Revolution [Import]

Miranda Lambert, with her third album `Revolution', may well have dished up the best southern plate of the 2000's. With an epic 15 song set, the crazy ex-girlfriend shows what it is to live - what it is to hurt, love, dream, yearn, laugh. This album reads more like a way of life - its narration distinct and never hypocritical: an assured sense of self - be that for better or worse.

Lambert certainly had to deliver with this album. `Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' was revolutionary for country music. It filled that void that had appeared somewhere between outlaw country rock and mainstream, and did it in a style no one could have predicted. Lambert proved herself not only as a phenomenal musician and surprisingly mature vocalist, but also as a dissimilar wordsmith: her lyrics so individual. Think John Prine's wit; mix it with Merle's feisty straight talk, and spunk on level with Pink/Kelly Clarkson, and you've quite an affair.

The set kicks off with the straight forward Texas Country of `White Liar'. A simple, but clever and spirited concept. The production is genius and the lyrics are very interesting, well suiting the twist to the story Lambert pulls with the bridge. This is the album's second single, and is burning up country radio. The video is killer, and an amazing start to the set. `Only Prettier' is Lambert wordsmith perfection. Bursting with wit and satire, the track is class. Miranda's vocal is showcased here: the melody not straining, allowing her unique pronunciation shining. The production has so much to it: traditional country, with that ever-present rock spunk to it. `Dead Flowers' was the album's first single, but failed to really impression on the country charts. After listening to it, you'll be as clueless as to why that was as I am. It is master country heartbreak. No cliché, no beating around - the song tackles the problems of the relationship and uses stark imagery to explain it. Fantastic. Best vocals on the album.

`Me & Your Cigarettes' kicks off the short-story section of the album. With clever use of the metaphor, Lambert stretches the image for the perfect time, and delivers the message with a killer chorus and stunning vocal. `Maintain the Pain' takes us back to the vein of `Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'. It's heavy, it's frantic, it's an oddball: it's nigh on perfection. `Airstream Song' may well be the best track on the record. An eerie production with immaculate musicianship, the event is spectacular. Lyrically, it's flawless. The rhymes are so unusual and deep - the imagery the finest on the record: "sometimes I wish I lived by a pier, in a lighthouse with a chandelier..." The story contemplates why the narrator can never be satisfied with their life, and what they dream of living like. The song has a traditional country structure and arrangement, but has an impressive overtone of songwriter soul. Lambert's pronunciations are again on top form. Breathtaking.

With `Making Plans', we find Lambert's first true love song. An ode to lover Blake Shelton? It's beautiful, with a simple, but stirring, chord progression. The arrangement is again flawless. `Time To Get A Gun' is the Fred Eaglesmith cover, and was a perfect choice. Confronting societal oppression and aloofness, the song contemplates individuality and security - or lack of. Strikingly thought-provoking. `Somewhere Trouble Don't Go' is a great song. Ever so reminiscent of a Patty Griffin pen, in fact I was surprised to not see her name on the writing credit. The structure, the lyrics, the melody has Patty written all over it. This will remind you of `Getting Ready' from `Crazy Ex', but with a more sinister, lustful edge to it. The melody and format is fantastic for Lambert's personality and vocal.

`The House That Built Me' is a poignant moment on the record. The song is quiet, remaining reflective and observant throughout. The story follows the narrator returning to the home they grew up in, and asking the now owner to allow them to walk around. Be it for closure, answers or heart's interest, the narrator has a clear reason for being there - but they don't really understand why themselves. They just figured they could find what they're looking for, here. Enthralling. `Love Song' is as the title says. It steers clear of cliché fantastically, setting the vision of this love perfectly in the opening lines: "I was standing there, crying in the kitchen. It'd been one of those mornings, gonna last all day...". Miranda's vocal is flawless. The interesting co-writers here are the boys from Lady Antebellum. Their straightforward pop/country seems to have met Miranda half way and produced a fabulous country number.

`Heart Like Mine' sees Lambert return to her ever witty and satirical self. Observing her wilder habits and less than Godly demeanour, she picks herself apart maturely - with just the right amount of pride. The chorus is genius: "Cus' I heard Jesus, He drank wine, and I bet we'd get along just fine. He could calm a storm and heal the blind, and I bet He'd understand A Heart Like Mine'. The ironic eye Lambert possesses can be hilarious, shown perfectly when she confronts Christians who tell her to quit smoking with `Bless Your Heart'. Priceless. `Sin For A Sin' is another oddball track, but is as good as any other material on the record. Some peculiar rhymes and imagery in this song, but it's classic Lambert rage and crime.

"That's The Way That The World Goes `Round" is the John Prine cover, but you'd think Lambert had wrote it herself. She has really rocked this song up - the production is sheer mastery. Flawless vocals, and the lyrics by Prine are world class. `Virginia Bluebell' is a truly pleasant closing to this phenomenal set. A clever, irregular metaphor, speaks of the strength the narrator's partner gives them - and wishes they could see their own beauty. The melody is lovely, and a delightful love song.

This album just couldn't be considered weak at any point. `Revolution' shines from start to finish. Outstanding songs that hold their own wonderfully: each possessing their own heartfelt tales wrapped up in musically genius melodies, and master-class production. Although they vary in theme and feel, they are all connected by the distinct narration; the original standpoint, and the authentic voice that is Lambert. You understand her fully when she sings - she feels what she sings, she lives what she sings. I wouldn't be shy in saying this is not only possibly the best country albums of the 21st century, but possibly one of the best albums of the 21st century - all genres considered. Lambert will be in this business for life. Buy it and see for yourself.

5 Stars.

As the title of the review suggests, I hate country music, pretty much all of it, both old and knew, male and female etc etc. My girlfriend however loves the stuff and as such I am forced to listen to loads of it. I assumed I would hate this album as I hate other modern female country fare, such as Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler and bands such as Lady Antebellum and the rest of them. I was pleasantly surprised by this album however. It is mature, in places both serious and fun and it showcases an artist who seems to really be coming into her own. Having also heard the previous record, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (which also surprised me), this is a great leap forward. It is a departure for the other modern female singers, less pop-country/nu-country/whatever phrase some chump made up, more country as written and performed by someone with a deep appreciation for what came before her and an astute understanding of what is happening now, shunning as she does, many overt pop sensibilities in favour of old style country tinged with modern rock style guitar sounds/effects, some blues arrangements and even portions of soul and old RnB.

I think one of the reasons I quite like this album, and to some extent the less mature but still grown up previous offering, is that I actually believe that Miranda Lambert knows what she is talking about, and what she is talking about is completely different from other artists, such as those previously mentioned, that she is nearly always lumped in with. Songs such as the restrained but rousing, Time To Get A Gun and the personal Me and Your Cigarettes simply could not be sung by the squeaky clean Taylor Swift and even the slightly more edgy Kellie Pickler, who seem content to sing songs simply about love, whether it be secret, unabashed or in one notable case, about shoes. I always feel that Miranda Lambert has simply experienced more in her life and regardless of whether she has or not, her mature and amusingly cynical take on things come through not only in her lyrics, but in the musical arrangements that accompany them.

In conclusion, I hate country music, but I rather like this.

I had not heard of Miranda Lambert but was alerted to her music via an Amazon email suggesting other things I might like to listen to. I don't always pay attention to such emails but am so glad I did - this album is fantastic! She has a superb voice; her songs are country with a contemporary twist, some humourous and some of a more reflective nature. I have since purchased her other albums and all are of the highest quality. Highly recommended.