Sweet Old World | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 25, 1992 | |||
Genre | Roots rock | |||
Length | 45:27 | |||
Label | Chameleon | |||
Producer | Gurf Morlix, Dusty Wakeman, Lucinda Williams | |||
Lucinda Williams chronology | ||||
|
Sweet Old World is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on August 25, 1992, by Chameleon Records.
A roots rock album, Sweet Old World was met with widespread critical acclaim upon release, and remains one of Williams best reviewed works. She produced the album with Dusty Wakeman and Gurf Morlix, the three of them having previously produced her earlier album, Lucinda Williams (1988). Emmylou Harris covered the title song on her album Wrecking Ball (1995).
On April 28, 2017, Williams performed the album in its entirety at Minneapolis' First Avenue nightclub; the live recording was released to commemorate Sweet Old World's 25th anniversary in August. [1] She re-recorded the album more to her liking and released it later that year as This Sweet Old World , which earned further critical acclaim. [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | A [4] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [5] |
Q | [6] |
Rolling Stone | [7] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [9] |
Sweet Old World was voted the 11th best album of 1992 in The Village Voice 's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent music critics. [10] Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 6th on his own year-end list, [11] later writing that the album was "gorgeous, flawless, brilliant [with] short-story details ('chess pieces,' 'dresses that zip up the side') packing a textural thrill akin to local color". [12] In a contemporary review, Audio magazine said Sweet Old World proves Williams is "a riveting writer and performer whose apparent simplicity is merely the entranceway to a rewarding artist of depth", [13] while Stereo Review wrote "She delivers her searing lines without artificial sentiment or extraneous embellishment, just a wrenching directness that nourishes the spirit and knows no detour to the heart." [14]
In a retrospective review for The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), David McGee and Milo Miles later wrote Williams was a "damned determined artist" on Sweet Old World, in which the perspectives of her previous work--"adult, Southern, female, sensual but neurotic"—were stronger and more focused. [8] AllMusic's Steve Huey said it was just as good as her 1988 self-titled album, calling it "a gorgeous, elegiac record that not only consolidates but expands Williams' ample talents." [3] Like her self-titled album, Bill Friskics-Warren wrote in The Washington Post , Sweet Old World showcased Williams' "sharply drawn odes to desire and loss", sung with a "grainy drawl" and backed against a "lean, bluesy roots-rock" sound. [15]
All tracks written by Lucinda Williams, except where noted. [16]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Six Blocks Away" | 2:52 | |
2. | "Something About What Happens When We Talk" | 3:50 | |
3. | "He Never Got Enough Love" |
| 3:52 |
4. | "Sweet Old World" | 4:03 | |
5. | "Little Angel, Little Brother" | 4:25 | |
6. | "Pineola" | 4:10 | |
7. | "Lines Around Your Eyes" | 2:29 | |
8. | "Prove My Love" | 2:48 | |
9. | "Sidewalks of the City" | 3:46 | |
10. | "Memphis Pearl" |
| 3:48 |
11. | "Hot Blood" | 5:27 | |
12. | "Which Will" | Nick Drake | 3:49 |
Total length: | 45:27 |
Chart (1992) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [17] | 134 |
US Heatseekers ( Billboard ) [18] | 25 |
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".
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on June 30, 1998, by Mercury Records. The album was recorded and co-produced by Williams in Nashville, Tennessee and Canoga Park, California, and features guest appearances by Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris.
Robert Thomas Christgau is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. He was the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice for 37 years, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music; he was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world–when he talks, people listen."
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper The Village Voice and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year absence from the Voice, each year from 1974 onward. The polls are tabulated from the submitted year-end top 10 lists of hundreds of music critics. It was named in acknowledgement of the defunct magazine Jazz & Pop, and adopted the ratings system used in that publication's annual critics poll.
Gravitational Forces is an album by Texas-based country/folk singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen. It was first released in the United States on August 7, 2001, on Lost Highway Records.
Lucinda Williams is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released in 1988, by Rough Trade Records.
Trouble in Paradise is the seventh studio album by the American musician Randy Newman, released in 1983. It includes "I Love L.A." and the first single, "The Blues", a duet with Paul Simon. "Same Girl" is about a woman addicted to heroin. Newman supported the album playing shows with the Roches.
The Roches is the eponymous debut album by the Roches, released on the Warner Bros. Records in April 1979. The album was produced and features electric guitar parts by Robert Fripp; also playing on the album are percussionist Jimmy Maelen and Fripp's future King Crimson bandmate Tony Levin.
Hymns to the Silence is the twenty-first studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was his first studio double album. Morrison recorded the album in 1990 in Beckington at The Wool Hall Studios and in London at Townhouse and Westside Studios.
In the Jungle Groove is a compilation album by American funk musician James Brown, released in August 1986 by Polydor Records.
Gurf Morlix is an American singer-songwriter and music producer.
Song X is a collaborative studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It is a free jazz record that was produced in a three-day recording session in 1985. The album was released in 1985 by Geffen Records.
West is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on February 13, 2007, by Lost Highway Records. The album debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, selling about 57,000 copies that week. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album had sold 250,000 copies in the United States by October 2008.
Little Honey is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on October 14, 2008, by Lost Highway Records. The album debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, selling 35,000 copies that week, thereby becoming her first Top 10 album.
Shakill's Warrior is an album by David Murray released on the DIW/Columbia label in 1991. It features eight quartet performances by Murray with Stanley Franks, Don Pullen, and Andrew Cyrille.
Spinning Around the Sun is an album by country music singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore. It was released in 1993 on Elektra Records, and was his second record for the label.
Highlife is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock. It was recorded at Jersey City's Quantum Sound Studio in October 1990 and released later that same year by Enemy Records.
This Sweet Old World is the 13th studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on September 29, 2017, by Highway 20 Records and Thirty Tigers. A re-recording of her 1992 album Sweet Old World, Williams was motivated to revisit the older material by her husband and manager Tom Overby, who co-produced the album with her. The album has received critical acclaim.
"Six Blocks Away" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. It was released in 1992 as the first single from her fourth album, Sweet Old World (1992).
"Something About What Happens When We Talk" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. It was released in 1993 as the fourth single from her fourth album, Sweet Old World (1992).
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)