«Tommy says»
Sugarland keeps getting better and better. Jennifer is now my favorite country singer and writer too. I never knew just how talented she is until NOW. This is a MUST buy for all country fans and others too. She has the voice of an angel that I can listen to over and over. I missed their last tour, BUT will NOT miss the next one. Friends of mine say they were GREAT in person. I can't wait for the next CD or tour.
[Tuesday, August 26, 2008]
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«its okay, should have bought the single»
I have never bought one of their CD's before, so I can't compare it to any of their other ones. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have bought the whole CD. Just the Single to the song.
[Monday, August 25, 2008]
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«It's not perfect, but I promise it's worth it.»
I've fallen out of love with contemporary country music lately. There's too much emphasis upon getting people to dance, or pretending you know what "the redneck lifestyle" is like. It's all about the money, as so many third-rate country tunes have declared recently (with the very intention of making that money).
Sugarland is an exception I'm making. Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush are amazing singer/songwriters, who actually (gasp!) EMPHASIZE their talents as singer/songwriters. Take LOVE ON THE INSIDE. We'll discard the first two tracks; how they made it on, I do not know. Let's look at some of the other songs instead. "Steve Earle" is certainly a highlite; songs about actual singers are often hokey or just flat-out unlistenable (note: Tim McGraw's "Kristofferson"), but "Earle" is smart and genuinely witty. "Joey," on the other hand, is one of the darkest songs I've heard in a long time; the chorus is Nettles's plaintive prayer "Joey, I'm so sorry/Oh, can you hear me/Joey, I'm so sorry." "Genevieve" is one of the most original songs I've heard in a long time; it's heavy on the folk/bluegrass, but if you're complaining about that, then just leave now. The rockin' "Take Me As I Am" is a thought-provoking character study ("I'm ain't sayin' I'm perfect, but I promise I'm worth it"), while "Keep You" is a gut-churning number about failing to give up a past love ("He loved me 'til I loved you even more"). Nettles lends a sultry air to her voice as she sings the seductive "What I'd Give" ("What I'd give to make you coffee/Find out how you like your eggs/Wraped around you in the morning/A tangled lace of arms and legs"). The original album closer, "Very Last Country Song," is another smart number, this time one that will mist up your eyes: "If nobody did nobody wrong/If we know what we had before it was gone/If every road led back home/This would be the very last country song."
The DELUXE FAN EDITION has a few more trakcs; of these, "Operation: Working Vacation" is easily the low-point, even with it's smirk-inducing line "Gonna re-define higher education." The two best tracks are the live covers: The Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town" (with Little Big Town and Jake Owen adding un-needed vocals); and Matt Nathanson's "Come On Get Higher." This latter tune features some stellar audience-interaction (Nettles gently works the crowd into contributing to the song's harmonies), and simply has Nettles and Bush with a couple guitars between them. Better than the original, actually.
Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush are both great songwriters in their own right, but they do know how to pick co-writers: Bobby Pinson, Tim Owens, Bill Anderson, and Scooter Carusoe most noteably. Sugarland is one of those rare bands that has acheived both commercial and critical success, and it's not hard to tell why: they have a slick, modern style, but still hold true to the old singer/songwriter tradition. LOVE ON THE INSIDE falters a bit near the beginning, but it rapidly picks itself back up and keeps chugging onwards. A great country/folk/pop album, one that should help set a standard for what contemporary country music can--SHOULD--be.
[Sunday, August 24, 2008]
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