come anticipate Miranda Lambert's new double album The Weight of These Wings

i actually think wildcard is closer in quality to platinum than i would've thought possible, it's great in the same way tho obv less great. has at least three of her best ever songs to me. revolution is the fourth classic to me. i need to spend more time w/ CEG

a question i'm not sure i'd ever be able to answer is which album between weight of these wings ("runnin just in case" & "i've got wheels") and platinum ("girls" & "another sunday in the south") has the better opener/closer combo

I put Platinum one spot ahead of Wings on my decade ballot, but I consider "Somethin' Bad" one of her worst songs.

re: Openers/Closers, she's always been so adept at making and sequencing coherent albums, but Kerosene, CEG, and Wings would be my podium finishers. I don't know how she did it but she somehow took the album opener from one of my all-time favorite country albums, slowed it down a hair, and made it the perfect send-off to CEG. The way that track dissolves piece by piece and is left with just the drumbeat gets me every time.

I'm a little embarrassed b/c Platinum topped my 2014 album list. At the time I cringed at the title track, "Somethin' Bad," "Automatic," and "Gravity is a Bitch," the kind of shtick that made FTR stink. But Platinum also has "Smokin' and "Drinkin'," "Vice," and "Bathroom Sink (her best self-written song imo).

Wildcard and Palomino astonish me with their confidence, and they owe a lot to Wings.

My current ranking:

Wings
Wildcard
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Palomino
Kerosene
Platinum
Revolution
Four the Record

i've had a tough time getting into palomino honestly. it's all a bit... jaunty to me. but i need to revisit

it is quite jaunty! i love pretty much all the songs - i think it’d be a great roadtrip album. but mostly i love playing on friday evening after i’m done with my work week, they’re all pretty good “letting off steam” songs imo

i misheard the chorus for actin up initially, i thought it was “i want a car ride home, a california glow” instead of the correct lyric “colorado high, california glow” which makes sooo much more sense lol

otm

Yeah, I'll actually login for the first time since the Plague Years started to do this.

Here's how I assessed her full catalogue a few months back (on Twitter, hence the character counts):

A rankdown of the strongest catalog-- and it's not particularly close-- in this century's popular music. Side hustles in (#) but still ranked, and those side hustles are also better than most mainline careers. There's just no one else on Miranda Lambert's level.

#8 (#12) Wildcard (***)
Her contemporaries would dismember a hobo for an album this solid to be their worst. Too many half-baked, everything-to-everyone metaphors ("Bluebird" included, y'all) in the songwriting for a writer of her caliber, but some real winners, too.

#7 (#11) Four the Record (***1/2)
The heinous title tips its hand that something's a bit off for the first time, and it's the first of her albums to include anything that's actually poor ("Over You," still her worst single by miles, "Baggage Claim"). Still: Look at Miss Ohio.

(#10) Annie Up (***1/2)
Another bad wordplay as a warning sign. On their 2nd outing, they were still working out how seriously they wanted PAs to be taken after their debut's odd reception; it's the only time these 3, solo or together, ever sounded at all unsure of themselves.

(#9) The Marfa Tapes (****)
Points toward what her post-mainstream career might sound like, but let's hope that includes collaborators whose voices blend better with hers, less problematic cultural signifiers. But who else's first drafts are this good?

#6 (#8) Kerosene (****)
She was brilliant ("Kerosene," "Me and Charlie..," "What About GA") right out of the gate, conventional wisdom be damned; the slant rhymes and first-person details that she deploys better than anyone were already intact.

#5 (#7) Palomino (****)
An album that finds stability and comfort in restlessness and camaraderie in outsiders. She's covered these themes on individual songs before, but never with empathy this deep or with singing this nuanced. Some career-best lines in these songs.

(#6) Hell On Heels (****)
A slap in the face to the genre's authenticity fetishists, the Annies' debut revels in its artifice. Like the contemporaneous Laura Bell Bundy, they use country signifiers as a drag revue, and with killer, hook-forward songs.

#4 (#5) The Weight Of These Wings (****)
Less about her celebrity divorce than it is about how trauma re-forges a person's identity, it's her moodiest and most inward-focusing set. "Vice" remains a career-best, but, like most double-albums, this does have filler to cut.

#3 (#4) Revolution (****1/2)
Lacking the thematic heft of many of her other albums, it's still, song-for-song, her most consistently *great* set, a high-water mark for quality albums Music Row actually embraced.

#2 (#3) Platinum (****1/2)
Divorce Albums are a cliché, so Miranda, always ahead of the curve, made a Pre-divorce Album: Grateful for who she's been, keenly aware of who she is now, unapologetic about who she's going to be. A few clunkers, yes, but a bunch of her highest highs.

(#2) Interstate Gospel (*****)
No lingering doubts from its predecessor that they're a singular act of substance, the Annies' Interstate Gospel is the truth you *should* find in every hotel nightstand, a vision of an unmoored population that finds grace in limbo.

#1 (#1) Crazy-Ex Girlfriend (*****)
I said what I said: "Brash, insightful, wry, and, above all else, *smart*, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend confirms that Miranda Lambert is... a country music legend in the making, and the most vital artist Music Row has produced in a generation."

She's the best popular singer-songwriter.

I can't rank those marvelous Pistol Annies albums with Lambert albums.

She's absolutely the best popular singer-songwriter. I don't know that I would really even entertain a different argument.

xp-Alfred: That's why I offset them in (): They're deserving of their own consideration, but I also think it has been overlooked-- outside of Very Online Country Music Writers-- how great they truly are. Feels weird to exclude them entirely, when they're of a piece with Lambert's overall career.

Four the Record looks especially disappointing next to the release of the first Pistol Annies album.

Surprised to see Marfa Tapes rated so low. (Are the problematic cultural signifiers a reference to “Tequila Does”?)

To me, their voices not blending is sort of part of the charm, but I get the critique.

wait, i'm not much of a lyrics person ... what are the problematic cultural signifiers on Marfa Tapes?

oh sorry, xp ... should've read the "posted since" more closely

I respect The Marfa Tapes as demos for Palomino but I haven't listened to it since May 2021 and probably won't go back.

marfa tape - surely technically imperfect campfire harmonies are the whole point imo? the crackle of the fire or the wind in the microphone, shuffles & sniffles all part of the vibe

Yeah, its twilight-to-evening presence sneaks up on me every time, like a great one-off bootleg---think I'll scoop up that and all the Pistol Annies albums, incl. the xmas, and my imaginary friend The Great Lost Pistol Annies Album, from their solo joints etc.---and go tottering off---

But OK speaking of solo joints here are some, from my Nash Scene ballots, show previews etc over the years:

Miranda Lambert
Thursday @Celeste
When tiny blonde Miranda Lambert scored her first country hit by applying “Kerosene” to a cheatin’ boyfriend, the even-cuter-when-she’s mad factor promised to get out of hand. But ”Kerosene,” “Gunpowder And Lead” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” gain more credibility as album tracks: tabloid-fueled or not, they’re as truly expressive as any other pages from the diary of a frustrated, sleeplessly dreaming small-town girl. Speaking of fuel, be sure to check the re-run of Lambert’s “Austin City Limits” set, where she and her band leave the somewhut more jaded or just plain tahred Gretchen Wilson’s crew in the dust.

Miranda Lambert
Friday @ Nationwide Arena

Young country star Miranda Lambert’s current album, “Revolution”, cranks up and orbits old folk star John Prine’s “That’s The Way The World Goes Round.” She’s found her own sharp-eyed stoicism, just naturally igniting when rubbed the wrong way too hard. Some say she rocks too hard for country, but Lambert’s “Only Prettier” draws on the droll, drawled comic zingers of honky tonk, and she thoughtfully, tunefully re-affirms her roots. It helps that her father’s an ace guitar picker, and both parents are also private detectives, specializing in marital disputes.

Miranda Lambert, Platinum: The winter of her discontent, and not just a diva's hissy fit. Oh yeah, when she stresses about being upstaged by her big loud stupid TV star husband (as if trying to maintain your hard-won status as a female star in NashVegas---having started as third-place finalist on TV's historic Nashville Star, then: gaining foothold via persona of cute-when-she's mad, eggsy gun-freak/pyro---now: vs. electro-bro chart toppers wasn't enough) we're perfectly cued to respond, "Oh no, Miranda, you're Elvis, he's Priscilla!" But she manages even that obvious move really well, ditto sassing us 'bout can't have a ride in my little red wagon---cause it's ALL MESSED UP. That's the way she really feels, pretty sure; she's not just playing hard to get, she is hard to get, hard to get a grip on, hard to accept, in her own view. Which is also true in the hinge track (getting even more relatable, as the kids say), where she doesn't wanna catch herself in the mirror, maybe looking like her Momma, the loved opponent who taught her to clean up this "Bathroom Sink," this microcosm of messy life itself. But she does go out with Little Big Town, getting relatable as hell on the bro and sis Saturday night parking lot circuit: "Smokin' and drinkin thinkin' bout the one that GOT AWAY," hell yeah, damn! Overall, the country equivalent of Beyonce's s/t Platinum Edition.

Prob be some argument, but to me, for now (especially with some of the guitars on relative mainstreamer Miranda Lambert's The Weight of These Wings is not that far from the more consistently "out" sounds of Lucinda Williams and cookin' E. Cook), this is a country album: the pitch and cadence of her voice, the turns of phrases, as written and sung, guide and shadow the grooves, bringing out the bluesy elements of crossroads sounds, without trying to pretend they're pre-digital; the subject matter, layers of atmospheric consistency---the fixations of an addict, recovering enough for perspective on same---though getting the fix, "getting straight," as they used to say, can provide enough detachment for moments of insight even inside the thing, as "Dharma Gate" and others suggest---all merge with certain classic themes of country, even if she's not meditating on a shot glass all of the time.

From a later online discussion:
Going for what I called her "sonic grid"---that dark, spare, hard-edged but flexible framework for the throughline of her narrative themes---has some of the same appeal as Stapleton and Eric Church's recent albums, something of a Jamey Johnson atmosphere too, but I doubt that she expects as much radio play as they've gotten. The main challenge is writing about this stuff at all, without becoming too dependent on lurid imagery or therapyspeak, or seeming evasive. Her current solution seems to be just to begin in the middle, to tell it like she might have told it then, in her most self-aware, lucid and candid moments. And maybe she's still in the middle of it, for all we know--but I have the impression (because the self-awareness etc is so sustained here) that she's been through some kind of therapy, with whatever lapses experienced or still possible, and of course the idea is to know yourself to be a recovering addict, present tense, no matter how long you've been sober. So, while these songs may not be the deepest, as Edd Hurt prev. mentioned, this is how far she's gotten writing-wise (with anything she'd want to show us now, at least).

Sorry! I was hewing too close to Ctrl + Search in the personal archive, so that Weight mention was really just in the middle of scribble about Elizabeth Cook's also badass Exodus of Venus.

Ctrl + F search, that is.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/11/cmas-2020-miranda-lambert-entertainer-year-essay.html

... and same writer has an interview with Miranda out today: https://www.vulture.com/2022/09/miranda-lambert-vegas-best-worst-music.html

i love this

I, for a while, did this set where I would end with a fiery one and then go down and do a couple ballads, like “House That Built Me” and “Dark Bars.” I had to switch it, because I would do “Mama’s” before “House That Built Me,” and always girls would start fighting in the front row, and then they’d still be fighting through my ballad. And I’m like, All right, we’re going to have to put “House That Built Me” somewhere else because they don’t get over it quick enough.

she’s right that “dead flowers” is one of her best songs

i love it so much

Also I love this bit about "The House That Built Me":

"I’m so thankful for that song. I sing it every night and I watch people cry. I cry once a tour, at least — especially if I’m playing in Dallas, because my family’s there. I think any songwriter that you ask right now, they have that on their top-ten list of songs they wish they’d written. It’s just so vivid, and parts of it are part of all of our childhood. But my guitar player for so long, who I lost this year, Scotty Wray — the first time he heard it, I was saying, “Isn’t this just everyone’s story?” He goes, “No. I wish I had that house. I wish that was my story.” I’d never thought about it like that. There’s a whole different meaning when you listen to it from someone that didn’t have that. It made me cry when he said that. I think that’s the power of “The House That Built Me.” It brings out so much emotion."

To think she didn't enjoy a country smash until 2010 and "The House That Built Me." Radio didn't know what to do with her.

I wrote here at the time that Revolution side one was her most rockin' side ever.

good list, jon_oh! Here's mine today - no doubt it'll be a bit different tomorrow.

Tier 1
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Platinum
The Weight of These Wings
Hell on Heels
Kerosene

Tier 2
Wildcard
Palomino
The Marfa Tapes
Interstate Gospel
Revolution

Tier 3
Annie Up
Four The Record

Re: Cultural signifiers

Yeah, "Tequila Does," coupled with some interviews she did around the same time in which she had some tone-deaf responses about being a white woman opening a Tex-Mex restaurant / tequila bar. She's shown great allyship on LGBTQ+ issues, but she really didn't seem to get it when it came to cultural appropriation. I believe Dr. Amanda Martinez, whose work is essential in the country space, did some writing about it that explains it more authoritatively.

Re: Marfa

Still a great album, for sure: Check the **** ratings for albums (9) and above in my rankdown, and those rankings are always in flux depending on what I've listened to most recently. I just don't think the actual vocal timbres of their three voices make a pleasant sound when they sing together (I also think Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks sound horrible together, so...), in a way that detracts at least somewhat from my enjoyment of the album.

she had some tone-deaf responses about being a white woman opening a Tex-Mex restaurant / tequila bar.

She's from Texas, where a substantial number of Tex-Mex restaurants/tequila bars are run by monied Whites under less scrutiny.

it takes all kinds of kinds iirc

Crazy Tex-Mex Girlfriend

“tequila does” def has some blatant white person in a sombrero vibes but i also think it’s a brilliant song. i like to think of “in his arms” as a companion to it

I will argue though that "To Learn Her" is not one of Wings' memorable songs.

Rightly or wrongly? It is a perfectly executed 50s throwback - not sure there's another song in her catalog like it.

The two guys on Marfa Tapes are also a big asset (I still think Ingram's "Anchor" is an amazing song). It's such a special kind of album; I'm listening to it now...

yeah its a top 3 for me

Not sure if there's supposed to be some grand revelation on my part to the statement that Miranda Lambert's from Texas, which I certainly knew? And doesn't invalidate the appropriation issues? Which is full YMMV territory for anyone's enjoyment or engagement with something.

Love the Vulture piece, particularly her "Dead Flowers" love and spot-on critique of the current state of country radio. Which, as Alfred said, never knew what to do with her.

I'm just pointing out that she probably doesn't see it as appropriation, more like a smart business move with loads of precedent. The only reason anybody cares is that she's famous in a more scrutinized field.

And besides, it's not like she's the first Country star who's had suspect/cringe/objectionable business interests.

If I may also note in her character assessment the enormous amount of work she's done (and presumably $ she's given) for animal welfare organizations, and her own Mutt Nation.

https://muttnation.com/foundation/

i don’t think we need really need to hold a trial over how problematic she is or isn’t. her songs provide for far more interesting discussion

"It All Comes Out in the Wash" is sorta a lesser variation on "We Should Be Friends," huh?

Wildcard starts out bumpy, but ends really strong...

Related, anyone read the Her Country book?

the only song on Wildcard i’m ambivalent about is “fire escape” because it’s so repetitive it sounds more like a filler song

but otherwise i enjoy Wildcard a great deal,

"Settling Down" is the catchiest song of her career. Jeez, even typing the title got it lodged in my head.

Putting aside the Tex-Mex schtick, something great about "Tequila Does" is how it's, like, a "positive" ode to booze... you know, drink responsibility and all that (and I could never handle tequila myself), but I like the idea of a drinking song that doesn't have a "dark" edge. I'm sure there are many others (esp. in country music), but they're not known to me.