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Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
Lucinda Williams
1998
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!It's hard to understand how Car Wheels On A Gravel Road could be recommended at all, let alone make it onto a list like 1001 albums. The music is generic modern country, not distinguished by creative songwriting, kickass soloists, or anything else, unless you count the Cajun lilt on a few tunes. Maybe the blandness of the music is meant to highlight the stellar pipes of Lucina Williams? Nope. Her voice is as homely and dull as dishwater. But surely the lyrics are superior? Well, not really. Lucina Williams frontloads her best tunes; the first several songs demonstrate a keen grasp of quotidian life and a sure sense of place, but by the end of the album, the lyrics are so generic they could have been written by a computer program. The best compliment I can give Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is that it isn't actively unpleasant--just boring. Is this the best modern country has to offer? I sure hope not.
Had no idea who this artist was (possibly a result of my overall lack of country music knowledge) but she's left an immediate impression on me. Just a country gal with a lot of soul. It's lonely, longing, but not depressing. It's a sort of familiar loneliness that you can appreciate and drift away with. The album never dwells on one feeling for too long though, as it picks up and slows down in nice peaks and valleys. Some songs lean further in a country rock direction than simple folk. This variation is welcomed and makes the music all the more enjoyable.
“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” by Lucinda Williams (2006) Never heard of this album or this artist. I took a different approach with this one: I read the Wikipedia article on the album and the one on Lucinda Williams, plus I checked out the lyrics, all before starting to listen. I was expecting something nice. I was disappointed. In the first couple of songs, the vocal quality is worse than not good—it’s uninteresting. Later in the album she does some vocal stylings in the upper parts of her range which are good, which reveals that her usual lazy, out-of-tune style is affected, not natural. It’s off putting to me. It lacks authenticity. Her voice is much better when she’s forced to blend with another singer—another indication that drunk-sounding style (as on “Drunken Angel”) is a put on. Also, she intentionally varies the degree of her southern accent. She really pours it on in the song “Concrete and Barbed Wire”. Creepy. In “Greenville“ her vocals are better, because, I think, in this case she’s forced to blend with Emmy Lou Harris. As in “Heartbreaker” by Ryan Adams (reviewed a few days back), here’s Emmy Lou again, putting in a mediocre backup performance. Williams and Harris don’t blend, but at least Williams appears to try. Standard chord structures and rhythms with good backing instrumentals and recording quality, but her contribution to the music is limited to guitar—not much to showcase. The songwriting is what she’s known for, and she does have some talent here, painting poetic pictures of southern lower middle class ambiance. But there’s nothing here that has power. Only pity. This recording won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album of 1998. Hmmm. 2/5
call it country or call it a comeback, it's a god damn masterpiece. love letter to dive bars, breakup letter to pain. fav track: 2 kool 2 be 4-gotten
Beautiful - it doesn't sound like she's copying an older band but still is remaining true to country roots while sounding modern and fresh.
Never been all that much of a Country guy but when it comes to the travails of love and lust there is material like this that deftly trumps any rock and roll dicks out bombast... "I take off my watch and my earrings My bracelets and everything Lie on my back and moan at the ceiling Oh my baby" No content warning on that, damn.
Not sure if I'd rank this as one of the "1001 best ever", but I really liked this! I love Americana, and the crossroads of Blues, Country, and Rock. Titular track, Lake Charles, Greenville, and Still Long For Your Kiss are all highlights.
I really like her voice and style, it reminds me of a feminine version of the guy from the Eels for some reason. Great songs throughout. I just wish it didn’t get so samey, but that’s the nature of the genre sometimes.
Dette er omtrent så bra country kan bli for min del! Lydbildet tar meg rett til Nashvilles skitne underside, med triste små barer og kjærester i fengsel. Tekstene har så klart litt av de vanlige country-klisjeene, men føles dypere, skarpere og mer inderlig enn det meste man hører i sjangeren. Og vokalen til Williams passer perfekt, fra savnet på Drunken Angel, til rebelsk "twang" på Joy. Låtene spenner fra klassiske country-ballader (Jackson 💕) til bluesrock, og jeg koser meg hele veien. Liker spesielt godt Joy, Drunken Angel, car wheels...
A good album, reminds me of Tori Amos (or is it the other way round) a bit, or even a female Steve Forbert maybe? Some good tunes though and lyrically very strong I think.
First song is a old indie country bop, and the rest is good country songs if i am in the mood for that relaxing country
Despite this being a country album, quite enjoyed some of the songs, especially the last song, Jackson.
Great album all around! I've listened through the regular version, but the deluxe is a nice step up. Disk 2 is all live versions, so I didn't get that far, but I love Lucinda!
I love Lucinda Williams and I love this album... but the song title 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten detracts a star.
Not the sort of thing I'd normally listen to but really enjoyed this. Will listen again.
I thought i would know what this would sound like being a hater of country music, but it was more like a rock album and absolutely loved it. Song 7 was the highlight - Can't Let Go. Will give it another listen 4 stars
wow, I was familiar with her, but I didn't know Lucinda Williams had an album this good
Never heard of Lucinda Williams before, but loved this album. Favorite song was can’t let go.
Really solid Southern roots rock/country featuring Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle. What else could you want? I enjoyed reading about how Lucinda persevered and made it in the music business despite all of the forces working against her. Best track: Drunken Angel
4.0 - Enjoyed this! Honest American songwriting, blues and country inflected. Straightforward instrumentation with a live studio recording feel. Some pleasant storytelling, shoutouts to Louisiana. Nice driving record and a crowd pleaser.
More of Jess bag than Ian. But her voice conveys pain and longing. Certainly a lot of depth and attests to a life lived.
Lo escuché muy a gusto, pensé que es una antecedente de Taylor Swift (???) y su voz me agrada bastante. Canciones fav: la que da título al disco, "Can't Let Go" y "I Lost It". 8/10
Uh, 2 CD-a. Iznenađujuće dobar đir. Možda bi bilo malo dosadno da san slušala i ne radila ništa, a ne da san radila još dosadniji labos. Greenwill mi je najbolja. Nikad čula za Lucindu, al bolje nego većina ostalih country koje san slušala do sad
Great surprise. I really liked it. The melodies are great. More a rock and pop album than a country album.
A few years ago I was listening to spotify similar to playlists and songs from this album were on that list. Prior to this I was never really into any form of country music, but I enjoyed the songs and decided to listen to this album in full. It completely worked for me and introduce me to the genre. Lucinda Williams has led me to other country acts and it's a genre that has some really great music if you avoid the mediocre radio pushed country. 4.5/5
Love the album cover for some reason... And hey, it's pretty good roots, blues, souly country AND western. Generous 4/5
Feels a little bad comparing this to the Sheryl Crow album from a few weeks back, but another polished roots-rock record this certainly is. My impressions are mostly the same, though this project has much more potential to grow on me.
At first I assumed this was a Country Album based on the everything about it, but I wouldn't classify it with frat-boy-blue-jeans-and-beer country. Williams has a pretty pronounced twang in her voice, but beyond that, her voice is light and airy and pretty beautiful imo. Still not my type of music and not very lyrically complex (compared to say, Dolly Parton) but I like it!
I think there is a part in me that likes country style music. To me this is a country style album. I liked it. An unknown artist to me. She only reached the Dutch album Top100 for a few weeks on 6 albums of the 14 she released up to now.
i see how this could be great for country fans, but for me it was alright. but i still think lucina williams is great
Would probably have never gotten around to listening to this one if it hadn't been for this challenge, but I'm glad I did! Really like her voice.
Enjoyable folk-country with a sometimes drunk sounding sheryl crow. Drunken Angel is a highlight.
It's incredibly bland heartland/roots rock with country influences. Not something I'd come back to.
I was pleasantly surprised by this album. It goes against my tastes for the most part but I enjoyed a few songs more than I anticipated.
Some good songs but a little too "country-flavored" for my taste. Really like the last song (Jackson).
It's not bad, but I just don't like Lucinda Williams. I can't even put my finger on it.
Country that sits in parallel with Alanis Morissette and pj Harvey. Might give it a further try to see how hooky it gets
Koselig album! Merker at country ikke gir meg så mye. Det kan være stemning for et par sanger, men så blir det litt langtekkelig og repetitivt. Var likevel noen skikkelige bangers på det albumet her! Beste sanger: Can't Let Go, Drunken Angel og Still I Long For Your Kiss.
I went into this with some pre-conceived feelings about the album. I've heard it before and it never really clicked. I can tell she's really a solid songwriter, in that same vein as Townes VanZandt and John Prine and Iris DeMent, but something about the 1990's rock instrumentation just feels a bit lazy and formulaic and I never really clicked with this one as a whole. Still, glad to be giving it a play through as there are some really good songs here. I don't think I'm ever going to love this album, and I don't think it would make the cut on a list of say, 500 albums, but I still think it's worth knowing more about who Lucinda Williams is and some of the great songs she has written, and this is certainly one of her more well know efforts.
Vocals were angst vs twang. This warmed on me and I appreciated it more than I expected. Decent story telling and solid folk instrumental backing.
Kinda a combination of rock and country (I guess its called roots rock?). Not really my cupa tho
Meget stille og roligt. Jeg var ikke fan i starten men blev overvundet lidt til sidst. Country-vibes. Måske skal der lyttes lidt mere til teksten?
Actually got quite into this! At first I wasn't sure but particularly liked the last song
Great songwriting. For some reason I don't see myself returning back to this one. Not dynamic enough for me I guess.
This album is a mixed bag for me. I love the lyrics in the verses, somw of the instrumentals and Williams' singing, but the refrains often feel lazy, the instrumentation lackluster, the themes unoriginal. So a 3 from me.
Bekomme ich schöne Sheryl Crow-Vibes von. Läuft wunderbar durch ohne groß hängen zu bleiben, und dürfte auch jederzeit wieder laufen.
My dad bought me this about four years ago as a random selection from the book. It endured a couple of non-committal listens and then was relegated to the shelves, to the point where I was only familiar with the first three or four tracks from it now. It still doesn’t particularly grab me- country rock has never appealed too much and I thought this would be a genre-defining work. Simple arrangements of chords, melody and some arpeggiated lead, very clean production, drawled out vocals occasionally in harmony. It all sets up an opportunity for lyrics to shine or for some flourishes, but there’s just not a lot of bite. The music is safe and never lets rip or feels spontaneous, the lyrics never feel like genuine autobiography, withering takedown or actual heartbreak. Because of all this of course, it’s all very listenable and sometimes foot-tapping, making for good background music. “Right on Time” has a good hook, I enjoy the chorus and mandolin in the title track, and the ballad-heavy second half has its moments in the likes of “Still I Long for Your Kiss”, the most impassioned vocal on offer here. There’s nothing offensive on the record, but nothing much fun either. 5/10, rounding up to 3 in case my dad sees this and gets upset.
Liked 2 cool 2 be 4gotten or whatever. I dig her vocals, it's nostalgic, but I've always never heard her. So it hit this really weird niche that I really actually like.
Lucinda is like the earlier model of 1993-era Sheryl Crow. Some pretty good songs on this album, but I like Sheryl more🙄
Great storytelling makes great country music. Each and every song on this album feels like prose pulled from a hard-worn diary. Lucinda’s syrup drawl and lilting vocals bound between hints of whispers, laments and growls. The arrangements are simple, and well executed, but a touch simple for my taste. I can clearly see the appeal of the album. I didn’t personally connect with it, but I can appreciate it.
She's a superb songwriter, with clever metaphors and impressive storytelling covering themes of lustful longing, childhood trauma, and death of loved ones. She builds the world and emotions of not just the narrator but the characters she fabricates. There's a lot of reoccuring themes, like her love of the Delta Blues (e.g. Howlin Wolf, Johnson, ZZ Top, locations in Louisiana). I also really like the range in her emotions from track to track, some bright, many sad, at various paces that deters repetition. The only part of her songwriting I really dislike is the drawn out phrases that go on forever. Descriptive, but it's like listening to an audio book. It doesn't help that the music itself is really boring. It's a very guitar-heavy album, with like a dozen different people playing, all taking the forefront. Now the sound is repetitive and one-dimensional within each track, which some interesting bridges between verses and choruses, as in "Still I Long For Your Kiss." But when they go for solos, I can't help but not care. It only serves to give a break from Lucinda's singing, which is necessary, but there are so many better ways to do that. The stylistic shifts from song to song is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it appeals to several different Americana genres, but also I don't think any of them sound good on their own. The only thing keeping me engaged is the stories, making it a good album if you knew what they were all about and had it grow on you.
Standard mid 90's Singer/Songwriter fare with a heavy country/blues touch and a slightly annoying singing voice. Nice enough to let it play in the background, but there is not one memorable song or even hook here. 3/5
First Listen. Started really enjoying it by the end of the day. It is a good, quality album.
neloše za country žanr, al nije baš moj đir iako mi je bilo dobro ko pozadinska glazba dok san čitala
I really enjoyed this. Americana with a good voice, Sheryl Crowe meets Ryan Adams. High 3.
Best mooie liedjes. Een soort warme douche :) Maar ook wel een beetje zouteloos en erg sheryl-crow-ig.
Some good folk country vibes, I can handle this more than the rock/stadium country. Still felt a bit long and not exactly for me. 3.5 round down.
Love that growling voice. Although got kinda boring after awhile except for the hit that I really like
Wanted to give it a 2 because I usually don't like country music, but it's good music, feels pretty genuine which I liked
Oli tälläkin levyllä hetkensä ja sopi varasin hyvin kiireisen työpäivän taustamusaksi. Toisena päivänä selvä kakkonen mutta tällä kertaa armosta kolmonen.
Find myself enjoying country more and more. This is a decent album which has good subject material, and isn't too whining. Probably not going to be a repeat listen, but would be happy if it came on shuffle on a playlist.
Can’t help feeling like all just sounds super generic. It wasn’t even that I disliked it, I just found it boring
Really samey and boring if I’m honest. Something about southern twang singing irritates me but I love Southern accented rapping, not quite sure why
Better than most country, but got a little repetitive for me. Would be a nice driving album though.
Meh. Några riktigt dåliga och några guldkorn. Inte riktigt min grej, men som skiva var den alldeles för spretig. Bäst: Can't let go & Joy
I guess it's all right. most songs give me a sheryl crow wibe, but with twangy guitars. the hit (can't let go) is ok. not my thing, but it's not terrible either
Meh. Kind of sounds like female Wilco. Not bad, I can see why people would like this but it's for me. Made it about halfway through and started to like it... 2.5
For country, it was a little more bearable than I expected. The main singer has a nice voice, but I don't like when the guy singer joins in.
69. As mãos de Deus?!?!?! MotA: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten "Not a day goes by I don't think about you / You left your mark on me it's permanent a tattoo"
This was a weird one for me. I liked the voice, I liked the music but I found the overall thing a bit lacking, the lyrics were simple and I couldn't forgive naming a track 2 Kool 2 B 4-Gotten. It sounded a bit like if you told an AI to write a country/Americana album. It was like a much cheaper version of Sheryl Crow (who I am very upset to see isn't on this list at all, so now I'm in a bad mood).
Ich kann mich in diese Art folky Pop/Rock ja leicht reinhören, ohne allzuviel hinein zu investieren. „2 Kool 2 be 4-Gotten“ hat auf jeden Fall eine besondere Qualität, wie manche Soundtracks zu Kultfilmen besitzen. Wie gesagt, seicht-sanfter folky Pop/Rock. Das ist’s; nicht mehr, aber darin nahezu perfekt. 2.3
Ich wollte erst schimpfen, wie die bei Nina Persson geklaut hat, aber die ist ja doch älter – aber naja, wenn der Durchbruch 1998 war, dann ja vllt doch usw. Solide-langweilig, Genre galore, Sheryl Crow-Egalheit. Da muss es doch was Interessanteres aus der Americana-Ecke geben, wieso ausgerechnet das hier? Vermutung: Weil es ein erfolgreiches Album war. Womit eine weitere, riesige Schwäche der Liste benannt ist: es sind immer nur die erfolgreichen Alben auch der abseitigeren Künstler, die es hier rein schaffen.
ЧТО: Пятый студийный альбом сингер-сонграйтерки Люсинды Уильямс. Альтернативная кантри музыка конца 1990-х. КАКОЙ: Не совсем моя музыка. Я люблю слушать такое на фоне (уж извините, если кого обидел). Но звучит все очень интересно за счёт отступления от канонов кантри и замешивания в общий коктейль духа путешествия и вообще «кочевой» жизни, тихого фолка (то, что сейчас делает Фиби Бриджерс), рваной DIY-энергии PJ Harvey времён «Uh Huh Her», щепотки Oasis и в хорошем смысле «американщины». Все время не отпускает чувство сменяющихся пейзажей за окном. Идеальный саундтрек для одиноких вечерних путешествий. Мне гораздо больше нравится, когда альбом подключает драйвовую оптимистичную атмосферу и демонстрирует смелость. Но происходит это, к сожалению, на трёх первых песнях, после чего исчезает до предпоследней «Joy». Думаю, именно этого мне не хватило в потоке красивой меланхолии. О ЧЕМ: В плане текстов альбом напрямую отражает свою жанровую принадлежность. Тексты затрагивают тему путешествий, вернее сказать передвижений и жизни в передвижениях и завязаны на образе романтичного скитальца. Еще альбом можно назвать «Мир в доме на колёсах». Важная тема - признание в любви Америке, а именно провинциальной глубинке южных штатов. Сама Уильямс родом из Луизианы, а в песнях на альбоме (например, в «2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten») можно встретить штат Миссисипи в качестве места действия. ИТОГ: Повторюсь, не совсем моя музыка. Тем не менее в этой музыке наблюдается стиль. Чудесный голос Люсинды Уильямс идеально подходит под основную идею. Вокал как и музыка свою задачу выполняют: погружают слушателя в, прошу прощения, «трушную кантри атмосферу». Есть много альбомов, цель которых передать настроение меланхоличной поездки на закате, но «Car Wheels On A Gravel Road» - один из лучших примеров. ЛУЧШИЕ ПЕСНИ: Right In Time, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten.
Biaisé parce que je n'aime pas le country. Mieux que le country pop des dernières années, mais la voix est très ordinaire et la musique très dull.
Lost interest. Sounded basic. Lyrics were supposed to be the highlight but again, basic.
Sounds like depressed Sheryl Crow. I couldn't connect to it. Exception: "Can't Let Go" has some actual energy and was a great listen.
Trying to find what is special about this album. I find her voice a bity whiney and the music very ordinary. "Can't Let Go" is fun. Songs like "Greenville" and "Jackson" are just so sleepy and twangy that they were hard to get through. Generous rating of 2 stars
2/5 I didn’t hate this album just found it rather boring. Some of the songs on the second half of the album pick up but I found myself wondering when most of them were going to end. I’m a bit surprised this album is as acclaimed as it is, I just don’t see what is so unique about it personally. Maybe it needs another listen but I’m not sure if I’ll give it that.
Sounds like Chrissie Hynde, interesting voice, more Americana than country. Not normally my cup of tea but this was very well done.
Best Song: Can't Let Go. Nice rolling rhythm. Reminds of me of KT Tunstall's modern (and extremely popular) "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." Worst Song: Concrete And Barbed Wire. Whatever cleverness the title might have had was entirely wrung out by the excessive repetition of the phrase. Overall: She has a sweet voice, but I just find the music inoffensively bland.
Not really my kind of thing. I couldn't get to grips with it at all. At points I thought I was almost enjoying it, and then some vocal twang or another jolted me back out of it.
I've heard of Lucinda Williams by only by reputation. I am expecting twangy music and quality, transporting lyrics. First song does not disappoint. I guess you'd have to call "Right in Time" sex positive? Certainly paints a picture. The next song is just kind of ok. And it goes downhill from there, really. By the time I got to Greenville and Joy I was actively annoyed with this album. The best songs beyond the first track were Can't Let Go. But they weren't enough to bring the album into overall "good" territory. Maybe my expectations were set too high but I just wasn't impressed.
Didn’t mind this, but it feels like I have been here before and is an update of a style from another time. Perhaps it’s timeless, but I didn’t feel it was anything new. Can’t Let Go jumped out from this set, maybe because it’s a bit more rocky / angry, but generally, this was a pleasant enough backdrop to doing other stuff and not much more.
An album where every chorus of is the the song title repeated. How is this worth my time? Did not listen through, gave up after like 4 songs. I don’t like her voice, and the chorus’s are far too simplistic for me. Maybe there’s something I’m missing? Who cares.
Joyless barrage of dull meanderings; lyrically and musically as barren as a gravel road 1.3
Ehhhh, its country music, I don't like country music, this was always going to be a struggle for me if I had to pick a highlight it would have been can't let go but unlikely I will ever listen to again
Country music, sounds a bit like Sheryl Crow and just sings about what she found in her yard by the look of it.
I dunno, I got 4 songs in and, just, couldn't. be. bothered. Not a fan of country. Trying to keep an open mind here. But I don't understand why this is here.
Joj ovo mi se stvarno nije svidjelo, od njenog glasa do jednostavno jako dosadne melodije, skroz mi je bezveze
This sounds alarmingly like it might be country. This is country. This is also awful. Repetitive steel gee-taws, raspy voice, I'm really struggling to find anything to redeem this album. OK, we've got to "Joy" now, and I quite like the opening of this track. Until she starts singing, and I don't like it anymore. The more bluesy guitar is a blessed relief, but these lyrics are samey, pointless and thoroughly unengaging. This is gonna be a one-star from me, fam.
Ein außergewöhnlicher Tiefpunkt was Ideenleere und Vermeidung jeglicher Kreativität angeht. Unterirdisch. Ich bin fassungslos. Ganz und gar nicht hörenswert.
Thoroughly boring and forgettable. Sounds like royalty free music composed for the SUV commercials that run after an episode of Pioneer Woman. The fact that this is Rolling Stone Magazine's 98th best album of all time shows what a complete disgrace that magazine is. Some albums get onto these sorts of lists not because the MUSIC is good or impressive, but because of their cultural context. Like wow a country woman lazily singing about “Broken down shacks, engine parts”, this album must be so heckin culturally significant!!! As if that's what makes a good album I like old folksy country music quite a bit, from the 1970s and earlier. But modern country utterly disgusts me. The way she pronounces "Pierce the skin and the blood runs through" in the first song makes me vomit.
I tried to be objective it's really not my sort of music. It wa professionally produced tinnitus.
The album title itself sums up the level of creativity going on here. I mean why not call it "Apple falling From An Apple Tree" or "Christian Reads the Bible" or "Airplane Lands on a Runway". To be fair it's not terrible, but it did feel like terminal tedium to listen to the whole thing. Especially listening to it in the context of 1001 albums. Next!
Was a huge fan of this "Plastic Soul" album during my Bowie phase (I spent the lion's share of my graduation gift money on his albums). This one made him something of a favored son in Philly which made it kind of special when I saw him twice there on his "farewell" tour. "They've cleaned up the Italian Market!" he shouted from the stage. Favorite is Win. Cassette flip side was tvc15 I believe.
It's very country. And though the lyrics are nice, I have trouble enjoying country music. Especially while I'm working. I'm glad it's on here though because I don't like the fact that my musical taste fully excludes any country music.