Strong Heart (CD - 2000)

Personnel includes: Patty Loveless (vocals); Biff Watson, Butch Lee (acoustic guitar); Steve Gibson, Steuart Smith (electric guitar); Brent Mason (guitar); Russ Pahl (12-string electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Steve Earle (harmonica); Mike Rojas (piano); Steve Nathan (keyboards); Trisha Yearwood, Claire Lynch, Travis Tritt, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Ricky Scaggs, Matraca Berg, Carolyn Dawn Johnson (background vocals).

Recorded at Emerald Sound Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel: Patty Loveless (vocals, background vocals); Brent Mason (guitar); Biff Watson, Butch Lee (acoustic guitar); Kenny Greenberg, Richard Bennett (electric guitar); Russ Pahl (electric 12-string guitar, steel guitar); Dan Dugmore, Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (lap steel guitar, dobro); Connie Heard, Pamela Sixfin (violin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Kathryn Plummer, Monisa Angell (viola); Carole Neuen-Rabinowitz, Anthony LaMarchina (cello); Jimmy Hall (harmonica); Leslie Norton, Jennifer Kummer (French horn); John Barlow Jarvis, Mike Lawler, Steve Nathan (keyboards); Craig Nelson (double bass); Emory Gordy (bass guitar); Craig Krampf (drums, percussion); Owen Hale (drums); Claire Lynch, Carmella Ramsey, Curtis Young, Dawn Johnson, Matraca Berg, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Ricky Skaggs, Billy Thomas, Liana Manis, Tim Hensley (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: John Guess.

Liner Note Author: Patty Loveless.

Recording information: Emerald Sound Studios, Nashville, TN.

"I tell you what, we're in a rut," Patty Loveless sang in "That's the Kind of Mood I'm In," the single released in May 2000 in advance of her tenth album, Strong Heart, which followed in August. The song, a plea from one lover to another to shake up a stale romance, also worked as an unintended metaphor for Loveless' career, as the 43-year-old, who had enjoyed widespread success in country music from the late '80s to the mid-'90s, struggled to stand up to a newly pop-oriented Nashville. "That's the Kind of Mood I'm In" bowed somewhat to Faith Hill's approach, though (to its credit) it ended up sounding more Cajun than crossover, but by the time Strong Heart was released it had only gotten into the lower reaches of the country Top 40, not boding well for the album's commercial prospects. Even so, it turns out to be another well-balanced set of songs from a singer who can give effective performances in a variety of styles and tempos. The most impressive harder-rocking tunes are "You Don't Get No More," which sounds like a ZZ Top song, and the bluesy "The Key of Love," songs you can imagine Loveless singing in a roadhouse on a Saturday night. The chaste ballads "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again" and "Thirsty" (the latter featuring Travis Tritt on harmony vocals) sound like singles, but the song that cries out to be a country hit is "She Never Stopped Loving Him," one of those big, sentimental, string-filled country ballads that ends in the cemetery. True to form, Loveless and Gordy somewhat underplay it, when this kind of tearjerker should be done all out or not at all. At any rate, Strong Heart is a worthy addition to her catalog. ~ William Ruhlmann

STRONG HEART, Patty Loveless' first studio release since 1997's LONG STRETCH OF LONESOME, finds the acclaimed vocalist alternating between slick country-pop, rocking blues, and delicate songs of heartbreak and hope. While STRONG HEART is nowhere near as hard country as some of Loveless' past material such as "My Kind of Woman/My Kind of Man," fans will still find plenty here to enjoy.

The album's terrific first single, "That's the Kind of Mood I'm In," combines a whopping hook of a chorus with the playful humor Loveless always brings to her uptempo material. She flat-out rocks on the sassy blues of "You Don't Get No More" and the cleverly-written "The Key of Love," and drops things down to a whisper on the mesmerizing, languid "Thirsty," featuring beautiful harmonies by Travis Tritt. "She Never Stopped Loving Him," one of Loveless' patented tearjerkers, is a sort of companion piece to George Jones' classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," complete with a gutwrenching surprise ending. The album's closing track, "Pieces on the Ground," is a lovely, melodic plea for both love and God's grace, with a hypnotic, rolling arrangement. Loveless has toned down the twang here, but her knack for choosing the right material makes STRONG HEART beat true. minimize