It debuted at Number One on the Billboard Top 200, and Number One on the country charts (even though she hasn't been too country for awhile).
She is the only female artist to debut at Number One on both charts three consecutive times.
Was it deserving of Number One? Three million people apparently thought so! :)
I will just say I'm happy to hear Faith singing songs that are closer to her "roots" again, and several songs on here are better than any other songs she's recorded in a very long time.
The Really Good Songs
Mississippi Girl is one of my favorites. A song you can stomp your foot to, and probably the most honest lyrics that have ever come from her lips. An autobiographical song that addresses everything from the rumors that she's changed, to a verse about her Hollywood film The Stepford Wives. To the naysayers:
I still like wearin' my old ballcap
Ridin' my kids around piggyback
They might know me all around the world
But y'all I'm still a Mississippi girl
I believe her.
Dearly Beloved is a hoot from start to finish. With steel guitars and fiddles, it's a white trash country romp about a shotgun wedding gone quite awry.
Good morning, dearly beloved
I'd like to welcome y'all
To see the side effects
Of sex and alcohol
Jeff Foxworthy would be proud. :)
I am surprised by how much I like I Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore, because the subject matter is one we're all too familiar with. He's hurt her for too long, and she's leaving. But she's got this tone in her voice that really sells it, and the lyrics are very well-written.
You've worn the soles off both your shoes
Walkin' on me like you do
This ain't what forever's for
And I ain't gonna take it... anymore
Then we have Stealing Kisses, that rises up like royalty, heads above all the other songs. Written by Lori McKenna, Faith went back into the studio after the album was recorded to add this song and two others written by Lori. Very smart on Faith's part, as she's never sounded more grounded or more real.
Backed by guitars and piano, Faith sings about the passion that was so easy before the kids came and the years went by, and you're left wondering if this is really what it's supposed to be like.
It's late enough your husband's dinner is cold
So you wrap it up and leave it for him on the stove
It's probably the traffic again or another important meeting
You haven't talked to an adult all day
Except for your neighbor, who drives you crazy
And when he finally gets in, he's sure not in the mood for talkin'...
I was stealing kisses from a boy
Now I'm begging affection from a man
In my housedress, don't you know who I am, don't you know who I am...
I'm standin' in your kitchen
Incredible song.
Fireflies is also a Lori McKenna song, and it, too, stands head and shoulders above the rest.
The imagination of a child can save them from all sorts of things, and as an adult, if you can cull that up, it can save you from madness as well.
A gentle guitar (I think it's a guitar!) eases you into the song before the lyrics take you away.
I believe in fairytales and dreamer's dreams
Like bed sheet sails
And I believe in Peter Pan, and miracles
And anything I can to get by... and fireflies
You have to hear the whole song to understand the "fireflies" part, but it's magical, to be sure, and takes me back to a time when the world was as complicated as poking holes in mayonnaise jars and waiting for my mom to call me in to get a bath. I love Lori McKenna.
The Lucky One is another one that surprised me. It's kind of like the 2005 version of Sonny and Cher's I Got You, Babe in that this woman has nothing material, but she's got him and life is good.
Very uptempo, and a really nice melody line, this one works exceptionally well.
I got no place I should go
I got no worries you know
Second or Seventh street, it doesn't matter to me
'Cause you're mine, that's all I need to know...
If You Ask is the last of the Lori McKenna songs, and it's pretty much a killer about the wife of an alcoholic who loves him so much she enables him, even as she drowns in her own longings, and the belief that this will change.
Some day I know you'll understand
Someday you'll finally realize
What you're doing to yourself...
If you ask for my forgiveness
If you call my name, I will come
If you ask for my love, I will give you some
Why?
'Cause I'm all you have
How sad is that?
And the last really good song for me on here is You Stay With Me. The sweet plucking of a guitar in a darkened apartment, where she knows she's put him through hell, and yet there he is, they're still together, and that amazes her. I've been there, and this is beautiful, with a soft but strong melody that I love to hear over and over.
If I can't give you anymore
Than weathered ships and distant shores
Would you still be my compass?
'Cause you keep loving me the same
I don't know how but you still stay with me baby
You stay with me, baby
The Rest
Sunshine And Summertime tries too hard to be a summer anthem, and she reaches for the urban pop thing again with barefoot ladies and tricked out Mercedes. It's solid enough, it's just not that special.
Like We Never Loved At All is also an anthem wannabe, but it's far too mannered, and sounds far too familiar. How can you just walk on by, without one tear in your eye, don't you have the slightest feeling left for me? Close, but no cigar.
I Want You is quite sensual, but it goes over the top a bit in the analogy department. The eagle wants a canyon and a place where he can rest his wings awhile... yada yada, and what she wants is Tim -- I mean you :) Only works for me on some days.
We've Got Nothing But Love To Prove is a horrible title, but ironically the song isn't bad for a "social consciousness" song. While we fight for peace and die for freedom, I guess we'll leave it to our children to find a better way. I like the ambition here at walking the fine line between denouncing war and hatred while never crossing over into Bush bashing (as that's not acceptable in the world of country music), but I think she should have crossed the line anyway.
I Wish For You has a great sentiment, it just sounds like a lame Hallmark card, and the music is a snooze. A field of flowers dancing in the spring...A little creek, a tree, an old rope swing. Cotton candy clouds against the blue... that's the kind of day I wish for you. Nice try but no buy.
And Paris, the hidden track, sounds like a Tony Bennett knock-off, or a song that didn't make it to Broadway. The music is a snooze again, and the chorus has a very high sugar and confusion content.
...I'd give this world to you
Every rock and every stone, every masterpiece in Rome
Why would he want every rock and every stone? Just curious, 'cause it seems like those would be really stupid gifts to give to the man or woman you love.
Overall
Excellent:
Mississippi Girl (John Rich/Adam Shoenfeld)
Dearly Beloved (Georgia Middleman/Fred Wilhelm)
I Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore (Kevin Brandt/Bobby Terry)
Stealing Kisses (Lori McKenna)
Fireflies (Lori McKenna)
The Lucky One (Brett Warren/Jay Joyce)
If You Ask (Lori McKenna)
You Stay With Me (John Kennedy/Andrea Stolpe)
Pretty Good:
Like We Never Loved At All (John Rich/Scot Sax/Vicky McGehee)
I Want You (Rivers Rutherford/Bobby Tomberlin)
We've Got Nothing But Love To Prove (Darrell Scott)
Fair:
Sunshine And Summertime (John Rich/Rodney Clawson/Kylie Sackley)
No No No:
I Wish For You (Craig Wiseman/Darrell Brown)
Paris (Blair Daly/Gordie Sampson/Troy Verges)
*******************
This is Faith Hill's strongest effort in years, which isn't saying a whole lot, since her last few records have been total head scratchers, but that isn't said to take away from this one.
The smartest thing Faith Hill did was to record Lori McKenna, and I think she should do more of it.
This CD has a great flow, some very strong songs, and nice production from Byron Gallimore and Faith.
Faith has a killer album in her, and even though it's not this one, she's getting closer.
With her much anticipated sixth album, Fireflies, Hill has put more of her heart and soul into her music than ever before. I feel a closeness to all o...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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