Love, Shelby [IMPORT]

Shelby Lynne

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: November 13, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B00005QCQH
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,906 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When former country starlet Shelby Lynne reinvented her musical persona on 2000's flawed but affecting I Am Shelby Lynne, critics salivated and even the Grammys responded with a belated Best New Artist trophy. The album's sound, somewhere between classic Memphis grooves, gothic swamp music, and post-Brill Building AM pop, was special enough that word of Lynne's studio collaboration with hyper-commercial producer-songwriter Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews Band) set some minds to worrying that her edge would be lost. They can stop fretting. Love, Shelby is actually superior in some ways to its predecessor. If anything, Lynne's writing and singing here are even more compelling. Ballard's touch is limited mostly to stacks of electric and acoustic guitars, which seem designed to slide the songs onto contemporary radio, and the updated, hip-hop-shaded beats that power many cuts. Lynne's concerns are front and center, whether in the vows of emotional openness and resilience on "Wall in Your Heart," "Trust Me," and "I Can't Wait" or the intimations of Southern soul on "Bend." John Lennon's "Mother" becomes a sort of autobiography in her hands--her father killed her mother in a murder-suicide when Lynne was a teenager--until switching the song's perspective to her dad's in the final verse. Her story gives the soaring "Killin' Kind" (previously heard on the Bridget Jones's Diary soundtrack) a hint of ambivalence about romantic surrender. A couple of cuts, most obviously "Jesus on a Greyhound," succumb to the self-consciousness that marred a couple of I Am Shelby Lynne's sketches, but that's a minor complaint in the face of what this record's best has to offer. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Album, January 7, 2005

By	AndrewG - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love, Shelby is a wonderful pop album, August 11, 2004

By	J. F Palmer (Tucker, GA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Classic, February 20, 2002

By	Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.