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Miranda Stone is an artist who should be ranked alongside Victoria Williams and Ani DiFranco, singer/songwriters who manage to find a unique perspective on the everyday events, put their own twist on it, then say exactly what we feel, using words we never would have thought of.

“20/20 in the Morning” opens the disc, describing the struggle with the one, persistent problem that seemingly cannot be conquered.  The subject here pours salt into her own wounds:

My umbrella at home in the closet with my disguise
Wind and rain wash away all the stains
That I made in my lap when I closed my eyes
This time was the last time…

Confusion and contradiction are the theme of “Emotions are a School Bus with a Drunkard at the Wheel.”  It asks the scary questions that have plagued us all at one point or another:

How can you love another person if you haven’t truly learned to love yourself?
How do you ever find forgiveness if you’ve never learned to pardon someone else?
And can you learn what generosity is even when you still deny your need?
How do you ever get a meal if all you do is bite the hand that feeds?

For the sake of saving space, I will not describe every song on this album.  There is nothing here Alanis Morrissette or Tori Amos wouldn’t be proud to call her own.  Miranda Stone could be the headliner in my imaginary festival of underrated female artists: Beki Hemingway, Eileen Rose, Rachel Kurtz, Victoria Williams, Julie Miller, and Debra Soule also come to mind.

7 Deadly Sins is an amazing piece.  Miranda Stone opens a vein and lets her emotions bleed ­ and we are the better for it.  Stone is an artist who up until now managed to sink below my radar ­ a grievous error on my part.

Brian A. Smith
28 September 2002

This is the album that Miranda Stone should have made a long time ago, and hopefully is the album that will get her noticed a bit more by the listening public.  For the past few years our favorite folk-punk from Canada has been putting out discs and hitting the club circuit, but over the past year she's been expanding her reach, and Seven Deadly Sins is her first full-length studio release.  And what a release it is!

With her trademark delivery that is most reminiscent of Ani DiFranco, Stone has put together her best effort to date.  With themes of faith, grace, sin, and redemption, she offers an interesting take on these Christian themes without falling into clichés. 

The disc starts off strongly with "20/20 in the Morning," a song about regrets.  On "Remedy" she delivers a soul-ful song that sounds a lot like some of Ashley Cleveland's best work.  Throughout the disc, Stone's own brand of folk includes touches of blues and country, and she can rock out when she feels like it.  And she even gets this year's award for hippest song title with "Emotions are a School Bus with a Drunkard at the Wheel." 

This is a marvelous disc from a fantastic singer/songwriter who is at the top of her game.  Expect big things. 

Ken Mueller 10/7/02