Album Review – Miranda Lambert’s “Wildcard”
This new Miranda Lambert album is terrible, until it’s excellent. It might simultaneously be Miranda’s worst and best album ever. It includes some catastrophically bad moments to the point where you feel downright embarrassed for listening, along with some of the best tracks she’s ever recorded. Wildcard is just that—a spin of the wheel and a roll of the dice, because you just don’t know what you’re gonna get dealt when you cue up the next track. But there’s too much good stuff here to cast it off as just another mainstream country pop record. You have to be willing to dig a little to get to the gold. But it’s ultimately worth the patience and effort.
It was Miranda Lambert’s last record, the double-sided and gatefolded The Weight Of These Wings that was supposed to present a dichotomy and counter-balance to itself. But comparatively, that effort feels incredibly even-keeled and consistent considering the manic moments that made it onto this album. The Weight Of These Wings was Miranda Lambert’s singer/songwriter statement, and seemed to hint that it might be the next phase of her career. But let’s face it, that Americana stuff doesn’t sell, and Miranda has a franchise to support.
So since Miranda Lambert was at a crossroads in her career, teetering on the brink of radio relevance, it was time to seed the track list and live shows with some serious arena rock and outright pop stuff by bringing in one of the masters of such enterprises in mainstream country—the notorious Jay Joyce—while simultaneously trying to keep the critics and purists at bay, along with satisfying the constituents that champion Miranda as a beacon of substance in commercial country. It’s a wild ride and messy at times, but Miranda accomplishes it all on Wildcard.
Deal with this record like you would cutting the bruised parts from a fine piece of fruit. You can start by losing the first two songs on the record entirely, “White Trash” and “Mess With My Head.” They are the sum of all the fears we had when it was first revealed that Jay Joyce had jumped on board as producer of this project, and Wildcard wastes no time getting to them, which will unfortunately keep many true country fans from listening further. But cauterize these songs at the vein, erase them from your memory banks, and move on. Another way to approach this record is starting with track 9, “How Dare You Love,” and listen from there. Do this, and you have a superb little EP, or a much better starting point for the entire album.
Wildcard really does feel like two separate records. One is a ridiculously overproduced monstrosity with Jay Joyce doing his worst, adding tacky layers of useless and burdening embellishments to otherwise passable tracks, including the “do do do’s” of “It All Comes Out in the Wash,” and the “la da da’s” of “Way Too Pretty For Prison” just like he did to Eric Church’s “Desperate Man.” And then you get stuff that’s purely country in scope, and songs that Miranda and her co-writers should be infinitely proud of.
But the complaints are not just about country vs. pop and rock. “Tequila Does” co-written with Jack Ingram is one of the most country-sounding songs Miranda Lambert has ever cut. But it’s just okay, and kind of feels more like a Midland B-side. “Track Record” owes much of its sonic influence to 80’s synth pop, but is set off really great against writing that is very revelatory for Miranda, enveloping you in the emotions and honesty of the song. “Locomotive” is an outright and unabashed hard rock song, but it’s actually straightforward and normal-sounding enough that it’s forgivable compared to some of the other tracks. Taking a good song like “Bluebird,” and weighing it down with so many “oh oh oh’s” like too much eye makeup that hides the beauty as opposed to accentuating it, that is the real offense in some of the songs on Wildcard.
Ultimately, Jay Joyce failed this project with the sequencing of these tracks and getting in the way, even when weighing the positive moments, which come in ample doses if you can navigate the gauntlet of some of the early songs. “How Dare You Love” is everything you want and more from a Miranda Lambert song, and how refreshing it is that it’s just a simple arrangement, and a strong vocal performance. You don’t have to do anything else but listen to the contrast on this record to reinforce the theory that when it comes to country, less is often more. That’s what’s so cool about country music. You don’t need studio hijinks and layers upon layers of production to connect with an audience. And as we’re seeing with artists like Luke Combs right now, country is hot at the moment, as are strong songs, while wanking rock guitar is out.
“Dark Bars” may be one of the best, if not the best song Miranda Lambert has ever recorded. Co-written with Liz Rose, it captures everything that is compelling about country songs in one composition. But of course, it’s the final track on the record. Good to end strong, but perhaps better to compel people to keep listening by putting some of the stronger tracks out front and bury your potential radio singles since single streamers won’t be listening to a cohesive record anyway.
And yes, Wildcard comes with a strong dose of womanhood. And good on it for that. So much of country music solely appeals to men, especially in the mainstream. Props to Miranda Lambert for wanting to offer some different perspectives and counterbalance in the male-dominated mainstream country marketplace. And note, this is different from the perspective American Songwriter took in their review of the record, where they called Wildcard a “…51 minute gift to her fervent, largely female audience,” before succumbing to massive public pressure and removing the opinion. This was a completely wrong assessment. Not only does Miranda Lambert have many male fans, songs like “Tequila Does” or “Dark Bars,” or even something like “Locomotive” can be direct bridges to men who otherwise might struggle to identify with mainstream country women.
And men can even find strong feminine songs sassy and sexy. If you can’t laugh at Miranda appreciating all the free press she receives at the checkout stand like she says in “Pretty Bitchin’,” then you need to lighten up. Miranda Lambert bares her soul in this record in spots. But she also is unafraid of having a little fun. Sometimes this fun comes across as prattling for mainstream attention, primary due to the overly pop production, or more like a caricature of her early persona as opposed to an homage to it like this record is supposed to be. But in a song like “Pretty Bitchin'” Miranda does what some of the brooding males in country—mainstream or otherwise—seem incapable of doing, which is being appreciative for the opportunities she’s been afforded as opposed to seeing stardom as this incredible burden. Nobody’s name has been used as clickbait more than Miranda Lambert’s in the last couple of years, but she makes sure to get the last laugh on Wildcard.
But it is also worthy to point out that this album speaks from a strong feminine perspective, and because of this, women might find more appeal in it as a whole compared to men. That simple, self-evident statement might be taken as naked sexism by some, and trigger some of the blue-checkmarked Twitter gang and Stan trolls who believe they should be the ultimate authority on opinion to swarm. But it’s true nonetheless, and an important point to underscore because we need more material in mainstream country that appeals to women and represents their perspective. When you have a song like “Way Too Pretty For Prison” about plotting to kill your ex-boyfriends, but fearing to go through with it because they don’t offer eyelash extensions to the incarcerated, that’s just something that women are going to find saucy while their boyfriends and husbands roll their eyes. And this fact is irreconcilable, however politically incorrect it may be in this hyper moment in history.
There is a pernicious idea out there that due to the struggles women face in country music, it’s imperative that the media lie about them and embellish their press clippings to help “support” these women’s careers, while any criticism they may receive is branded as “sexist.” It’s also a way to keep Stan armies at bay, which are especially fervent behind artists like Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, and Maren Morris. Believe it or not, that’s what American Songwriter was attempting to do when speaking about Miranda’s “largely female audience.” They just completely fumbled the point and were uninformed.
But like we always see, especially when it comes to mainstream country women, their coverage is outsourced to writers who cover multiple genres of music, and frankly, don’t have the knowledge base to be making strong assertions or attempting to offer perspective to the public. Rolling Stone called Wildcard a “masterpiece,” but simply the inclusion of the idiotic noise vamp at the beginning of “Way Too Pretty For Prison” disqualifies it as such. After all, “Way Too Pretty For Prison” is just a rewrite of Brandy Clark’s “Stripes”—with all sincere love to the Love Junkies (Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose) who wrote the track with Miranda, and otherwise offer great contributions to Wildcard.
It is important for the media, and even fans to be honest about their feelings upon music, and to also not set unattainable expectations for songs, artists, and records by showering them with exaggerated accolades. Some fans and reviewers will love Wildcard, and specifically for some of its wild, and at times, poppy production. And that’s a fair perspective, and taste is something that can’t be argued.
But Saving Country Music takes the stance that country should sound like country, and quality songwriting should trump all other concerns. That is why Wildcard ends up being regarded here more positively than negatively. Nonetheless, it is important to point out the album’s shortcomings, not only to offer constructive criticism to the creative process in hopes for more positive outcomes in the future (which is the real way to “support” women or any artist), but to also warn those traditional country fans, independent country fans, and Americana fans that you may be turned off by the first few tracks from this record, but it’s worth persevering and finding the better material. Because in the case of Wildcard, that perseverance is handsomely rewarded.
6.5/10
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November 3, 2019 @ 11:59 am
WARNING: Differing and diverse opinions are encouraged, but comments of a clearly gossipy, Stan-like, or troll-like nature will be heavily screened and potentially edited or deleted on this topic. Please keep the discussion about MUSIC.
Thank you.
November 3, 2019 @ 12:19 pm
This is such a rich comment! You constantly launch personal attacks against people that have nothing to do with their music, but when you know one of your favorites has produced a stinker you suddenly are taking the “it’s about the music” high road. So perfectly you and so perfectly hypocritical. Thanks for an amazing laugh on his beautiful Sunday!
November 3, 2019 @ 1:37 pm
I completely agree with you
November 3, 2019 @ 3:51 pm
Imagine visiting a website you know you’ll disagree with, just to try and give yourself a reason to gripe. Sad, really.
November 5, 2019 @ 6:33 pm
I’m not a music professional but I listen to a lot of music from all different genres and I like it. You seem a little bitter about the whole thing. There was not a nice word in this whole article. Glad Miranda Lambert has thick skin cuz that article was ugly.
November 5, 2019 @ 8:15 pm
Not even one nice word?
November 3, 2019 @ 12:21 pm
My thoughts listening on Friday were that if the album has two sides, side 2 is better. And also how bad the single “It All Comes Out in the Wash” is compared to the rest of it. So it’s my usual frustration with Miranda: what’s good is good. but the whole thing never lives up to the promise in the good stuff.
November 3, 2019 @ 12:23 pm
I almost stopped listening after the first half of the album. It does redeem itself in the second half, albeit not entirely removing the distaste. Great review of an album that was surely not easy to review.
November 3, 2019 @ 12:32 pm
Thank you for this review. I stopped listening, disappointed 15 seconds into the first song. Now i’ll go back and skip until I find the substance you said is there.
November 3, 2019 @ 12:36 pm
I thought “Tequila Does” was way too similar to the Brothers Osborne’s “Tequila Again.”
November 3, 2019 @ 4:47 pm
Tequila
Tequila Does
Tequila Again
Tequila Little Time
You & Tequila
Tequila Sheila
Tequila Town
Tequila Talking
Tequila Sunrise
November 3, 2019 @ 7:03 pm
Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off
November 3, 2019 @ 8:00 pm
That’s not a bad song tho
November 4, 2019 @ 1:39 pm
No, it’s not, Carmen. I thought Arnold was just mentioning songs with the word tequila in the title.
November 3, 2019 @ 9:44 pm
Oh, and apparently Blake Shelton is putting out a cover of Tequila Sheila on his next greatest hits album next month. Wouldn’t be surprised if he releases it as a radio single… He’s done that before obviously with Ol Red, Home, and God Gave me You!
After the success of Dan and Shay’s Tequila song… This will be the new trend in country!!
November 4, 2019 @ 12:10 am
That cover was already released last year, don’t think it’ll be released as a single because it was part of The Friends and Heroes Sessions promoting the tour. It’s on Spotify along with covers of The King is Gone (So Are You) and Every Which Way But Loose.
November 4, 2019 @ 9:14 am
But it’s on the tracklist of his upcoming God’s Country: Loaded album… Wouldn’t be surprised.. I think it would be a big hit for Blake
November 4, 2019 @ 5:28 am
It’s a blatant rip off of Brothers Osborne! What the heck, Jay Joyce?!!! The slow parts are SO much like Tequila Again.
November 3, 2019 @ 12:55 pm
I was relieved when I heard the unreleased songs. I even like “White Trash.” “How Dare You Love” has beautiful delivery. “Settling Down” is pretty good and reminds me of “Airstream Song,” with the latter of the two being my personal favorite. “Holy Water” doesn’t come up for much discussion in the reviews, but I love some of the one – liners(so you can piss in a pot) . “Fire Escape” is a favorite, dark and rock and self-aware. “Dark Bars” is the best song on the record and really makes you feel. “Tequila Does” is very catchy and country if not all that creative. “Track Record” is an odd mix of genres, but it works well for me. It’s material is extremely honest. I like “Pretty Bitchin” for the same reasons I like “White Trash” in that Miranda is both poking fun at herself and winking at her haters with a big “so what?” “Locomotive” is fun and fast paced and in your face compared to most of the other tracks.
My least favorite songs are “Way too Pretty for Prison” and “It All Comes Out in the Wash.” They don’t feel like the honest Miranda I’ve come to know, but I forgive them somewhat for their humor.
“Bluebird” has a very pop feel and the shout-y sound of “house” and “love” and “whole” bring down the chorus, while the verses are pretty dang strong. I want to love it, but rather I like it.
Overall, she put forth another strong album.
November 3, 2019 @ 12:59 pm
Damn i love this, but i don’t mind a bit of pop/mainstream. This isn’t exactly country but its good music, i give it an 8, plenty of catchy chorus’ and good melodies
November 3, 2019 @ 12:59 pm
The Weight of These Wings was always going to be a hard act to follow but I wish Miranda continued on that trajectory. It feels like this album is pop trend chasing to keep her relevant which is pretty sad for somebody of her stature. Gimmicky, noisy production and shallow rhymey lyrics. I feel like people are scoring this album high because it’s a Miranda album and not because it’s good. That being said there are a couple of enjoyable songs like Bluebird, How Dare You Love and Dark Bars. I’ll stream those and skip buying the album. Ready for her to head back to Frank Liddell for the next album which I’m sure will happen.
November 4, 2019 @ 5:04 am
“Shallow rhymey lyrics” perfectly describes “All Come Out in the Wash.” Terrible choice for a lead single.
November 3, 2019 @ 1:32 pm
I wish Joyce didn’t choose to wield such a heavy hand; underneath all that unnecessary slick and noisy production is some good songwriting. Hearing some of the songs live this week on the promo circuit, I liked them better without all the bells and whistles. Lambert’s maturing voice is amazing on a few tracks: on “Holy Water” she has this raspy Bonnie Raitt thing going on.
Wildcard reminds me of when Liz Phair released that album produced by The Matrix. Like that album, I’m afraid Wildcard won’t age well. What seems fresh now will sound very dated in years.
But, I can’t stop listening to Wildcard. It’s an easy, fun listen. I love the attitude, sass that permeates the album. It feels BIG and has a pulse and way more interesting than The Weight of These Wings. If you squint you can find something country about every song: the dobro on “Settling Down” is more country than anything in the mainstream.
I’m going along with the ride which may be a career defining album that wins a ton of trophies at the end.
November 3, 2019 @ 1:33 pm
Good review. I completely agree with your opinions. The production of White Trash definitely had me thinking oh shit but I planned on giving the record a few fair listens cause I want to support her. I feel like she went pop to jump on what’s selling/ streaming/ getting radio spins but kept a few songs country to not receive so much criticism for jumping ship completely or perhaps she didn’t wanna jump ship but felt like she needed to for those reasons. But perhaps I am wrong.
I love Miranda but I don’t love this record. I like parts- mostly second part production-wise. Love the lyrics though. There are a few throw away songs lyrically but overall I love the lyrics. Fun, funny, clever, beautiful, honest however the pop, 80s rock/ pop production on most of the songs ruin the great lyrics for me. Love the few love songs; suits her voice. Would enjoy more love songs from her in the future.
Bluebird is one of my favorites lyrically but hard to ignore the pop production, to me it also has a bit of an r&b beat to it. Way Too Pretty for Prison with the pop production & the inclusion of Marren just ruins it. Lyrically the song is great, fun, funny; if only it included a banjo & fiddle & minus Marren and I fell like it would be a bad ass jam song. Reminds me of Goodbye Earl by the Chicks in content.
I love her style of writing and I hope this album is successful for her but I am disappointed in the production on most of the songs. In a recent article I read Miranda stated she would love to do a stone cold country record and she said maybe one day she will. Well why didn’t you? I sure hope she does one day.
November 3, 2019 @ 3:50 pm
I was so mad when I read that stone cold country album comment. This is what I wanted this album to be with a rock side of Miranda revenge!!
November 3, 2019 @ 1:38 pm
Is it just me or is white trash almost identical to Garth’s all day long?
November 3, 2019 @ 1:49 pm
Great review. I agree that Dark Bars is a very good song, but in my opinion it is not among her very best. House That Built Me, More Like Her, Virginia Bluebell, and a few others comes to mind. After her first two albums there has been way to many songs on every release. I wish she could just put out ten killer songs. There is usually about five songs too much, that’s a lot..
November 3, 2019 @ 2:05 pm
Pare this down to 10 songs and you have a much better record. And some of the poppy stuff that was put on here for radio singles probably won’t be released as singles anyway.
November 3, 2019 @ 1:53 pm
Trigger,
You said, “So much of country music solely appeals to men, especially in the mainstream.”
You have forgotten more than most will know, including me. But I take a minor exception to this statement. The FGL’s and the Kane Brown’s are soccer-suburban-mom music. With the exception of some bro-country, many of the terrible acts that are out there exist for and made to appeal to soft-core country lovers who are female. That’s my humble take.
November 3, 2019 @ 2:11 pm
Maybe “appeal” is a loaded word in this case. What I was trying to say is that the lyrical content is from a male perspective, even if it might appeal to women, including appealing to women because it’s a male perspective (all these songs cooing about how their women are perfect, for example).
November 3, 2019 @ 2:13 pm
Trigger,
I agree with that 100%.
November 4, 2019 @ 9:31 am
On this topic…….I made a huge mistake thinking Ashley McBryde’s song One Night Standards would be a hit. The last thing Mom/daughter combo’s wanna hear on the radio is a song about one night stands. I don’t know how many spins it ever even got but I’m pretty sure the song has stiffed? Don’t think it ever got above 50?
November 4, 2019 @ 9:34 am
The song flopped, even after the label put a serious dose of promotion behind it. It’s a shame.
November 3, 2019 @ 2:37 pm
I agree. This is a curious claim. I have plenty of anecdotal — albeit only anecdotal — evidence that the worst of mainstream country is precisely targeted toward (and successfully) the female demographic. The paradox is that this targeted marketing on music row is what excludes the best of female artists.
November 3, 2019 @ 7:38 pm
BINGO BINGO BINGO KEVIN !!!!!
November 3, 2019 @ 2:03 pm
Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, the Highwoman album…i give up.
A pop, rock or r’n’b (leaning) track on an album is ok…but releasing stuff like Wildcard or Cry Pretty or Girl with the majority of tracks being pop, rock or r’n’b (leaning) tracks & one or two songs with a fiddle in the mix…it’s not country.
The struggle of female artists will go on & on…or the ladies start to release music that matters. From a female perspective or not. Just good country music.
Much Better Music:
Erin Enderlin – Faulkner County – Album (14 Tracks) – Released (10/31)
A fine COUNTRY album. My highlights: “I Can Be Your Whiskey”, “Tonight I Don’t Give A Damn”, “Till It’s Gone”, “Hometown Jersey” & “Hell Comin’ Down”.
Donna Ulisse – Time For Love – Album (13 Tracks) – Released (10/31)
Award winning Bluegrass singer/songwriter with a great album produced by Doyle Lawson.
My highlights: “When I Go All Bluegrass On You”, the Patsy Cline cover “Seven Lonely Days” & ” I’ll Never Find Another You”.
Kylie Frey – “One Night In Tulsa” – Track – Released (10/17)
Texas artists & one of the few female artists with Top 40 hits. “One Night…” is a soulful country ballad but with enough “meat” for radio play. A hit!
November 5, 2019 @ 7:07 am
The Donna Ulisse “Time For Love” album is another refreshing round of bluegrass in her deep catalog. Although she is known as a splendid songwriter, Donna really nails the two cover tunes Patsy Cline’s “Seven Lonely Days” and The Seekers’ 60s hit “I’ll Never Find Another You.” A top notch band and production put the cherry on top. A great record!
November 5, 2019 @ 1:19 pm
That Erin Enderlin is amazing. Huge thanks for the recommendation!
November 3, 2019 @ 2:06 pm
Oh Trigger, why do you hate “ooh ooh ooh”s so much? 😉
Think I mostly agree with you on this, though I like Tequila Does more than you – I really like that chorus. I’d say maybe a 7 – Miranda remains one of the best people in the mainstream.
November 3, 2019 @ 2:12 pm
You have perfectly described and reviewed this album. I completely agree with you, there’s definitely two different records here. When I begun listening to it, I was tempted to abandon after hearing the first songs. I told me: what the hell happened with Miranda Lambert? I had listened and enjoyed a lot “Tequila Does” before the album release, and I thought it would be a great album. Finally, I agree with you when you say that “Tequila Does” and “Dark Bars” are among the best songs Miranda Lambert has ever recorded. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is very different, and I had difficulty to listen to the whole record and not abandon. What a pity!
November 3, 2019 @ 2:49 pm
Yeah, this album was a rough listen for me. I wonder if Miranda should have done what Carrie did with Storyteller (and should have done, in my opinion, with Cry Pretty), is that have Jay Joyce just produce a few tracks – not all – and then have your longtime producer, who knows you and has had success with you, produce the rest. This was just too much Jay Joyce for me, lol.
November 3, 2019 @ 3:46 pm
I thought the exact same thing!! I actually the production Loco as it seemed to fit the sing but Bluebird should have almost been acoustic or produced like Dark Bars. Track Record is way to fast…kind of like one long run on sentence. And TD is too slow for a fun song…needs to be sped up IMO. And overall the production just needs to be tamed down. And Trig is right about the first two songs…they should have been left off. Wish the album was called Bluebird too would have been a nice transition from TWOTW. A few tweaks and it would have been a stunner of an album IMO.
November 3, 2019 @ 3:38 pm
As a Ran fan, I’ve always wanted a return to her Evolution record which I consider her best. It had everything. I miss the outright twang she had in her songs, but she’s always been more rock. I have to say I didn’t like this album at first but after a few listens, the album has grown on me. And I already have a Revolution record from Miranda, and I think I’d rather enjoy hearing what other sounds she comes up and who she collaborated with. I’ve always loved her songwriting and that’s what keeps me a fan, sound aside. In terms of all her albums, this has quickly become my second favourite. You’ll rarely hear a perfect album, every album has a few stinkers. But you’re definitely right in saying the redeemable parts make this record worthwhile.
November 3, 2019 @ 3:40 pm
I loved Miranda on the debut season of Nashville Star and have her indie CD she released before getting signed, but haven’t had much interest since. The lone exception was her wonderfully out of left field western swing song “All That’s Left For You To Do Is Leave” which featured The Time Jumpers as her backing band which is brilliant. If Miranda ever recorded an album full of songs like that, I’d be the first in line so I’ll approach “Wildcard” with caution.
I do want to mention that although Brandy Clark’s version of her song “Stripes” is very good the cover by the talented but in the shadows country gal led group Lucy Angel is just killer in comparison. Ronnie Milsap had Lucy Angel join him on a track on his recent “Duets” album on the song “Happy Happy Birthday” and gosh can those gals sing harmony! Most of Lucy Angel’s recorded songs are unfortunately generic pop country fare but they hit a home run with “Stripes” which is well worth a listen, and I’m not even a fan of pop country! (lol)
November 3, 2019 @ 3:44 pm
In all honesty, why doesn’t country radio play her more often? Her last Top 10 was I think Something Bad in 2014??? It seems that most of her singles peak right outside the top 10 (like Vice) and her current single seems to be stalling at #13… She’s obviously a superstar to the mainstream… Maybe it’s because her songs are too “deep” for radio?? Even Stapleton gets #1s to radio, even though it takes him 12 months to get there. I know radio doesn’t matter to most of you… But it’s still an important factor for record labels and marketing
November 4, 2019 @ 3:31 am
That’s easy:
1) She’s a female
2) Her songs don’t exactly “test” well
3) Going back to no1, when it gets time for a song to be converted to top 10, radio considers sales/streaming. They don’t apply this factor to make a though
November 4, 2019 @ 3:35 am
*males… Oops autocorrect
November 4, 2019 @ 7:08 am
Her ‘deep’ songs are her best performers on radio. The House That Built Me, Over You. Vice was the best performer from her Weight album. It’s the uptempo songs that radio listeners don’t like from her. Wash is apparently testing extremely badly. For Maren doing a duet with Miranda should be a highlight but Way too pretty for prison is such a bad song it tanked. Maren is selling and streaming much better in her own.
November 4, 2019 @ 12:40 pm
Miranda has so many deep cuts that weren’t singles. Vice is awesome and unique. As far as House & Over You, I’m a bigger fan of some of her others – More Like Her, Love Your Memory, Desperation, Bring Me Down, There’s a Wall.
And she does great love songs – Love Song, Holding On To You, Pushin Time, to name a few.
I think Miranda likes to challenge herself and go beyond her her and “our” comfort zone. But really she just puts out great songwriting & vocals. Some are more awarding than others but they all eventually bring you in. IMO.
November 4, 2019 @ 3:04 pm
Deep cuts are great but have nothing to do with radio which is what we’re talking about. Radio is clearly a focus this era along with streaming. Miranda was very excited about how well her single was received so it’s a bummer to see it stall. Her low sales and streaming numbers aren’t really helping the song along and that must be disappointing to her label because they have done tons of promo. We’ll have to wait and see how her next single fares.
November 4, 2019 @ 10:18 pm
I’m confused, the first sentence of your original comment says:
“Her ‘deep’ songs are her best performers on radio. “
November 5, 2019 @ 5:19 am
You are confused. I’m replying to the comment that maybe her songs are too deep for radio by pointing out that her deep songs, Over Ypu, House….do really well for her, on the radio. You’re confusing deep songs with deep cuts. Deep cuts don’t have anything to do with radio singles.
November 4, 2019 @ 1:13 pm
Blake got country radio in the divorce.
November 4, 2019 @ 3:34 pm
That’s pretty funny right there.
November 4, 2019 @ 4:21 pm
You win the Best Comment Award on this round ????
November 5, 2019 @ 5:23 am
Because her music just isnt all that. Thats why
November 10, 2019 @ 10:21 am
She makes better music than Blake though
November 3, 2019 @ 4:08 pm
Trigger,
I usually agree with you and think your reviews are spot on 99% of the time, but I disagree with your evaluations on Jay Joyce. While I don’t agree with all of his choices (like the beginning of Way Too Pretty For Prison, that guitar “noise” is off-putting to me) I still think that he is one of the only producers with DIRECTION. He has a vision and a sound in mind for albums. Dave Cobb gets all the praise in the world, but I feel like his production is so uninspired most of the time. Joyce, to me, is the perfect combination of keeping it unique, but also being appealing to the mainstream. I think the oh’s, and la’s, and do’s (like the ones you called out on Desperate Man) make these songs more memorable and better.
Just my opinion, and I respect yours, but I loved this album and the production.
November 3, 2019 @ 4:49 pm
Hey Benjamin,
I think that both Jay Joyce and Dave Cobb have spotty track records, and have done good and bad work, and I’ve given both fair criticism, as well as worthy praise. I thought that Jay Joyce did pretty good with the Ashley McBryde album aside from a few moments, and that the last couple of Eric Church records have shown the measured hand to help his music mature. As for Dave Cobb, he’s had some huge hits, but some pretty significant misses. I was pretty hard on the low production quality of the recent “The Highwomen” record, just as one of many examples.
And hey, Jay Joyce was the producer for this entire record, which means he deserves credit on the tracks that are receiving universal praise as well. I think “Track Record,” “Dark Bars,” and “How Dare You Love” are produced darn near perfectly. I just wish he would have rolled off the heavy hand on some other tracks. But that’s just my opinion. I can see how some of the heavier songs would appeal to others.
November 5, 2019 @ 10:16 am
Yeah, but the thing that’s holding everything back for me is how low Miranda’s vocal is in the mix. Dark Bars is the only song on the entire album that I don’t feel disappointed that I can’t hear Miranda’s idiosyncratic phrasing that wrenches emotion out of syllables.
November 3, 2019 @ 5:21 pm
I love it! Love the lyrics and music. ❤️
November 3, 2019 @ 5:45 pm
Listened 4x and still dont like it. I think her worst album ever.
November 3, 2019 @ 6:40 pm
I think your review of this album is so far fetched! This album has something for everyone. It has songs that you just start singing from out of nowhere! But here’s the thing that you forgot, Miranda Lambert didn’t ask you your opinion because she puts what she likes on it ! She has a big enough following that you don’t even matter at this point! ????????????????
November 3, 2019 @ 7:47 pm
Attack of the Stans, Pt. 1.
November 4, 2019 @ 7:58 am
I’m surprised that it took so long and there have been so few.
November 3, 2019 @ 7:20 pm
The uptempos are the main problem here, and they’re usually her strong suit.
Something about the production in those just washes out her voice.
Overall definitely not a standout record for her.
November 3, 2019 @ 7:21 pm
one of the things that frustrate me about ‘today’s country music ‘ is the congestion of lyrics . rattling out these rap-type phrasings has totally left the SINGING out of a song . that is …you never really get to hear a singer land on a note and ‘work it’ like martina mcbride , sara evans , trisha yearwood or reba could and CAN do . for me , that was a miranda hallmark ….that voice …that sweetness and character and her ability to make you feel a whole song’s emotion in a note ….or a melodic phrase .
THIS aspect of many a contemporary song has ,tragically , fallen by the wayside in favour of rapid-fire syncopated rythmic phrasing which is basically just talking . I’ve noticed that creeping into more and more or miranda’s ( and pistol annie ) music and found that to be the case in the tracks I’ve heard from the new record . singers don’t get to sing anymore …..and when an artist IS a SINGER that’s just wrong . ask joe nichols .
one other comment which trigger alluded to above : in pitching songs to artists and publishers in recent times , myself and other writer friends get a common comment which is a source of frustration as well . according to publishers , mainstream artists are looking for loud , rocking songs that hold up in arenas and stadiums for thousands of fans cuz that’s where they are performing . in other words …they want really rocky ‘country’ …which , of course is a contradiction , to some extent . again ..as trigger points out above, a real COUNTRY song doesn’t need to be a loud , in your face , keith urban kinda delivery . it will hold up with a great voice and simple accompaniment .
the ‘country’ singers today need to have a repertoire which never lets up for long in those performance environs ( Garth , Paisley ..etc.. ) . the opportunities for a REAL country song to find its way to us are diminished by this fact. artists play larger venues which don’t lend themselves to a ” whisky lullaby” so readily .
arguably and ironically ,however, miranda’s signature song ” The House That Built Me ‘ is the antithesis of loud rapid fire and melodically challenged phrasing and amps on 11 to pacify stadium crowds . it was , indeed , a COUNTRY song with all the earmarks of a great country song ….an emotional and relateable narrative , a simple supportive accompaniment , conversational , natural phrasing and gave miranda everything she needed to showcase why she’s one of the great COUNTRY vocalists ever . she gets to ‘ work a note ‘ and ends up working our hearts .
November 3, 2019 @ 9:27 pm
Dead on about lyrics being singable , Albert.
Let it breath man. Let it soak in . Take the listener in and feel something.
November 4, 2019 @ 3:34 am
The more I think about this, the more I realize that although Miranda is a good songwriter she’s a better singer when she uses other people’s materials
November 5, 2019 @ 7:11 am
This —> “one of the things that frustrate me about ‘today’s country music ‘ is the congestion of lyrics . rattling out these rap-type phrasings has totally left the SINGING out of a song…”
100% agreement!! Bring back the melodies and uncluttered lyrics, puh-lease!
November 3, 2019 @ 7:34 pm
and I should have mentioned ….. I love all three songs posted …..
November 3, 2019 @ 7:51 pm
You know I think I finally figured out what my issue with Miranda is. She always comes close to touching on topics without ever actually putting her hands on them. Everything is observatory. Nothing is ever personal except oh I did this one bad thing and oops that’s just me. There’s never an exploration of feelings or consequences. It’s kust all very shallow/
November 3, 2019 @ 7:52 pm
I absolutely love this album and it has songs on it for everyone if you really like great music with some strong song writing. Some of the music sone in here won’t you to listen to is so boring but that’s why we all have different taste at times. Maybe sone of the production isn’t great but the music is superb and she is having fun finally again. Nothing wrong with that.. I have listened to this album repeatedly since Friday and I won’t stop because some say it’s not good. I personally love it and tho k it’s one of her best albums to date. On I will say I think white trash is a jam!! Love Miranda and love this album….she never disappoints and always delivers something you can relate to in your own life..
November 4, 2019 @ 5:20 am
Another incredible album by the best songwriter and singer in Country music
November 4, 2019 @ 1:17 pm
Accurate comment is accurate.
November 5, 2019 @ 4:12 pm
Your hot takes never disappoint, BB.
November 4, 2019 @ 6:26 am
She is capable of so much more (example: To Learn Her). For the stans & the “Miranda can do no wrong” crowd, it’s a “masterpiece.” For those of us who know she can & should do better, it’s a let down. Most of it comes across as an attempt to stay relevant at radio.
November 4, 2019 @ 9:41 am
I agree. I feel like at some point in her career she will switch to more traditional or 90s country. She claims to love it. She’s amazing at it. But if she feels like she can and is able to be successful in mainstream like she currently is. I think this is the kind of music we will be getting from her. Pop songs for mainstream and a few country songs included on the record as well.
November 4, 2019 @ 12:17 pm
Definitely. That’s the big problem in country music. They all “love” country, but most, in the name of commercial success, put out pop albums. It’s sad, because like you said, Miranda is so fantastic when it comes to stone cold country.
November 4, 2019 @ 6:44 am
that’s why I like iTunes. I just download the songs I like, and leave the rest alone. I found 5 songs l like off of this record.
November 4, 2019 @ 8:01 am
Album is hot dookie. She should be ashamed for putting this out. How could she listen to those first songs and say…wow this is good.
November 4, 2019 @ 8:16 am
I’m a die hard Miranda Lambert fan and wanted so bad to like the album but don’t. I was worried when she released half the album in advance and I only liked 3 songs. This is her worst album but does have its moments that will make me come back. I still will buy every album she releases but I know her best album is still to come in the future.
November 4, 2019 @ 8:38 am
Continuing on the theme of “white trash”, Miranda seems to have sexed up her image over the last few years. She used to be a plain old jeans kind of gal. Recently I’ve been seeing lots of photos of her wearing pantyhose with shorts. I suppose the Hooters look is in, at least for female “country” performers.
November 4, 2019 @ 6:25 pm
I find Miranda’s fashion choices to be very puzzling. Why pantyhose with shorts? The outfits are not very flattering, neither masculine nor feminine. I think she would be better of either sticking with jeans and boots, or putting on a nice dress. Daisy Duke in the 1980s and Shania Twain in the 1990s looked smoking hot in their hooter girl outfits. But when Ran wears these outfits they just make her look like an Also Ran.
I know it is the music that should matter, rather than the clothes. Perhaps this confused look is just part of Miranda’s quirkiness as an artist.
November 4, 2019 @ 9:16 am
After reading the first part of the review, I was expecting a 5/10, but it actually sounds like the good slightly outweighs the bad of this album. I like Miranda Lambert a lot. I think she’s the best female artist in mainstream country. So I’ll give this a listen.
November 4, 2019 @ 9:40 am
I’m a Miranda Fan from the very beginning of her career. She alone with Jay put this music out to music fans that want it. Whats so great about music, if you don’t like it there is always some other artist you may like. Surely we have learned that from Country Radio. As for as the one saying Miranda should be ashamed for putting this new music out….you should feel ashamed for wasting your time commenting. Plain to see this music isn’t for you, so many others out here that would love to have you throwing out your love for their music. Miranda put this out for her fans (She adds new ones along the way),Thanks to Jay Joyce for being apart of it. Any Miranda Music I love, altho I have my favorite!!!!
November 4, 2019 @ 12:48 pm
I whole heartedly agree with you Jeannie.
November 4, 2019 @ 5:30 pm
All I’ve learned from country radio these days is that it doesn’t play country music.
November 4, 2019 @ 11:41 am
Miranda Lambert is one of my favorite country artists. I’ve loved all her albums, and knowing that this one was going to be different I tried my best to keep an open mind as I listened.
I think the songs themselves are great, but unfortunately the production has made about half of them simply unlistenable for me. The intrusive electronic noise and ultra slick pop sheen overwhelms what would otherwise be really good songs. The riffs, melodies, and compositions are there, but they’re sadly suffocated by heavy handed pop production.
I’m well aware that there are many Lambert fans who are already praising the album as one of her best (see her Instagram threads), but for me personally this is hands down her worst.
I’m still a huge fan, and there are a handful of tracks from Wildcard that I’ll throw on my mp3 player. But I’m already looking forward and crossing my fingers and toes that her next album is a return to form.
November 4, 2019 @ 1:42 pm
Hey music critic, what have you ever done to be an expert ? And you should be ashamed to think your opinion matters !
November 4, 2019 @ 3:35 pm
Ashamed, Trig, ashamed!
????????????
November 4, 2019 @ 8:54 pm
He’s actually pretty knowledgeable about music. And he’s spot on about the production. Oh and just to make your head explode many of the songs are repetitive and cliche. Now go do your homework.
November 4, 2019 @ 2:22 pm
I think Trigger always gives Miranda a fair, unbiased opinion even when he knows her dedicated fans, including me, may not like what he says…and saying nice things about her brings out insane haters. I dont understand why she chose the singles she released ahead of time. They are the worst ones on the record. I honestly dislike All Comes Out in the Wash. The Tide stick line is beyond cheesy, but there are some really good songs on this album. How Dare You Love, Dark Bars, and I like Locomotive and Holy Water as well. Way too Pretty for Prison is awful. The lyrics are ok but I dont get the arrangement choice. I still like the album because the songs I love on it have stuck with me more than being distracted by the cheesy ones. I loved her WOTW album, but Pink Sunglasses was awful in my opinion and she highlighted that song as well. Didnt understand that. Regardless, would have given it a 7. Her worst songs are still more palatable than some of the best of others.
November 4, 2019 @ 5:36 pm
It’s been said, but production is just brutal on a lot of this. It’s too slick, and there’s too many weird effects that take focus away from the song. I don’t even necessarily mind the rock songs, but those intros are so over the top! And is it just me, or does Miranda sound like she was recorded in the broom closet on a few tracks?
Review is dead on. I was jumping for joy when I got to How Dare You Love. Like, finally, this is what I’m here for! Dark Bars also great. I like Tequila Does but it feels incomplete. I want more chorus somehow, or a good bridge. Really the whole second half of the album was better than the first. I feel like that’s not unusual with Miranda for some reason.
November 4, 2019 @ 10:00 pm
Since Miranda is my favorite artist (and your coverage of her brought me to this site), I’m not surprised that I like this album a lot more than most of you. I am surprised by how much I did did end up liking this though! The Weight of These Wings is a hugely important album in my life because it came out at the time that I made the decision to cut off my toxic parents. Miranda’s sprawling journey of grief and recovery and redemption was so healing to me. I always knew that it would be hard for me to connect with her next album as much. (Even though, I still very much believe the best is yet to come from her.)
The other reason I was surprised by how much that I like this is that I didn’t really care for most of the pre-release tracks, all 700 of them, with the exceptions of Bluebird and Mess with My Head. But, all of the pre-lease tracks have been elevated by hearing this album in full. (Well, except for Way Too Pretty for Prison which somehow manages to make a duet between Miranda Lambert and Marren Morris even more banal than “Something Bad,” Miranda’s duet with that Fox News autobot Carrie Underwood. Fo(u)r the Record, I like Marren more than most here. Her Game of Thrones track and a lot of her new album are fantastic. Although, I would have much preferred for their album collaboration to be more like Miranda & Co’s “Fooled Around And Fell in Love” cover than this! Maybe a cover of a duet by two male legends? Or Johnny and June? I would have preferred anything other than this trite, regressive beauty standard fake empowerment anthem that also trivializes the prison-industrial complex while feeding into the worst stereotypes about women. But, I digress. Speaking of “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” that – or, a similar track with her Pink Guitar tour mates or the Annies would have made a great bonus track and might have contributed credibility to Miranda’s new-found position as a supporter of other female artists.)
I also agree with your main two criticisms, Trigger: the production is distracting and too polished/tinny at times and the back half is far superior to the front half. That said, neither of those ruin my enjoyment of this as much as they seem to do for others here, although it does lessen its impact. My biggest complaint about the production is the loss of the centrality of Miranda’s vocal; something, that Frank Liddell really perfected on TWOTW and Interstate Gospel. (There are moments on both of those records where Miranda’s vocal gives me chills or feels like a punch in the gut: “Baby, we were just a country song / I’m still doing time the King is gone,” “Nobody can blame her for the chip on her shoulder / She finds plenty of pool table cowboys to hold her,” “If you take her / You might hate her / And be left with just a ring,” “I was looking forward to staying here forever cause you asked me to” are lyrical moments that her vocal elevates into the visceral. And, that’s something that’s really missing from this album for me and I blame Jay Joyce’s production. I understand that Miranda’s trying to release radio-friendly material to taunt country radio into playing her again since her “lack of interest” in radio was cited as the reason that nothing from TWOTW broke through the Top 10. I understand why Miranda wants to remain commercially-viable, there’s no other mainstream country artist who deserves it more, but I would have preferred to see Liddell return for the back half then get Joyce’s production on all of the songs.
Speaking of Miranda’s radio play. I’m not one of those psycho fans that has a hate-on for Blake, but I do wonder how how much the end of their marriage affected Miranda’s chances at radio. She went from consistent top 10s during Four the Record and the first half of Platinum to stalling out every time somewhere in the middle of the Platinum Era. I’m pretty certain Miranda’s marriage was over long before the public announcement. Honestly, I suspected that they were already separated since the first time that I listened to Platinum and I heard the run of songs at the end of that album: “Priscilla,” “All That’s Left,” “Two Rings Shy,” and “Hard Staying Sober” did not seem like the creations of a happily-married woman. I’ve often wondered if the later Platinum singles started to stall out due to Blake and Starstruck’s considerable impact in the industry and that’s why she also hasn’t had a decent radio hit since even though some of the material she’s released has been so stellar, “VICE” and “Tin Man.”
I also agree that the first half is much stronger, although White Trash and Way to Pretty for Prison are the only tracks I’d totally vote to eliminate here. I know that this site frowns on gossip, but my wild (card) theory is that the first half of the album falters because Miranda is more hesitant to create specific scenes from that point in her life, since it probably would have been during her relationship with Evan Felker. There’s a very clear character arc in this album that I’m sure follows Miranda’s own life for the past few years. But, she’s become too image saavy to share details about Felker considering the media blowback she received, so she avoids those imagistic scenes that have previously communicated so much about who Miranda is as a person. Instead of “Oh I remember well, Sunset on September 12. I disappeared to get a drink. You still kept your eyes on me,” we get the much more abstract metaphor and impersonal lyrics of “Mess with my Head.” (“Waking up in a wreck with blue jeans on the floor” is one of the several lyrics that I think was written about Felker. Track Record seems intended to be a mea culpa on that relationship as much as Vice was for her breakup with Shelton.) This is slightly disappointing from the woman that once gave us the authenticity of being Blake’s mistress during his first marriage on “More Like Her.” Fo(u)r the Record, it’s not that I feel Miranda owes me these details, it’s that she’s always included these details and it seems contradictory to pull back so much now. Miranda’s music have always celebrated imperfections and mistakes and it’s one of the things about her music that’s always resonated the most with me: her bucking of Southern middle-class propriety narratives and good Christian woman tropes. It’s harder to identify with a Tide Stick solving all of my problems than it was for the Tin Man to take my broken heart.
Where I think this album really excels is as a culmination of the sounds and motifs explored in the previous six albums. (Although, admittedly, it feels much more sonically related to everything in her discography other than TWOTW. It would have been much more natural progression in sound from Four the Record or Platinum than it is from her most recent.) It picks up the rock elements from Kerosene and Crazy-Ex Girlfriend, the experimental sounds of Four the Record, the sonic diversity and tongue-in-cheek lyrics from Platinum, and turns them into a cohesive story about finding peace in oneself in order to bring in love. Each track reminds me of several previous tracks from previous albums and I admire the sonic and thematic tapestry that she’s threaded throughout her work. It makes TWOTW and Interstate Gospel (my two favorites from her) seem more like outliers than the direction she was pursuing. It will be interesting to see where she goes after this. She managed to garner very positive critical responses, if not a lot of radio play yet.
White Trash: 1/10 – this is by far my least favorite track on the album, which is saying a lot because I despise “Way Too Pretty for Prison.” This track picks up on the themes that opened Platinum in “Girls” and “Platinum: the juxtaposition between the glamor and success she’s achieved despite her humble roots. Both of those songs (along with “Old Shit”) explore that theme much more interestingly than this one does. Mostly though, I despise the instrumental which is loud and kind of headache-inducing. I would have preferred if she’d opened this as more of a prelude to “Mess with my Head” and her newly single-status since we last heard solo work for her. This track doesn’t add anything useful to the overall narrative.
Mess with My Head: 8/10. Miranda is feeling happy by herself and has all of her ducks in a row until she meets a bad boy who trashes the hotel room of her mind. This one seems pretty obviously about Evan to me and it’s interesting how she characterizes that relationship as chaotic and distracting. I love the 80s vibe of this – it’s actually such a good sound for her! I think the metaphor she uses is clever, but I’d prefer to hear more real details from Miranda’s experience than all this abstraction and synth. I love thinking about this in conjunction with Cheyenne – the Miranda who refuses to feel vs. the Miranda who enjoys the messiness of falling for someone.
Wash: 6/10 – this is a fun track and I appreciate both the message and then the metaphor that is relatable to Miranda’s demographic. A well-written lyric from Miranda and the Love Junkies, although a few of the lyrics are a bit cringe: “getting frisky with your boss” makes me flinch more than the Tide Stick line tbh. It’s obviously meant as radio bait and it does a good job at that. I’m not surprised she went with a List song as an opening single since Automatic (which this reminds me of) did so much for her and she threw out We Should Be Friends (which this also reminds me of) after Vice underperformed.
Settling Down: 8/10 – I love the instrumental here – it reminds me of Revolution with a Golden Hour sheen. “Am I looking for comfort? Am I looking for an escape?” such a relatable lyric that harkens back to the comfort promised and later denied in “Dead Flowers,” “Best Years of my Life,” and “When I was His Wife.” With definite lyric nods to Miranda’s wanderlust which is another recurring motif in her lyrics that I really relate to: “Airstream Song,” “Highway Vagabond,” “New Strings,” “I’ve Got Wheels,” and even “For the Birds” are all precursors to this for me.
Holy Water 9/10 – love the funkiness here and the more politically-tinged lyrics: “you cant skip a stone when the river’s all gone dry.” This is one of the biggest departures for me, although it most closely echoes “Interstate Gospel,” and “This Too Shall Pass.” I like the soulfulness in the sound, even if the chorus does get a bit repetitive for me.
Way too Pretty for Prison – HATE this! I already criticized it in this comment, but I find the portrayal of women to be insulting and shallow. Hate the “he cheated, he’s a villain” part. Marren sounds horrible here and I’m a huge fan of her voice. How can two such talented and strong ladies create such a shallow depiction of female perspective and make it sound so terrible at the same time? This one truly boggles my mind. I think Miranda thought the lyric she built this on was way more clever than it is…
Locomotive – 6.5/10 – I prefer introspective Miranda over badass Miranda, but this is fun and experimental to me. Reminds me more of Fine Tune, Pink Sunglasses, That’s the Way the World Goes Round, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The prechorus (“Sweet tea sipping on my front porch sitting while my hubby fries chicken”) seemed like such a lyrical downgrade from the early material released from TWOTW (“I wear a town like a leather jacket / When the new wears off I dont even pack it / If you need me I’ll be where my reputation dont precede me”), but it’s grown on me. Although, I would prefer this to be the shortest track and lengthen Mess with my Head with a more lyrical revealing bridge.
This is where the album turns truly stellar for me … there is very little I can complain about starting with Bluebird until Dark Bars…
Bluebird – 10/10 – LOVE this! Takes the birds and wings themes that have been woven throughout Miranda’s work to a triumphant new level of acceptance and optimism. Previously, the most hope that Miranda could muster was bound by her mode of transportation to the ground (“Sometimes these wings get a bit heavy … I’ve got wheels, I’m rolling on”) – this song expresses a previous transcendence that isn’t totally dependent on mobility, but centered through a decision to stay optimistic while embracing that which others might think are flaws. (“I’m a giver. And yeah I’m still giving ’em hell”) Only complaint is my desire (as with several of the other songs) for a stronger bridge and less repetition in the choruses. Just one deviation might have made this a God Tier Miranda song for me.
Fire Escape – I live in NYC and fell in love here last year, so the New York and love songs hit home. One of our first connections was on a fire escape downtown, so this resonates with me so much. “The Street lights down on Lafeyette aint seen nothing like me and you yet” is so evocative of the feeling of finding someone truly special in a city so crowded with people and sights. Love the 80s feel that this shares with Mess with My Head. The instrumental solo reminds me of Kacey’s “Love is a Wild Thing” in the best way.
Pretty Bitchin’ – this grew on me in the context of the album. I love the clever lyrics, the hit back at the tabloids, and the celebration of her success and life that this lyric addresses. It’s like “Only Prettier” or “Little Red Wagon” with the optimistic tone she started in Bluebird. And, I’m always happy when Wanda the Wanderer shows up.
Tequila Does – love the time change from verses to chorus. Love the different tequilas name-dropped at the end of the verses. The second verse “Id sure like to find a cowboy tonight, to get me back in the saddle” reminds me of my favorite lyric from Cheyenne: “She finds plenty of pool table cowboys to hold her.” Love the 90s throwback feel. This, Bluebird, Holy Water, and Dark Bars are the sonic direction that I’d most like to see Miranda take next.
Track Record – as mentioned before, I think this is the Felker mea culpa which I knew she’d have to include on this album. I appreciate the upbeat tone she took to her own indiscretions – a clear departure from the sorrow in the first disc of TWOTW where Miranda most honestly reflects on her own promiscuousness. The reference back to “Heart Like Mine” is so great here: “Last one I left standing in the drive. Said a heart like mine oughta come with a warning.
Can’t help it, I’m in love with love.” The instrumental is so great and reminds me again of Golden Hour.
Dark Bars – a spiritual sequel to Vice, Ugly Lights, Heart Like Mine, Tin Man, Best Years of my Life, Hard Staying Sober. The clear standout for me on the album. It’s been stuck in me head since I heard it.
Overall, this is so solid to me and a great addition to an already astonishingly profound discography by the mainstream’s strongest artist.
November 5, 2019 @ 5:25 am
Excellent and honest comments. My favorite was How Dare You Love. Thoughts on that song?
November 5, 2019 @ 10:32 am
Can’t believe I forgot that one as it’s one of my favorites! Miranda’s best love song since “Holding on to You” which is one of my all-time favorites of her. It would easily be my favorite on the record and a career highlight if Miranda’s vocal were turned up in the mix. I can’t believe they chose to drown out those gorgeous vocal runs – “what are we going to do?” – toward the end – I feel so frustrated by it that it keeps me from truly loving a song that I love everything else about.
That complaint lodged: it’s a gorgeous song – that melody is delicious – and will probably get endless replays for me,. Sonically and lyrically, it feels like a sequel to one of the my favorite tracks from TWOTW, “Use My Heart” – especially the lyric, “You show up and put your spell on me / Mmmm the nerve.” Someone on Twitter mentioned playing these two back-to-back and it’s a gorgeous combination. The frustrated resignation in UMH becomes tender hopefulness on HDYL. I also like the lyrical callbacks to the “You went away / How dare you” in Over You and “You never have to run away” echoes the “It’s not love that I’m chasing, but I’m running just in case” that opened the life journey told on TWOTW.
November 5, 2019 @ 8:28 am
Great breakdown of the songs. I discovered Miranda after hearing Vice & was sold. I listened to the rest of TWOTW & went through her back catalog.
I agree some songs being too repetitive in the chorus & could’ve been better with some lyrical change in the bridge. Sometimes I was left feeling like I wanted more from a song. In an interview she did say she didn’t lay it all out in this record like she has done in the past. Not sure why. My assumption is because she met her husband half way through writing for this record & felt like she needed to leave the past the past & focus on now & the future. I do appreciate that. I didn’t want to hear a bunch of the same content from TWOTW or Interstate Gospel even though there are gems on those records. I wanted more happy, positive songs/ gems from her.
Going back to the lack of radio play from TWOTWs album. I personally think it’s because she did little to zero interviews/ promoting. She said the very first interview, very first question was about her failed marriage (Miranda was more specific; i dnt wanna get into it) & told her manager she wasn’t doing interviews. I think radio execs maybe took that personally and decided they wouldn’t support her since she didn’t give them any of her time.
November 5, 2019 @ 6:30 am
I have not heard the record. Currently has an 81 score on Metacritic. This review has obviously taken a bit of a contrarian position.
November 5, 2019 @ 10:37 am
He did the same thing with Golden Hour tbh.
November 5, 2019 @ 10:51 am
My review is my review, and if I wet my finger and stuck it up in the air to determine where the popular winds are blowing, I wouldn’t be worth my salt. I respect everyone’s opinions on music, but only claim to represent my own.
November 6, 2019 @ 8:28 pm
I think what people fail to realize is that ESPECIALLY with these big releases from mainstream stars, people want the reviews quickly. I really appreciate you always getting reviews up in a timely fashion, but a lot of times “normal people” (not reviewers) have a couple days to soak in albums. I don’t know if you get early access to them so that you can put out reviews quick, but you usually get them up the day the album comes out. Do you listen to it a couple times when it drops at 12 am and then start working on reviews? I wonder, do you ever go back a couple months later and think “now that I’ve had more time to let this album grow on me, I was probably too harsh” or on the opposite side, do you ever resent an album the more you listen to it after a review? Just curious and also super appreciative of you writing this insightful reviews in a timely manner!
November 6, 2019 @ 8:53 pm
When it comes to many independent releases, I usually have the albums weeks in advance. I get sent more music than I could ever listen to. With major label releases, I rarely get review copies because they worry about leaks, though there are exceptions. With Miranda’s, I did not get an early copy, but a lot of the songs were released early, so I had a good head start. It depends on the record of how much I have to listen to it before I’m ready to review it. Sometimes I listen a few times through and know exactly what I want to say. Some I listen to and come back to over and over, and still don’t know what to say, or it takes me months to figure it out. Sometimes I sleep on records. Sometimes I walk away from them and come back, and review something else. Sometimes I go for a drive and see if the record feels different, or listen on different devices, especially if I think there’s production issues. Each album is different, but I always try to come to fast and hard conclusions before I ever start typing out a review. Even then, time is always the best critic of music. A review is just my feelings at that time, and they can change into the future.
November 5, 2019 @ 7:30 am
This album definitely takes a turn for the better at “Bluebird,” and the second half of the album is significantly better than the first. Interestingly, I thought the same about the Ashley McBryde record. I wonder of Joyce has struggles with sequencing tracks. There is a good album in here if a majority of the first half of the album was eliminated. I loved Weight of These Wings and Interstate Gospel, so this was definitely a let down for me, but there is still good to be found here. “Track Record” is such an honest song produced and performed well, it is one of my favorite individual songs in recent memory.
November 5, 2019 @ 8:15 am
Typical Miranda. All sound and fury signifying nothing. It speaks to the sad state of modern country music that she is considered among the best of her generation.
November 5, 2019 @ 8:16 am
I’ve heard the whole record once now …and my favourite tracks more often .
I’m a longtime Miranda fan just because of the way she sings ,given the right material .
most of this record is not that . certainly some nice vibes going on …some solid writing .
but ultimately it doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts , imo .
the pop stuff is mostly a playground for her producer . they are the weakest most non-de-script songs- too busy , too ‘cute’ and too pop . and dated-sounding pop at that . I think miranda needs a producer who knows miranda’s strengths better than miranda does . this ain’t him .
as beautiful and vibey as the slower more-country-sounding stuff is , its searching for stronger melodies and hooks . the repetition in the material and lack of musical dynamics makes these efforts sound amateurish ….and they didn’t have to sound that way . I may be wrong but it sure sounds like no durmmers were harmed during the making of this recording ….cuz I don’t think there were any . sounds like loops …….boring repetitive loops which can’t seem to bring any character to the party . again ……..perhaps it IS a drummer who is just lazy ..or told to sound like a loop . whatever the case , the drum tracks are lifeless in character and in performance .
as someone pointed out above , i’m almost certain there’s a better album in miranda . TWOTW ,without the filler , came damn close ….and this one sure has its moments . it ‘s a cut above the other stuff on the menu , commercially speaking , but I can almost hear half of it falling through the cracks as we speak .
i miss the miranda who SINGS .
November 5, 2019 @ 3:05 pm
For me, the bad outweighs the good after giving it several listens. I like the review, but I would personally give it a 5 or 5.5 instead of 6.5. Everybody has the right to their own opinion and the right to be wrong…it’s just the nature of subjectivity.
This is the sort of album that I check out, register the good, but then forget to listen to ever again. This is opposed to other albums for me, that I just keep listening to over and over again. I guess it sucks for the songs on the album that I generally like, but I just don’t like enough of it to ever return to it.
November 5, 2019 @ 5:45 pm
I’ve generally enjoyed all of Miranda’s albums. But, I kind of agree with the general consensus of this review, and the commentators. There’s about five songs that stuck with me:
1. Settling Down
2. Bluebird
3. How Dare You Love (chorus is a bit repetitive, but her voice sounds so sweet on it)
4. Tequila Does
5. Dark Bars
Locomotive is warmed over Miranda, but it’s fine, and I’d like Track Record more without the 80s production. However, the bulk of this album is just very disappointing to me. Miranda was always one of the few artists that could honestly produce a whole album that was mostly full of winners, and this is the first album that she recorded (either solo or with the Annies) that I probably won’t purchase.
Jay Joyce’s production is getting the most criticism, and deservedly so. But, honestly…this is not Miranda’s best work, from a lyrical perspective. A lot of the songs that are getting criticized (“Wash”, “Way to Pretty to Prison”, “Pretty Bitchin”) feel like bubble gum throwaway pop to me, and some of the songs (“Fire Escape”, “Tequila Does” to a degree) feel underdeveloped. Miranda’s proven in the past she is much better than this, so while I will concede there’s good stuff here…given what she is capable of, this is a huge, huge letdown of an album.
The worst part is…I’d still probably give it an album of the year award over anything nominated at the CMA’s this year. Unless you’re an Eric Church fan, disappointing Miranda is still better than anything else out there. And in some ways, the worst thing that can happen to Miranda is if she gets showered with awards for this, because it may mean more of the same in the future.
November 7, 2019 @ 9:52 am
Miranda’s album is still head and shoulders above a lot of what’s out there in terms of mainstream country music.
My main criticism is the production. When Jay keeps it simple (like he did on “Tequila Does”), the song is all better for it. But the vocal layering on “White Trash” and “Pretty Bitchin” is unnecessary. And maybe it’s me, but the drums & percussion are WAY too loud and up in the mix. This is a great album, but “Revolution” was better. I’d start there.
November 7, 2019 @ 10:49 am
Hey baby I’m a wild card (wild card)
Girl you get my dick real hard (real hard)
C’mon show me those credit cards
Yeah baby I’m a wild card
Wild card
You know the tune and melody
November 7, 2019 @ 10:56 am
This was honestly just me in my 10$ a night hotel room in like 5-10 seconds after reading the title of the article. Think about what I could do paid by the hour with a stipend in an air conditioned Nashville city office space with 4 other writers. Wheres my deal? Can you help Trig?
November 15, 2019 @ 10:59 am
I like most of the songs except way to pretty for prison and pretty bitchin. More I listen to the album more I love it