User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Hard Bargain
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Hard Bargain Image
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

  • Summary: The legendary country singer's 21st studio album, featuring many of her original songs.
Buy Now
Buy on
  • Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Genre(s): Country, Alt-Country, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Contemporary Country, Progressive Country
  • More Details and Credits »

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Billboard.com
    Apr 25, 2011
    90
    The 13-track set, produced by Jay Joyce, assures us that she's more than OK, with a still-luminous voice that can make the phone book sound like Puccini.
  2. Paste Magazine
    Apr 26, 2011
    80
    A solidly sung, played and written collection of songs, it is a very fine release that will almost certainly find a welcome reception from her longtime fans.
  3. PopMatters
    Apr 29, 2011
    80
    It's a fitting way to round out an album that, remarkably, builds new momentum on an already extraordinary 40-year musical career.
  4. BBC Music
    Apr 25, 2011
    70
    She just needs to dig up some big old songs again, as those here aren't consistently up to the standard fans have rightly come to expect.
  5. The Telegraph (UK)
    Apr 28, 2011
    60
    It's an album marinated in sadness, so much so that in places it veers into the maudlin, but Harris's poetic steel usually saves the day.
  6. American Songwriter
    Apr 26, 2011
    60
    Harris' vocal approach to her folk-based songs, ballads or mid-tempo, is infused with the presence of a time-traveler, visiting modern America from a pre-pop-culture place where music is in the air rather than the airwaves.
  7. Mojo
    May 18, 2011
    40
    Longtime fans might be appeased. Others may find themselves a trifle bored. [May 2011, p.104]
    All this publication's reviews

See all 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Hackskeptic
    Jul 10, 2011
    6
    It's hard to be critical of an artist who maintains a steadfast commitment to her roots, a continued integrity in her field of music, and aIt's hard to be critical of an artist who maintains a steadfast commitment to her roots, a continued integrity in her field of music, and a legacy of extraordinary musical highs, but Emmylou's new album sounds terribly weary. So often her pitch perfect tones have relaxed and soothed, whilst her writing has held an ethereal depth way beyond the majority of her peers. Indeed, "Hard Bargain" opens with a nostalgic trip back to the place where she discovered and honed her skills by celebrating her former cohort and hero, Gram Parsons on the atmospheric ballad "The Road". The melancholy spreads to another recently departed friend, Kate McGarrigle on "Darlin' Kate", but the true highlight of Harris's dark reflections comes on the excellent first person delivered "My Name Is Emmett Till". The song captures the story of a 14 year old black boy who was tortured and later murdered by a posse in Mississippi and later became a catalyst for the civil right movement. For all the passion Harris continues to deploy in her songs, she occasionally drifts into sloppy whimsy and "Big Black Dog" is an example of a poor song slipping through the quality control department and sullying the record. "You're not brown, you're not yellow, Bella, Bella, my big black dog" are the sort of lyrics you'd expect a ten year old to be disappointed with, so why no one picked up that the song simply isn't strong enough to be included is a complete mystery. Another reservation is Jay Joyce's lifeless production effort, which, although polished, lacks an organic earthiness to complement Emmylou's introspective vocals. This effect would have saved "Six White Cadillac's" from sounding like an obligation to fill time. There's probably enough here to keep the fans content, but "Hard Bargain" sees Emmylou Harris settling for some mixed creations, flat productions and tired presentations. http://hackskeptic.com… Expand

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
87 Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
All Current Music »