Why is Lucinda Williams on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
Whether this is country or rock or blues or whatever, it’ll make you say, “Hell yeah.”
What does Lucinda Williams mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
At first glance for my personal taste, a country rock album from 1988 wouldn’t be the kind of thing that would get me particularly fired up.
But what Lucinda Williams signals to you right away is that it defies an easy description in all kinds of pleasing ways. I love Rolling Stone’s description as part of its greatest 500 albums list (#426): “In 1988, this album didn’t make sense. It was twangy, but it wasn’t country. It rocked, but it wasn’t rock. It was blue, but wasn’t the blues.” And All Music corroborates that by noting, “She crafts each song meticulously and deftly blends country, blues, and folk to create a unique sound that cannot be pigeonholed into any particular format.”
Stepping back from all of that, though, what’s important is that this album is good. Can you get less intellectual about it then that, Eric? Well, sure, I’ll try: I’m listening to “Changed the Locks” right now, and the thought that popped into my head was, “If I walked into a bar and heard this song playing, I’d be like: hell yeah.”
And the hell yeah is really driven by Williams’ voice, as is the ambiguity about whether this is country or rock or blues or whatever. It’s a voice that is both beautiful and has a real edge to it. And Lucinda Williams wields her voice into a performance that is highly compelling. So. Hell yeah.
There’s really nice variety as well. “I Just Want to See You So Bad” has an appealing 10,000 Maniacs-ish quality, for instance.
And songs like “I Asked for Water (He Gave Me Gasoline)” lean into an old timey blues vibe quite appealingly.
Some stats & info about Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Country, Rock Music, Country Rock, Alt Country, Folk, Indie Rock, Blues Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #426
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Lucinda Williams released? 1988
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #891 out of 1,000
Lucinda Williams on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.