Customer Reviews

Blessed

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With the eminent status she has achieved in American song Lucinda Williams could not be blamed for coasting a bit. Much time has passed since the two decades of largely unheeded obsessive perfection that predated her late-90s breakthrough.

How fortunate that "Blessed" finds her lyrical and melodic powers at their zenith. Fresh, blazing inspiration is especially evident in spite of her droll, cool-as-cucumber delivery.

The tempo is subdued, but not in the vein of "Essence" or "West," which were immensely tortured and soul-searching by comparison. A decidedly less precious approach to the songs' overall execution plays to their strengths because Williams' outlook, while still immense with thought and world-weariness, is less clenched and more relaxed. Clipped, factual acceptance is therefore fitting in its thematic dominance.

"Buttercup," one of the few upbeat selections, does not set the stage with its classic rock feel and almost boisterous sense of levity as Williams criticizes a former flame in a nonetheless dignified manner. Its chorus is ingratiating with full throttle guitars and percussion. "Seeing Black," written for Vic Chesnutt, does not cast judgment on the troubled singer/songwriter's suicide but scratches the wounds of those left behind. She probes his motivation with a series of unanswerable questions amid searing guitar work from Elvis Costello.

The shrewdly observed, expertly executed title track finds affirmation in unlikely places - "we were blessed by the neglected child who knew how to forgive/we were blessed by the battered woman who did not seek revenge" - and exemplifies Williams' signature incisive simplicity, the backbone of her talent. It informs more than a few songs here, also among them "I Don't Know How You're Living," typical of her slow-burning, marinated, downbeat best. Her vocals wrench as she contemplates what has become of a former love without any bitterness or self-pity - just acceptance of what has happened - and declares her continued good will.

"Copenhagen" is lullaby-like and huggably warm as it offers an olive branch to an estranged friend, while "Born to Be Loved" is deceivingly simple as it insists upon its title phrase. "Soldier's Song" comes from the perspective of a departed serviceman and the family he has left behind. Her sparing matter-of-factness maximizes the songs' effectiveness.

"Awakening" is a swirling, epic tour de force with deadly serious percussion and guitar work. Her vocals, hanging loose and icy in the mix as she repeatedly declares her intentions to accept the unchangeable are bone-chilling in their funereal restraint amid the song's topsy-turvy arrangement - and appropriately so, since the song is a death of sorts in its resolution to put an end to habits that, for more than half a lifetime, have proven unsatisfying.

"Kiss Like Your Kiss" with its summery, meditative imagery sounds like a safe haven in the storm as it waxes love and comfort. It is the most resolute, unambiguous closing track of Williams' career.

"Little Honey" had many incredible songs, but it was more a hodgepodge than a fully focused, clearly inspired album. "Blessed" is a welcome return in that regard. Her major artistic assets are in full evidence, but she also demonstrates a personal growth that provides a unique listening experience from those she has previously offered and that stands well with the quality of high-watermark albums that cemented her reputation. "Blessed" is destined to join that much-lauded company.

4.5 stars

I almost didn't order this CD ( I couldn't listen to her recent Little Honey, nor had much interest in West, preferring instead what she did last century, Lucinda Williams (Reis), Sweet Old World, and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road or even the more commercial sounding releases from the early '00 Essence and World Without Tears), but did, due to some glowing pre-reviews, and I'm SO glad.

This could be her best recording yet, the perfect balance of raw vocals and tight polished instrumentation. The main disc is what really counts here, the second "Kitchen Tapes", is nice as a bonus, but wouldn't be much on it's own (demo-like solo versions which sound more like her earliest albums, but not as good).

The songwriting here covers pretty much Lucinda's familiar turf (love, loss, suicide, redemption, sacrifice, and renewal). It isn't so much new, as just really well done - including all the elements that she has done so well for so long. And this is what makes it remarkable, that it sounds so good, so fresh, so real, again.

Lucinda is back with a set of extremely well crafted, poetic songs. The music has a consistent tenor and mood. I prefer the acoustic "kitchen" disc because her melodies and her voice stand out in a beautiful honesty. The band supported disc is also an artistic statement sounding hushed,thoughtful, with candles in a darkened room feel. On the band disc her melodies are only hinted at and her voice is filled with whisper and innuendo, sometimes halting and sounding a bit weary. What I really like about both discs is their originality. Barely any echoes to past songs, except perhaps in theme. This one stands up there with her best. The kitchen disc is a must.

As heard here, Lucinda Williams' voice seems to be losing shape, a battered piano, muddled at some places, strangely fitting at others, wearing out in its own unique way. Matched with pedal-steel guitars as on "Copenhagen," the voice bleeds like watercolor, threatening to lose form and wear out the paper. At such points, the words matter more than ever. On this release, we get mixed signals.

Williams has always favored parallel structures. On several of these tracks (the noir blues "To Be Loved"), they refuse to pay off, though the title track conjures up her great songwriter's spirit--direct, nostalgic, Whitmanesque. Elvis Costello offers up some fierce guitar on "Seeing Black," and with Don Was at the helm, the album maintains the proper contour and shimmer.

"Soldiers Song" is a stark, line-by-line contrast between life on the battlefield and life back home. War is brutish, but such simple treatment feels like short shrift for the subject and the singer. Then again, "Ugly Truth" catches that wee-hours conversation when it really doesn't matter what the person does, you simply want them to do something, cursed though you both are.

At a few points on Blessed, you want Williams to dig the knife in further and push herself past foreboding hints. Then, she closes things with "Kiss Like Your Kiss," a waltz that sums up years of work and reminds that the night has many turns left.--Brian Boyles, OffBeat Magazine, March 2011 issue. [...].

Lucinda's Blessed is another excellent collection in a recent wave of terrific new releases - IMO, the best of the lot.

Is there anyone else out there writing and performing with the passion and perfection of Lucinda Williams? On Blessed, Lucinda is backed by a strong band anchored by Butch Norton on drums and David Sutton on a pound perfect bass. Rami Jaffee adds musical color and keys on organ, piano, and accordion. But this is a guitar lovers album and Greg Leisz and Val McCallum front a stellar string section featuring guests Elvis Costello (in full Attractions mode), Eric Liljestrand, and of course, Lucinda.

The opening tune, Buttercup, nearly blew out my car speakers once I hit repeat and cranked it. Copenhagen melted me with the autobiographical (for me) lines of being 57 and feeling 7 when you incomprehensibly lose someone you love.

Every song kills. Lucinda probably isn't for everyone, but this is enough to send me to the well to buy everything else I can by her.

Thanks Lucinda, and thank you Meg Griffin for turning me on to her, as you have with so many others.

I have enjoyed (some of) Lucinda Williams' work for years, and I have seen her in concert several times. Nevertheless, I can't recommend this CD. Blessed is the least listenable performance of hers that I have heard. I've listened to Blessed repeatedly--so I tried. But this CD does not compare favorably to older work like "Lucinda Williams", "Passionate Kisses" or "Sweet Old World". Among other reasons, I don't recommend ths release because many of the vocals are grating and out of tune; the songs don't add to territory that has been covered earlier in her career. The bonus of the "Kitchen Tapes" shows that Williams views herself as an "artiste" who doesn't want to sound "pretty" or "commercial". But I am not intested in knowing that Williams has the "artistic integrity" to release whatever she wishes. The bonus CD just isn't interesting or listenable; A couple of the cuts are OK, but you have to endure a lot of really unpleasant sounds to find something worthwhile. I will take this CD to a CD exchange store and hope to get $1 for it. 3 of 10. I give Sweet Old World a 9, in contrast. I would have wanted to know that Williams' voice is tattered and unattactive, before I bought this CD.

I have been listening to the brilliance of Lucinda Williams since

before I had a CD player. Her early work was like Dylan's, her voice was

an acquired taste but her songs, like Vic Chesnutt's, were from a

completely unique perspective, literate, but gritty like folk art.

With the exception perhaps of Little Honey her last 4 albums have seen

a tremendous slide in quality-Blessed is filled with so many singer-songwriters Cliches that it is embarrassing for a man of my musical education to

listen to, yes there are a few good songs BUT...

I used to think that her throw-away songs were better than most other

singer-songwriters best work but now the bulk of her work sounds like toss-offs.

I suggest Laura Marling's The Beast or Gillian Welch's The Harrow &

The Harvest over this snoozer. If you think this is a 5 star album you

would have to adjust your star rating scale to 15 stars to accommodate

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road or Essence.

Lucinda Williams returns to the style that she was known for in her earlier work. Songs are a bit dark and serious. The lp has very good dynamics but is pressed on clear vinyl. Seems to be quite noisy for a new album that was properly cleaned. The cds also furnished are good quality. It is interesting to hear the "raw" kitchen cd and, then, the polished work. I like this album much more than "Little Honey". The recently married Lucinda was just too happy on that one.

Don't let the airplay of "Buttercup" fool you. That's a fun song to sing in the car, but the rest of this album is as much of a downer as mid-70s Neil Young--and I say that with admiration! This is a terrific album with a few songs so creepy ("Don't Know How You're Living" and "Copenhagen") that they'll give you goosebumps. The previous CD, Little Honey, is more fun overall, but this is fun in a different way. Definitely worth buying.

I thought "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" was the most dangerous and erotic song ever but this new stuff is almost as good. "Copenhagen" will make you swell out of your ordinary world of "whatever" and deliver you to places that are sumptious and frightning. Oh, and oddly erotic! You must, I repeat MUST grab this one. Ragged and polished. You go, Lucinda!