Lucinda Williams - Sweet Old World
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Free Music Notes for Sweet Old World
Free Music Review: Typical Williams - extremely strong
Hit: 4 Stars
Disclaimer: I'm a grey hair, so this review will be age biased.
Lucinda Williams has an amazing vocal ability to weave a melody that carries you. Her voice sometimes sounds strained, but she always manages to complete the note - and leave you spellbound.
The weakest song on the album I think is "He never got enough love". Would that other musicians could create something this good, but it simply isn't indicative of the quality that I have come to associate with Lucinda. Personal bias only.
The strongest? I personally liked "Which Will" and "Sweet Old World". I am not usually a slow tunes fan, but these spoke to me.
Do you need to own Lucinda Williams? No, not if you listen only to one music genre. But if your tastes transcend boundaries, or you like the folk-country-rockish music think of Lucinda. You won't be disappointed.
Free Music Review: Poignant
Hit: 5 Stars
This was my first Lucinda Williams CD and my favorite in many ways. Ten years ago it seemed as consistent as her first album, and I admit on re-listening today that it isn't. The instrumentation has become dated, and between that and the New And Improved production on her later releases, I can see how others may have skipped this one or may want to. It would be a loss, though, not to have this CD that speaks so poignantly to loss.If I had to pick a single favorite Lucinda Williams song, the title track would be tempting. This song about suicide is her masterpiece, and you're not human if you aren't moved by it. It takes a poet to succeed with such a song. "Something About What Happens When We Talk" was the first of her songs I ever heard and remains a particular favorite. On hearing it I began my arguments with myself over whether her simple lyrics were trite or minimalistic. I eventually decided on the latter, and this song is so very intelligent and evocative, like so many here. The theme of suicide and loss from "He Never Got Enough Love" (those songs about men with abusive childhoods haven't stopped or become more subtle from here to "Sweet Side") through "Pineola" is perfectly realized. I don't have Lucinda's gift with words, but hers is used to remarkable effect in this series of songs.
There are lighter pleasures here, from touching story songs ("Six Blocks Away", "Sidewalks of the City") to a fun, sweet love song like "Lines Around Your Eyes". Even before I had those lines I thought this was a great song, and now that we live in a culture that worships youth like never before, you can't beat the sentiment. "Hot Blood" is often a great song live, but unfortunately wasn't recorded in a way that captured the heat. Still, it's a must-have for any fan.
There are weaker moments. Some of the lyrics on "Prove My Love" seem trite, though others are moving, and it's very country. I find "Memphis Pearl a bit maudlin, but not bad. And the cover of "Which Will" is nice enough, but dispensable.
This is probably not the first CD I would recommend for someone who wanted an introduction to Lucinda Williams. It's musically dated, not perfectly consistent, and that's less true of her first CD or of Car Wheels. Still, the sense of it being a theme album for the first half or so of the recording, and a series of truly great songs - "Something About What Happens", "Sweet Old World", "Little Angel", "Pineola" - and a few that are simple fun - "Lines Around Your Eyes" and "Hot Blood" - are essential for any serious Lucinda fan.
Free Music Review: Excellent as Usual
Hit: 5 Stars
I completely disagree with the tone of the editorial review. This is an amazing album, and Lucinda Williams is an amazing artist. "He Never Got Enough Love" is a great song...and completely up to par in my opinion. If you like Lucinda Williams, or you just appreciate great vocals and arrangements, buy it, you won't be dissapointed.Free Music Review: Such Sweet Sorrow
Hit: 5 Stars
This beautiful album opens with the uptempo Six Blocks Away but soon turns sombre with songs like He Never Got Enough Love, the tender and poetic Sweet Old World (covered by Emmylou Harris on her Wrecking Ball album) and the painful Pineola, a harrowing story about a suicide and funeral. Little Angel, Little Brother is less sad, but gentle, perceptive and poetic too. The mood never seems to brighten after that, although Lines Around Your Eyes is a powerful love ballad and Prove My Love is a melodic, emotionally gripping country song. Sidewalks Of The City is a sad but hopeful Springsteenesque ballad, while Memphis Pearl reminds me of Emmylou's Red Dirt Girl or Joan Baez's version of Love Is Just A Four Letter Word in its theme and mood. Lucinda's sound is a perfect blend of rootsy country, folk and rock that fits her lyrics like a glove. This beautiful, sad and moving album ends, quite appropriately, with her cover of Nick Drake's elegiac Which Will.Free Music Review: A notch down from "Car Wheels," but still worth the ride
Hit: 4 Stars
This CD sometimes gets lost in considerations of Williams's work, sandwiched as it is between the auspicious "Lucinda Williams" and the amazing "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." It is true that the songs do not have the consistency that you get on either of those other CDs. But, when stacked up against the disappointing and, frankly, mediocre, "Essence", this one shines. The high points are certainly the title song,'Pineola' and 'Little Angel, Little Brother', the latter quite possibly the finest song she has written. There is still some distance between Williams and the truly great (Dylan, Joni Mitchell, the Band, Richard Thompson) though. We owe Williams thanks for allowing us to see that in a way that is internal to this CD. Her version of Nick Drake's 'Which Will' is affecting, but, put on "Pink Moon" and then I think we can all agree which one is 5 stars and which one isn't.