Ani Difranco is a fabulous musician. I've only been listening to her music for about two years but she has become my favorite artist. Before, I tended to focus mainly on male dominated bands. I started out listening to Ani's latest cds and I've been working my way back. "Like I Said" was my last purchase and I love it. 'Both Hands' is one of my favorite songs of all time. It's a simple song musically (so simple that even I can play it on the guitar) but the lyrics and the feeling behind the music is incredibly moving to me. "Like I Said" is a cd overflowing with emotion. Some of the songs I like best on the cd are 'Gratitude', 'Fire Door', 'She Says', and 'Out of Habit'. The main reason I like her music so much is because I have been able to identify with so many of her songs. She has put into words many of the things I've wanted to say but couldn't. People tend to think that female singer/songwriters are whiny and redundant but Ani is anything but. Her music is honest and compelling and I highly recommend this cd along with any of her others.

hmmm... trying to paraphrase/describe this CD is difficult as it is difficult to put into words a CD so beautiful, so profound... "wish that i could write the words that i could say to you." (that's from one of my songs.) anyway, My absolute favorite Ani song is on this album. It is titled "Rush Hour" .. i love the dulcimers and the poetry. well, with any ani song you have the amazing mind blowing poetry. I get the impression that she was in her only serious relationship with a woman at the time she was writing the lyrics for the first album and not so soft (of which these songs are remakes of) and the stories she paints in these songs are exquisite. Let me tell you something, hearing Ani really changed my life. She helped me overcome my fear of my bisexuality... "She said forget what you had to do, pretend there's nothing outside this room. Like an idea she came to me. But she came too late, maybe too soon." hmmmm. One of the reasons why i like this album is because I think Ani has a tendency to write so much material that she feels she has to record everything she's written including her bad stuff or not so great stuff. (see dog coffee on the first album - ick.) but on this album, she managed to make her songs more succinct, sonically pleasurable, thicker, richer... it really rounded out all those amazing songs off her first two albums into songs that really mean something. I really recommend this album.

I really enjoyed all the songs on the CD and think that even as I listen to it for the hundreth time i find it amazing.

This album, in my mind, ties with Dilate as Ani DiFranco's best album. It is a softer album, also with very insightful lyrics and good-quality guitar playing. A very good collection of Ani's earlier days. My favorite lyric on this album is "We're all rehearsing for the presidency. I've always wanted to be commander and cheif of my one-woman army." from Not So Soft. I feel that this album is a staple for all Ani DiFranco fans. Once you start listening to her music, you will be hooked.

This was the first Ani CD I purchased and will always be special. It takes songs from her first 2 CD's and there isn't a bad one on here. Various styles from the spoken "Not So Soft" and "The Slant" [no-one can speak a song like Ani] to the gorgeous "Both Hands" It is unfair to pick out tracks but "Whole Night" makes me laugh & "Gratitude" is a cutting song. All Ani's songs have a story to tell and I for one will go on listening to her tales.