Unglamorous

Lori McKenna

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 14, 2007)
• Original Release Date: August 14, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000RHRGF8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,468 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #55 in

  Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Alternative Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Fans of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw will flock to Massachusetts singer-songwriter Lori McKenna's fifth album for obvious reasons--McGraw coproduced it with his longtime shaper Byron Gallimore, Hill recorded three of McKenna's songs for Fireflies, and McKenna snared a guest slot on McGraw and Hill's 2007 tour. But longtime McKenna followers may approach this--her first album recorded expressly for a major label--with trepidation, fearing the commercial push has tamed the fearlessness and precision of her writing and diminished the quiet power of her folkie vibe. Well, Unglamorous is, indeed, different from her previous efforts--the lyrics often move beyond McKenna's dark and gritty blue-collar world, and her sound gets a fuller production, with a noticeably tougher edge in her Everywoman tonality. But McGraw and Gallimore have taken pains to only boost McKenna in the marketplace, not radically change her style. The radio-friendly title song (cowritten with hitmaker Liz Rose) is an autobiographical portrait of McKenna as a plumber's wife and the mother of five, for example, and if she sounds overly joyous about the virtues of middle-class struggles ("Curtains faded/Threadbare rugs/Real life/The baby stayed up all night"), millions of people can relate to that kind of life and be buoyed by the commonality. Still, there are plenty of songs that revisit McKenna's starker themes: "Drinkin' Problem," to which McGraw contributes harmonies; "Falter," about how the town bum got that way, with Hill's gorgeous and impassioned soprano lending emotional strength; the devastating "Leaving This Life," about McKenna's mother, who died when her daughter was six; and a passel of well-crafted and intense songs about a marriage in trouble. The most interesting commercial forays come back to back early in the sequence. If "I'm Not Crazy" is a giddy love song on an endorphin high, its predecessor, "Your Next Lover"--the album's best cut--hauntingly chronicles a romantic throw-over in sparse but potent detail, laced with black humor ("I saw her out in the parking lot/And any plans you had you can break"). As on past albums, McKenna occasionally references high school as a watershed moment. But Unglamorous clearly shows that the 36-year-old has graduated. --Alanna Nash

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old meets new, August 16, 2007

By	J. M. McGregory "jmarkiemark" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Old meets new. Lori still has the same sound she has always had, but it's been brought a little more mainstream on this CD. AND IT WORKS!

I came across Lori before her "Faith Hill" days. Not sure how I came across her...but loved her voice, her lyrics.

But this....this is what she was meant to be. She has not sold out. She has merged the old with the new. THIS is the way her songs were meant to be heard. The incredible voice. The touching lyrics. With a production befitting them.

The CD has a very simple production that enhances but does not overpower her lyrics and incredible voice. The production does make some of her earlier stuff seem "demo'ish" but...hey, with titles like "The Kitchen Tapes," that was the whole idea.

This CD is a wonderful progression for Lori. And....we benefit. This CD is a "must have."

Folk meets country. Old meets new. Get it!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Talent, New "country" schlock production.., September 10, 2007

By	Xagan "Xagan" (Hallandale, Fl. United States) - See all my reviews

Sadly for her old fans, Lori seems willing to accept the modern "country" format sound, it takes to get radio airplay and play the bigger concert halls these days. Pity. Her material is as good as ever.

That being said, the same tired wanna be rock'n roll backbeat, is applied to virtually every song. Add the layered guitars, including at least two layers of distorted guitars and voila the standard new/modern country sound does it's best to submerge her gifts. Somehow they still manage to make it through the schlock. BUT IT IS ONLY INSPITE OF THE HACK PRODUCTION, NOT BECAUSE OF IT. I for one, hope her next release returns to the more minimal and real sound of her past recordings.

I liked the added production used on Bittertown. It fit her music, rather than forcing her to fit into it's formualaic sound as this album does.

Worst case scenario, she gets the attention she deserves and produces more records that sound like this one.

Compare her original Stealing Kisses to the Faith Hill version. If you prefer the Hill version, you should love this album. I do not.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gotta Have It, August 21, 2007

By	Whimc (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

I was introduced to Lori's work about a year ago through a friend who is a big fan and has enjoyed her sold out performances in the Boston area. I was immediately drawn into her songs, her songs are stories of life. The good, the bad and the ugly Lori makes them all beautiful works of musical art. I have anxiously awaited her new album release and was not disappointed. Lori is the real deal and she is poised to be a superstar.