Customer Reviews

Love, Shelby

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I really like this album and think its a very good album. More generally, it has several songs that are hit songs and/or that are just enjoyable to listen to such as Wall in Your Heart. The music is excellent and enjoyable to listen to, the lyrics honest, clever. Its just a really heartfelt album. More personally, it is one of the few albums by female solo artists that I (a male)feel like the singer is singing love songs to me, and the songs feel genuine-like she really wanted to convey that to the listener. So, the Love Shelby title really fits for a lot of the album. The album is a gift from the artist. The songs sound so heartfelt, I don't think its fair to label the album a pop album. I'll confess I don't mind heavy production with music, and, for me the production on some songs (meaning multiple guitar and keyboard (and vocal?) tracks), and certain portions/arrangements of songs that are probably included because they are naturally pleasing -- this stuff added to the enjoyment for me. The key with this album production wise is that the genuineness and excellent songwriting of the artist is already there, and the production just improves the song - as opposed to creating its appeal or masking the deficiency of the song. I think its a great album, and I really appreciate it from the artist.

I really enjoyed this cd. Though her I am Shelby Lynne was more raw and more passionate, she chose to try something new with this cd. She tried to do catchier songs with more production and instrumentation, and she succeeded. A lot of people never gave her a chance because they were expecting I am Shelby Lynne Part 2. This is unfortunate. Jesus on a Greyhound, Killin Kind and Wall in Your Heart are excellent songs and the remaining songs are good as well.

The negative press for this CD is bogus, and difficult to comprehend. If you liked I am Shelby Lynn, then you'll like this. It's basically I am Shelby, Part 2. It breaks no new ground, but who cares? Love, Shelby is a very nice mix of pop and soul confections, far superior to the vast majority of dreck out there. Leave it in the CD player in your car for a few days. After 5 or 6 listenings, you'll be hooked.
Shelby Lynn's no Lucinda Williams as a lyric writer (of course, it seems that Lucinda isn't either anymore), but her voice is still marvellous. There's only one howler, the painful Melissa Etheridge-imitation, "Jesus on a Greyhound", but that's why God created CD's, just skip over it, as you do the one stinker on I am S.L. (the last song, you know the one, Shakespeare?! auugghhh). Of course, the ... cover "art" is also a serious mistake; whose idea was THAT, I wonder? Maybe that's what has upset the music press. Whatever, they don't seem to have listened to the CD more than once, or perhaps they didn't like I am Shelby Lynn either.

This is my introduction to Shelby Lynn. I actually knew more and have enjoyed her sister Allison Moorer's country records. One of my buddies finally sent me a copy of the CD. What a gift! With the cover, I don't think I would ever have anticipated what a masterful classic "Love, Shelby" is. Percolating rhythms start the opening track "Trust Me" as the guitar magnificently drags across the melody with Shelby's alto so reminiscent of Dusty Springfield at her best. "Embrace the night and don't let go," Shelby sings in her sultry midtempo "Bend" urging us to "give into temptation." The next track comes on full blare, the perfect companion piece to Joan Osborne's "One of Us" that asks, "What if God was one of us, just another slob on the bus." In Shelby's song it's "Jesus on a Greyhound" as the guitar lumbers heavily through the piece. On "Wall In Your Heart" the pace slows to a soft whispering tune speaking about the isolation of the heart. "Roses are red," is the rap refrain re-echoed at the start of "Ain't It the Truth," a great soul rocker. Shelby is incredibly haunting as she sings, "I'm waiting on the day that somebody says they love me, 'I Can't Wait,'" a midtempo tune with such an aching wail on vocals. "Tarpoleon Napoleon" is a soft jazz torch ballad, "so full of mystery, open as a wound." There is a wonderful classic feel on the great soul tune "Killin' Kind." "All of a Sudden You Disappeared" is a meandering melody that mirrors the sense of one who wonders what's happened, punctuated with a punchy chorus. Knowing a bit about the singer's history with the family tragedy of the murder suicide of her parents, Shelby takes another piece of heart with the John Lennon classic "Mother" and smashes the forlorn wail of the chorus smack into the 21st Century. This is a CD of great music by a woman who is not at rest, but who is using the clash of inner turmoil to create some of the most moving music around. It rocks, it croons, it seduces and cajoles. It works for me.

Really don't feel like getting into a debate over
whether Shelby should be a soul diva or a pop vocalist
or a country sweetheart, who cares, one thing she
can sing the hell out of a song and she has one of
the most beautiful, aching voices. I'm glad she's
getting herself out there and taking some chances,
country's tight format shut her out years going, its
nice to hear this music. I loved her last collection
and I'm getting into this new stuff, I love "Wall in
your heart", the Raitt R&B ish "Ain't it the truth",
"Killin' Kind" a great song, "Jesus on a Greyhound"
is growing on me, "All of a sudden" like "Bend" have
some great interesting arrangements. Good thing we
all have such different opinions!

I thought this was going to be Shania/Faith but it's much closer to Sheryl/Lucinda. It's pretty rootsy, she writes her own songs and she doesn't practice any of the extreme vocal exercises of the aforementioned. The one cover she does is John Lennon's "Mother" which I thought was a brave but odd choice until I read that her father killed her mother in a murder/suicide. One other positive point...she's really hot in a trampy way, which works for me! Plus there's a poster included!

Shelby Lynne has gone and done it again, she's reminded me why I have been a fan of hers for 10 years and will be a fan forever.
It took a few spins to get my head into this album but now I can't stop playing it.
The second song Bend is one of the best, if you listen closely you can hear the happiness in Shelby's voice, it shows through in her performance.
Buy this album in the long run you won't be sorry.

I have been a Shelby Lynne fan since long before she won her Grammy with "I Am Shelby Lynne". Indeed, I had already bought three of her CD's before that "breakthrough" was achieved.

On my first listen to "Love, Shelby" I was as disappointed as many of the reviewers who have posted here. I thought the material lacked substance and her voice was too pedestrian. There does seem to be a lot of Shelby talking rather than singing. On further review, however, I have come to appreciate this outing almost as much as "I Am Shelby Lynne." She is a fantastic vocal stylist, and much of the material is every bit as edgy as ususual. And, as usual, she defies categorization. Frankly, I was shocked that my local music store had her under Country Music.

This is a first rate CD, showing yet more facets of an extremely talented musician and singer.

Shelby Lynne's previous album (I Am Shelby Lynne) was her breakout album, earning her a Grammy for Best New Artist (even though it was her fourth or fifth album). Love, Shelby was the anticipated follow-up album. There is an interesting thing at work with this album. The cover art is absolute trash making Shelby look trashy (thus suggesting that Shelby is just like the other pop princesses). The music, on the other hand, is excellent and almost defies categorization. Shelby's roots are country, but her music now does not land neatly in a category. It isn't pop, rock, or country...but it suggests each of those.

Her previous album was dark, gloomy and slow (quite good, but slow). This album is much more upbeat and up-tempo. The songs I enjoyed the most on this album were "Jesus on a Greyhound", "Killin Kind", and "I Can't Wait". "I Can't Wait" is probably the best on the album.

I too have been a long time fan of Shelby Lynne; having stumbled upon a copy of "Temptation" in a bargin bin many years ago. As that album's country-swing shows, Shelby Lynne has been hard to categorize for awhile. Hearing that Glen Ballard was producing this album and reading a magazine article where she all but swears her eternal allegiance to him, I was very worried indeed. But what I think Ballard does do is help Shelby shape her natural pop sensabilities further in that direction. If you heard the radio version of "Gotta Get Back", then you shouldn't be surprised by this move. I also agree that repeated listens somehow manages to implant these songs in your head. I liked this album at first, now I love it and cannot stop listening to it. This is not a sequel to "I Am Shelby Lynne"; it is much more pop-rock, but tasteful, incredibly tuneful and handled very well in her hands. Her voice sounds great, she still has those awesome harmonies (again mostly with herself, save "Killin' Kind"). Her musical stories still affecting. Her natural dramatic quality is just translated into pop which makes it a little bigger and a little louder.
One sad point though, is that there is an "original version" of "Love, Shelby" that I think would have made this album great. I'm not sure why they scrapped that version. It's certainly not for poor song quality. It included three more tracks and a very different song order. With those three songs "Star Broker" (a very rock oriented tune), "Close to You" (very sweet adult contemporary) and "Break Me Open" (the original album closer and a sensational burning bluesy number), the album had more heft; not just added length but more musical textures; better echoing "I Am Shelby Lynne"'s journey through slightly different styles. Perhaps they'll release these songs as b-sides on singles. Find them if you can; you'll be more impressed.