Stag (Amy Ray album) explained

Stag
Type:Studio
Artist:Amy Ray
Cover:Amy_Ray_-_Stag.jpg
Alt:A red-tinted photo of two persons dancing
Genre:Folk punk
Label:Daemon
Next Title:Prom
Next Year:2005

Stag is the debut solo album by Amy Ray of Indigo Girls, released in 2001 on her Daemon Records label. Ray is accompanied by the Butchies, the Rockateens, Joan Jett, Josephine Wiggs and Kate Schellenbach on the album. She attributes the Butchies with contributing a punk rock influence to some of the songs.

Reception

Stag received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 11 reviews. Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this album four out of five stars, with critic Kelly McCartney calling this music worth listening to for Ray's ability to express herself purely as a musician "from political outrage to self-doubt, from hardcore guitars to mandolins". A PopMatters review informs Indigo Girls fans that they will find this album to be a "snarling, beautiful surprise". In Rolling Stone, David Peisner notes that while Ray's tone and musical genre have changed, her interests as a songwriter and activist have not, writing, "she covers familiar ideological turf here, but her assaults on sexism, prejudice and general hate-mongering take on a distinctly personal spin". Billboard highlighted this release, noting that Indigo Girls fans have awaited a chance to hear Ray's rock influences for a decade and summing up the review that this is "an extraordinarily potent recording, one that will likely be among 2001's best".

Track listing

All songs written by Amy Ray, except where noted.

  1. "Johnny Rottentail" – 2:00
  2. "Laramie" – 5:10
  3. "Lucystoners" – 3:56
  4. "Hey Castrator" – 4:05
  5. "Late Bloom" – 2:24
  6. "Measure of Me" (Amy Ray and Kaia Wilson) – 5:55
  7. "Black Heart Today" – 2:10
  8. "Mtns of Glory" – 2:11
  9. "Lazyboy" – 3:05
  10. "On Your Honor" – 4:01

Personnel