The Party Ain't Over
by Wanda Jackson
  • Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Release Date: Jan 25, 2011
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. AllMusic
    Dec 19, 2011
    60
    The sheer ballast of [Jack] White's vision can be exhausting, the individual elements clanking chaotically and never quite gelling. Jackson gives as strong as a performance as she can, tearing into the oldies with ease and valiantly attempting the new songs, but she sounds most at ease with the quieter moments.
  2. Pitchfork
    Jan 28, 2011
    52
    We get truckloads of overzealous horns that sound ripped off from his buddy Conan's late-night band, White's own fuzzed-out guitar, bustling drums, and cartoon-y slide work. The wild excess often ends up shoving Jackson to the sidelines on her own album.
  3. Uncut
    Jan 19, 2011
    60
    Bits and pieces, even within the album's successful tracks, are overcooked and threatens to capsize the project into mere camp or noodly instrumental preening. [Feb 2011, p.91]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Mojo
    Apr 20, 2011
    60
    Gentleman Jack White does his Loretta Lynn production thing for another grand old lady. [Feb. 2011, p. 108]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Q Magazine
    Feb 2, 2011
    60
    Rockabilly queen gets the Jack White treatment. [Feb. 2011, p. 118]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. The Guardian
    Jan 13, 2011
    60
    It's an odd decision, but The Party Ain't Over is attended by the sense that the normally sure-footed White doesn't really know what to do with Jackson.
  8. Slant Magazine
    Jan 31, 2011
    60
    One of White's strengths has always been his ability to separate pastiche from a genuine aesthetic, and The Party Ain't Over is suffocated by its overly stylized, affected '50s put-on.
  9. The Independent (UK)
    Jan 26, 2011
    60
    This Jack White-produced comeback album suggests there can be few septuagenarians keener on raising hell.
  10. Austin Chronicle
    Jan 27, 2011
    40
    The Party Ain't Over makes a great Jack White LP, but Wanda Jackson should've taken a page from Rosie Flores' Girl of the Century and roped in Jon Langford.
  11. American Songwriter
    Jan 25, 2011
    50
    In the end, this album just doesn't make it.
  12. Chicago Tribune
    Jan 21, 2011
    50
    Her voice often sounds overly pinched, and the horns come off as gimmicky.
  13. Country Weekly
    Mar 4, 2011
    50
    Younger listeners will get the most out of this sometimes-inspired, retro-leaning smorgasbord; the more observant among them may even discern that Wanda's "bad girl" '50s persona, unlike today's blunt and blush-worthy equivalent, is nothing more than an act.

User Reviews

All reviews »

There are no user reviews yet.