Customer Reviews

Well Traveled Love

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

 

 

Kelly has got a great voice, has some great songs, has put out a number of solid albums, and yet far lesser talents seem to do better on the charts. Ah well, this is my favorite Kelly Willis album. I also like Bang Bang and Well Traveled Love, but this one is still my favorite, and I recommend it.

The only explanation I can think of for Kelly's lack of mainstream success is that sometimes it does feel like a little something is missing - she has a large number of rocking tunes which suit her well, but maybe it's the lack of more intimate tunes that is the problem. I really love the title song Translated From Love for instance, and I think it shows a different side of what she's capable of, and it reached me more than some of her other great kickers. If I can make a strange comparison, she can blaze right up there with Dwight Yoakam on the fast tunes, but she doesn't have his sets of more intimate songs to balance it out.

Anyway the important thing is this is a very solid album! Pay no mind to my musing about what might NOT be perfect...

Although I like her new "Translated From Love" the best, this and her other early ones are still on my favorites list, and this seems to always rest at the top of those. Along with the other favorite tracks mentioned, I'd also have to include "River of Love," which she still includes in her concerts, to the delight of all of us lucky enough to be there.

This is a real country artist singing real country music. Not that pop, bubble gum garbage they are trying to pawn off on us as C&W music. Just to make a few more bucks.

I first bought this album on Cassette in 1990 (?) and I remember wearing it out to the point where the first and last songs "dragged" when played. Then I upgraded to CD, and I still have that one today. For a First Album, Kelly Willis did quite well....Maybe not so on the charts, but she made her mark and the album seemed to show promise for things to come. At the time, she had a completely new sound, when compared to her peers of Kathy Mattea or Pam Tillis, but after 2 more progressively better albums, she left the scene...only to return nowadays with a tired/lifeless sound. If you can still get this CD, do so. There are 3 "stand-out" tracks: "Red Sunset", "My Heart's in Trouble Tonight", and "I dont Want To Love You (But I do)". There's also her cover of "Drive South", which, in my opinion was a fine effort but not quite up to Suzy Boguss' standards.