No it wasn't me, I do listen to Sheryl Crow but never got a similarity from this album. On this nomination I hated Lucinda's voice except in some of the choruses. It felt like a 45rpm being played at 33 to me.Lucinda Williams has a great unconventional voice. @Citizen of Legoland said that it sounded like Sheryl Crow and he’s on the money in terms of the voice, because she does sound very much like her on a lot of tracks.
Nope, sorry but so far it's not for me. I really wanted to like this but just found it all a bit dull, nothing grabbed me, all run of the mill stuff but then I'm no expert on this genre although I will listen to Sheryl Crowe (is that the same genre, I don't know?).
Yes, I know you said you didn't like it, but you did mention Sheryl Crow, although re-reading your comment I accept that you didn't say anything about a similarity in voices.No it wasn't me, I do listen to Sheryl Crow but never got a similarity from this album. On this nomination I hated Lucinda's voice except in some of the choruses. It felt like a 45rpm being played at 33 to me.
I thought she sounded like Nena on one of the tracks, 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten or was it Drunken Angel?Yes, I know you said you didn't like it, but you did mention Sheryl Crow, although re-reading your comment I accept that you didn't say anything about a similarity in voices.
But for me there is definitely a similarity in voices, particularly across the first 6 tracks.
Probably "Drunken Angel" re-listening to the two tracks, but then I've only heard one Nena song :)I thought she sounded like Nena on one of the tracks, 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten or was it Drunken Angel?
Fantastic review. I love the dobro too! I’ve been getting into more bluegrass as I’ve aged. Banjos are fun as well.Car Wheels on a Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams
In a previous review I mentioned “grit” and subsequently struggled to explain exactly what I meant. Well, this album has it in spades: an unconventional voice, rustic instruments that sound real, a well-produced album that doesn’t sound like it’s been over-produced and lyrics that talk of people and places that you can picture, or at least imagine.
I made so many notes whilst listening to this that I’d bore you all to tears if I wrote it all here, so I’ll just give you the highlights.
“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” – fantastic - the mandolin after each chorus gives it a great feel.
“2 Kool 2 be 4-Gotten” - Despite the awful title and worse syntax this is a nice spritely/poppy number, giving a real flavour of the South with its mention of “taking up serpents”, june bugs and hurricanes.
“Can’t Let Go” – superb song and blues guitar, but it’s a pity that it’s a cover version. I always feel a little cheated when I love a song that I hear for the first time and then find out it’s not the artist’s own. However, it is a great performance and one cover in a collection of otherwise original songs is fair enough.
“Joy” – I love the vocals and guitars. Listen carefully at the start of the song – you can hear the dobro in the left speaker and the electric guitar on the right.
There are a few songs on here that on my first listen, I thought sounded “a bit too country” even for me. But I was wrong, even these songs are elevated by the accordion, the dobro, the mandolin, Lucinda Williams’ voice or some other element that makes you sit up and take notice.
There are so many things that I love about this album because it’s right up my street. I love albums that make good use of accordion, mandolin and what is probably my favourite instrument in music: the resonator/dobro. It’s such an amazing sound that I could listen to it all day. Added to this “sonic pallette” is the lyrics, which mention people, places, travel, geography – again, all things that I love about good songs.
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Lucinda Williams has a great unconventional voice. @Citizen of Legoland said that it sounded like Sheryl Crow and he’s on the money in terms of the voice, because she does sound very much like her on a lot of tracks.
Having Roy Bittan (Springsteen’s long-time piano player) play Hammond and accordion on the album is another plus, as is having the great Steve Earle producing.
At first, I was thinking an 8 or a 9 for this, but even the songs that I thought were weaker grabbed me on the second and third listens. If I was weighing this against the very best albums in my collection, this would probably still be a 9, but I don’t think anybody could nominate a better album I haven’t heard before, so for the purposes of this thread, for the first time, I’ll go the full 10/10.
Well done @bennyboy, a superb choice (chef’s kiss).
Glad you have come across so to speak Fog and speaking of your name I would be staggered if you haven't listened to The Foggy Mountain Boys.Fantastic review. I love the dobro too! I’ve been getting into more bluegrass as I’ve aged. Banjos are fun as well.
It’s somewhat bewildering how this record is so championed — top 100 all-time Rolling Stone, winner of the year’s Pazz & Jop poll, Grammy-winner, universally-acclaimed by nearly every critic as meaningful. But then again, it isn’t. What marks records like this as special is how it defies characterization, and even on this thread no one can decide if this is country or pop or maybe even roots rock or Mississippi blues. Hell, it won a Grammy for FOLK. The reality is it’s all these things.
While I might argue LW’s voice is too far forward in the production, I’m okay with that, because that’s the unifier of the disparate threads of the music. That and her lyrics, which no one has mentioned, which are filled with some terrific imagery about longing and even lust (for a country singer). It’s also at least as much of a sparkling travelogue as Joni Mitchell’s Hejira, though it probably helps that I’ve been nearly everywhere LW references (my Granny was from Thibodaux, Louisiana). So I can see why critics loved this — it’s the total package: fresh but steeped in roots music, its own animal, sing by a fiercely independent but also vulnerable artist. And the hooks. Did I mention the hooks?
There isn’t a clunker on this record save for maybe Greenville, which ain’t bad but moves too slowly and pedestrian-ly for me. It’s missing the unifying instrument here, which isn’t “a guitar in your hand” but percussive. The beat and snap of the drums sure aren’t folk, are too fast/slow for country, but go deeper than traditional rock or pop. You layer on a lot of great chords confidently played and mix in a variety of other instruments and some very pleasing harmonic fills and that’s a good recipe for music I like.
LW sounds like she’s singing from a deeper place than traditional country singers, as if she’s really working, and as if her heart really does ache physically. I believe her. I absolutely love the opener where she describes in great detail how she gets ready to go to bed . . . alone. I love the title track too, and Lake Charles could be recommended to Donald Fagen or Dolly Parton in equal measure. Special mention to Joy too (note: she will find no joy in Slidell — I’ve been there), which kicks quite a bit of ass, and also whichever of those tunes had the ZZ Top reference. And Jackson brings the travelogue and the longing together. A perfect closer.
After three plays, I still find little bits of beauty or fun I missed across nearly every tune. I could see myself swaying along and singing at a show with her, or at home on the sofa with a whiskey relaxing, or driving on a long straight highway. Multiple applications appeal to me too.
It’s fair criticism of me to say music criticism matters to me. I’ve gotten into plenty of music because I heard about it from critics first. But I’m no slave — I still think Pavement is crap, and I’m still convinced Bob Dylan is overrated. In this case, because it’s (heavy quotes) “country”, I never would have picked this up despite its acclaim were it not for @bennyboy and this thread. And as with The Drive-By Truckers, he’s done it again — another triumph.
As it’s not necessarily my style, it’s an 8.5, but also because it’s not my style, it’s a 9/10. A great listen!