Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
by Lucinda Williams
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 21 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 21
  3. Negative: 2 out of 21
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Danryankc
    Jan 19, 2015
    8
    20 tracks spread over almost 2 hours, this is a big dose of music from an artist I’ve long admired. Well-written, well-performed and well worth the $5 Amazon download, this album would have knocked someone out of my 2014 top ten list if I had invested the time to listen to it a few months ago.

    Some instant classics pop out of this colossus. “Cold Day in Hell” is a smoldering break-up    20 tracks spread over almost 2 hours, this is a big dose of music from an artist I’ve long admired. Well-written, well-performed and well worth the $5 Amazon download, this album would have knocked someone out of my 2014 top ten list if I had invested the time to listen to it a few months ago.

    Some instant classics pop out of this colossus. “Cold Day in Hell” is a smoldering break-up song, in which she assures her former lover that it will be a cold, cold day in hell before he gets to use and confuse her again. It’s a honky-tonk slow dance classic, with wailing guitar solos that break your heart.

    “Wrong Number” is cut from the same cloth. Simple slow music sung with intensity.

    It’s not only sad slow songs on this album, though. “Stand Right by Each Other” brings a little energy to the party, in the form of a make-up song:

    Babe I care too much, I won't give up that easy
    So give me that much, baby don't give up on me
    If you could see yourself the way I see you baby
    Then you could see for yourself why I don't want nobody else
    We gotta stand right by each other
    We gotta try harder baby
    I got stand right by you
    And you gotta stand right by me

    You’re never going to hear Lucinda Williams warble a glossy Taylor Swift dance number, but there’s a clear-eyed optimism that prevents her from being a Debbie Downer. She explains her approach in “When I Look at the World”:

    I've been out of luck
    I've been talked about
    I've been locked up
    I've been shut out
    I've had some bad dreams
    I’ve been filled with regret
    I've made a mess of things
    And been a total wreck
    I've been disrespected
    and taken for a ride
    I've been rejected
    and had my patience tried
    But then I look at the world
    in all its glory
    I look at the world
    And it's a different story
    each time I look at the world

    It doesn’t hurt the album that she assembled some great musicians to accompany her. Some critics have complained that the album feels “padded” with extra guitar playing, but they’re simply wrong. The guitar work on this album provides the bedrock that everything else grows on – it transforms the lyrics from barely passable poetry to expressive music.

    Speaking of poetry, the title of the album comes from a poem written by her father. She reworks the poem into the opening track, and it’s a beautiful piece that stands apart from the rest of the album. Always show compassion, she advises in a lean acoustic setting, because what comes across as conceit, bad manners or cynicism is

    Always a sign
    of things no ears have heard
    Always a sign
    of things no eyes have seen
    You do not know
    What wars are going on
    Down there, where the spirit meets the bone

    Friends, I wish I had listened to this album a few months ago so that I could have listed it in my “Top 10”, but, on the other hand, I’m happy I started out my 2015 listening with such a wonderful and important album.    … Expand
  2. tayshea
    Oct 16, 2014
    10
    This is my favorite Lucinda album since World Without Tears. I don't know how she managed to make a double album where every song stands on its own. Even the one or two songs I did not appreciate on first listen, I have quickly grown to love. Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone has been on repeat in my car since it came out a few weeks ago and I don't plan on changing CDs any time soon.
  3. JuniorLKS
    Oct 1, 2014
    10
    Lucinda never ceases to amaze us! This album is rattling superb. Magnific. Flawless. It's been quite a while since she made such an emotional record. Her voice tells us exactly what to feel at every single line. I also praise the band. They did an amazing job at supporting the feeling of each song. Album of the year. Hands down.
  4. VincentBella
    Sep 30, 2014
    10
    Sublime, epic, beautiful, her heart is exploding with a million emotions that make this her greatest record yet. I have had it for two weeks as a reviewer, and now I am speaking as a fan. There will not be many if any better records this year. And a double? Utterly epic, what an achievement!!!!!

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Best Album of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Classic Rock Magazine
    Dec 16, 2014
    70
    Throughout, 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]
  2. Mojo
    Nov 7, 2014
    80
    The result is one of her most wide-ranging and satisfying collections. [Nov 2014, p.93]
  3. cokemachineglow
    Nov 7, 2014
    80
    She continues to prove herself anyway, again and again: here throughout twenty songs, and throughout thirty-five years and beyond.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »