Customer Reviews

Strong Heart

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Patty's latest album, Strong Heart, does not quite rank with her best albums Only What I Feel and When Fallen Angels Fly, but it does compete with all her other albums. There is no country fluff like Faith Hill's "This Kiss" on here. Sure, it may be her least traditional album, but there's always something offered for the listener. The song "You're So Cool" has harmonica on it and a melody that is as cool as the theme. Clever lyrics have an adult woman thinking the one she loves is as cool as "Dylan back in '69." The song "You Don't Get No More" is one of her edgier songs yet, as is "The Key Of Love," but the guitars remind more of good rock and blues than pop. "That's The Kind Of Mood I'm In" has a chorus so uplifting that you won't mind that its theme has been done many times before. "Strong Heart" is a poppy ballad that uses tastefully lush arrangements, and it doesn't lose Patty's introspection. "My Heart Will Never Break Again" is a traditional ballad with good fiddle, and the arrangements are more in the feel of her great songs "Nothing But The Wheel" and "You Don't Even Know Who I Am" than any other song on here. The lyrics in "My Heart Will Never Break Again" are confessed from the soul. The ballad "Thirsty" with its tinge of bluegrass lets Patty's Appalachian twang wail to its fullest. It's definitely a highlight. The ballads "She Never Stopped Loving Him" and "Pieces On The Ground" are also very moving, despite kind of generic ballad arrangements on "She Never Stopped Loving Him." I definitely advise buying this album from one of the most genuine country singers around. Patty Loveless keeps the traditional backbone of country alive in a modern setting.

This is a really underrated album from Patty Loveless, and it has some of her best material. There was a time, back between 1994-1996 where Patty Loveless was on top of country music, and was winning all sorts of accolades. When she released her 1997 album LONG STRETCH OF LONESOME, it failed to yield a top 10 hit and it seemed country radio lost interest after that. Which is a shame, because they missed the boat on this album, and ones that would follow this one that were truly exceptional.

This album gets a lot of criticism because it is apparantely "too pop". Not at all. The title track, and a few other songs, have pop sounding arrangements, but the heart of it is still country. You look at artists like Shania Twain, and you will see this is definately country in comparison to Shania!

The album opens with the Matraca Berg written "You're So Cool", which would have been a great single. It has a nice sing a long quality to it. "The Last Thing On My Mind", written by Rebecca Lynn Howard, is a great ballad that was the second single from the album. One of my favorites is "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again", an excellent country ballad that teams Loveless up with Trisha Yearwood and Claire Lynch. Great song!

The first single from the album was "That's The Kind Of Moon I'm In", it should have been a bigger hit but didn't really catch on with country radio. "Thirsty" is a nice duet with Travis Tritt. The title track is another favorite, as is the wonderful ballad "She Never Stopped Loving Him", which is the show stopping song here I believe. So much passion and it's a sad story, but it's great.

Overall, her 2000 album STRONG HEART may not have been as popular as past albums, but don't pass on it, it's a great album with some really good songs that country radio should have heard!

Say what you will about some artists being too country for today's radio, but the true fact is Patty Loveless is probably the only artist that is versatile enough to vascilate so easily between the sub-genres of country. Honky-tonk, bluegrass, traditional, modern, pop....she can do it all. This set should satisfy all palates of country music fans. From the taunting start off song to the playfulness of "That's the Kind of Mood I'm In" to the deep storytelling song "She Never Stopped Loving Him", Patty delivers the real deal on this CD. Too bad she didn't release more from this one, because she certainly would have had numerous hits. I recommend this one for all country music fans. Great CD.

If you're looking for a really beautiful country album by a female artist, you won't do better this year than Patty Loveless' STRONG HEART. Not only are the songs lovely to hear, but the production on this album is some of the best, most inspired studio work I've heard in a long time. The arrangements are original yet lush, and every production seems perfectly suited to each song on the album. If you like Patty, I can't recommend this album too highly. It is as good as there is out there right now and you won't be disappointed.

I applaud Patty Loveless and her husband/producer for releasing a real country album. They have stuck to her country sound, but added some fresh sounds, including some great harmonica. In these days of abstract "country/pop/rock", Strong Heart sounds great. Not to say Faith Hills' latest isn't a great album. But for the people that enjoy a good CD with some great country tunes, Strong Heart should be on your want list. Particular standouts are That's The Kind Of Mood I'm In, You're So Cool, and Strong Heart. My only complaint: should have had more music on the CD. Ten songs isn't enough. Thanks Patty for sticking to your roots!

Patty Loveless has released a rare thing in country music these days, a COUNTRY album. This album has all of the elements of Patty that fans have come to enjoy over the years. The first track is her fun song. She has the ballads that her voice carries so well, as well as uptempo songs that keep the album from being boring.

There are several wonderful tracks on this album. The title track, "She Never Stopped Loving Him", and "My Heart Will Never Love This Way Again." On all of these songs, you can hear why Patty Loveless has been doing what she does for so long.

On a personal note, since country females have all become so enamoured with the idea of being a pop star, country music has missed out. It was so wonderful to hear Patty use her "twang" and not make her album towards a pop crowd. Wish some other females would do the same.

I'm a die hard Patty Loveless fan and I love this CD. I have loved Patty's style and her incredible gift she has of pouring her heart and emotion into every song she sings. Strong Heart is yet another gift from her to devoted fans like me who hang on every note she sings. She's delightfully having fun on That's the Kind Of Mood I'm In, she's rocking and tearing it up on You Don't Get No More, My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again is as all of Patty's ballads - heartwrenching and spine tingling with her beautifully haunting Applachian strong voice, Thirsty with another favorite of mine - TRAVIS TRITT is AWESOME. I could go on and on and on. To me this is a 5 star CD - all of her music is 5 star to me - she could sing me the alphabet and I would still hang on every note. Strong Heart has it all. Patty displays her wide range of talent on this one in a way that only Patty can do. She has a style all her own and she's the best and Strong Heart is proof of it! Of course, I'm a huge fan and very devoted but to me Strong Heart displays an incredible range of talent from traditional country to bluesy raw stuff - that strong pure voice can do it all! This CD needs to get radio airplay - she needs the recognition she so rightly deserves on this one. Go Patty, go Emory, go Strong Heart - this one sure touched my heart. As long as she's been in the business and look at her - she can still belt em' out with the best of em', she's still beautiful, and the classiest most graceful female vocalists out there today. I'm extremely pleased with Strong Heart and Patty - GO PATTY & EMORY - you've done it again!!!

As a musician and a diehard Patty Loveless fan, it is hard to understand how this collection of mostly forgettable, mediocre "B" sides is the best she and Emory could come up with after 3 years. Patty's voice is straight from the heart, but it seems thin and strained against the overinstrumentalization on a number of these songs. "Thirsty" with Travis Tritt is excellent: two mega talents with spare, acoutic backing to show them off. This one has the most musical honesty of any on the album. The others sounds as if they were written by market researchers, as if a decision had been made by Patty's handlers to lower her previously impeccable standards to pander to an increasingly juvenile and undiscriminating radio audience. Why do this? It didn't work before, why are they still trying? I can't help but think, if Patty had the courage and wisdom (or were simply allowed by her handlers) to sing what she loves, she could transcend genre and achieve the legendary status of an Emmylou Harris. At this point in her life, you'd think that's what she would want, and she certainly deserves it. Anybody who knows music acknowledges she is absolutely one of the finest talents in country music. ("Tear Stained Letter" got a very warm reception in alternative radio; I never understood why it wasn't released on country radio also.) It's such a shame to see her trying to play the POP game. I knew we were in trouble when the album lead off with the bubble gum "You're so cool," whose lyrics are not clever, but rather are insipid, as is the music. It's okay to just have fun, but it still ought to be good music, and this isn't. Also, Patty knows she is counted on to deliver a fabulous rocker from time to time, and hers have been the BEST. But all three attempts on this album are only good enough to dance to, they are not good enough to be on a Patty Loveless album. Simply put, Patty is the best of the best of the best, and this material, with one or two exceptions, is simply beneath her. I await the day when she breaks free and makes the traffic-stopping music she's capable of. I have every one of her albums and play them all at least 5 times a year. I love her voice, her soul, her humility, her down-to-earthness, her spiritual maturity, and I wish her the very best. I also respect Emory's arrangements and production on all the past albums, which are wisely restrained and showcase her awesome voice. But this album is simply a mistake. It may or may not be commercially successful, but musically it's pretty much fluff. I agree with the AMAZON reviewer that it would be interesting to hear Patty sing some Steve Earle songs (I always thought "My Old Friend the Blues" would be a knockout if Patty sang it), and there are other excellent songwriters around. So what happened?

I really liked the first track "You're so Cool"....and as the CD progressed I thought...hm....different kind of sound but Patty's voice makes it palatable. So I gave it a few more listens. As one of the reviewers posted below the essence is pure country because the tunes (though some of them admittedly are of a pop nature)are produced intelligently enough to make Patty's voice the prime element. Patty is one singer who can pull off this kind of music and not make it sound like 'bubblegum' but country. Its the quality of her beautiful voice and the great arrangements. Its such a shame that a talent like Patty has to take a back seat to those "bubblegum divas" out there who have huge organizations to back them up. ANd shame on country radio for ignoring this gem of a CD!! Patty is second to none and is in a class all by herself....top notch all the way!! Give this a listen and you'll see why it grew on me and why it will grow on you too!!

At first I wasn't too pleased with this cd. It was a long wait between Long Stretch of Lonesome (which is excellent) and this album. I found this album wasn't up to par. However after listening to it again, it has that classic Patty us fans just love. There is some great stuff on here, namely MY Heart Will Never Break This Way Again, That's The Kind of Mood I'm In, Strong Heart and Pieces on the Ground. It is a bit different sounding, but its trademark Patty Loveless. You will enjoy this album, if you dont at first, give it a try, you will be surprised.