express'', said that Janis "did what she did very well" and the critic admitted that he was a sucker for what she did. ''Miracle Row'', despite these positive reviews, was substantially ignored by most critics, many of whom, for example

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, did not review the album at all. ''Miracle Row'' proved a major commercial flop, failing to crack the top 40 of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' pop albums chart, whilst none of its three singles would chart anywhere except for "Will You Dance?" being a top 40 hit in Japan. It proved to be Ian's last album to dent the top 100 in the United States, for her efforts to adopt a highly commercial pop sound on her subsequent Columbia albums would gain success only in Europe and Australia, and not do so consistently even there.

Track listing

Personnel

* Janis Ian – vocals, guitar, keyboards *

Rubens Bassini Rubens Bassini (January 26, 1933 in Rio de Janeiro – September 1985) was a percussionist, who played bongos and congas above all. He played together with the band Os Ipanemas: Astor Silva; (trombone), Marinho (bass), Wilson das Neves (dr ...

– conductor, congas, percussion * Claire Bay – vocals * Phil Kraus – bass, cymbals, percussion * Jeff Layton – guitar, guitar arrangements, horn * Barry Lazarowitz – drums, percussion * Stu Woods – bass

Charts

References

{{Janis Ian 1977 albums Janis Ian albums Columbia Records albums