No Holding Lambert Back
Revolution —
Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert isn’t known for holding anything back, and now she’s starting a Revolution in Music City, thanks to this impressive third studio CD.
“I have been blessed with so many amazing things in my career,” Lambert says. “Every day I get to do what I love most, and along the way I’ve gotten to meet my heroes and been honored by my peers with awards I only dreamed about. I am so excited to share this new music with the folks in Nashville who have supported me since my debut.”
Lambert, a two-time Grammy nominee, has seen both her previous albums debut at No. 1 on the country album chart. Revolution is a 15-track project that features a dozen songs either penned solely or co-written by Lambert.
“I think this record is truly the most artistic project I have ever done,” says the 26-year-old Lindale, Texas, native. “I really put my entire being into the making of it, from the writing to the recording to finding the perfect mixture of things I wanted to say. The inspiration was easy to come by, because it’s a compilation of everything I have ever listened to and fell in love with.”
Boyfriend Blake Shelton cowrote “Sin for a Sin,” along with two other tracks. Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, one of this album’s songwriters, lends background vocals on “Love Song.” Other prime tracks packaged on the CD include “White Liar,” “Dead Flowers” and the John Prine gem “That’s the Way the World Goes ‘Round.”
Grade: A
Doin’ My Thing —
Luke Bryan
Georgia Boy Luke Bryan is back with a dang good sophomore album. The thick-drawled crooner’s 2007 debut produced the memorable hits “All My Friends Say,” “We Rode in Trucks” and “Country Man.” He begins this project with the leadoff single “Do I,” a softhearted track he cowrote with fellow Georgians Charles Kelley and David Haywood, both of Lady Antebellum fame. Cool songs on Doin’ My Thing include “Drinkin’ Beer and Wastin’ Bullets,” “That’s What Country Is” and “Chuggin’ Along.”
Grade: B
The Ultimate Collection —
Joe Diffie
Throughout the 1990s Joe Diffie had an impressive string of nearly 30 hit country songs, including five No. 1 singles. This collection of 21 classics includes his first single and chart-topper, “Home,” from 1990. You’ll love hearing again “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (if I Die),” “John Deere Green” and “It’s Always Somethin’.” This Oklahoma pipe fitter-turned-country star is always worth a listen, and The Ultimate Collection will give you plenty of good mileage.
Grade: A+
SOUND BITES
• Actor Johnny Depp is lending a helping hand to his favorite British indie band Babybird by not only directing a video but also by making a cameo appearance on the band’s latest album. Recently the band announced it will be releasing its sixth album, Ex-Maniac in February 2010.
• Carrie Underwood’s country digital single “Cowboy Casanova” sold an impressive 110,236 copies in its first week. She remains the only solo country artist this year to debut a digital single above the 100,000 mark. She also hit six digits with “Home Sweet Home.”
• Holly Williams 28, the granddaughter of country-music icon Hank Williams Sr., wed drummer Chris Coleman, 29, on Sept. 27. Hank Jr. walked his daughter down the aisle at an 1830s farm estate in Nashville.
