Album Review
Lace - Lace
Warner Bros. Records
Jeff:
Darren:
Purchase The Album
The country music industry loves to find something that works and then try to cash in on the success over and over again with obvious copycat acts. With the exploding popularity of the Dixie Chicks we are starting to see the copycat phenomenon start again. SHeDAISY was the first and I had originally feared their release waiting for the lifeless, uninventive material. Thankfully I was wrong and their album was very enjoyable. Then there is Lace and they are a completely different story. Here we find three artists who were seemingly thrown together on a whim (Beverley Mahood has recorded as a solo artist in Canada) in an obvious attempt to cash in on the female trio craze. What do they have in common with the Dixie Chicks and SHeDAISY? Not a whole lot. Four producers helped piece together Lace’s incredibly formulated sound. Combine that with some absolutely abysmal song selection and the fact that while each singer has a good voice, none of them have vocals that will put you in awe. The end result is a strong candidate for coaster of the year.
The debut single “I Want A Man” just about sums up Lace’s style. The song is catchy at first but quickly grows tiresome due mainly to its lame lyrics. In fact almost all of the upbeat tunes follow this laughable formula. “Texas Ranger” takes the cake as the cheesiest story I’ve heard in a long time. The song involves a woman who gets pulled over by a cop before she turns up the charm and runs away with his heart. That story might have survived with some decent writing but the lyrics are so incredibly bad you just sit laughing to yourself and wondering why anyone would select that song. “Kiss ‘Em All” is the best of the faster tunes. It might follow trend and is totally pointless but unlike the others it’s a little fun.
I’m not surprised that the albums two best tracks are remakes of already solid songs. Let’s face it; it’s hard to screw Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” up too much. It’s the albums best track but at the same time it just further proves the fact that most of the good material isn’t being written in Nashville. “Swept Away” has been recorded very effectively by Jessica Andrews under the title “The Riverside”. I can’t help but wonder if they renamed the song to try to avoid comparisons. The song is solid here, but it was rock solid to begin with. However, I like the way they switch leads and arranged the harmonies on that cut (it also hints at how great this album could have been if it had been injected with a little creativity). The albums other honorable cut is “You Could’ve Had Me” which soars with one of the albums best vocal performances.
All three members of Lace are obviously talented but they’re also obviously making a formulated attempt to cash in on the success of the Dixie Chicks and SHeDAISY. In the end they don’t have the roaring attitude of the Dixie Chicks or the inventive harmonies of SHeDAISY. Instead of developing something unique in their music (which is the reason the other two groups have been so successful) Lace seemed content to let their product be produced right into the instantly forgettable. After the last notes of the album have played you can’t help but feel you got suckered into another Nashville marketing scheme.
Album Review by Jeff Krasky
This is the debut album from the group Lace. I’ll admit it, the first exposure I had to Lace was seeing the video for I Want A Man on CMT. I was channel surfing and came across the video, and of course I stopped to see who it was. For one, I’m always interested to find out about new artists, and well to put it quite simply, these three ladies are all very easy to look at!
It seems to me that if there was ever a formula for a Nashville country pop super group it just might include three really attractive women who can all sing fairly well. Would any of these ladies make it in a solo career? I don’t know, but their voices do sound quite good together. They don’t meld quite as well as the sisters in SheDAiSY, but they can definitely hold their own.
The first three tracks on the CD are my favorites, and if all of the songs were up to this caliber this could possibly be a 5 star disc. The CD opens with “I Want A Man”, which is a playful little song about looking for the right guy, and all the not so quite right guys in the meantime. The chorus is great, “I don’t want a man I can live with, I want a man that I can’t live without.” Sure it’s simple, but it works as an up-tempo, fun song. The first thing I thought of when I heard the song was that it had a strong Shania Twain sound to it. While not winning points for originality, it is a strong winner for radio airplay.
The third song on the disc is a cover of Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angel”. This is probably my favorite song on the whole CD, as it takes a great song and puts a little more of a country spin on it. Don’t get me wrong, Sarah’s original version is great as well, but this is a cover worthy of the song. The three ladies voices really seem to sound better coming together in this song’s chorus than anywhere else on the disc. This song does have a little more range than the rest of the tracks on the CD, so maybe on their follow-up disc they can choose some more songs like “Angel” that will show off their range a little bit more.
The second song on the disc is called “Life is Good”. It’s filled with a lot of cliché type statements, “love is hard from start to finish,” or “if you love you have to put your whole heart in it.” While lyrically no masterpiece, the song’s melody and chorus stick with you long after the song is over.
The rest of the disc is filled with average to above average ballads and pop country songs. There is nothing that really sticks out as extremely spectacular, and there is definitely nothing on this CD that will make me hit the skip button over and over again.
For a new group, and a debut album, Lace comes through with an above average disc. On the songs that work, they show that with the proper songs and production they have the possibility of being even better. If you pick this disc up, I don’t think you will be disappointed!
Album Review by Darren O'Neill
The WOC Rating Scale |
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The album stands above the rest. This is a record that every country music fan needs to have in their collection. This album is better than the average release. A strong record with some flaws that keep it from reaching that 5 star level. This album is an average country release. Doesn't posses qualities that make it stand out among all the other albums out there. A weak record that lacks solid songs or good vocal performances. Sample before you buy. This record is a bargin-bin reject that just isn't worth the time or the money. Completely misses the mark. |