When dealing with matters of the music industry, the first and the most popular aren’t always the best, no matter what you talk about. A trend coming to a near head that has slowly ate away at purists’ hearts is the talent show, the karaoke showcase that many despise, many enjoy. Coming first was
American Idol, glitzy, powerful, intense, full of cabaret-esque vocalists and melodrama worthy of an eye roll or two. Out of its four winners, only one has really done anything special; out of the rest of the population, only two have released acknowledged, full length solo albums that didn’t get torn to shreds.
Nashville Star upped the anti, requiring contestants to be able to write and play instruments, a novel concept. Now soon after the much maligned third season, things are shaping up the same. First season: only the winner has an immediate impact. Second: not even the winner sold anything respectable. But as for those finalists…
Perky girly girl Miranda Lambert was second runner-up on season one, finishing behind winner Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez. There was such a strong reaction about her that the blonde pixie-with-a-six-string was signed with the winner, almost serving as co-winner. This relatively recently released debut topped the country charts its opening week, though lacking in radio support.
Tracklisting:
Kerosene (**** ½)
What About Georgia (*****)
Greyhound Bound For Nowhere (*****)
New Strings (**** ½)
I Can’t Be Bothered (****)
Bring Me Down (*****)
Me and Charlie Talking (*****)
I Wanna Die (*****)
Love Is Looking For You (*****)
Mama, I’m Alright (*****)
There’s A Wall (*****)
Love Your Memory (*****)
The raucous, hellraisingly deviant title track gets the record running in a hurry, some raw energy that seethes a tongue-in-cheek viciousness. Miranda’s performance on this revenge anthem takes things to the next level, aggressive albeit cutesy, fierce albeit revelatory. Over the foot stomping bassline, pulsating electrics and dismissive acoustics, you get that pent-up rage that just explodes. The girl is a star. The percussion heavy, slightly stripped down
What About Georgia asserts itself as one of the catchier tracks on the record, walking the line between anthemic fist clencher and analytical psyche job quite tightly. Her performance makes it all better, deliciously girly while driving the song’s message home over the glorious acoustics, progressive percussion and swirling fiddle.
Greyhound Bound For Nowhere is the first ballad of the set, a collection of Lambert’s thoughts, musings and views, all held tight by their head scratching, too complex for their own good metaphors and all that mess. Lambert’s tenderly piercing performance gives the lyricism some serious life, her innocence somehow proving a moment of clarity. The romantically demure acoustics and midnight production also help the song along to some sense of normalcy. A take of the Dixie Chicks’
Wide Open Spaces, the independently shining
New Strings is the first track where you get a sense of her journey and how her personality has been shaped by it. While Lambert is a fiery, demonstrative storyteller, she’s at her best as herself, a doe-eyed guitar slinger with a huge heart and a dream that no one thinks is graspable. Against folk-lenient acoustics, driving electrics and rambunctious percussion, she earns her respect from you, a true from-the-ashes success story.
I Can’t Be Bothered, to me, is a comedic gem, chock full of a somewhat trashy albeit amazingly mesmerizing and delightfully you-go-girl attitude that fills up any empty space with its larger-than-lifeness. Lambert’s performance is pure bright energy, sliding through the passionate verses and gleefully taunting through the steamy hookline. She rides on the cruisin’ steel, complementary fiddle and ramblin’ acoustics to the point where you can’t help but root for her. Second single
Bring Me Down has its fair share of clichés but is still a magnificent track as a whole. Lambert gets a bit more emotional than before, a fully formed, supple performance awaiting this TV-ready love ballad. The vibe is much more impromptu than some of the other songs, an intoxicating listen.
Powerhouse lead single
Me and Charlie Talking seems to encapsulate Lambert’s personality in a nutshell; a reflectively pure memory fest of that boyfriend who wanted to stay together forever (when they were ten), it emanates this kind of inner light that keeps you listening. Lambert’s performance brightens up the traditional leaning track, her girlish charm working well at bringing you back to that one special time in your life. It’s a lightweight track, in terms of mood and delivery, making it a definite highlight. On the polar opposite end of the spectrum is the smoldering
I Wanna Die, a track you have to listen to really get well. Against slithery bassline, crashing percussion and smarmy electrics, you feel the heat coming from this alt-country influenced track. Lambert toughens up her performance a bit, a hint of venom and sarcasm going a long way.
Love Is Looking For You returns us to the ballads, an anthemic warmly rising acoustic-heavy track with a desperately pining hookline. It has more of Lambert’s musing on it, almost making up for
Greyhound Bound For Nowhere’s indiscretions. She sounds more at home on the friendly atmosphere, guiding the slender acoustics and bare percussion to highlight status. A track that hit close to home for me is
Mama, I’m Alright, a reassuring gesture to the ever-worried matriarch who doesn’t know about her baby leaving. Lambert comes off well as the pent-up daughter, born to run, her giddy albeit gracious performance worthy of a smile. It may not be one of the most technically perfect tracks but it has a good energy about it.
Slowing things down even more is
There’s A Wall, which seems to be ready made as the opus finale ballad that the next didn’t quite achieve. Along with the epic hookline, tender melody and lushly defiant musicianship, a somewhat disgruntled Lambert pleads to this guy to let her in more and open up. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Not her or the song, the guy. The more delicate
Love Your Memory is like a gentle mist in the morning that you can see, a caressingly pleasant experience that has an affect you may
not see. The heart-wrenching hookline is masterfully gorgeous, while the production makes its presence known.
Imagine you were blonde, beautiful, young, could write your own songs, knew your way around a six string and just released your first number one album. How awesome would that be, eh? This is why I have hope that this little lady will be around for an extended amount of time; she seems to enjoy what she’s doing, her gentle smile melting even the hardest of hearts. Her potential is endless; so just open your heart for a pretty Texas gal with a story to tell.
Great Music To Play While: playing air guitar to a Miranda Lambert record…cause you’re (i.e. I am) a dork
Pay Attention To: I Wanna Die, Me and Charlie Talking, What About Georgia
Last Three Reviews:
Lee Ann Womack- There’s More Where That Came From
Dixie Chicks- Home
Renee Olstead- Renee Olstead
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