Customer Reviews

Family

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

 

 

ok all you whiners saying she should enunciate on nothing better to do.... This is done purposly to envoke the southern cajun feel to the song. Stop listening and Feel the dang song.... Thanks for the buzz Leann!
a++

What makes this album special is that LeAnn wrote pretty much all of it herself. She's growing to become a better artist than where she started out which was just a singer who sings other people's songs. So for that, I give her credit. There's still some growing to be done but this is a pretty solid album. I'll break down the songs:

Family (C+)
Not one of the stronger songs on the album.

Nothin' Better To Do (B)
One of the problems with this song is that it's so hard to understand. You want to sing along to it, but you can't really tell what the words are due to LeAnn's poor enunciation.

Fight (C)
Good Friend And A Glass OF Wine (C-)
Something I Can Feel (C)
There really isn't anything wrong with these songs. There just doesn't seem to be any purpose to them. They seem like the last songs she wrote for the album. She wrote the important songs to her first, and then needed 3 more to fill an album so she just slapped any old thing together. That's what it sounds like anyway.

I Want You With Me (B+)
This song was included with the charity LeAnn was involved in to support the troops. I don't know if that was the intention of the song when it was first written, but now the song has a special meaning and it's touching to listen to every time because of it.

Doesn't Everybody (A+)
One of the brilliant songs on the album. LeAnn takes on life observations, including tabloid celebrities, and questions whether or not we're all the same or if people are just missing out on what is really important in life.

Nothing Wrong (A+)
Another brilliant song. Marc Broussard's scratchy voice fits perfectly with LeAnn's pipes. This is one of the best duets she's ever done. It's loose and fun. One to sing along to in the car.

Pretty Things (A)
An unexpected and interesting song on the album. LeAnn singing about the superficial things in life. Beautiful vocals and with each listen you discover the deeper meaning of the song.

Upper hand (B)
A cool rock song but compared to others on the album it seems a little flat.

One Day Too Long (A+++)
FANTASTIC!!! That's all I have to say for this song

What I Can Not Change (A-)
Beautiful vocals and arrangement. What takes away from this song is that she's sung it on two prior albums. Not the song, but the subject matter. I hate to break it to LeAnn, but her life could be a lot worse than it is. She should sing a song about all the things she's grateful for instead of how she has family and stress problems all the time.

Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore (B)
I was expecting more out of a Bon Jovi song.

When You Love Someone Like (A)
I love this song. Reba and LeAnn sound amazing together. And it's one of the best songs on Reba's duets album too. Thankfully, Reba didn't hog the song like she did through most of her album.

Family which LeAnn admits is her most personal record to date,clearly shows her continued growth as an artist in general and a songwriter in particular.She wrote(or co-wrote)all of the songs on the cd(which is a first in her career thus far).
The first single off the cd 'Nothin Better To Do' cracked Billboards Top 20 and the video was in heavy rotation on CMT and to a lesser degree on GAC.The song is very original,upbeat and the video perfectly suited the song and is Ms.Rimes best video to date. Some have been critical of the song citing that they cannot make out the words.This is weak.If you can't make out all the words,read them in the cd booklet.I can think of many great songs by many different artists where all the words cannot be clearly discerned. It can perhaps be classified as another vocal style.
LeAnn's live performance of NBTD on the CMT music awards was spectacular.
The best song on the cd(and one of the greatest songs that she has recorded thus far)is 'What I Cannot Change' which has just gone to radio(and is her third single off the record).The vocal performance of WICC is gut wrenching and drenching with emotion and the lyrics are as powerful as the vocal delivery.
One Day Too Long is a classic bluesy song that also is performed with great emotional power and depth. It is just further evidence (and there has been plenty in LeAnn's impressive career)that she can sing any style of music with enourmous skill(as if that was the only type of music that she recorded).There is a good mix of upbeat songs(Family,NBTD,Upper Hand)and slower songs(I Want You With Me,Pretty Things,WICC,When You Love Someone Like That-the duet with Reba).Every song is quality(no filler here).
What I Cannot Change is Grammy worthy and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.
LeAnn just continues to get better with age and 'Family'gives ample evidence of that from start to finish.
It is exciting to anticipate what is yet to come from this creative juggernaut.

I am not a big country fan but I absolutely love this CD. Even though some of the songs are country, LeAnn sings them all beautifully (as usual). I don't agree with others about this CD being all country. There is an obvious mix of genre which is what I think makes it so great. LeAnn has an amazing voice and now that is a woman in her mid twenties the songs reflect her maturity. Each song should be taken on it's own merit. Even though she isn't appreciated for her non-country songs, I hope she continues to make CDs like this.

Once again LeAnn Rimes turns out a great CD! She proves she's one of the best singers, not just female singer around! I have 11 of her CD's and there's no "losers" in the bunch, all winners!

This is a great CD and has become one of my favorite's. Every Leann Rimes' fans must own this one.

I can't believe it has been almost 12 years since Ms. Rimes come onto the music scene with BLUE. Now, at 25, she has a lot of powerful emotions experiences to showcase on this--her tenth album. On the title track, she wrote and sang about the true-story of what happened to her family during her time of raising stardom. NBTD answers us the "what-if" question of what would happen if she stayed in Mississippi. In other words, what if she never got out of that state. Other great tracks are; Fight, Good Friend And A Glass Of Wine (good one to sing with your friends) I Want You With You (an amazingly beautiful love song about her husband); Doesn't Everybody and the emotional, yet sentimential ballad "What I Can Not Change."

The bonus tracks are good too, but my favorite one is "When You Love Someone Like That." Reba McEntire and LeAnn's voice blend so perfectly together it's scarey.

All in all, this album brings out the best in LeAnn as a gifted singer and songwriter. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ALBUM TO ANY LEANN FAN OR ANYONE WHO JUST LOVES GREAT MUSIC!! Basically, if this album doesn't go platinum by the end of 2008--it will surely be considered a crime in my eyes. I think that says it all about her new "best" album to date.

her voice just gets more amazing. and the lyrics she really has grown into one of the best vocal performers of today, she has passion and emotion and love for what she sings and it shows.

Leann Rimes is an amazing talent and has established herself as a force to be reckoned with as a country artist with an immense catalogue of work established at a very young age. This cd is a very important stepping stone in her career. She has cowritten many of the songs here and a more mature sound is established.

Some songs work better here than others. Standouts are FAMILY, ONE DAY TOO LONG and WHAT I CANNOT CHANGE. Both bonus tracks, duets with Bon Jovi and Reba McEntire, are also very effective. There is a problem on some songs here though. On NOTHIN BETTER TO DO, FIGHT and DOESN'T EVERYBODY her vocals are strong but her articulation is off and it is difficult to understand the words she is singing. This is apparent more on this cd than previous ones and she must be careful that it doesn't become stronger as she develops into even more of an adult artist.

The cd is not her best but it is certainly very good. And on ONE DAY TOO LONG, already mentioned, she lets loose more than ever before. It is a bluesy, major belting ballad done expertly.

Enjoy.

...better in person than the CD.
I love the CD, but we saw Leann in Boise back in June (08) and I thought she was awesome! ..she is!!!
The CD is great, alive, she's awesome!!!