Wildcard

Lambert is an outlaw, and she’s also an album artist, and Wildcard proves she’s one who will be rebelling, experimenting and rocking the hell out for many years to come.

“Wildcard” isn’t as intimate as her 2016 double album about her divorce, “The Weight of These Wings,” or as musically adventurous as its predecessor, “Platinum.” What it does have is some sharp songwriting.

Wildcard represents courage, strength and vulnerability as Miranda tells her story. The album is a timeless snapshot that measures a moment in this superstar's life.

With the balance of upbeat rockers, twangy Americana, sassy humor and even some delicate moments, this is everything longtime Lambert fans would want, all wrapped up in a 51 minute gift to her fervent, largely female audience.

Wildcard marks a brilliant reassertion of Lambert's magnetic wit. [Dec 2019, p.89]

Musically, Wildcard is all over the place00and that might be its best quality. She ties all these various sounds and styles and settings together by sheer force of will and one of Nashville's mightiest twangs. [Dec 2019, p.26]

Taken on an individual basis, each track is clever and playful, yet the cumulative effect of Wildcard is ever so slightly slight, a possible side effect of an album meant to be nothing but a party. Perhaps that may mean that Wildcard isn't as emotionally resonant as some of Lambert's other records, but there's no denying she's delivered exactly what she intended with this album: It's one hell of a good time.

Endearing. ... Some more specificity to her lyrics might have been affecting, but the broad metaphors she couches her life lessons in are entertaining.

Lambert balances her high-spirited romps with more contemplative numbers, cooling off long enough to reflect without flagging Wildcard’s momentum.

While the latter half of Wildcard constitutes a bit of a shuffled deck of genres, there’s enough of a kick to the album as a whole to warrant its title, and Lambert certainly has the chops to sell it.