Life Is Messy

Last updated

Life Is Messy
Life is Messy Alt..jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 19, 1992 [1]
Genre Country pop [2]
Length42:27
Label Columbia
Producer
Rodney Crowell chronology
Keys to the Highway
(1989)
Life Is Messy
(1992)
Greatest Hits
(1993)
Alternative cover
Life is Messy.jpg
2000 reissue cover

Life Is Messy is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Rodney Crowell, released in 1992 by Columbia Records. It peaked at number 30 on the Top Country Albums chart. The songs, "Lovin' All Night", "What Kind of Love", "It's Not for Me to Judge", and "Let's Make Trouble" were released as singles.

Contents

Content

The album's first two singles, "Lovin' All Night" and "What Kind of Love", were both released as singles. They respectively reached No. 10 and No. 11 on the Hot Country Songs charts in 1992. [3]

"The Answer Is Yes" was covered by Michelle Wright on her 1996 album For Me It's You , while "Lovin' All Night" was covered by Patty Loveless on her 2003 album On Your Way Home .

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]
Entertainment Weekly C+ [5]

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic concluded his review with, "Taken together, the songs on Life Is Messy made for a fascinating portrait of an artist at a personal and professional crossroad -- but it didn't have much to do with commercial country music circa 1992, which is what it was primarily marketed as." [2] He compared the songs' sounds primarily to "a pastiche of late-'50s/early-'60s pop". [2] A review by Jack Hurst in the Chicago Tribune rated the album 3.5 out of 4, saying that the album had "a throbbing sound that is out on the pop-ish progressive end of the country spectrum, it treats life in all its surreal hurtfulness without neglecting its epic joys." [4] A less positive review came from Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly , who thought that the album showed emotional influence from Crowell's then-recent divorce from fellow musician Rosanne Cash, and highlighted the song "I Hardly Know How to Be Myself", which the two wrote, as the best song on the album. She also compared Crowell's voice favorably to Roy Orbison but added that "too many of his songs splinter into nebulousness with the occasional joltingly bad line". [5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Rodney Crowell except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) [6] Length
1."It's Not for Me to Judge" 4:01
2."What Kind of Love" Larry Klein 3:58
3."Lovin' All Night" 
  • Leventhal
  • Crowell
3:50
4."Life Is Messy" 
4:34
5."I Hardly Know How to Be Myself"
  • Leventhal
  • Crowell
4:45
6."It Don't Get Better than This"
  • Crowell
  • Leventhal
Leventhal2:44
7."Alone but Not Alone"
  • Crowell
  • Klein
Klein5:08
8."Let's Make Trouble" Klein4:27
9."The Answer Is Yes" 
  • Leventhal
  • Crowell
4:19
10."Maybe Next Time"
  • Crowell
  • Leventhal
  • Leventhal
  • Crowell
4:58

Personnel

From Life Is Messy liner notes. [6]

Musicians

"It's Not for Me to Judge"
"What Kind of Love"
"Lovin' All Night"
"Life Is Messy"
"I Hardly Know How to Be Myself"
"It Don't Get Better than This"
"Alone but Not Alone"
"Let's Make Trouble"
"The Answer Is Yes"
"Maybe Next Time"

Technical

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1992)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums30
U.S. Billboard 200155
Canadian RPM Country Albums9

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions
US Country US AC CAN Country CAN CAN AC
1992"Lovin' All Night"109
"What Kind of Love"1192475
"It's Not for Me to Judge"
"Let's Make Trouble"78

Sources

  1. AOL Music Profile for "Life Is Messy"
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ruhlmann, William. "Life Is Messy review". AllMusic . Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2012). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2012. Record Research, Inc. pp. 88–89. ISBN   978-0-89820-203-8.
  4. 1 2 Hurst, Jack (June 25, 1992). "Life Is Messy review". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Nash, Alanna (May 22, 1992). "Life Is Messy review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Life Is Messy (CD booklet). Rodney Crowell. Columbia Records. 1992. CK 47985.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)