Lyle Lovett - Natural Forces
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Free Music Notes for Natural Forces
Free Music Review: Great CD
Hit: 5 Stars
I saw Lyle Lovett in concert and some of the songs he played were off this CD so I had to have it. It has a lot of great songs on it.
Free Music Review: Lyle does it again
Hit: 5 Stars
We've been fans of his for over three decades now. This latest release is fabulous and if you get a chance to see him live-YOU MUST!Free Music Review: Less innovative than many of Lyle's CD's
Hit: 4 Stars
I have all of Lyle Lovett's CD's and have been a fan since "Pontiac" was first released. Lyle deserves his Grammy and Country Music accolades, as he has been one of the most consistently innovative artists, pushing the boundaries of today's alternative country music. I've seen him on tour with his band, and solo. What you hear on the CD's is what you get in person. Quirky sense of humor, a knowing air about him, and a great musician.
All that said, the latest CD "Natural Forces" doesn't show us anything new. The title cut has some nice pickin' going on in the background and it is a pleasant ballad. The rolling melody and the continuous ebb and flow evoke the driving/traveling theme. But I keep looking for the twist, or the story that pulls me in, and it's not there.
Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel has a fun drum track, and will get your toe tappin' That is, if you can get past the "I'm goin' to choke my chicken, 'til the sun goes down" Great support from the band and chorus on this one.
Pantry is a classic country song, wailing fiddles and all. Cute idea: "don't cheat on me" around food. "Keep it in your Pant..ry" A good theme for dieters.
Empty Blue Shoes again has strong instrumentation and a classic Lovett pacing. This is a type of song-writing to which Lyle frequently returns. Nice.
Whooping Crane is perhaps my favorite on the album. It has a reflective tone, and a searching theme. Again, the wailing violin seconds the longing feeling imparted by the words. Well done!
The next 5 cuts are covers that Lyle makes his own. Bohemia and Don't You Think I Feel it Too, in particular both sound like something Lyle wrote himself. Great instrumentation. Great country ballads for slow dancing. Loretta is a staple for folk and country singers, and Lyle treats is with great respect as well.
It's Rock and Roll brings back beat & drive, but it is a lot more country than Rock and Roll! Fun!
Pantry reprise brings the album to a close, reinforcing country roots.
Overall this album is good, classic Lyle-doing-country. I miss the jazz riffs, the gospel calls, and the innovative partnerships Lyle offers on some of his other albums. But I'll give this one a lot of play too.
Recommended, especially if you feel like Lyle has been straying from his country roots.
Free Music Review: What Lyle does best
Hit: 4 Stars
This is an album mostly made up of songs by other songwriters including Townes Van Zandt and Vince Bell. There are a couple of originals though, like the excellent title track, and some co-written tunes, like the suggestive 'Choke My Chicken' and the bluegrass 'Keep it in Your Pantry'. If you've thought, like I have, that Lyle was running out of new ideas on the songwriting front recently, this can only be a good thing. And since he has the knack of making even a song you know well sound like something HE wrote, it generally is a good thing.
Take 'Sun and Moon and Stars' for instance. It took me a while to realise where I'd heard it before. Fans of Nanci Griffith will no doubt remember it from her 'Late Night Grand Hotel' album though it was written by Vince Bell. It suits Lyle just fine and reminds you he's actually a pretty good singer. Other songs, like 'Whooping Cranes' were made for Lyle's style of delivery, and anything by the iconic Townes Van Zandt is bound to fit him like a glove.
The two standout tracks for me are the title track and the superb 'Bohemia', which has a cool, jazzy, sassy groove to it. The sound on this album is a bit different to the sparse, spacious sound on some of his records by the way. It's more up front, more lively, more fun. Lyle, who barely raised his voice above a croak on the last album, sounds confident and strong on here.
So I'm liking this more than Lyle's recent output and rate it pretty highly. I do think I might soon tire of the repetitive 'Keep it in Your Pantry' (there's a second, better, acoustic version of this on the record too) and the joke may soon wear thin on 'Choke My Chicken' but on the whole I have few complaints.
Free Music Review: It's not possible for Lovett to make a bad recording
Hit: 4 Stars
There are few artists that I have loved for the duration of their careers. One of the other of us grows apart. Lovett's music has sustained me for years. I love his humor, his sentimentality, and the sheer level of musicianship here.
Here are a dozen songs covering everything from lost love to the music business. Most of the music here is from Lovett's more country style rather than the large band and it's good introspective music.
Following is just a sample of a few of the dozen songs on this recording:
"Whooping Crane" talks of all the ecological blessings we've lost from species to drinkable water and natural elements.
"Keep it in Your Pantry" is Lovett at his punny best. Folks on Weight Watchers should probably avoid this song.
"Loretta" is a homage to Townes. Everyone's covered this song from Norah Jones to Steve Earle. I'd say Townes is smiling over this love ballad to his Eternal Girl.
"It's Rock and Roll" is another song about the music business. Probably every artist has one somewhere and many have been recorded.
While this is not my very favorite Lovett recording, I still think it's a great addition for any Lovett fan.
Rebecca Kyle, October 2009