World Without Tears

Lucinda Williams

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2003)
• Original Release Date: April 8, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B000089RV5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,207 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Most artists who appeal to adult listeners tend to settle into a comfortable niche, but Lucinda Williams refuses to play it safe. Instead, her music stings like an open wound, as she continues to strip away the protective layers from her art's emotional core. Though Williams has long been prized for the naked honesty of her music, this collection is even rawer than its predecessors. From the down-and-dirty bar-band blues of "Atonement" to the Rolling Stones-style swagger of "Bleeding Fingers" to the tricky balance of debasement and transcendence in "Ventura," Williams leaves the nerve endings of her music exposed. With the band opting for first-take immediacy rather than polish, some of the most powerful material is also the neediest, as the singer addresses lovers who have disrespected her ("Righteously") or abandoned her ("Those Three Days," "Minneapolis"). Though her attempts at rap on "Sweet Side" and "American Dream" might cause diehard fans to wince, her willingness to take creative chances reaffirms her position at the vanguard of a rootsy progressivism that transcends musical category. Simply put, there's more Patti Smith in her than there is Patsy Cline. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe a bit too honest for some, June 11, 2003

By	Lisa McKinley "lisa_in_so_cal" (Citrus Capital of the World, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Yikes! Lucinda really split herself wide open on this one. As a huge fan of her self-titled and "Car Wheels..." releases, I struggled with the nakedness of "Essence" and grew to love it. Again, with this release, I had a hard time getting through it the first time, but it gets easier with each listen. The lyrics are sheer poetry, albeit dark, painful, poetry. And Lucinda's delivery makes them darker and even more painful. I think a first-time listener might be turned off if this were their first Lucinda Williams experience.

My favorite song on this release is "Righteously". As I've played it, several people have stopped by my cubicle and asked, "What are you listening to? That song rocks!" Almost stripped down musically, it has a wailing guitar and strong bass line that moves the song along. The last line is my favorite - - "Be my lover don't play no game, Just play me John Coltrane".

"Ventura" has a beautiful steel-guitar, wavy-feeling kind of sound. "Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings" (great title!) sounds very Neil Young-ish to me. "Overtime" is classic heartbreak, almost Patsy Cline-ish...the simple drum work and the verby guitar along with the simple lyrics work beautifully well together.

In most of her songs, Lucinda doesn't subscribe to the pop structure of songwriting - - stanza, chorus, stanza, repeat chorus, etc. Instead the songs are more like poems with wonderful music accentuating them. I can never decide if Lucinda's vocals are a strength or a weakness...they are often rough and "hick-ish", but they do add a substantial amount of depth to the words. While I can imagine a "better" singer singing them, I realize the song would lose so much of its impact if it were slick and smooth.

I think Lucinda has come to terms with never hearing her music played on commercial radio stations across the country. Still, and admirably so, she refuses to sell out her themes and her musical style for the spoon-fed masses, and instead brings out a different kind of honesty, a different kind of love, a different kind of relationship, those not usually revealed or acknowledged in the mainstream. We're talking about abusive and drug-addicted, twisted and unhealthy relationships here. There's not very much warm and fuzzy going on. Proof that angst is a wonderful catalyst for art.

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Classic, April 22, 2003

By	S. Finefrock (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Judging by the reviews listed before mine, I would guess that Lucinda Williams will never acheive mega-stardom. She just doesn't seem to care about making everybody happy.

Personaly, I find that WORLD WITHOUT TEARS is yet another in a series of outstanding efforts by Lucinda. It is about as different from ESSENCE as that album was from CAR WHEELS. ESSENCE, her last triumph, was a melancoly affair that found Lucinda loosening up her recording methods and vocals. WORLD seems to come from a more angry place is generally played loose and loud. ATONEMENT, BROKEN GUITAR STRINGS and RIGHTEOUSLY find her rocking more than she ever has on record. The "rap" numbers SWEET SIDE and AMERICAN DREAM sound a lot better than they look on paper (it's closer to talking blues than Jay-Z). VENTURA, FRUITS OF MY LABOR and the title track are just plain prime cuts that are more in the tradition of her earlier work.

For those who complain about her vocals, I beleive that they miss the point. Lucinda's vocals are similar to Bob Dylans and Neil Youngs. They are not the perfect pitches of a Star Search competitor, but a soulful instrument that uses timing and emotion to get a song across. Her vocals are first takes on this record and are certainly raw, but infused with passion.

This may, or may not be her best outing, only time will tell, but it certainly elevates her status as one of the finest musicians currently working.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE, November 7, 2003

By	Hugues Orsetti (MANOSQUE France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love Lucinda Williams to death. Because of all what she recorded already, some of the most moving albums I have ever heard. She certainly found the secrets of her art in blues, folk, country, and life. She's straight, she's honest, she's real. I have read some understatements about her among the numerous reviews of this site... well, I guess they make a balance with the major praise she got. I have to tell something to those who still think and assert that Lucinda "is not as great as everyone says": nurse your heart, learn to love. This is where Lu's greatness was born, this is where it sticks.
WORLD WITHOUT TEARS? It's Lu as she sounds now, and quite as she sounds on stage, too. Her voice has evolved to some sort of rough, bitter, exacerbated feelings. At this point I can just observe it's a major tone on the album, and I can't figure out Lu's future (nor herself, I guess). She could well record the sweetest album of her career next time - who knows?
The beauty of this new record is for a part due to the great guitarist Doug Pettibone, who offers a brilliant sound all through, like on "Righteously" where he makes his guitar sound like John Coltrane. The other part is of course due to Lucinda Williams songs themselves, such as the opener "Fruits Of My Labor" which is an instant classic, in the desperate blues spirit of Bessie Smith and Janis Joplin. And how about the lyrics: "Baby, sweet baby if it's all the same/Take the glory any day over the fame"... and as always Lucinda never sounds pretentious, she always has in voice her rebellious soul, who needs to set free, and to burn of love. That's where Lucinda stands as a poet to my ears and my heart. Poetry is a wild thing, and the sweetest thing at once. If some people aren't sensitive to "Ventura", "Overtime" or "Those Three Days", I pity them. Oh well, they may be happy without those songs. I for one am happy with. And "happy" is a weak word. I applaud this bunch of new fruits, the beautiful digipack and booklet, and respect, admire the artist on the road endlessly. LOVE.