Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Incredibly boring 2 Most boring album in the history of albums 1
Great voice, tepid material.
Not for me
I did pretty well, there were only about 5 tracks left when I turned it off. Really dreary.
I like this quite a bit, great original songs as opposed to covers which apparently is Harris's usual M.O.. There's nothing wrong with covers especially when the performer is a great interpreter like Harris or her friend Linda Ronstadt. It does make me wonder why though. Listening to the production I would've guessed Daniel Lanois had a hand in this, it reminded me of Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy. Turns out it was actually produced by Malcolm Burns who worked with Lanois over the years including on Oh Mercy. I must be some kind of genius. Anyway this is a gem featuring such luminaries as Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Kate McGarrigle, Patty Griffin, Dave Matthews, and Luscious Jackson's Jill Cuniff.
ahoooo girrrrrrrrr
beautiful lyrics but ultimately a little boring
Cat: Absolutely beautiful. So much emotion and melancholy that it makes me feel sad without even knowing what she’s saying. I know she has to be a major influence on Brandi Carlile. AJ: She’s good.
Lovely, well-crafted songs. Surprisingly strong, affecting songwriting from Emmylou Harris, who up to that point wasn't generally known as a songwriter. Harris is also in excellent voice, as she always is. The pace can drag a bit at points, but it grows on you as the album progresses. Fave Songs: Bang the Drum Slowly, J'Ai Fait Tout, My Antonia, Boy from Tupelo, Michelangelo, Red Dirt Girl
been familiar with her name for years but not much beyond very superficial knowledge of who she was. never would have selected this album on my own - really beautiful.
I remember when this album came out and I started hearing about it. I was like, Emmylou Harris? Isn't that the country singer? I don't like country! Turned out that I do like country - at least this type of country/folk/Americana music. The songs are great, Emmylou's voice is amazing, and goes perfectly with the classic Daniel Lanois sound. The song Red Dirt Girl alone is an all-time classic. It's one of those songs that's like watching a movie. It tells a story and you can picture it all. That song just destroys me. Yes, she tried hard to love him But it never did take Just another way for the heart to break So she learned to bend One thing they don't tell you about the blues When you got 'em You keep on fallin' 'cause there ain't no bottom There ain't no end at least not for Lillian Great album by a great lady. 4 stars.
Great songwriting, great voice, great album
A charming and engaging album, Emmylou Harris has an enchanting voice and these Americana tales are a cut above the rest.
I remember owning this album soon after it was released. It, to me at least, seemed to be part of a wave of Americana/Roots Music popularity that was sparked by the soundtrack of the 2000 film 'O, Brother Where Art Thou?', on which Emmylou Harris is one of the featured artists. It's an excellent album and Ms. Harris is superbly talented. I highly recommend the follow-up documentary, 'Down From The Mountain', which shows a performance of the music from the film and more, and in which we learn that Ms. Harris is an avid baseball fan. :)
This was not made for me, thats for sure
Even though I generally concur with the review currently topping this section (stating that Dimery's list sometimes focuses on late-career releases from artists who were probably way more iconic when they were younger, therefore taking a spot that could have been used by new blood), I have to admit there were some touching or heartfelt moments in this album. I don't know much about Emylou Harris' output before this 2000 release, but taken out of that context, a lot of those songs still have something endearing and/or memorable to them. Besides, the mere fact that this is the first LP where Harris wrote most of the tunes in it makes it interesting to listen to... Too bad a lot of those ballads are a little too long, however, and that their production values are somewhat unobtrusive and safe. This here is far from the bold statements "late" abums by Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash were. In comparison, the sound of *Red Dirt Girl* follows the sort of MOR template that was typical of the early naughts: a little drum programming here, some clean, echo-laden guitars there.. And consequently, some parts of this work didn't age that well... I'll probably revisit this one later on, though, just to get a better hang of the compositions (but *when*? Gosh, it's hard to keep the pace with this thing sometimes, lol). In the meantime... Number of albums left to review: 572 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 206 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 100 (including this one, even though I doubt there will be enough room left for it) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 126
C’était chill mais un peu plate, je lui donnerais un 2.5 si s’était possible
C’est juste plate, le pire des crimes
I liked it
Solid. 3/5
Beautiful and haunting. Very happy to see some of her solo work make it onto the list. Best track: Bang the Drum Slowly
By the end I started to wonder if I should rate this slightly lower, as it started to drag for me, but I think overall I really appreciate what she was doing with this album.
I liked the chill vibes, and her vocals are pretty pleasant. Although the album does get a bit bland, it's still a positive experience.
If this was what country was like I’d listen to country
This album was ok. I will never listen to it again.
By the second song, I was ready to rate this as a 2 star album. I get that maybe it had some impact at the time, apparently it won the Grammy for Best contemporary folk album, but it seemed like a pretty average folk album and didn't do anything interesting.
Lovely and thoughtful, but a coin flip whether this or Wrecking Ball is better. A bit heavy-handed on the production atmospherics -- the Lanois successor twiddling the knobs trying to out-Lanois Lanois apparently. Emmylou don't need all that. And while it's nice these are all her songs, the lyrics leave a good bit to be desired (e.g., "monkey/funky" rhyme in "One Big Love"). Dave Matthews add nothing. As befits the subject matter "Boy from Tupelo" is just about the best song – with a bonus from the shout out to Rickie Lee Jones, who easily merits inclusion in this book (for either the eponymous debut or Flying Cowboys [one's personal fave]), even if it cost Emmylou one of her three slots.
Nice vocals and music but lacked intimacy
Pleasant enough but slightly aimless.
I don't really like much country, but this is the kind I do like! Harris has an incredible voice, very detailed with a lot of subtleties. I was also surprised at some of the instrumental parts on this record: there were spacious, reverb-heavy guitars, driving rhythm-led songs, and even a track that bordered on psych rock. All in all a very solid and pleasantly surprising album.
- Not music I would listen to - Lacks energy but has emotion - Sounds like a good soundtrack to contemplation - Favorite songs: Bang the Drum Slowly
- Quality Americana/Folk - Really intrigued by some of the drum beats and sounds - Some songs have a hymn-like vibe - I enjoy some of the backup vocals (One Big Love)
So good listened twice back to back.
I get it, probably will not revisit tho
Not my jam
Ritmo tranquilo para una voz muy femenina y relajada. Canciones un tanto planas y sin muchos acompañamientos.
Didn't care for the last thing from her (Pieces of the Sky, 1975), didn't care for this. There was pretty clearly some effort made to modernize the instrumentation to the era, which sometimes made for interesting fusion, because she's still doing country singing over everything. Like they had synths in the 70s and weren't using them back then, so I'm fascinated that the year 2000 apparently called for bringing them in
This is not really my type of music but I have to say, this was really good! I enjoyed it a lot.
Idk it was alright I didn’t really like the drums but the songwriting was alright 2/5
A hair gospel-y, but actually really enjoyed it. 3.5
Pretty enough but never get like it was going anywhere. The older style country singing is also not my favorite. Standout was probably the duet with Dave matthews
Not really for me.
It's pretty wild that an artist in her 50s decides, on her 19th album, that she wants to start recording her own music rather than doing covers as she had for her entire career. I liked this album. Country is not particularly my genre, but she also does an idiosyncratic version of country that I find more interesting to listen to than most country music. It's not something that I see myself coming back to, but it's good overall 3/5
More what i'd expect country to sound like. Not for me, at all.
Singer songwriter - mostly writer I presume
Nice enough, nothing that struck me.
Oon yrittänyt miettiä pääni puhki, mistä tunnen Emmylou Harris (joku yhteistyö, olen melkein varma), mutta en muista. En mä kyllä oikein tätä jaksa.
Ei ollut minua varten. Vaatii ehkä maissiviskipohjaisen drinkin jotenkin vuosituhannen alun tyylillä jotta tää levy toimis. Tai aika monta sellasta. En saa otetta 2/5
Hmh tavallaan tosi kiva, mutta ehkä vähän kädenlämpöinen. Kahteen jää.
Joo samaa sarjaa kuin edellinen levy. Ehkä vielä vähän tylsempi ja huonosti lausuttua ranskaa vielä.
This was a bad album. I somehow only skipped a couple of songs.
26th January 2023 Listened in bits and pieces across today and the 27th. Worked in London and headed home to see work been done by builders. Watched the menu. Crystal clear vocals and classic country sound. 3.5 if I could.
Not quite country enough for me
Låter nästan som en julskiva. Helt okej!
Emmylou
Todella tylsä eikä koskettanut mustaa sielua.
Mukava ja rauhallinen. Tylsä paikoin
Notes - Country americana album - Notable for her writing her own songs, instead of her usual covers - Her songs are really good at using space, letting things breathe - The production is a little…. Questionable - There’s some early 2000s choices that I don’t think have aged super well - Was really hoping to enjoy this more but I didn’t find it super compelling Fav - Boy from tupelo - Like the piano playing and lyrics Least fav - I don’t wanna talk about it now - Has the dated effects I talked about 3/5 - enjoyable but a bit one-note
A nice album. I lost my focus about ten minutes in, so it became mostly background noise, but what I heard was pleasant.
A pleasent listen, I enjoyed the track with the breakbeat on but nothing too special to keep me coming back. One to remember when you want a chill afternoon.
All songs sound the same. Her voice is Not Good.
Too much Bible and God shit for me. I did like her voice, and that one song with Dave Matthews.
I really tried to like this but I feel like the genre and aesthetics just really aren’t for me still some of these tracks had surprisingly impressive production and Harris’ voice really shines on many of these songs definitely not a bad album but not really for me
The mix sounds like she's softly serenading me in a gym toilet. More of a background music album, Sort of feels like a proto Lana del ray. Very nice voice just didn't catch my ear. Favourite track - I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now and Tragedy (loved the harmonies)
Not bad, but not something I'd choose to listen to - 3 stars
Don’t like country. So this album isn’t for me.
I’m not totally against this album. I’m getting quite the appreciation for country. There were a few tracks that almost did it for me, but not all the way. Not bad, just no particular bangers. Great voice, very chill album. No playlist adds, 2.
Just beautiful. I think it crossed over into a weird space where the country folks maybe didn't take to it like her traditional stuff, and other folks didn't give it a chance, but its truly amazing to immerse yourself in.
Folk-singer/songwriter, god vokal, lidt kedeligt
There is not much to elaborate in regards to this album. "Red Dirt Girl" is nineteenth(?!) Record in Emmylou Harris' career. It's a folk/country music, which unfortunately combines two genres I'm not particularly fond of. It feels like a deeply American album, so my connection to it isn't really there. The self-titled track is supposedly the most popular song by Harris, but I really couldn't understand why. It's a rather typical song slightly in style of Dolly Parton, who I think is much superior singer in Country style. I like the song "The Pearl", it had some rock elements into it, so it stand out amongst the others, but that's all that I could enjoy. Discover, Listen, Forget.
som de qualidade, calmo e pa, mas não fez tanto a cabeça
Really chill and pleasant, but nothing world-changing for me.
Good album, although I do think it runs a bit long considering how similar many songs are.
Emmylou Harris is a 70s country artist who contributed with Dolly in 1987 in her famous Trio album and provided background vocals in lesser-known records by Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, and Guy Clark among many others. In this late-career record, she incorporates modern production skills to fuse a somewhat indie instrumental style with her traditional country folk approach. In fact, the last song reminds me of Uncle Tupelo, a similarly sounding alternative country contemporary. (I know it's supposed to reference Elvis.) The instrumentation can be a bit spacious and ethereal at times, but feels more like minor ornamentation and only makes the songs more bearable. But at the end of the day, it's still just a woman singing about sorrow and family troubles with a guitar, nothing to write home about. I think a lot of is decent, but of course, it drags on, despite most of it is completely forgettable. Favorites: I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now, Bang the Drum Slowly, J'ai fait tout, Hour of Gold
Classic Harris
fantastiskt! nu förstår jag henne
Great late career record with beautiful production I would have sworn to be the work of Daniel Lanois. Favorites: 'Michelangelo' and 'Bang the Drum Slowly'
I can imagine this as being pretty popular in 2000. In 2023, not so much.
not very good
More folk than country, but that type of American folk that is right between the two. Good, but not great, with no songs that will live long in the memory. Perfectly pleasant though.
For being a legendary country singer this album is really bland. It's overproduced and nothing really sticks out. It's almost like the album was run through a pop filter and everything got smoothed out.
I like Emmylou but am maybe a bigger fan of her older work and her collaborations.
Favorite tune "J'Ai Fait Tout". There’s some good storytelling in Red Dirt Girl. I enjoyed listening to this throughout. Not really what I expected at all. More folk than country. Cool textures and percussion throughout. Lots of mood and vibe but I maybe would want some more dynamics. Interesting vocal performance. It is so nice when the vocals on these albums are actually from a real singer.
Never heard this record and surprised it’s on this list considering the rest of her career/discography. I’ve never been a huge fan of her voice, but I like some things she’s done, like grievous angel and some of the other stuff with gram parsons. Some of her live stuff is kind of cool. Bruce Springsteen and his wife sing backup on track 4 of this record. 2.7? I wouldn’t listen again
To listen to this was a big ask. No thank you
thought this was going to be more country than it was
This seems like it's going to be country. Huh, yup, seems like it, but like... weird country maybe? Idk, I'll give a few track a try, but this might be a skip. Good chance for me to explain my rating system and put it in writing for myself. One star = bad bad, will not listen to again. Two = I see the merit, but maybe not my thing or not my genre. Three = a solid album, I could see myself listening to it again. Four = I'm almost certainly saving this album, and I'll probably listen to it again more than once. Five = a great album, it will be saved, added to my heavy rotation, and likely bought on vinyl. Okay, so is this country or not? Maybe this is actually like, what's it called, adult alternative? Like Melissa Ethridge or something. I'm more neutral to it so far, like it isn't bad three minutes in. Way better than the Neu album or that dog shit Velvet Underground album. She definitely has a nice voice, and the lyrics seem solid (I'm not following them real closely). The title track is, so far, my least favorite. It's like straightforward cliché country. Still not a bad album 6 songs in, but I am getting kind of bored of it. Oh motherfucker, Dave Matthews is on this album? Hahaha weird. Had to look it up, thought it might have been the Mumford and Sons guy.
all i can hear is stevie nicks, who i find irritating at best.
Dirty, dirty red girl. This record dripped down my chin like being jizzed on by the entire Chelsea first team and backroom staff.
Bad/okay
This was pleasant
This is a good album by Emmylou Harris but not a great one. Not sure why it is on this list. She has many other albums that are better.
Emmylou Harris has a great voice, but most of the songs are overly similar and unremarkable. The only thing that saves this album from being a 2 is her voice, which is amazing. 3/5
A real gem of an album.
There were a few times I thought I was listening to Christian folk rock. Not really my style - felt like the type of background music they play when a couple breaks up in those ABC/NBC series dramas.
Frankly another one I didn't really expect to like. Emmylou has a nice voice, and the songs are quite pleasant. Can definitely see this having been an influence on a lot of the modern folk-ish stuff that I listened to a lot in college/immediately after/still occasionally today. Surprised how many songs I added to my playlists/my standouts. Standouts: I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now, Red Dirt Girl, Bang the Drum Slowly, J'ai fait tout, One Big Love, Boy from Tupelo
Przerwa opisowa spowodowana brakiem palca, ale sluchane nadal bedzie
Decent singer-songwriter album. 3 stars.
Love her voice! It’s not completely my style, still I enjoyed this album. It’s good as a whole and has some nice songs on it. Favourite song: - One big love
Country music is a no no for me
Pretty awful.
Bizarre blend of country and triphop that I cannot get behind
Kind of slow and boring, nothing really stands out a great.
Enough folk please
Favourite song: Michelangelo One for the karaoke: Michelangelo to get deep One for the car: One Big Love (at least I think it was that) Seemed to never end
I was looking forward to a little country number and whilst I enjoyed the first 10-15 mins a bit, I got bored and felt it went on too long. Cba
Emotional and lush Sound of Emmylou’s voice is memorizing
Not for me
Nice. Now this is good country music. Standouts: I Don't Wanna Talk About It Others: The Pearl, Michelangelo, Tragedy, Red Dirt Girl, Bang the Drum Slowly, Hour of Gold,
Listening to this one felt like a chore. It’s just very bland, very unexciting, very plain; it sounds like royalty-free music for low budget commercials.
Red Dirge Girl
New country amb una veu d'un altre món i uns arranjaments de molta qualitat. Els temes són molt personals i va suposar la posada al dia de l'artista amb la seva contemporaneitat. Malauradament no hi ha grans cançons que quedin gravades a la memòria
Didn't enjoy this very much, but didn't make my ears blead
A low 2. Only gets that because some of the songs weren't completely terrible.
Country tranquilo. Preciosa voz.
A solid album, but it simply does not make sense to pick an arbitrary EH album and put it in the list. Literally everyone knows that Wrecking Ball is the EH classic from her >90s material.
Decent album. I like this kind of warm, authentic sound, but it is not special or overwhelming enough for a five star rating.
Nice voice and sound; lost attention in the second half.
Boring.
So many interesting melodic choices. Instead of going home, the vocals rise, or a minor lift instead of major, eventually to lead home but such an interesting journey
Way better than I was expecting. Production clearly influenced by Alanis Morissette, and all the better for it.
After 429 albums my main observation of this list is that there is too much Elvis Costello, too much Time Waits, and far, far too much country music. I quite liked this initially, but as it wore on I found myself increasingly bored and having nothing really to say about it. Basically fine but not for me. Rating: 2/5 Playlist track: One Big Love Date listened: 08/09/22
3.1 - This record contains all the trappings of a late album by a fading rocker trying gracefully to hang onto some shred of relevance: 1) Mid-tempo songs of fond reflection, 2) an audio mix that places the vocals front-and-center to showcase the artist in a more “honest” light, 3) careful sound engineering with a younger studio band that gives a modern sheen, 4) references to classic Americana. Your mom will hear a few cuts off this record on an NPR segment in which it’s hailed as “bold” and “full of life.” She’ll decide (“what the heck?”) to buy it off iTunes using the gift card you all gave her last Christmas.
Good, I enjoyed it.
I wasn't too familiar with her work, but had heard her name. I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I really really liked it, so much so that I want to explore her other work. Do I think it's the best album of all time, certainly not. It's no Sgt. Pepper, but it's a solid solid album that I really wanted to give a 5, but there's just not enough variety in the album for me that hurts it's relisted-ability, but her voice was entrancing and I hung on every word. Solid work and glad she's on this list. 4.5/5.
Pleasant enough, but nothing special. A little less country than I expected. Standard singer/songwriter material.
So. Country music, this album brought me to understand, is about storytelling. Problem is, I’m not a strong lyrics person. With, say, the artistic end or hip hop, this has never been a problem, since the best DJs create a collage of samples and soundscapes intricate enough to take up all my attention. Country tilts in a different direction, compositionally; since I don’t usually pay much attention to the lyrical content, I get bored even more quickly than usual. (This, of course, is entirely my problem. It’s like a Christian complaining about a Muslim/Jew because he doesn’t eat pork.) One or two tracks aside, I doubt that I’ll consciously revisit this album. I did, in a way, enjoy it, though.
I like this artist, but I'm not country fan.
Beautiful voice. The songs were pleasant enough, but there was nothing that I felt I had to listen to again.
If her mid-career stuff is this good, then I really need to check out her earlier stuff…and everything else.
Bleh.
Folk might just not be my thing.
The music was alright, I enjoyed it for the most part. I won't regularly listen to it, but it was a nice change of pace of what I usually enjoy musicwise.
Pretty folky and I generally don't care for folk. I mean it's alright and pleasant, just not my thing. Has a little bit of a Brandi Carlile sound, just not nearly as good as her. 6/10.
Meh
Really nice voice, enjoyed the vibe too.
I enjoyed this album, but it was mostly just background music. Harris' vocals are just nice and smooth and this was a perfect chill out and vibe album. 3.5/5
Chill laid back album, a lot of the songs sounded similar, didn’t grab me
It’s country I’m biased
I didn't really enjoy this album. But, considering that I was expecting to hate this album, that's actually a pretty good outcome. Nobody who grows up in Alabama escapes "Red Dirt Girl" any more than they escape "Sweet Home Alabama". It's part of the landscape. That carries with it a passing familiarity with Emmylou Harris which means that I came into this album with some preconceived expectations. I'm happy to report that I was surprised by how much I didn't hate this album. It still wasn't super enjoyable, mind you. It's slow and boring and all the songs sound so very similar. Emmylou has a few vocal tricks up her sleeve and she just keeps repeating them over and over throughout the whole album. BUT. The music was solid (if sometimes painfully inoffensive) and the lyrics were interesting more often than not. I'd go so far as to say that each track, taken on its own, is solid and maybe even enjoyable. But, all together in an album, they smear into a mediocre mash of sameness. There's nothing super wrong with the album as a whole other than it just being kind of boring.
6/15/2022 - ALBUM #139 Today's Album: "Red Dirt Girl" by Emmylou Harris - This is an album I have been waiting to review for a little while because honestly, it was hard to work up the motivation to review this album after my preliminary research. The Wikipedia article for this album labels Harris as a beloved **country** artist, so I generally didn't want to give it a shot given my typical reaction to country music. However, this album taught me that there is an important distinction between the contemporary folk country that Harris presents on this album and the more stadium country I grew up despising in the 2000s. The former category contains artist like Harris, Carol King, and John Denver, who put an emphasis on folk songwriting while still setting a more country vibe overall. This album really rides the line of not sounding too country very well. There's some rather simplistic instrumentation and vocal-oriented lyrics, but the sound of this album is actually quite refreshing when compared to something like Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska. This album explores a lot of different songwriting techniques and has a lot of different sonic styles, but still manages to stay really rooted in an authentic aesthetic. The song Red Dirt Girl is the most played on Spotify, and although I like the great backdrop the wailing electric guitar sets, I think the vocal delivery has a heavier than usual country twang and the songwriting has enough of those, "Hard-workin' life" clichés to make it pretty annoying to me. The track I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now stands out more to me as a track that stands the test of time, with this bouncy groove between the drums and a fuzzy, distorted electric guitar that is complimented by a really strong vocal performance and a lot of colorful piano flourishes. The track My Baby Needs A Shepard also feels really fresh to me, with a chilled out instrumental that turns this folk tune into more of a sea-shanty in a way and just feels like the perfect anthem for exploring the unknown or going on a long journey. The closing track, Boy From Tupelo, is a pretty fun closer to this album as well, putting to work that electric guitar that has been shining throughout the record and switching up the percussion with some really great marimba and wood-block work. Overall, there are plenty of songs on this album to dislike the aesthetic of, but the general songwriting ability is all there and when you look a little further than surface level, there ends up being a lot in this album to love. It may not be an album I plan on coming back to for a full listen anytime soon, but anyone that wants an example of a decent country act should look no further than miss Emmylou Harris. Highlights: I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now, My Baby Needs A Shepherd, Boy From Tupelo Score: 6.5/10 Folk-Country that shines when it's more folky than when it's country-y
I wish country had gone more this direction. Pretty good, drags a little at the end.
Liked the title track a lot.
I’m not a fan of country music.
Really liked this.
Really great as always from Emmylou.
Lijepo. Al dosadno.
e da, Pieces of the Sky smo njen imali na 1001. album, i znam da mi je taj bio lijep album - cover album općenito. I ovaj album je lijep, pročitao sam da je ovo njen 19. studijski album, ali ovo je baš njen gdje je napisala pjesme koje izvodi jer većinom radi obrade u stilu countrya. Sve u svemu, malo vuče na Sandu kad je ozbiljna - na ovom coveru, a albumu mislim da se neću vraćat.
American folk/country is not for me. Dull
Genre: Alt-Country 3/5 Emmylou Harris, a legendary country musician, whose contemporaries include Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, has been active since the early 70s purely as a songbird. She never wrote too much of her own material, but her voice was one of the most wanted in the country music biz, and she stayed busy throughout her career, winning 14 Grammy's amongst other accolades. This album, Red Dirt Girl, dropped in 2000, changes the Emmylou mold a bit. Harris is writing a lot of her own material on this, and the music itself has a much more new-age, alt-rock flair to it, rather than a more straightforward country sound. As far as the album is concerned, regardless of how interesting a few of the production elements are here, it's a rather straightforward country album. The instrumentation is pretty lackluster, never growing above mezzo-forte and missing plenty of low end, but that's not necessarily why we're here. Harris' voice sounds very good, especially considering her age, and it helps to elevate a lot of the tracks here. I enjoyed the title track, Hour of Gold, and My Antonia the best, but I can't really tell you what differentiates them from the rest of the tracklist, except for some particular je ne sais quoi. Decent overall, with some interesting production, but fairly boring.
Nice voice, but no way this is something you need to hear before you die. The NINETEENTH album by her? Was this seriously such a huge step up from the first eighteen? Always eyebrow-raising when you check the Legacy section on Wikipedia and the only sentence is "The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die." Also not a big fan of country or folk.
Very nice. Not my thing particularly, but would happily stick on a Sunday afternoon.
Buen disco y agradable !!!
Modern country music(
Emmylou Harris is lovely but the production is a bit too slick for me.
Niet meteen mijn favoriete muziek. Het klinkt denk ik wel aardig op een Amerikaans radiostation. ***
very boring... all the time throughout this album i wished it to end
Very standard country album to me. Not bad but don’t see what makes this so special or deserving to be on the list. But country is not my genre so maybe I’m not looking for the right things
At the time of its release, I listened to Red Dirt Girl and liked it, but would for years reach for Wrecking Ball when I wanted to listen to Emmylou Harris. Subsequently, I spent time with the album and truly appreciated it for the tremendous statement it. Frequently a quiet statement, and a representative of what a strong songwriter she had become.
I like the blend of Americana, California folk rock and country on this album. Some really nice guitar work by Buddy Miller. Did not know that Bruce and Patti contributed vocals on one of the tracks and Dave Matthews on another. If I could give 3.5 stars I would, since I can’t I’ll round up.
A pleasant but not particularly memorable album. It was a pretty effective hybrid of old-school country and modern pop sounds, and she has a beautiful voice but I was not really "wowed" at any point. The Dave Matthews duet and Bruce background vocals were nice surprises. It would probably be good to get a female perspective on this album and its lyrics.
Not bad not great. Like the voice a lot but songs left something to be desired.
ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzZzzzz
Mér fannst þetta nú bara helvíti skemmtilegt!
Likes it more than I thought I would. Generally not a fan of country/contemporary folk, but the last few tracks reeled me back in. "Heart of Gold" is a great track, and loved the collaboration with Dave Matthews.
Opener Pearl sounds a lot like Boulder to Birmingham. Interesting to hear almost trip-hop elements to Emmylou's music. I like her voice, but very little in this collection is particularly noteworthy. Very low key. I probably prefer her more stripped back guitar picking albums/songs. A low 3.
Beautiful album, with a lush and (mostly) appropriate production. Not sure about the ‘chilled beats’ on Tragedy, but other than that, this was a tasteful ‘repositioning’ of Emmylou and her amazing voice. If I didn’t know otherwise, I’d assume this was a ‘new’ artist, but that voice betrays the years of experience that have gone into these songs. Definitely one to revisit.
One of those artists that I really should know more about, but sadly there are some major gaps in my listening history. There's only so much listening time available each day. This is defo Bob Harris alt-country R2 territory. Not the type of album I'd fire up for a Friday night. It had depth, both in terms of tunes and texture. That sounds pretentious bollocks. Sometimes it's the only way to describe AOR and the lack of irony or even humour within.
"Modern" country and western. dislike everything about this, the "girl next door with the guitar" vibe to the warbling vocals, not for me
Not for me
It's pretty good as modern country goes. Not up to the '70s standard though
Inoffensive country music, but not something I'd listen to.
I do like her old stuff, but I found this a bit middle of the road…
You can tell by the company Emmylou keeps how special of an artist she is. Duets with The Boss and Patty Griffin and Kate McGarrigle on the accordion. The Pearl is such an epic way to start this album that I was thinking it could end the album as well. She can do rock and folk equally well. Loved listening to this.
Lovely voice. Eclectic mix of music. Went and listened to some Dolly Parton after this.
Nothing special at all. Emmylous voice is great and the music is quite soothing, but I'm honestly a little suprised theres so much country music in this list and I found difficulty distinguishing between much of it. This was mostly just one in the masses.
Not bad
Totally inoffensive and fine musically. But boring and not my scene.
Not much for country / folk, but this is pretty good.
Solid singer-songwriter album with some country twang and a few songs that nod towards Irish folk music. Favorite tracks: "I Don't Want to Talk About It Now," "Bang the Drum Slowly," "One Big Love."
Not my cup of tea. Fleetwood wannabe without any of the good qualities. I find her voice very irritating, especially with the forced vibrato… and the lyrics were a total snooze fest. The only good track was “My Antonia”, which was completely carried by Dave Matthews… so yeah.
I know she's highly respected but the album is a little boring for my tastes. It has some nice songs on it but I don't know if it's on my personal 1001 albums.
3.75
While some thought is given to the album playlist this week being a bit more on the mellow side of things, "Red Dirt Girl" is still a welcome addition to that mood. Melodious and catchy, this is where rock, eh, country music should always find itself even in the midst of its own evolution. Heartfelt, incorporating country mythos into the modern romantic, this turn of the century album opposes with class the beer-in-one-hand-tractor-wheel-on-the-other bro-country that has plagued the genre with creepy misogyny and with questions as to whether or not Country has a place in music. Released in the year 2000, kicking off a decade where country had a bit of a pop resurgence, paving the way for Lambert, Musgrave, Swift, Underwood to cross over just enough and bring the genre back into being part of the bigger entertainment show. Where this album sets itself apart though is that it keeps the 'old' country in mind, telling a story that a city person could only fantasize about, paying homage to blues, and demonstrating the growth from a more folksy era. "Red Dirt Girl" is a surprising take on country music bringing a rock ensemble to play it.
Dull and dreary.
Meh.
Ok, when I saw this come up I thought "ugh more country", but I played it anyway and I'm very glad I did. This is a decent album.
This cd is stuck in some grandma’s car
Didn't nobody ask for this christian shit
It's americana I guess? Could be worse probably
There are some super lovely tracks on here, like "The Pearl", and Emmylou's voice is quite nice—the album is just waaay too long, and it feels like it drags on forever by the time the last, like, 6 tracks come in. Cut this in half and it's easily an 8/10 for me, but the length and monotony of the tracks really drags the whole experience down.
Classic country bordering on folk. I got a strong feeling of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer.
Lutei pra terminar.
Nice mellow Americana music. Very cool
Oh god. I probably should be nice. I don't like this record. It's not for me. A lot of the records on this list aren't "for me." I get that. But, the thing is, this record doesn't compel me to even try. I'm sure there are a handful of Emmylou Harris records that I would like. But, I'm sure they don't involve this new-agey production. 2/5 because you don't slight a legend with a 1/5, but that's probably the only reason why.
Though I'm not really a big fan of the gospel/folk/country & western genre - I do like Emmylou Harris. She's got a unique "storyteller" voice that is perfectly suited to the genre. But, this seems misplaced and overproduced in the year 2000. It's like they were trying to make her relevant to a wider audience (queue Dave Matthews as a guest star on one track), but it didn't work. Sorry.
too "country" for me, despite great voice
Not my style
A fine selection of songs from one of Americana's most important singers. Favorites: The Pearl, Michelangelo, I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now, Tragedy, Bang the Drum Slowly.
Big fat nope
2/5 nothing memorable
Mmmm la vraie musique de coboy
Subtil mélange entre Country de Boomer et Folk de Karen. J'aime certaines ambiances par ci par là mais jsp ce que ça fout dans les 1001 meilleurs albums du monde. Pref: The Pearl Moins prefs: Tragedy, Boy From Tupelo
Solid effort from an artist I have no prior knowledge of, will definitely be checking her music out after this listen
Nice enough listen. Not much grabbed me but pleasant enough.
Emmylou falls into the "i know of her" category. I don't have any of her albums and couldn't tell you what her hits were, but she has performed with a laundry list of my favourite performers such as Steve Earl and Neil Young. The song Red Dirt Girl is very powerful. She has a gift for writing lyrics and her singing is also very good. I just find her music doesn't grab me. Perhaps it would if I had more time to listen to it.
I guess they chose this album because Emmy Lou wrote all the songs for the first time. The song-writing is good, I especially liked the opener and the title track and the rest are pretty solid. For someone in her fifties she still had a beautiful voice. Musically It’s more folky than her earlier albums. I would have liked a bit more twang and a little less production.
She undoubtedly has a lovely voice. But the album wasn’t very inspiring, it was quite boring actually.
Allt í lagi. Ekkert rokna kontrístuð.
The entire album has an amazing sound. A blend of folk, country, mixed with contemporary production. It is soothing to listen to from beginning to end, at points feeling like ambience. Her timbre is beautiful, brilliant phrasing, and lovely harmonies via dubbed layers or with the featured vocalists. I really enjoyed it and really respect her ability to evolve her sound so late in her career.
Nice voice and atmosphere but ultimately the songs fail to impress or leave a lasting memory, all being rather similar and without highlights
nice chill
80% boring
This is not good. What the hell is this? Do people actually find this enjoyable? It is like a worse Bruce Springsteen.
Only listened to the first couple of songs, didn’t seem like my kind of thing. I’m not into Jesus stuff.
Unexpectedly soothing...
2.5 / 5 Pleasant to listen to and not bad in any way, shape or form but nothing special to be honest.
She can clearly afford some good session musos, the guitar work was great but - it's simple country music with cliched lyrics and vocal delivery.
6/10
Nope
Folk and country. Felt a bit like christian music. Wasn't my thing, but I cannot deny her talent and amazing voice.
Nice country music!
If there’s a holier summary of pre-lame country music, this must take the cake. A very easy voice to listen to
I know this is country, but it's the kind I can deal with. She has a good voice and it doesn't make me think of a man in a flannel shirt banging his Chevy's tailpipe.
Fine album, but not my favorite. A lot of snooze songs but “I don’t wanna talk about it now” is the type of the song that you listen to sitting around a campfire with like 5-8 people just vibing and enjoying life.
I'm going to be honest: I didn't listen to the whole thing.. I had enough. I didn't like it.. it was boring and bland.
6/10
That was a pleasant surprise. For some reason I was expecting forgettable 90's Country Radio country, what I got was some mellow and occasionally soulful folky Americana. Really rather pleasant.
I kind of liked the title track but the rest left me cold. The mild electronic backing added next to nothing. Probably exciting if you were already a fan, but certainly not winning any.
This may have been a departure from her formerly folkier-than-thou oeuvre, but to me it just comes over as if someone got their hands on the Blood Makes Noise dial and then only turned it up to 2. It goes up to 11, folks
3.5
Coutryzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I got her importance, but this kind of music is boring
I wasn't sure how much I would love this album at first, but by the end my eyes were glistening and I wanted to go back and start over. Knowing of Emmylou Harris forever, but not being that familiar with her work, I didn't realize this was the first album she recorded with mostly songs she wrote or co-wrote. I love these songs. It was, however, "Red Dirt Girl" that really first caught my attention and grabbed my heart. Then "My Baby Needs a Shepherd" came on and "What are you doing to me?!?" Then "Bang the Drum Slowly" came on and "Oh no! *sob* I can't take it!" Going back and listening to everything again, I just thought it was a beautiful album. Beautiful music, beautiful voice, beautiful songs.
The songs and Emmylou's voice are pretty. There isn't necessarily much variety in style or tempo from song to song, but they are nice to listen to.
This one took me a few listens before I could really decide about it. I was excited to listen --- I'm not very familiar with Emmylou Harris but feel like I should be. The first time through, the songs just weren't taking hold. I thought they were pleasant and pretty but none of them felt like mine. I'm almost done listening for a third time and it's grown on me quite a bit. Her voice is great, there are some interesting guests singing harmony, the instrumentation is varied and fun, her songs tell a story. I'm most sold on One Big Love, Hour of Gold, and the title track. Those feel like they belong in my library. I also like Boy from Tupelo and My Antonia.
I haven’t heard of this album before. The opening song was a real surprise. This is a more updated sound than I expected. It didn't feel purely country to me although there were strong country undertones. "Michelangelo", "I Don't Want To Talk About It Now", "Red Dirt Girl", "J'ai fait tout", "One Big Love", "My Antonia" and "Boy from Tupelo" were some of the highlights on my first listen, but going back I could probably add the rest of the songs to this list. This is a solid album! I read that this was the first time Emmylou Harris wrote her own songs (all but one) for an album. It definitely worked for her. The songs are very well crafted. This is a gentle and very strong album from a true legend. I can't think of anything not to like about it.
She really wants to be Sad Dolly. No doubt she's talented, great voice but the music is just so slow and a bit of a bummer. It's good on a technical level, but just not something I enjoy.
Emmylou is a deserved legend. However, this record chooses to show off her band primarily. They effectively evoke the country tradition in more or less modern colors: It's a good direction for the genre, if not pack-leading. There's no loss in the move away from covers. The tracklist doesn't blur together, but there aren't any sharp turns. Just occasional journeys into especially beautiful sonic space, working on the soul. That's certainly a cheesy line, as the project comes in a pretty slick package.
Beautiful voice, some really strong tracks. But realistically won’t revisit
Country music that your Mum would listen to. The opposite of everything I like.
God it’s all so bloody dull. Clicked on wiki while enduring this - her 19th album and the first she wrote - stick to singing. Also under the Legacy section “Featured in the 1001 albums book” That says it all
I find it hard to believe that anyone named Emmylou isn't going to do country. Yeah it's country. Like a theatre kid doing country. Not sure how I feel about it. Ok according to wiki she was already in her 50s when this came out. Definitely didn't get that vibe. 2/5 all the same, just don't care about it.
Not normally a huge Country fan but I make an exception for Emmylou Harris
Great voice, but she's using it for the wrong purpose.
Nice atmosphere here reminiscent of Daniel Lanois' style of production. Songs all mellow and mild, though they're all so similar it's hard to tell one from another.
No ps no
Qué pedazo de
aburridooo. Ni si quiera llegué a la mitad.
She has an absolutely great voice! Songs are nicely composed. Some are a bit too similar to each other.
It's not quite as country twangy as where we started 26 years ago, but the music is still pretty boring. Pretty voice, but a slow pace and nothing particularly catchy to hang onto. Snooze-fest.
Lovely country. Very nice, if a little cliche.
Jammer, ik vind dat Emmylou een prachtige stem heeft en mooie albums heeft gemaakt. Deze valt m echter wat tegen..
Aardig!
Mja, het is echt niet slecht, maar een beetje gezapig.
Ik had voorbereid op een country album, maar dit was erg goed te hebben!
Eerste nummer erg mooi. Rest ook best ok.
Bit boring
Country. Suave y melódico, pero muy aburrido.
Country pop melódico. Me ha gustado.
Really glad I read the wiki on this one b/c I realized I didn't know a lot about Harris. A lot of artists I like have been influenced by her but this was the first time I listened to her. Very much one of those artist you expect to be a singer song writer but interesting that this was her first time actually writing her own songs.
meh
While country music isn't my thing, this is obviously far from Harris' best
The style of country is too melancholy and drawn out with the singing. Not really enjoyed. 3.9/10
Pleasant. But if I never heard it again, or never had heard it, I don't think my life would be any the poorer.
Surely the Mother of US country music, a fantastic voice and some stand out tracks (particularly Red Dirt Girl) that both move and entertain you.
Melodic whinyness. Pass
Nice
31. MotA: Michelangelo \"O the dragons are gonna fly tonight\"
Not in the mood for this at all
Easy listening country, with a couple of stand out tracks.
Not exactly my cup of tea, but I enjoyed it more than I would have thought I would.
Pleasant folk/country/americana. Not my typical style, but very beautiful.
surprisingly not as bad as i thought it would be considering it’s country 😂 but nice voice just not my style completely.
country is not my thing but she has a good voice for sure
Have always steered away from country music but was willing to give this a fair listen, being familiar with Emmylou Harris... And I'm thankful I did, this is a great album. Calling it Country almost shortchanges it; I would also label it folk, Americana, Heartland. Although Emmylou is clearly the focus, it was really the music here that was the surprise. Highlight is "I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now" 7/10
Equalizzazione pessima! Belle le lyrics, ma gli arrangiamenti sono spesso scontati. Non mi entusiasma come canta... Alcuni dettagli sonori sono piacevoli (la chitarra elettrica nella title track e i drones in Bang the Drum Slowly). Un album noioso
Beautiful voice, some really strong tracks. But realistically won’t revisit
Folksy country music with a beautiful singing voice. I couldn't enjoy the album because it's not my type of music, but it provided soothing background tracks while I worked.
Interesting songs and pleasant vocals. Unlikely to revisit this album though.
Gut hörbar, aber bleibt für mich wenig hängen…
Schwer zu bewerten. Eingängig nicht doof und echt nicht schlecht.
Country music became a huge part of my music tastes over the last 10 years and Emmylou is among my faves. This album is on regular repeat in my house.
Terrible. Do not like country music.
better than expected
Good songs, very good voice. A relaxing album to listen to. I liked it.
It's an easy to listen and overall likeable countryish-pop album, but some of its songs are kind of meh. I didn't like the mixing.
Voz dulce y delicada
Ok for country
Meh. Super singer-songwriter-y. Probably good to those who like that, but it just sounds like too much feels. Not for me.
Goeie zangeres. Het album is voor het grootste deel wat te traag voor mij. Het Franstalige nummer vind ik niet zo goed
Nope
nice mellow country songs that tell a story
I just don't really get why anyone would listen to this
Erster Eindruck: Escort Service Cover Art und entsprechend betulicher Heart Rock für den Cayenne fahrenden late Springsteen Hörer, der ich nie sein werde. Aber dann umschmeichelt mich diese satt-warme Textur, ein konstant gutes Songwriting und so gibt die Soccer Mom in mir Erdig-ehrliche 3.3
Hat mich nicht so gekriegt. Musik für ältere Leute (hey, no age-ism!) würde ich sagen.
“Red Dirt Girl” by Emmylou Harris (2000) I’m familiar with Harris’ work as a background vocalist (for Neil Young, Bob Dylan, etc.) and her early hits, but I’ve never heard this album. Emmylou Harris was 53 years old when she recorded this album, and she exudes both youthfulness and maturity in her songwriting and performance. Harris has one of the most recognizable background voices in music of the 70s, with her easy timbre and flawless pitch control. In this solo production of her own composition, she rises to the occasion. She has exceptional strength in her lower range, with good control in her very occasional forays into the highest reaches of her range. It is very plain to hear on this album why she was a favorite for backup and duet work with male artists like Dylan and Young, whose vocal skills were both limited and idiosyncratic. She could make a frog sound sweet. As a songwriter, her compositions on this album are characterized by unsurprising yet moving melodies in major keys, with typical country/folk harmonies. This recording is innovative for Harris, primarily because of its experimental percussion and electronic soundscapes. Very well produced and recorded. The lyrics are serious, reflective, and powerfully feminine, with standard country meter and rhyme. I really liked listening to this. 3/5
Found it kind of vanilla
not bad
Somewhere between folk and softer rock. She has a great voice. Oddly bass-heavy mix. Reminds me of Christian contemporary music (with some Christian imagery in the lyrics too).
2/5 I don't get how this one made the list. It doesn't stand out in any way.