Donnie's voice sounds like a cross between Bob Dylan and a weakened Neil Young, but much like Bob Dylan before him, it's the perfect vehicle for his material. On this album Donnie bares his soul -- listening to his music is like awkwardly being trapped with a stranger you run into, obviously a little off center, who rattles on providing too much information about his innermost feelings. But no other artist I have heard captures the angst of adolescence quite as well as Donnie, and his sense of melody, his ability to convey complex feelings with the simplest language, is brilliant. 

Strange, moving, disturbing stuff, an emotional car wreck that you just can't look away from. If you like the off beat and stark emotional honesty in your music, check him out.
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I'm a Donnie Witt fan, but I know what I like by the guy and what I don't. This is one album I like. I don't see him as a novelty or an oddball in the music-world; I take his musical offerings to heart and judge them according to my own tastes, filing them along with the rest of the history of music to which he belongs. I've listened to outsider a few times already, and, well, this is what I think of it. This album tells the story of a man who watches the world from a unique perspective. Donnie's voice is very unique. It is on this cd that he strains and pushes himself to a new level of songwriting. This is an essential album for serious fans and collectors of Donnie's music. I wouldn't know what to recommend as a good introduction to Donnie Witt. This is a good overall cd and probably has the highest quality recordings so far. "Delicate Ordinary Need" might also be a great starter -- the third song on that album, "Old Friend", is a classic Witt song and a great way to get introduced to him -- but outsider does have some elements that are not available in his other albums, which places it high on my list.
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I think I heard it in a movie once that maybe the books we read choose us. This is the recollection I had when picking up Donnie's "Outsider" CD at a local music store. I really didn't know what to expect. Outsider was my introduction to this unbelievably eloquent lyricist. All 15 tracks were done by Witt and no one else. Listening to them made me feel like I had discovered a treasure chest of priceless feelings. In todays image and commercially driven music scene it's really difficult to think of anything that could compare with the creativity I heard on this album (CD). It would be wrong to point out which songs are the best on this album because every thing on here is GREAT!
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This album captures a summer of musicality in the life of a young, unabashed songwriter. After first hearing about Witt on the internet, I was compelled to pick up some of his music. His work is extremely raw and revealing. There is a level of intimacy seldom conveyed in recorded music. It is not something that you would or could listen to constantly but it is powerful while you do. My emotional response when listening has ranged from outright joy to subtle embarrassment. Again, you will inevitably be taken aback by the vulnerability in the music, especially on tracks like "Outsider To The City" where Donnie speaks about being easily replaced and feeling erased in time. He has this mixed level of enthusiasm and sadness to his songsas if he were in his own world. Not for everyone but very important to some.
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