Miranda Lambert’s second album, 2007’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, made her a star with critics. She was hailed as the brightest new country music voice in a generation — the next Loretta Lynn.
She was also a hit with country fans, her album reaching #1 on those charts for the second time, though she didn’t enjoy much crossover success.
I’ve done a lot of theme weeks this year (dedicating six weeks at a time to my decade lists) but I haven’t done a good old-fashioned single-artist chronological theme week in a long time.
Well, who better to get me back in the swing of things than my favorite country artist — and one of my favorites all around — Miranda Lambert?
I keep waiting for these Random Weekends to turn up something truly horrible or embarrassing, a song so pathetic that is forces my loyal readers to second-guess my value not just as a music lover but as a human being.
Hasn’t happened yet, which I guess speaks well of my music collection. But I’m only a month or so into this, so I know that moment is lurking out there.
Top Ten Songs of 2011 – #9
Miranda Lambert’s Four the Record is my favorite album of 2011, so it might seem weird that its only song on my top ten countdown is sitting at #9.
But I think the album’s overall strength and consistency keeps it from having the sort of standout track that places higher on a list like this. I could have easily chosen the compelling ‘Mama’s Broken Heart,’ the aching ‘Look at Miss Ohio,’ the old-school ‘Same Old You’ or any of a dozen other songs to represent this great record.
I got a sense of the risks Miranda Lambert is taking on her new album, Four the Record, when I played the second track for my daughters.
The song, ‘Fine Tune,’ is a bluesy come-on with thick drums, a wailing lead guitar and a distortion effect on Lambert’s vocals — it’s more White Stripes than ‘White Liar.’ My girls, who are almost as big Miranda Lambert fans as I am, scrunched up their faces and said “Turn this off!” and “It hurts my ears!”
Meet Me In Montauk 