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List Price: $36.49 | | Label: Pione
Salesrank: 384144
Released: September 4, 1996 |
| Our Price: $48.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Japanese Version featuring Two Bonus Tracks: Airplane (Studio Version), and Whatever (Demo).
I Megaphone (+2 Bonus Tracks) Reviews:
Still Immi's finest album 
2006-09-15 - When this CD originally came out, it barely made a splash. And yet I was so knocked out by it that I ended up buying a lot of copies and giving them to people, including to some studio engineers I knew, all of whom were equally excited by it.
In this, her solo debut, an Imogen just out of performing-arts-high-school filled an album with raw energy, dark, dramatic, low-register vocals, fierce piano playing, great songwriting, and several different producers for different tracks, creating a real feast for the ears. Just put on some headphones and listen to something like "Rake It In" or "Sweet Religion" to hear the kind of production that will delight the most discriminating of listeners and keep you fascinated, listen after listen.
This is still one of my favorite albums of the past 10 or 15 years. And while I've liked most of what she's done since, there's no denying that I far prefer the darker, edgier, piano-driven Immi to the trippier, synthier, lighter-singing-in-higher-registers Immi that has predominated from Frou Frou on (although the darker, more pianistic version of Immi still emerges at times, such as in the recent "Speeding Cars" single).
I know many people younger than myself will probably disagree, but I think this is still Imogen's finest album, by far, with the newer solo album SPEAK FOR YOURSELF in second place and FrouFrou a distant third. Somehow this is her most sophisticated album in terms of variety of approach, sophistication of production style and texture, and overall energy. It is an album brimming over with talent and top-notch performance, infectiously dramatic, ambitious in scope, and the document of a hugely talented young woman proving herself.
I have great affection and respect for the Imogen of today, but there's something about this first album which is rare, fierce and valuable. If you are a fan of Immi's at all, you really owe it to yourself to have this CD, not just because this is how her whole career began, but because in certain ways this is the strongest, most audacious project she has done to date.
"Megaphone" is loud and clear. 
2004-11-10 - This is not the Imogen Heap of Frou Frou. This is Imogen Heap solo, in her enchanting debut "I Megaphone." So don't expect silky, slinky trip-hop -- Heap opts for a darker, more raw kind of music that reflects the pain in the songwriting. Sort of a Tori-Amos-meets-Fiona-Apple sound, but with a spirit all its own.
Trip-hop/piano opens the album in "Getting Scared," starting off soft and transforming into a rocker. There's a dark, intense edge to the music -- the sensuality and fire of "Come Here Boy," the rage in "Rake It In," and the snarl of "Angry Angel." While there are some softer-edged ballads, the sound is of a young woman with some emotional scars.
And added on to the Japanese import are a pair of extra tracks. The studio version of "Airplane" is a bit mediocre, not adding much to the song itself, but the demo of "Whatever" is excellent, raw and unpolished, with Heap's vocals sounding even more powerful than in many of the other songs.
When you hear how polished "I Megaphone" sounds, it's surprising that Heap was only nineteen when it was made. The English musician (the title is an anagram of her name) takes a different musical road from 95% of the pop singers out there, opting for passion and enigma, mixed in with some strong vocals and a unique blend of pop, rock and electronica.
The music is a pleasant blend of the organic piano, and the gentle trip-hop beats. Several songs are piano-based, with classically trained Heap playing her own piano melodies in songs like "Candlelight," or the percussion-piano blend of "Shine." Other songs are more based in electronic beats, but don't lose that grounded edge.
Heap's voice was a bit "young" here, though very close to maturity. It's an unusual voice for pop music, husky and quite sultry in the sexier tracks, but capable of lashing out in songs like "Getting Scared." That fire also keeps her from seeming too woe-is-poor-li'l-me. "Shine - I will not cry and I will be mine/I'll shine - shine," she tells us, right before talking about how "madness moved into my shadow." And let's not forget the angrier bits: "Who's getting scared now/Tell me, tell me how does it feel/It feels so good from where I'm standing!" she lets rip.
Imogen Heap's debut album has hints of Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, but "I Megaphone" is its own kind of music. Raw, sensual and thoroughly beautiful, this is a lost gem.
Imogen Heap "I Megaphone" (Japan import)
2000-02-29 - This is a wonderful album. The Japan-only bonus track... the demo version of "Whatever" is worth the price of the disc! It is a great version, based mostly around an acoustic guitar, instead of a her piano like the lp version. This is the only release this recording can be found on. "Airplane" is also another great non-lp track previously released on the UK single for "Shine". She has been compaired to Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette and Patti Smith... but Immi is one on her own.
