- Record Label: Highway 20 Records
- Release Date: Sep 30, 2014
Buy Now
| Buy on |
|
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Sep 30, 2014There’s an uncommon depth here that hasn’t been evidenced on Williams records in ages, both in the sonics (an immaculately crafted blend of intimate and widescreen) and the lyrics, which at times are deeply confessional and others downright defiant as the songwriter stares down her demons, the vicissitudes of relationships and the rampant idiocy of the outside world.
-
Sep 26, 2014All told, it’s a magnificent, career-defining set, full of hard-won wisdom, assertive independence--and compassion in abundance.
-
Oct 6, 2014It feels like the deepest and most soulful album she has made.
-
Sep 29, 2014[The cover of J.J. Cale's "Magnolia" is] a beautiful grace note that rewards those who stay for the long haul.
-
MojoNov 7, 2014The result is one of her most wide-ranging and satisfying collections. [Nov 2014, p.93]
-
Nov 7, 2014She continues to prove herself anyway, again and again: here throughout twenty songs, and throughout thirty-five years and beyond.
-
MagnetNov 5, 2014It's a truism that embedded in most double albums is an even better single one, but that doesn't apply here. [No. 114, p.58]
-
Q MagazineOct 3, 2014This all-original 20-tracker works even better as an intimate, end-to-end, night-drive companion than a snack tray despite Williams's often grueling vocal intensity. [Nov 2014, p.119]
-
Oct 2, 2014What makes it so compelling is a classic rock Americana set up deftly interweaving lazy twin guitars and splashes of Hammond organ over steady rolling chord progressions that gather power with each repetition.
-
Sep 29, 2014She’s pithy and penetrating, bruised but steadfast, proud of the grain and drawl of her voice.
-
Sep 29, 2014Williams adapted the song from a poem by her father, Miller Williams, and it gives Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone its emotional compass if not its melodic direction. The rest of this double album, Williams’s first, settles into a deep groove that suggests the singer-songwriter was fired up and couldn’t--and shouldn’t--whittle her latest to a standard 10 songs.
-
Sep 29, 2014This music is taut and soulful, but also a document of one woman baring her spirit and mind to the world, which has always been the case with her best music, and if this isn't a masterpiece, it's as pure, straightforward, and compelling as anything she's done since Essence.
-
UncutSep 25, 2014The overall mixture of anger and longing, fierceness and calm, is breathtaking. [Nov 2014, p.68]
-
Sep 25, 2014Williams has assembled many guest musicians this time around, but despite all the disparate talent, the album is a tight, coherent work that never devolves into self-indulgent jamming, even at an epic 103 minutes.
-
Classic Rock MagazineDec 16, 2014Throughout, Williams walks the line between tough and tender, just as she cleverly negotiates the path dividing heartland American music and the alternative, counter cultural variety. [Dec 2014, p.106]
-
Oct 1, 2014This album stands with Williams’ strongest work and represents that rare thing in American popular music and its culture of celebrity.
-
Sep 29, 2014She's tough and confrontational, and on her 11th studio album, Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone, that toughness initially comes across as even more deeply entrenched. It takes a little while to discover the tenderness that goes along with it.
-
Sep 25, 2014Lack of focus falters the whole, but Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone triumphs in Lucinda Williams becoming gloriously unbound.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 19 out of 21
-
Mixed: 0 out of 21
-
Negative: 2 out of 21
-
Sep 30, 2014
-
Oct 16, 2014
-
Oct 1, 2014