Kerosene (CD - 2005)

Personnel: Miranda Lambert (background vocals); Miranda Lambert; Mike Wrucke (guitar, banjo, keyboards, background vocals); Randy Scruggs (guitar, mandolin); Jay Joyce, Richard Bennett (guitar); Hank Singer (fiddle); Joey Huffman (keyboards); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Mando Saenz, Natalie Hemby, Buddy Miller (background vocals); Glenn Worf, Jim Hoke, Russ Pahl.

Audio Mixer: Mike Wrucke.

Recording information: OMNI Sound; Wrucke's House, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Jack Guy.

Unknown Contributor Role: Jim Hoke.

It's arguable that Miranda Lambert's debut album, Kerosene, is the first true Nashville product produced in the wake of Gretchen Wilson, crafted with an eye on the audience that Wilson's stylized redneck raunch won. Of course, with her golden blonde hair and good looks, Lambert seems like she would be crushed by the rampaging Gretchen, and there's a certain truth that Miranda is a bit fabricated and polished. After all, she started out as an actress, appearing in the long-shelved Piper Perabo teen comedy Slap Her She's French (finally released under the lamentably tame title She Will Have Way), and only got a foothold in the music industry by participating in USA's countrified American Idol knockoff, Nashville Star, where she placed in the top three. All this suggests that Lambert will be as slickly packaged as, say, a Southern Diana DeGarmo, but pop music works in mysterious ways: as it turns out, Lambert wrote all of the tunes on her debut, whereas the seemingly more genuine Wilson only wrote about half. That said, Kerosene lacks the gonzo humor that Big & Rich brought to Here for the Party, and Lambert's sweet girlish voice seems too tame for some of the livelier material. But that's not to say that those tunes don't work as well as the gentler pop tunes (the ballads tend to be a little treacly and nondescript), all of which are sturdily written, delivered with conviction, and given just enough gloss for an appealing sheen. Against all odds, this a rarity in modern mainstream country: a piece of product that's friendly, tuneful, sharper, and more genuine than it initially seems. Maybe Miranda needed a show like to Nashville Star to jump-start her career, but the show gave her the opportunity to make this thoroughly winning debut. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Many contestants on AMERICAN IDOL and similar TV shows go on to greater success, but due to their relative lack of experience, often have a hard time finding their niche. Not Miranda Lambert--when KEROSENE was released in 2005, the NASHVILLE STAR third-place winner was barely out of her teens, but she had already spent years honing her craft in bars. In addition to being a confident vocalist and strong-willed businessperson, Lambert is a crafty songwriter whose work is easily on par with that of Nashville veterans twice her age.

The title track is a pounding, attitude-filled country-rocker reminiscent of John Cougar Mellencamp's "Rain on the Scarecrow." (That this diminutive young blonde woman can spit out lines like "Trade the truth for a lie/Cheatin' ain't really a crime" so convincingly is also startling.) "I Can't Be Bothered" is straight-up honky-tonk, replete with whining steel guitar, Buck Owens-worthy twangy Telecaster, and a jaunty dance beat, while "Me and Charlie Talking" is funky swamp-country of the Jerry Reed variety, albeit with lovelorn lyrics that reveal Lambert's old soul. An uncommonly accomplished debut, KEROSENE is the first outing by a genuine all-around talent. minimize