Customer Reviews

All I Intended to Be

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Until very recently, no one expected something "new" from an artist. He/she did what he/she did, and, over time, with work and talent and increasing mastery, the art got better and better. But it didn't get "different" and there was no expectation of novelty --- no one wrote about "Bleak House" that Dickens had failed to make a stylistic leap over "David Copperfield".

Emmylou Harris is an Old School musician in many ways, but especially in this --- she's plowed the same field for almost all her career. There have been modest detours, but nothing requiring her to change her hair or buy a drum machine. She just sings American Roots music, straight ahead and unadorned.

American Roots music isn't country, pop or rock, though it's not ashamed to borrow from those styles. It's not bluegrass, gospel, folk or Cajun, though there are elements. To its practitioners, it's the authentic heart of the heartland, songs that could only come from here, sounds that remind us who we are. Soul music, if you will.

Emmylou Harris is the high priestess of this music, and on her 21st release she does it as well as anyone ever will. To those who do not worship at her shrine or listen only casually to her music, it may sound like just another Emmylou Harris record: that exquisite voice, evocative lyrics, flawless instrumentation and angelic harmonies. Yes, it is, and "Great Expectations" is just another Dickens novel.

In today's lost and destructive music business, it takes ferocious courage and massive self-assurance to put out a record of quiet beauty and then to put a title like "All I Intended to Be" on it. That's a statement, a stake in the ground --- Emmylou Harris may seem uncommonly modest and self-effacing, but this is her "My Way".

These songs were recorded over four years. The producer was Brian Ahern, her former husband and collaborator on her first 11 albums. The musicians may be well-known to music fans --- the singers include Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Buddy Miller and the McGarrigle Sisters --- but there are an equal number of lesser-known singers and musicians who appear simply because they're dear to Emmylou. And the songs? "I've always seen myself as a relentless song-finder, a singer of other people's work whom I admire greatly, and an occasional songwriter," she says, putting herself last and least, as is her custom.

The songwriters are at once venerable and esoteric: Billy Joe Shaver, Merle Haggard, Patty Griffin, Mark Germino, Jack Wesley Routh. The song you probably know is by Tracy Chapman: "All That You Have Is Your Soul." That could easily have been the title of this CD. It is certainly the theme.

Once again I feel compelled to comment on Emmylou's music. When I first saw this disk I read various reviews here whining that this album is a "downer" and the like. I smiled to myself and bought it without a second thought. I would have bought it no matter what the reviews said. Yes, Emmylou sings about pain, but she also sings about redemption and perseverance, the dawn that follows the darkness. Anyway, what price do you put on music that brings tears to your eyes?

But I am writing just to comment on one track from this disk. "All That You Have Is Your Soul", a song that did not grab me when I heard the author's version two decades ago, is rescued here and made Emmylou's own. The song includes the lines: "hunger only for a taste of justice, hunger only for a world of truth." The depth of longing in the "hunger only", the slight hush of reverence in "justice" and "truth". Those lines, at this time, in that voice... Whatever I might think of the tracks on this album, and my opinion varies, those few seconds are worth the price of the album to me, and I would not be without it.

Emmylou Harris may be so good, she is at her penultimate for most of her career. I admit, I enjoy her soulful voice and spare orchestrations so much that I really cannot claim to have a favorite CD from her releases.

This 2008 release was produced by her former husband, Bruce Ahern. You'll hear old friends on this CD, including Dolly Parton (backup on "Gold") and Buddy Miller. The 'songfinder' has snagged some great music, too, from the likes of Tracy Chapman and Kate McGarrigle.

"Broken Man's Lament" talks about not messing with someone else's dreams. When the subject married a bar singer, he asked her not to sing.

"Gold" talks about the human failings in all of us:

"no matter how bright I glitter, baby, I can never be gold"

Probably my favorite song of this collection is "All that you have is your soul" by Tracy Chapman. This song contains some of the best life advice you can get.

In this case, I think a lot of this CD was gold as soon as it was released.

Rebecca Kyle, August 2008

I've been an Emmylou Harris fan for almost three decades. While I enjoy the majority of her music, I've always gravitated toward her ballads. The lyrics and music of the ballads she has recorded across the years -- and most importantly, that yearning voice that instills them with the pathos of the human experience -- have always spoken to me. Therefore, this new album, filled with songs of regret and heartache (and hope--Sailing Round the Room, with it's sweet lyrics regarding existence beyond death, is really too beautiful to even describe), is a keeper in my collection and I have a feeling that it will become my favorite Emmylou album overall.

I cannot imagine any other voice that could draw the listener into the emotions embedded in the lyrics as effectively as Emmylou's. This is a mature album for a mature listener who has experienced the sadness and regret that instill the human experience and that eventually make or break us. To me, the songs on the album are forms of redemption, turning the bitter heartaches of life into beautiful music that speaks to fellow travelers along the way.

This music is neither bland nor boring. It is reflective, testamental, a tribute to Emmylou's attitude that one should make music for the sake of making music rather than seeking to please every listening audience. It won't be to everyone's liking, nor should it be. But for those who find Emmylou to be one of the finest balladeers of all time it will be love at first hearing. All in all, if I could give this album more than 5 stars, I would.

After listening over and over to this album, and to her "Stumble Into Grace" album as well, I did something I have never done and never, ever contemplated doing. I wrote to Emmylou to thank her. Beth, my wife of 30 years, a partner and soul mate in every possible sense imaginable, passed away a little time ago. Music has carried me through the ordeal of her departure these past weeks, and during this time, these two albums by Emmylou Harris rose to crowd out all the other music I started listening to.

I like "All that You Have is Your Soul" somewhat, which others here have singled out. But to me it is a bit too remote and programmatic and does not do what most of the rest of these songs do for me -- which is cut down deep to the bone. There are four in particular that cover every possible thought about loss and death I have struggled with. "Take That Ride" -- directed to a "you" that at first you may assume is a man in her life, but is in fact God ("One of these days I'm gonna take that ride. There may be nothing on the other side."); "Not Enough" -- as in even a lifetime would not be enough to have back with the partner she has lost (or mine); "Sailing Round the Room" and "Beyond the Great Divide." Together, it's all therapy, or prayer, or something, and it blows me away.

I agree with those who did not like the "maudlin" characterization of this album. I do not need nor want maudlin. This album is tough as nails.

I loved this CD.
As if there was any chance that I would not.

The reason that I gave it 4 stars
is because I am comparing it to her
other collections of songs released
over the decades, on the EH scale
if you will. Very few, if any, other
folk musicians can even qualify to
be rated on the EH scale.

I wasn't expecting a sort of return
to somewhat traditional Americanish
folk music,
but I'm not disappointed because
she is particularly good at that
whatever-you-call-it type music.
What am I saying ?!!! She's the best.
The truth is, after all this time,
one might as well call it
Emmylou Harris music. She owns it.

You will hear and like a number of songs
written by herself
and other great song writers.
And, as usual, she is accompanied
by the best of the best of musicians.

The cardboard packaging is pretty lame.

It's a new Emmylou Harris album!!!
Get it and listen to it alot!!!

Length:: 3:13 Mins

This is Emmylou at her best. I am a great fan and I may be a little biased but I think she just gets better with each new album. This album reminds me of some of her early stuff and was glad to see some of the peaple on the album with her, especially "Billy Joe Shaver". They had a great "duet". I would recommend this album to any "country music" fan.

I've been an Emmylou fan since I was a young teen-ager and my mother bought me her Profiles I Best of album (yes, album). So I want to preface my review by stating upfront that I'm a fan and probably biased. That said, I do think this is a wonderful CD, well worth purchasing.

I do think that I personally prefer the production sound of her Wrecking Ball, Red Dirt Girl and Stumble in Grace CDs (what most reviewers have described as atmospheric, with world music influences, etc.) but that doesn't take away from the beauty and impact of the songs on this CD.

Yes, they are sad and full of regret and remorse. But this is Emmylou Harris folks. For my money, Emmylou's reputation as the "diva of loss" is our gain. No one sings these songs like she does. And nothing makes me happier than to listen to her sing them.

And as the Amazon reviewer said, despite darker subject matter (death, aging, loss, regrets) there is an uplifting feel to the CD. I think it's the paradox of the dark material in the hands of someone with such an angelic voice, but I also think there's a feeling of pulling up a chair and listening to someone older and wiser share hard-earned wisdom without self pity.

Is it country? Does it matter? Emmylou hasn't been welcome on country radio for a long time, even before Wrecking Ball. To be honest, I would like Emmylou to get airplay because I think she deserves it, but I wouldn't want her to change her style to get it.

It is more country, in my opinion, than the CDs I mentioned above, mainly for the production sound but also the material. Kern River still sounds as classic as it did in Merle Haggards' hands, and Emmylou's Gold and How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower both have a traditional flavor to them. Add Old Fiver and Dimers Like Me and Beyond the Great Divide and that's a lot for the tradionalists.

Personally, I don't care how you classify her music. I guess I'm one of those fans who likes whatever Emmylou does because I love her voice so much, and I respect her integrity.

Of her voice, one customer reviewer wrote that Emmylou was washed up and I felt compelled to respond to that before I even had received my CD. Now that I have, I can say without hesitation that she is not. This CD was recorded over a period of several years while she toured and did other projects. The fact that these songs are a bit gentler and delivered in a more delicate voice are a stylistic choice, it seems to me. If you've seen any of her recent youtube videos from performances as recent as last year or six months ago, you know that she can still exert some power on songs like Pancho and Lefty, Together Again and others when she needs to.

Has her voice changed? It would be a miracle if it hadn't. In my opinion though, the change in her voice is like the change in her appearance... maturity has only added a new element of beauty.

I know that there are times on this CD when her voice, described as cracked crystal by friend Linda Ronstadt, conveys emotion in a phrase or single word that I don't if anyone else could achieve, and that's only enhanced by the edgier sound that now complements the purity of her voice.

Her own song Not Enough is amazingly beautiful and moving to me, and it's a combination of her words and the aching delivery, especially on the refrain.

If I have any true critical remarks, it would be that the production seems a little heavy at times (slightly overshadowing the voices). On repeated listens, however, I have turned the volume up and found that does the trick. Also, I would somewhat agree with other reviewers who said the songs are all similar in tempo, but I disagree with the reviewer who said they all sound alike.

Those are two different things entirely. Similar in tempo yes, but Emmylou's delivery and the vocal and sound arrangements on the songs do vary. Shores of White Sound and Hold On have heavier production, while Moon Song, Not Enough and All That You Have is Your Soul are more spare.

To sum it up, I can't say that everyone will like this CD; some people seem to be either old Emmylou, or new Emmylou and this CD is a bit of a hybrid, not really either one. I guess when your tastes are as eclectic as Emmylou, you run the risk of not pleasing everyone.

Bottom line: the material is well-chosen and well-delivered and that's what makes it quintessential Emmylou. Turn the sound up and enjoy.

This is not an album to slap into your car stereo to tap your feet with while cruisin' down the road. It is a marvelous collection of beautiful songs written, arranged and sung by some of the top talents in the business. It's theme is the down side of life but it is presented so well and with such profound sincerity that it avoids being maudlin.

ELH's choices of Karen Brooks, Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, The McGarrigles and her longtime friend and collaborator, Dolly Parton to sing with her help make this a great album to sit and listen to without distractions.