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Lucinda Williams Fans ? Come ON...


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Very few albums are masterpieces. But very few are execrable, too.

I agree 100%. That's why I like The A.V. Club's reviews. Check this out:

 

Ask the AV Club

"F for Ffort"

 

I've never noticed anything get a grade lower than a D' date=' no matter how much you guys bash it in the review. Are there any albums/movies/etc The A.V. Club has reviewed that got a full-on F rating? -Kevin Corrigan[/i']

 

Answer: Very few, Kevin, mostly because no matter how bad a film, album, game, book, etc. is, it usually has some redeeming facet. For example, Neil LaBute's Wicker Man remake was a clumsy, offensive, poorly acted, poorly scripted joke of a film, but it got a D+ in large part because the cinematography is terrific: It's a mess, but it's a beautiful-looking mess, and it'd be hypocritical not to acknowledge that. Very few attempted works of art are completely and utterly without merit.

 

But there have been a few Fs doled out since we started using our current ratings system. Check out our reviews of Date Movie, Prison Tycoon 2, and Torino 2006 if you really need to know what an F-rating review looks like. D-minus ratings are more common than you think, though.

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I have now given this album a few good listens and have some additional opinions.

 

It's an okay album, but certainly no masterpeice. I think the song West is one of the better songs on the entire album. The rap song is relatively clever, but still no great shakes.

 

If I can find a cheap copy this one will join the rest of my Lucinda albums, but I am not buying it straight out...just isn't THAT good.

 

LouieB

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I have now given this album a few good listens and have some additional opinions.

 

It's an okay album, but certainly no masterpeice. I think the song West is one of the better songs on the entire album. The rap song is relatively clever, but still no great shakes.

 

If I can find a cheap copy this one will join the rest of my Lucinda albums, but I am not buying it straight out...just isn't THAT good.

 

LouieB

 

Dontcha find that you tend to enjoy albums more AFTER you have bought them? Pay for it, you may actually love it.

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Dontcha find that you tend to enjoy albums more AFTER you have bought them? Pay for it, you may actually love it.
This is true to an extent, but I love getting a copy for half price even more. Something tells me this one will show up in the used bins before too long and I will cherish it forever!!!! :lol :lol

 

I bought both Essence and World without Tears for full price and trust me, I don't love either of them..... :ermm

 

Louieb

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm heading down to ATL to see tonight's show (and The Ryman next Friday)

so will give a review and hopefully some good pics come Monday.

 

If anyone is going tonight, I'll be the sappy old fourty something who will

present Lucinda on stage a bouquet of "purple" flowers with a simple note

attached "I AM YOUR JOY".

 

Have a kind weekend freaks.

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  • 3 months later...

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This album is so better than World Without Tears that it hurts...

 

I'm currently listening to all my Lucinda Williams albums in a row... (the thing I do each time I want to listen to the latest), minus the very first which is a mediocre collection of covers, and the live album (which is one of the worst ever released in rock history)

 

My preferences (with ratings) go like this so far (while I'm still listening to West):

 

1. Lucinda Williams (1988) 5/5

 

comment: her best and liveliest collection of songs, her masterpiece, raw and intoxicating

 

2. Essence (2001) 4/5

 

an album that needs to be listened several times: it goes further than Car Wheels, it deepens the melancholy in a more sublime way (and I think "essence" has a double meaning)

 

3. Sweet Old World (1992) 4/5

 

It's as crisp as the eponymous album, but slightly lacking of originality - half-great, half-good

 

4. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998) 4/5

 

A great album with a rich sound (as juicy as a Rolling Stones album, with wild country accents close to Jim Lauderdale) but it slightly lacks of beat, and sometime you get the feeling that its intensity is tired. My favorite song is the opener ("Right in Time"), hands down (the kind of catchy hook you find all over the eponymous album).

 

5. Happy Woman Blues (1980) 2/5

 

At this early stage of her career, Lu was just growing as a songwriter, but two staggering gems are featured on this album: "King of Hearts" and "Sharp Cutting Wings" - these are indications of the great singer songwriter that was going to make a name of her own.

 

6. World Without Tears (2003) 2/5

 

A pretty awful mess, everything sounding caricatural and empty, save some beautiful songs ("Ventura", "Overtime"). The sound is cold, flat, and Lu's voice lacks of feel, something she will correct on the following album. It's her worst.

 

I will rank West soon, but it sure is in the Top 5. Lucinda sings perfectly on this one, and the sequencing of songs is great, with a space production that fits the blue moods.

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I'm surprised that a lot of people didn't like World Without Tears. I loved it. I really like the raw, live production and how it really accentuated the rawness of Lucinda's lyrics. "Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings" may be my favorite Lucinda track.

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Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is one of my top 5 favorite albums. I've wrecked my copy of it by taking it so many places and getting my friends to listen to it. I need to pick up another copy, but I'm trying to track down the deluxe edition. I also really like her self-titled album, which is just packed with great songs. The albums since Car Wheels have been a little inconsistent in my opinion. Essence is such a raw, haunting track--definitely one of my favorites by her--but I don't think the rest of the album lives up to it. I haven't gotten a chance to buy West yet, though I do like what I've heard of it. She's really a brilliant songwriter. I don't think there are many songwriters who can write about heartbreak and loss the way that she can.

 

I saw her open for Bob Dylan in New Orleans four or five years ago and managed to sneak right down front. She only played five songs, but she was incredible. She's going to be playing about an hour and a half from here at the end of the month, and I'm going to do everything I can to get up there so I can finally see her play a full set.

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I'm surprised that a lot of people didn't like World Without Tears. I loved it. I really like the raw, live production and how it really accentuated the rawness of Lucinda's lyrics. "Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings" may be my favorite Lucinda track.

 

That track is actually my third favorite after "Ventura" and "Overtime". I thought I was one of the few disliking that album! I usually read good praise of it.

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Something tells me this one will show up in the used bins before too long

 

My copy hit the used bin last week. I traded it and Andrew Bird's "Mysterious Production of Eggs" for Charles Mingus "Pithecanthropus Erectus".

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