Knuckle Down

Knuckle Down
Studio album by Ani DiFranco
Released	January 25, 2005
Genre	Indie rock Folk rock
Length	57:07
Label	Righteous Babe
Producer	Ani DiFranco Joe Henry
Ani DiFranco chronology
Educated Guess (2004) Knuckle Down (2005) Reprieve (2006)

Knuckle Down is the fourteenth studio album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. It is the first album that DiFranco has collaborated with a producer; Joe Henry. The record is also her first studio album to feature a string section. It is considered among her most accessible records, and compared to the stark Educated Guess, it is more abundantly produced.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(73/100)[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B[3]
Filter	84%[2]
musicOMH	(positive)[4]
Paste	[5]
PopMatters	(6/10)[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Slant	[8]
Uncut	[9]

The album so far has a score of 73 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".^[2] Billboard gave the album a favorable review and stated: "The results are a selection of high quality that veers between brightly spirited ("Manhole," "Lag Time") and somber ("Callous")."^[10] The New York Times gave it a positive review and said that DiFranco "is still self-sufficient, but an extra pair of producer's ears gives her some new dimensions."^[11]

Other reviews are very average or mixed: Mojo gave the album three stars out of five and said it was "More honed and richly-textured than former offerings."^[9] Q, however, gave it two stars out of five and called it "Deliberately sparse and bare."^[2]

Track listing

1. "Knuckle Down" – 4:34
2. "Studying Stones" – 3:53
3. "Manhole" – 3:45
4. "Sunday Morning" – 4:49
5. "Modulation" – 4:31
6. "Seeing Eye Dog" – 4:02
7. "Lag Time" – 5:13
8. "Parameters" – 5:58
9. "Callous" – 5:46
10. "Paradigm" – 4:33
11. "Minerva" – 4:55
12. "Recoil" – 5:08

Personnel

• Ani DiFranco – guitar, vocals
• Jay Bellerose – percussion, drums
• Andrew Bird – violin, Glockenspiel, whistling
• Tony Scherr – electric guitar
• Todd Sickafoose – Wurlitzer, string bass
• Patrick Warren – piano, sampling, Chamberlin
• Julie Wolf – melodica
• Noe Venable – vocals
• Niki Haris – vocals

Production

• Ani DiFranco – producer, design
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• S. "Husky" Hoskulds – engineer, mixing
• Jason Mott – engineer, assistant
• Danny Clinch – portrait photography
• Eric Frick – photography
• Brian Grunert – design

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2005	Australia (ARIA Albums Chart)	82[12]
2005	US (Billboard 200)	49
2005	US (Top Independent Albums)	4

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Critic reviews at Metacritic
3. "Short Takes (Ani DiFranco: Knuckle Down)". Entertainment Weekly (803): 85. 2005-01-28.
4. musicOMH review
5. Lewis, Cathering P. (2005-02-01). "Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down :: Music :: Reviews". Paste. Archived from the original on 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
6. PopMatters review
7. Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived November 21, 2007)
8. Slant review
9. Album reviews at CD Universe
10. Billboard review at the Wayback Machine (archived January 11, 2005)
11. The New York Times review
12. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.

External links

• Knuckle Down at Metacritic