Customer Reviews

On Down the Line

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This is one of my favourite Patty Loveless albums. It is pure country just like her voice. My favourite song on the album is the title song, but all of the songs are good. The hit of the album was "I'm that kind of girl", a fun, up-beat song. She has help on a number of songs from Vince Gill, on background vocals. This is a great album, recommended.

Patty Loveless's voice is an extraorinary instrument. With it's flat tone and occaisional twang, she is able to express more emotion with subtile gestures than the bombastic divas who dominate pop and Nashville country music. She projects the strength, warmth and pain of real American women. Although her sound is rooted in her southern rural background, the themes of the songs she chooses are universal, and her appeal should be, too. I've found that playing her records is a great way to open the ears of people who don't think that they like country music.

While I can't pick a favorite from among her albums, I listen to this one as often as any. It has a slightly harder edge to it than her more recent CD's. Her version of Lucinda Williams's "Night's Too Long" is one of those songs that should win her converts from pop fans, without sacrificing her integrity as a country purist. "I've Got to Stop Loving" is a great hardcore country ballad, and! if the big radio hit, "I'm That Kind of Girl" (I'm not the lady in red/ I'm not the girl next door/ But if somewhere in the middle's what you're looking for) doesn't make you smile, then head over to the Wagner section at the local CD shop and pick up the Ring Cycle, 'cause popular music of any genre just ain't for you.

This CD is excellent but the standout song is "Some Morning Soon"...a bluegrass tinged, traditional country ballad! Any song that gets the chill bumps on my skin to stand up is incredible and this one does it every time! The entire CD is excellent! I also love "Overtime", "I've Got to Stop Loving You", "Blue Memories", "Looking at the Eyes of Love" and "The Night's Too Long" (another standout!!) The entire CD is as I said, superb but I keep coming back to "Some MOrning Soon"....what a song and what Patty does with it is nothing short of incredible. Reba, Faith and Martina need to take some singing lessons from Patty Loveless!!!

I suppose that many would regard this album as one of the less essential albums in Patty's long and distinguished career, but if so, it's only because of the consistently high quality of her albums. A look at the songwriters tells its own story. Furthermore, Vince Gill and Claire Lynch each lend their support as backing singers, sometimes on the same tracks.

Four songs (Overtime, On down the line, Looking in the eyes of love, Feelings of love) were written or co-written by Kostas. Two others (Blue memories, I've got to stop loving you) were written or co-written by Paul Kennerley. Claire Lynch co-wrote Some morning soon - Claire's own version can be found on the Front porch string band album, Lines and traces. The biggest country hit from this album is I'm that kind of girl, one of Matraca Berg's early successes as a songwriter. Another hit, The night's too long, helped to establish Lucinda Williams as a songwriter - her own version can be found on her untitled album that also features her original version of Passionate kisses. Since then, Lucinda has made her mark as a singer but, sadly, Matraca has failed to do so. Wendy Waldeman co-wrote You can't run away from your heart, a song previously recorded by Lacy J Dalton.

This album contains a fine mix of ballads and up-tempo songs, but you can't always tell which is which from the titles. Blue memories might be a weepy ballad - in fact, it is an upbeat song about being determined to forget the past. Other brilliant upbeat songs include Overtime, On down the line and I'm that kind of girl.

Among the slower songs, I've got to stop loving you (the most traditional country song here), You can't run away from your heart, Some morning soon and The night's too long are my favorites.

Like so many of Patty's early albums, this is deserving of much greater attention than it has ever received from country fans.

I don't think Patty Loveless has ever recorded a bad song, and there are certainly no clunkers on this collection. Her voice is pure and the feeling is palpable. I'm especially a sucker for the slow heartbreakers, like "I've Got to Stop Loving You," but there are some excellent uptempo songs as well, like "I'm That Kind of Girl." I can't understand why PL isn't the undisputed queen of contemporary country. She can sing rings around the usual top 40 fashion statements like... Well, you know who they are....

Hot on the heels of her multi-platinum breakthrough "Honky Tonk Angel," Loveless takes a cue from her earlier trio of MCA releases. "On Down The Line" boasts a smart balance of sparse bluegrass and modern-day country instrumental arrangements tendered with shimmering background singing courtesy of Claire Lynch, Karen Staley, and Rosemary Butler. There are first-rate hits here: Lucinda Williams' sublime "The Night's Too Long," Kostas' "On Down The Line," and Matraca Berg's rollicking "I'm That Kind of Girl" typified Loveless' remarkably successful chart run. Her impeccable song choice shines - "Overtime" and her spine-tingling harmonies with Staley on the chilling "Some Morning Soon" round out a stellar collection that remains her best mixture of style and substance to date.