Red Dirt Girl

No disrespect to EH, but this is basically a low-risk adult-contemporary softball. Emmylou’s allmusic bio glosses over this release without fanfare, noting only that Bruce Springsteen and several others make appearances.

There are no songs that are outright bad enough to merit a two-star review, but you’re definitely not missing anything if you don’t hear this one before you die.

I found myself curious about a any demos that might have been made for this album. Sometimes the floaty reverb thing gets a bit much.

Favourite songs: My Baby Needs a Shepherd, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Pearl, Michelangelo, I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now, Tragedy, Boy From Tupelo, Red Dirt Girl, One Big Love

Least favourite songs: Hour of Gold

5/5

It’s a super strong 4 that I’m gonna round up to a 5, just for my tastes.

There are some points early in the album where the production is lacking just that one extra bit for my tastes, but when this album clicks and puts it all together, it’s some of the best country/Americana stuff I’ve heard in a long time. The consequences of “bro country” coming into the scene in the late 90s and early 2000s need to be studied someday, because this is a really good album to me, and I need more stuff like this. Red Dirt Girl? That’s the type of country music I need, not bullshit about trying “that” in a small town, whatever “that” is.

The album is just a little too long for me. Could’ve cut it down to like, 8 or 9 tracks, but there’s really not a bad one here. I enjoyed everything on this album; I genuinely think it hits 12 for 12 for me, and that’s why I’m going with a 5 regardless of its slower moments or its perceived flaws. It’s good music, and that’s what matters.

An utterly boring album that drags on for far too long, with melodies that would make a Christian pop radio station blush, and the lyrical content isn't too far behind. Its slow, but it isn't lush, it has layered production, but there is nothing dreamy about it. Just an utter waste of time, only really challenging to your grandparents. The CD era was a blight on the music industry.

I don't know if it's the last 15 albums were terrible post punk albums or if I genuinely liked this album. So soothing and dark and heartbreaking. Probably worth another listen when I'm feeling that mood.

For album #600, we got some country and/or western!

Production dates it, not as much as (for instance) the synths in I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen.
Fortunately, I kinda like how the sampled beats in a song like “Tragedy” meshes with the more rootsy song structure, as it doesn’t totally wash away the acoustic elements, nor is it so prominent that it sounds like a remix.

I appreciate that Harris wasn’t interested in making a strait-laced country record at this point in her career, so I’d say the late-90s relics are part of the experience.

Finally, on the subject of production, it’s important for me to share that this album’s producer belonged to a Toronto synth-pop band, Boys Brigade, whose song “Melody” played all the time on the radio during my childhood 🇨🇦

HL: “Michelangelo”, title track, “My Baby Needs a Shepherd”, “Bang the Drum Slowly”, “My Antonia”

And “Melody” by Boys Brigade

November 23, 2023

My mum would love this album.

ahoooo girrrrrrrrr

Solid. 3/5

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

Joo samaa sarjaa kuin edellinen levy. Ehkä vielä vähän tylsempi ja huonosti lausuttua ranskaa vielä.

Don’t like country. So this album isn’t for me.

I can imagine this as being pretty popular in 2000. In 2023, not so much.

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.

Not really a fan of the inclusion of these types of later career albums by established artists on this list. Much rather hear any of her first 12 albums than her 21st album. Much rather hear more vital music from artists establishing themselves from this time period than a "return to form" from a well established artist. Do you see any Frank Sinatra or Little Richard albums from the 70s taking up space on here? No. Because if you did it would take the place of much more vital/relevant music from that time period and it wouldn't make any sense. So why do you see so many of these albums that are a good decade or two after these artist's prime on this list as we get towards more recent music? I can only imagine it is a reflection of the average age of the people making the list. Baby boomers doing what they do best and taking up all the space and resources they can for themselves and consequently stifling the opportunities for younger generations to thrive (probably without fully realizing they are doing so). Not a critique of the album but the list itself.