Trio

It's probably no accident that I got this album on the day of her passing, as I also got a Sabbath album when Ozzy passed. First of all, RIP Dolly Parton. One of the most beautiful storytelling voices in the history. Incredible way of writing music. However, I was never a fan of country music. Usually I would give any country or folk a 1, but this is special because it's Dolly. Her voice is just one of the most recognizable voices ever. Beautiful and it just makes you feel cozy and warm if that makes sense. 5 stars for her voice, but 4 for this record as I still don't like country.

I love how the utterly 80s cover and their fashion and make-up (I barely recognise EmmyLou Harris) contrast with the beautiful simple songs and arrangements.

Ein stilles Meisterwerk: drei Stimmen, die ohne Druck, ohne Eitelkeit zu einem einzigen warmen Klang verschmelzen. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt und Emmylou Harris singen, als würden sie einander tragen – besonders in „To Know Him Is to Love Him“ und „Wildflowers“, wo Harmonie fast zu Atem wird.

Am Todestag von Dolly Parton wirkt dieses Album wie ein leises Denkmal. Kein Pathos, nur reine musikalische Verbundenheit, die Zeit überdauert🥲.

I expected a Dolly album today, but it's so hard to listen to an album of someone who just passed. Still I enjoyed it and this reminded me of the music my grandma would listen to.

R.I.P. to the queen

Prima countryplaat, echt heel weinig boeiends over te zeggen. Mooie melodietjes tussen de drie zangeressen.

RIP Dolly, je was een absolute topper. <3

Produktionen är kanske inte alltid den roligaste. Märkt av tiden. Emellertid utan att det direkt stör. Självklart handlar det här istället om tre underbara röster och deras samklang. Jag gillar nyanserna där framförallt Dolly bryter av på ett fint sett mot Linda och Emmylou. Något enstaka svagt spår som I've Had Enough. Men å andra sidan desto fler som av hög klass med Those memories of you, The pain of loving you och fina avslutningen i Farther along sticker ut lite extra.

"I'll always love you, little darlin' / Until the day they lay me down"

Today was the day after Dolly Parton died, and I was coincidentally assigned my first album of hers. I'm typically not a huge fan of country music, but today I had a bit of a soft spot for Dolly. I found the music to be relaxing and not overly basic in their subject matter. Multiple times in the album was a mention of ideas like "Until I die" which really hit quite hard listening to them today (Aug 26, 2026).

Although there wasn't anything too special about this album, I'd venture to say it was quite a good country record due to the quality of the vocalists. It's not something I'd listen to again, but neither is it something I'd be mad at listening to, especially in the right context.

3/5

Day 18

Three beautiful voices that say a lot in under 40 minutes. RIP Dolly, we will always love you 🩷

Fav track: Those Memories of You

My first contact with Dolly was through the Netflix movie Dumpling in 2018, where her music was prominently featured. I remember doing a bit of research back then and thinking "wow, she's a gem". Basically, the people who made the film really wanted to use her songs, but didn't have the budget to get the rights, so they just asked, and Dolly's reaction was like "Sure! Oh and do you want me to make you an original song for free while we're at it??"

Later, I came across her foundation Imagination Library, which provides free books to kids, thanks to partnerships with various bookstores. A registered child receives a book each month until they're 5. That's 60 books for free. No need to disclose your revenue. That's insane. And all that just because Dolly was legitimately concerned about literacy among kids.

She died yesterday. Our very dark times are now even darker, having lost one of the few light source it still had.

As for her music, it's great. I'm not a big country fan, but her songs are always joyful, and she has a beautiful voice. Of course, she's not the only singer on this collaborative album, but the other two are also great.

Rest in peace Dolly.

amazing - she will be missed

Pre Listen:
No Fucking Way. I get this album a day after Dolly passes away? This has got to be intentional, right? The chances of this are simply too unrealistic.

Shock aside (R.I.P. Dolly), I've not listened to much of her work beyond her most surface level of hits. I've lived in the Appalachians a good portion of my life now, and her reputation is near angelic here, so I'm more familiar with her as a person rather than a musician. Not many other cases like that here on this album, especially in a positive way. Looking forward to this album.

Notable Tracks:
Wildflowers - My favorite track by vocals and lyrics. I feel dat lyrical content, Mmm.
I've Had Enough - Least favorite song on the album. I've never been a fan of these Disney-esque Ballads.
Rosewood Casket - My favorite track by instrumentation. I like this.

Post Listen:
It took me a while to get through this album. I did it in 4 or so song batches. The reason? I felt my soul crumbling to dust in utter despair, as I realized song-by-song, that I somewhat dislike this album.

I really wanted to like this album. As mentioned, Dolly's reputation is magical where I live, and especially right after she passed away, it feels wrong to dislike this album. And yet, I do. The vocals are the best part of the album, sugary sweet, but sometimes it's a little too sweet..? Gives me a toothache, you know? Meanwhile the instrumentation is just sort of alright. It's professionally done, but it feels overproduced to the point of being sterile.

I'm weeping inside. R.I.P. Dolly Parton. I'm sure the other part of this trio was great, but she was the star. 3/5

RIP to an American icon.

Dolly and co. sound really great here vocally, but the production is not good (why do the guitars sound so quiet?). I wish the old-timey Americana stuff had been prioritized, too, over the AOR schmaltz

RIP queen

This just isn’t it though, couldn’t really tell that there were actually three different women singing here, they all just sounded like dolly

2.5

I just reviewed Dolly’s “Coat Of Many Colors” album on Sunday (it’s Wednesday), but she died in the meantime, so I’m not surprised to get this today. I understand why, but it kinda feels like this site uses artists’ deaths to juice album ratings a bit. Or certainly, that’s a side effect of pushing out albums the day after a death is announced. I gave that album a pretty mediocre rating, but after listening to this I'm wondering if I owe Dolly an extra star.

ANYWAY… this record has all the powerhouse ingredients, but somehow that doesn't always seem to translate to mega-success like you'd expect. I'm thinking sorta specifically about The Highwomen, I guess, but I'm not sure this one feels like it's greater than the sum of it's parts either. All three women are strong vocalists, but this whole record feels like they played it safe and met in the middle everywhere. There's not much genre bending, unless you're talking about bending Country and Folk ballads... but that distinction is about as flexible as a twizzler anyway. Where's the punchy rock-adjacent stuff? Where's the country barn-burner? Despite the cover art, this record feels about as beige as 1987 itself.

True score: 2.5

Rest in Power, Dolly

RIP Dolly Parton 🫶

This album makes me realize how much her modern reputation preceded her. Personally not a fan of this 80s ballad-style of country that is just too "same-y" (2.5).

RIP to the queen

RIP to one of the greatest to ever do it

Dolly is the GOAT but I wasn't a fan of this one