Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, the Southern guitar duo better known as "The Indigo Girls," have been an international sensation for over a decade. 1200 CURFEWS captures a number of their best songs in a format that enhances the emotional impact.

The original concept for 1200 CURFEWS was to record the songs from the Indigo Girls' last CD, SWAMP OPHELIA, live in concert, but the concept expanded to include live recordings of other pieces by Saliers and Ray as well as their covers of songs by other artists. Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" and James D. Wheatherly's "Midnight Train to Georgia" are my favorite covers on this set. There are also some unusual recording locations: a radio studio, a dressing room, and, most surprisingly, Amy's basement in 1982.

While a few of the songs do not fare as well recorded live as they did recorded in a studio (including their most famous pieces, "Closer to Fine," "Ghost," and "Galileo"), I found myself completely drawn into other pieces I didn't appreciate before. This is due to a number of factors: Saliers and Ray feed off the energy of their fans (as can be heard in "Joking"), they have found deeper meaning to their pieces upon repeated performances (such as in "Power of Two" and "Language or the Kiss"), their easy-going personas shine in their interactions with the audience (exemplified in "Jonas and Ezekiel" and the introduction to "Mystery"), and/or different instrumentation has added new dimensions (most especially the plaintive saxophone in "Love's Recovery").

I'm not a huge fan of contemporary "pop" music, but this 2-CD set is a favorite album of mine. The Indigo Girls always bring an unusual variety to their albums through the combination of Ray's raw emotional outbursts and Salier's introspective observations, but these recordings capture their individual personalities and their combined philosophies (exemplified in the gender change of the Dylan song) in a way that is rare. This is a great (albeit [pricey]) way to introduce newcomers to the Indigo Girls.

"1200 Curfews" is one of the best live albums available, a retrospective examination of the Indigo Girls in the style of the definitive collection produced by Bruce Springsteen. Originally the idea was to record two shows on their "Swamp Ophelia" tour, but instead the duo decided to go with recordings from earlier concerts as well as radio broadcasts and summer shed tours, along with impromptu backstage and home performances. The songs are recorded on everything from 48 track digital machines to cheap 2 track recorders. Consequently, with "1200 Curfews" the most memorable songs are not the ones you are going to find on the Indigo Girls' other albums.

On first listening the songs that stand out are probably the cover songs performed by the Indigo Girls. The one that stands out heads and shoulders above the rest is their cover of Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue," yet another reminder that the man's ear for harmony was always vastly superior to his voice, as Peter, Paul and Mary and many others have already proven. Gerard McHugh's "Thin Line" is the song you will not recognize but instantly love, taped in a dressing room before a concert. Personally, I like their cover of Neil Young's "Down by the River," especially the guitar solo, although I recognize this is an acquired taste. "Midnight Train to Georgia," never did anything for me, but it is a nice turn of pace and one of the key things about this album is that they do include a lot of different things. There are studio and live versions of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," which has an awesome bass line and is certainly one of the more political efforts by the duo. Emily Saliers does a solo performance of Joni Mitchell's "River," which always reminds me of the "I'll Be Home for Christmas" episode of "thirtysomething" (if you have seen that one, you will remember it too).

This is not to say that there are not some fine moments on some of their better-known songs. "Least Complicated" ends with the crowd in Philadelphia continuing the "na na na na na na na" long after the song has ended. A gentle performance of "Power of Two" done for a radio show. I like the live versions of "Pushing the Needle Too Far" and "Chickenman," which convinces me that Amy Ray's singing just goes to another level in live performance. But my favorite is clearly "Strange Fire," because instead of a simple guitar duet the entire band joins in and I love the cello and violin (Jane Scarpantoni and Scarlet Rivera respectively). A very powerful version of one of their oldest songs.

The liner notes include handwritten comments on the songs by Emily and Amy that add a nice personal touch. If you have ever seen the Indigo Girls in concert you already know that they are one of the better shows you can ever hope to see. They are as committed to their music as they are to their causes and so it is no surprise that their live able is so special. For my money, this is the Indigo Girls album to have. It is certainly the one I listen to the most.

I had never heard an Indigo Girls song until June 1997, when a friend lent me "1200 Curfews." I quickly bought my own copy and have listened to all or parts of it at least once a week ever since. From the insistent opening chord of the rocker "Joking" to Emily & Amy's matchless harmony in "Power of Two" to the soaring ballad "Mystery," it puts you in the front row of the best concert you'll ever experience. Through their funny, self-deprecating stage banter and ad-libs with the audience, it's clear the Girls truly love performing and sing every note as if it were for the first time. I'm a little outside the IG demographic -- I'm a male 40-something -- but all I can say is this is one hell of an album, certainly in the take-to-desert-island class. If you want to sample IG, dive into the deep end and get this one.

If you can only have ONE Indigo Girls CD - get this. Amy and Emily are amazing singer/musician/songwriters in their studio recordings - but they are even more amazing live - and this set certainly is that. Not only do you get to hear some of their most fabulous and famous songs (as well as some lesser-known to the new indigo fan), you also get to hear some fabulous musings from them. ALSO their cover of "Tangled Up in Blue" with its break down blues section in the middle is probably the best recording ever of one of the all-time great songs. There isn't one false note on this set! Totally worth listening to over and over - it rarely leaves my CD player.

I'm usually disappointed with most performer's live albums- this is one exception. I bought this long before I saw the "Girls" in concert, but I listen to it again and again to remind me of their incredible talent to perform live.

Many of these performances are better than the studio versions-- the Dylan song, the Buffy St Marie song, and the Gladys Knight songs become their own and make this album even more enjoyable.

My husband and I love singing along with this in the car on a road trip. The music calms my infant daughter as well.

All and all, the best live album I've ever purchased and just maybe my favorite Indigo Girls album (and I've been a fan since the beginning)