Blessed | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 1, 2011 | |||
Studio | Capitol Studios, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Americana, folk rock, alternative country, heartland rock | |||
Length | 59:05 | |||
Label | Lost Highway | |||
Producer | Don Was, Eric Liljestrand, Tom Overby | |||
Lucinda Williams chronology | ||||
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Blessed is the 10th studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on March 1, 2011, by Lost Highway Records. The album debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. [1]
A critical and commercial success, the album earned Williams a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album in 2012. [2] The track "Kiss Like Your Kiss" was written for the HBO series True Blood , and originally appeared on its soundtrack album released in 2010. [3] The song earned Williams a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2011. [2]
The album features guest appearances by Elvis Costello and Matthew Sweet. [4] "Buttercup" was released to radio and digital outlets as the first single.
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4⁄10 [5] |
Metacritic | 79/100 [6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Los Angeles Times | [8] |
Robert Christgau | B+ [9] |
Spin | [10] |
Blessed was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 24 reviews. [6] AllMusic rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing "Blessed is Williams' most focused recording since World Without Tears ; it stands with it and her 1988 self-titled Rough Trade as one of her finest recordings to date. Its shift in lyric focus is amplified by the care and detail in the album's production and crackling energy. By deliberately shifting to a harder-edged roots rock sonic palette, Blessed moves Williams music down the road from the dead-end Americana ghetto without compromising her qualities as a songwriter or performer". [11] An enthusiast review from the Los Angeles Times called it "one of the best albums she’s ever released", stating "the dozen songs on the album tackle complicated emotions with a deft touch to create profoundly moving moments. Williams' writing on Blessed is seamless. The songwriter mixes it up with electric guitar songs, personalized protest songs, and touching, gorgeous ballads. Combined, the result is a dynamic, human album, one that’s easy to fall in love with." [8]
The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau rated the album B+, writing "Williams has always worked her drawl, but here the extended vowels and slurred consonants tempt one to suspect she's afraid 'We were blessed by the watchmaker/Who gave up his time' won't stand up straight next to 'We were blessed by the wounded man/Who felt no pain.' Unfortunately, it won't, and similar shortfalls cripple 'Soldier Song' just before. What makes me half believe I'll want to hear this album again is the drawn-out religious rumination 'Awakening', where vagueness signifies, and every solo Val McCallum gets. Atmospheric. Play loud anyway, so it won't be." [9]
Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Blessed | Best Americana Album | Nominated | [2] |
All tracks written by Lucinda Williams. [12]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Buttercup" | 3:50 |
2. | "I Don't Know How You're Livin'" | 5:00 |
3. | "Copenhagen" | 4:30 |
4. | "Born to Be Loved" | 4:38 |
5. | "Seeing Black" | 5:14 |
6. | "Soldier's Song" | 6:09 |
7. | "Blessed" | 5:48 |
8. | "Sweet Love" | 3:33 |
9. | "Ugly Truth" | 4:22 |
10. | "Convince Me" | 5:45 |
11. | "Awakening" | 6:25 |
12. | "Kiss Like Your Kiss" | 3:51 |
Total length: | 59:05 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Buttercup" | 4:01 |
2. | "I Don't Know How You're Livin'" | 5:12 |
3. | "Copenhagen" | 3:27 |
4. | "Born To Be Loved" | 3:06 |
5. | "Seeing Black" | 3:44 |
6. | "Soldier's Song" | 5:37 |
7. | "Blessed" | 3:23 |
8. | "Sweet Love" | 2:30 |
9. | "Ugly Truth" | 4:07 |
10. | "Convince Me" | 3:49 |
11. | "Awakening" | 3:40 |
12. | "Kiss Like Your Kiss" | 2:32 |
Total length: | 45:08 |
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] | 63 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [14] | 40 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) [15] | 69 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [16] | 18 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [17] | 20 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [18] | 75 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [19] | 15 |
UK Albums (OCC) [20] | 55 |
US Billboard 200 [1] | 15 |
US Rock Albums ( Billboard ) [21] | 4 |
Lucinda Gayl Williams is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, Ramblin' on My Mind (1979) and Happy Woman Blues (1980), in a traditional country and blues style that received critical praise but little public or radio attention. In 1988, she released her third album, Lucinda Williams, to widespread critical acclaim. Regarded as "an Americana classic", the album also features "Passionate Kisses", a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter for her 1992 album Come On Come On, which garnered Williams her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994. Known for working slowly, Williams released her fourth album, Sweet Old World, four years later in 1992. Sweet Old World was met with further critical acclaim, and was voted the 11th best album of 1992 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent music critics. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 6th on his own year-end list, later writing that the album, as well as Lucinda Williams, were "gorgeous, flawless, brilliant".
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