Amanda Palmer’s Kickstarter-Funded Album Released

September 11, 2012

Andrea Shea

Reviews are rolling in now that Boston rocker Amanda Palmer’s new indie album, “Theatre Is Evil” has been released. She’s selling it on her site, www.amandapalmer.net/shop, but it’s also available on Amazon, iTunes and via other outlets.

The chatter among her 640,000+ Twitter followers is bubbling.

WOOHOO! Downloading the b-sides to Theatre is Evil. If it is *anything* like the brilliant album, it'll be awesome. @amandapalmer— Jen (@daharaDreams) September 11, 2012
I'm totally #crancing to #TheatreIsEvil - how does @amandapalmer do that to me (US!) every time? #KermitSCREEEEAM!!— Adriene Crimson (@addycat) September 11, 2012
Oh god now I know why people are talking about crying when they hear @amandapalmer 's #TheatreIsEvil - SO GOOD— emkaydoubleyou (@emkaydoubleyou) September 11, 2012
From Palmer’s long-time friend and musical collaborator Ben Folds:
Happy record birthday @amandapalmer! You've made the record of the year! #TheatreIsEvil kiddies I'm not kidding. This is a serious record— benjamin folds (@BenFolds) September 11, 2012
From Palmer herself to her fans:
THANK YOU all of you for all the tweetage about the record spreading the word like DIY media wildfire. we're so happy today....— Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer) September 11, 2012
Anticipation and curiosity about the recording has been building for months in the wake of Palmer's $1.2 million crowd-funding campaign. She broke the record for most money raised by a musician on Kickstarter.com.
A sampling of the reviews:
The Seattle P-I says:
“I think I'm being quite honest when I say I've not heard anything like this disc before.”
The Washington Post says:
“But lyrically, Palmer is an outlier who specializes in the raw and the weird, such as the viscerally sad “Trout Heart Replica,” which draws parallels between the killing of a fish and a doomed relationship; it’s history’s only vegetarian murder ballad/love song.”
WhatCulture says:
“But just because the album is absurd, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Far from it. Theatre of Evil is a great, definitely-not-Dresden-Dolls-esque romp that shows that Amanda Palmer (and the Grand Theft Orchestra) can produce music from absolutely nothing.”
Read more previous coverage from WBUR.