[.ca] Strong Heart

From Amazon.com:
Anyone with a voice and heart as soulful as Patty Loveless is incapable of making a bad record. Her low-down vocals on her own "You Don't Get No More" are bound to turn some so-called blues singers green with envy, and if you don't get a little misty behind her rendition of Matraca Berg's "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again," check your pulse. Berg's ballad is a prime example of how Nashville at its best continues to turn out excellent new twists on old themes. Unfortunately many of the tunes on Strong Heart sound more like old twists on old themes. In a town that boasts a slew of brilliant songwriters--Buddy and Julie Miller, Steve Earle, and Rodney Crowell to name a few--it is hard to believe that these are the best tunes Loveless and producer Emory Gordy could find. Strong Heart is by no means a bad record, but after a three-year wait both Loveless and her fans deserve a better one. --Michael Ross

Versatile Talent:
Say what you will about some artists being too country for today's radio, but the true fact is Patty Loveless is probably the only artist that is versatile enough to vascilate so easily between the sub-genres of country. Honky-tonk, bluegrass, traditional, modern, pop....she can do it all. This set should satisfy all palates of country music fans. From the taunting start off song to the playfulness of "That's the Kind of Mood I'm In" to the deep storytelling song "She Never Stopped Loving Him", Patty delivers the real deal on this CD. Too bad she didn't release more from this one, because she certainly would have had numerous hits. I recommend this one for all country music fans. Great CD.

Strong Effort:
Patty Loveless finally returned in 2000 with her first album of new material since 1997's LONG STRETCH OF LONESOME, which I believed to be one of her best. It was hard not to have expectations, and I admit when I first heard this album it did not hit me like the previous one did, but after a few listens, I really grew to love this album. STRONG HEART opens with the Matraca Berg and Carolyn Dawn Johnson written "You're So Cool", and also supply the background vocals. It's a nice fun number to start off the album. I really like this song, Steve Earle makes an appearance on this track. "The Last Thing on my Mind" is a nice traditional ballad which has a unique instrumentation, very country. Rebecca Lynn Howard and Ricky Skaggs join her on this one. "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again" is classic Patty, one of those ballads she just tears up, once again very traditional. Trisha Yearwood and Claire Lynch join her on this song, Patty describes it as her own "Trio" song since she loved the sound created by Emmylou, Linda and Dolly. Then we have "You Don't Get No More", an uptempo rocker song written by Emory Gordy Jr and Patty Loveless herself, nice and spunky. The album's first single was "That's The Kind of Mood I'm In", another fun upbeat driving in your car kind of song. "Thirsty" is a real standout on the album, a really beautiful devotion and declaration of love, never having enough. Travis Tritt joins her on this ballad. The title track is a beautiful song and unjustly ignored when it was released as a single. "The Key of Love" is another upbeat number, not a fave but not so bad. "She Never Stopped Loving Him" is a traditional ballad at its best, a nice story song. The album closes with "Pieces on the Ground", sort of melancholy yet offering a glipse of hope. Don't miss STRONG HEART, country radio may have not warmed up to it, but you would be missing out if you missed this one!

She's the best!:
Loved EVERY MINUTE of this C.D.

Great album:
This is a really underrated album from Patty Loveless, and it has some of her best material. There was a time, back between 1994-1996 where Patty Loveless was on top of country music, and was winning all sorts of accolades. When she released her 1997 album LONG STRETCH OF LONESOME, it failed to yield a top 10 hit and it seemed country radio lost interest after that. Which is a shame, because they missed the boat on this album, and ones that would follow this one that were truly exceptional. This album gets a lot of criticism because it is apparantely "too pop". Not at all. The title track, and a few other songs, have pop sounding arrangements, but the heart of it is still country. You look at artists like Shania Twain, and you will see this is definately country in comparison to Shania! The album opens with the Matraca Berg written "You're So Cool", which would have been a great single. It has a nice sing a long quality to it. "The Last Thing On My Mind", written by Rebecca Lynn Howard, is a great ballad that was the second single from the album. One of my favorites is "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again", an excellent country ballad that teams Loveless up with Trisha Yearwood and Claire Lynch. Great song! The first single from the album was "That's The Kind Of Moon I'm In", it should have been a bigger hit but didn't really catch on with country radio. "Thirsty" is a nice duet with Travis Tritt. The title track is another favorite, as is the wonderful ballad "She Never Stopped Loving Him", which is the show stopping song here I believe. So much passion and it's a sad story, but it's great. Overall, her 2000 album STRONG HEART may not have been as popular as past albums, but don't pass on it, it's a great album with some really good songs that country radio should have heard!

Best song of the year,:
Cd contains the best country song of the year, "The Last Thing on My Mind". Patty Loveless has the SEXIEST voice I've ever heard on this song. (the video is outstanding!) And that's no small claim. Jamie O'neal, Alison Krauss, Sarah Evans, and Shania Twain all have their own catchy-sexy/charismatic styles of singing. But I think Loveless has the best classic country voice, since Janie Fricke or even Tammy Wynette.

• You're So Cool
• Last Thing on My Mind
• My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again
• You Don't Get No More
• That's the Kind of Mood I'm In
• Thirsty
• Strong Heart
• Key of Love
• She Never Stopped Loving Him
• Pieces on the Ground