- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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This is inspired stuff from a rebel who still has plenty to offer.
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His most inspired effort in years.
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Represents a new peak in a career full of them.
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While the material seems to document the end of a relationship and the hope for romantic renewal, there's a freewheeling playfulness to the arrangements.
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Entertainment WeeklyYoakam trots out all his hallmarks--the Buck Owens/Bakersfield beat, the Elvis vocal snarl and sneer, the out-on-the-ledge laments of love gone cold. [8 Jul 2005, p.71]
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Despite all the artistic and personal upheaval surrounding it, Blame the Vain doesn't suffer from some kind of transitional crisis -- it's pure, classic Yoakam, and another fine addition to his impressive 20-year catalog.
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Q MagazineWorks on the age-old theory that if it ain't broke, don't fix it--and it is all the better for it. [Jul 2005, p.120]
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The slight excursions into new genres don't go very far, and they make some of the straighter music sound rote by comparison, but about the worst that can be said about Blame The Vain is that songs like the jangly country anthem "When I First Came Here" are professional-grade.
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UncutThere's an edge that's been absent in recent years. [Jul 2005, p.99]
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Los Angeles TimesEventually the record's lack of ambition and its creeping repetition -- and a couple of misfired attempts to inject some comedic voices -- put a damper on things. [24 Jul 2005]
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MojoNot that much has changed sound-wise. [Jul 2005, p.114]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 10
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Mixed: 0 out of 10
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Negative: 1 out of 10
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JudyL.Dec 21, 2006An excellent album by a master of the craft.
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NickMJul 31, 2006
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ReggieDSep 18, 2005