Trisha Yearwood is all about love.
At least, so it would seem after listening to her eighth album of all new material, "Real Live Woman." Whether it's love lost, love found, love denied or love ruined, Yearwood's got a song to sing about it.
As usual, she isn't wearing her own heart on her sleeve. Instead, she lends her gorgeous voice to tunes penned by such writers as Matraca Berg, Linda Ronstadt and even Bruce Springsteen. Yearwood's voice never wavers, but the songs don't always do her justice.
And without the contribution of über-songwriter Diane Warren, who crafted such Yearwood signatures of the past as "How Do I Live" and "I'd Still Love You More," "Woman" has a harder time standing tall. They might be heartfelt, but the songs are not always catchy enough for listeners to feel it in their own hearts.
|
Yearwood begins "Woman" with the help of two of her friends, Kim Richey and Mary Chapin Carpenter, who not only wrote "Where Are You Now" together but also provide the harmony vocals. It's the first of several ruminations on a relationship gone sour in "Woman," with lines like "Well I'm good - one of a kind / But I would rather be two." The two pedigreed writers definitely address honest emotions here, but the song surrenders its folksy quality to a more homogenized sound.
"Woman" continues this post-breakup musing in songs like "Some Days" (a languid song that moves at an armadillo's pace) and "I Did." In the latter, Spady Brannan and John Nance Sharp use lyrics like "I took my chances / Laid my heart on the line / ... But then I learned to cry" to rival the level-headedness of Carole King's "It's Too Late." With Yearwood peppering the tune with the same optimism Carly Simon displayed in "Coming Around Again," she shows that she merely is absorbing the past, as she plans to move on with her life.
|
"Try Me Again" is a slyer, more sophisticated work that plays a crafty little trick on the listener. We think she's begging her ex to come back to her in spite of the fact that he cheated on her, but then it turns out she's the one who did the cuckolding. The yearning reflected in Yearwood's intensity portrays her as a woman in control. She's not going to relent until she gets her man back.
There's no looking back for Yearwood, however, when she covers Springsteen's "Sad Eyes," one of the best songs "Woman" has to offer. Here, abetted by Jackson Browne's background vocals, we find our songstress anticipating love. Yearwood, warm and inviting, turns "Sad Eyes" into a plea the Boss never could have achieved. In forcing Yearwood to hit the highest notes she's sung since "There Goes My Baby," this is "Woman" at her most vulnerable - but also her most appealing.
Bobbie Cryner's title track, (also the first single), is the one true standout song on the album. But Yearwood is no Helen Reddy, and this "Woman" doesn't roar; instead, the album's themes converge in a far more delicate manner on this song. Yearwood learns to love herself for who she is and not what others desire her to be: "I ain't a movie star / May never see the view from where they are / And this old town may be as far as I'm goin'."
You're good just where you are, Trisha, but oh, the places you could go.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
