User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 44 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 32 out of 44
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Mixed: 9 out of 44
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Negative: 3 out of 44
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MikemusicguyFeb 7, 2009Remember the most depressing Neil Young album you ever heard? Well Lucinda goes beyond it. I like it, I respect it,its real good in a Lenny Cohen kind of way( most cuts) but can't see myself playing it much except when I want to be bummed out or am already there. She's your cup of tea . I wish she'd switch it up a little. Surely shes happy about something ???
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JaniceC.Dec 29, 2007This CD is ahead of its time; it has legs and you know it.
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VanceH.Nov 26, 2007Count the number of pompous, bombastic sentences in the negative reviews of this album. That number will tell you a lot. West is low key,contemplative and beautifully produced. What a crime!
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DarnellSep 10, 2007Lucinda is tortured, but quite thoughtful here. A little forced on some lyrics and music, but generally easy to overlook the shortcomings with the highs here. She is touching many nerves most wouldn't dare and has put forth her petitions towards healing. Not a classic, but give it time.
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takealookateverythingAug 29, 2007
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dogloveveeJun 20, 2007West is best! I thought she could never out do her previous work, but I can't play anything else after this. This album is flawless, perfect. She is the most brilliant songwriter/singer alive. Tom Waits would like these songs.
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DaleMMay 1, 2007The music on this album is slow and monotonous. Lucinda's voice is as beautiful as ever but she seems to not even be trying. The album lacks the passion of her previous albums.
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ChrisJApr 30, 2007Pitchfork sucks! Inaccurate reviews almost every time. No credability there.
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VictorPApr 22, 2007Another great album from one of the premiere songwriters today. I do think that this is an album that does not immediately jump out at you and its richness unfolds over multiple listening. But, I think this is one of the strengths of great songwriting.
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ThomasWApr 19, 2007West is a truly amazinlg dark and honest album. Same calibre of World Without Tears and Essense.
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CarsonWApr 19, 2007West is deep, and dark, and honest. Her true feelings reach out just like on every other album. I think the negative critics wish they could come out with an album as real as this...unfortunately they cant, and instead criticize.
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BiffDApr 18, 2007torpid
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ChrisRApr 13, 2007
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MartinBMar 15, 2007This album took 2 listens for me to get it, but it is right up there with "Car wheels". You really get to feel a whole load of emotin as this appears to be a very personal collection of songs. After seeing her at the Shephards Bush Empire last year (06), I have been waiting for this album since then and it hasn't dissapointed.
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randygMar 13, 2007Always a good offering from Williams...Again, following Car Wheels it is difficult to make some fans/critics happy. That said, is there a more enticing sultry soul out there bellting out such emotion??
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RussMar 13, 2007
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IowaMar 13, 2007
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MarkB.Mar 11, 2007Brilliant album...the best since "Car Wheels". Something for everyone. Perhaps the most vital female recording artist we have today. Thanks Lucinda!
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BillyBMar 9, 2007Coming from an artist like Lucinda, this album is very very bad. Some of the lyrics would be embarrasing to hear even from the most idealistic / heartbroken 18 year old. There are 3 or 4 fine songs on here, but not even close to approaching her past records.
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ThomasOMar 8, 2007
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KateiRMar 8, 2007Disappointing. I realize it's hard to live up to an album like Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, but I can't believe it's even the same artist. Car Wheels had this incredible, raw, honest, real feel to it. West just lacks it.
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AdrianoCMar 5, 2007And I thought I was crazy for loving "Wrap my head around that" so much (thank you, Dave S). It's the best song on an amazing album - beautiful, serene and fierce. It has the mood of "Essence" and the rawness of "World without tears" (still my favorite one).
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MiamiTomMar 4, 2007Hey ... Lucinda - "Are You Alright?" - AWESOME TRACK ... can't wait to meet you some day ...
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JamesJMar 3, 2007I adore this woman's music, have flown 1/2 the way across the country to just to see her. However this album is a major disappointment. There are a couple of keepers, but nothing I'd put on my favorites list, which is quite long. By the way, live in concert she is incredible, a lifetime concert and i've seen Janis Joplin.
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PaulMFeb 27, 2007Album I've been waitin for from lucinda I can give Car Wheels a rest for a while Excellent
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juniormFeb 26, 2007Excellent record. LW is a woman with brains, guts and experience to go along with great voice and songwriting. The music is quite one-paced, but I think that gives it a distinctive character or "feel" that really works. This is definitely a world weary survivors record, but I think it is well worth hearing.
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andyBFeb 23, 2007The only thing this album lacks is obviousness. It's a classic, as good as anything she'd produced. the less-than-stellar crits say more about the reviewers than the album.
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stevewFeb 23, 2007raw power and lyricism, all the songs are good, some are wonderful, a great cd
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DaveSFeb 23, 2007Am I the only person who thinks that "Wrap My Head Around That" is the album's main triumph? I'm not usually a fan of the slow and the drawn-out, but this isn't the first time Lucinda's made something of her obsessive side. Too bad it comes right after "What If", by far the worst -- (dismayingly naive, emptily whimsical rather than clever) song she's ever put on record.
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markbFeb 22, 2007
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MattD.Feb 22, 2007That heartbreaking voice of hers just sounds disinterested on too much of this CD. Yes, she can still have a way with a lyric, but when she tries to rev things up, it sounds desperate. I am a big Lucinda fan, but this is just generic modern folk, with a couple bluesy moments that are out of place. I'm really not sure what happened here.
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scottsFeb 19, 2007I, like many, am her number one fan. But even I have to admit that this is her weakest effort to date. Vocally: not as interesting. Musically: much less so. And too many themes are redundant from past, and better, albums. Normally, Lucinda's lyrics and delivery can overcome weak production. Not this time. Blame Lucinda, and especially producer Hal Willner, for a mediocre outing.
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georgeFeb 17, 2007Brilliant. The only singer whose voice can make me horny and make me cry at the same time.
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BillRFeb 16, 2007Grows with repeated listens. Compares very favorably with earlier releases. Hypnotic in places. Overall an excellent release.
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DavidDFeb 16, 2007I really feel that the NY Times review is the only one that nailed it.. There are parts of this album that are cringe-worthy and much that is just OK. To call it her "best", nah.
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AloysiusJFeb 15, 2007With West, Lucinda Williams has finally lost her edge and joined the likes of Norah Jones as an artist who can help you relate not only to your parents, but your grandparents as well.
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ClintBFeb 15, 2007I hated this album. Her Car Wheels album is a million times better!
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MichaelJFeb 15, 2007Once again Lucinda delivers a superb CD. I don't consider there is a bad song here.
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AlvinTFeb 13, 2007I enjoyed it more than World Without Tears or Essence, but it's still not as strong as Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Worth listening to, and perhaps buying.
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MichaelFeb 13, 2007One of a few artists that have the ability to move me to tears and she does it again. Her own pain is so raw that you feel it yourself.
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BrianKFeb 13, 2007
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Awards & Rankings
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West may well be her best album. It is easily her most musically adventurous, and often her most lyrically inspired.
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Often harrowing, although Williams's emotional odyssey finds resolution on the title track.
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SpinLet those [few sub-par] parts slide into the ocean and enjoy the remaining hour of perfectly golden brilliance. [Feb 2007, p.89]