wow, NME, this one was a total reach... don't get me wrong, i always kinda liked lone justice... not in that i'm going to go out and buy (or even download) one of their albums, but if one of their songs came on, i wouldn't change the channel... but this -- holy hell, if you want an idea of everything that can go wrong in country music production, go straight here... first of all, her voice is incredibly reedy on this LP -- nothing like the raspy, dusty voice that sang for lone justice... and what's the way we deal with a fragile voice that's really only being supported here by decent lyricism? we give it this "down home here in the south with soft focus, filtered sunshine, traditional guitar tuning, a magnolia tree and brush drumming" nonsense production. Oh so 1989. i can already see the azaleas, mama, i can see 'em, dadgum, from up here in appalachia.
the NME could be pretty famous for trying to prove its more-knowing-than-thou reputation by tying its colours to the mast of some out there album that they could justify by being out of genre. this, i'm certain, was their way of saying that they totally respected the americana rock credibility of lone justice (see also bodeans and jason and the scorchers), and they were totally down with country music because they *got* the american experience from their offices in deepest, murkiest london... this album is average at best -- something you wouldn't be surprised to hear in your local supermarket or dentist's waiting room (though my dentist, for some reason, has some misplaced penchant for sade)...
in a year that saw the release of k.d. lang's 'absolute torch and twang', dwight yoakam's 'just lookin' for a hit', and lyle lovett's 'lyle lovett and his large band', this might not have been #9 on my list of country or country-ish releases for 1989...
and PS -- i may not know a ton about country music, but i know a lot... quite a lot -- so now who's got the americana chops, NME? ;-)
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