Lyle Lovett released My Baby Don’t Tolerate

My Baby Don’t Tolerate Lyle Lovett

Released: September 30, 2003 Peak: 63 US, 7 CW Sales (in millions): -- Genre: alt-country/Americana

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Cute As a Bug [3:39] My Baby Don’t Tolerate [3:42] (10/25/03, 19 AA) The Truck Song [2:56] In My Own Mind [5:36] Nothing But a Good Ride [4:28] Big Dog [3:37] You Were Always There (Lyle Lovett, Viktor Krauss) [5:56] Wallisville Road [5:06] Working Too Hard [3:46] San Antonio Girl [3:31] On Saturday Night [3:23] Election Day (Blaze Foley) [3:02] I’m Going to Wait [4:41] I’m Going to the Place [3:22] All songs written by Lyle Lovett unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 56:52

Rating: 3.955 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Lyle Lovett is many things, but prolific is not one of them. Yes, at the outset of his career, he released an album every year or two, but by the time he became a star in the early '90s, he slowed down quite a bit. Between 1992’s Joshua Judges Ruth and 2003’s My Baby Don’t Tolerate, his first release on Lost Highway, he only released one album of new original material: The Road to Ensenada, in 1996, which followed 1994’s I Love Everybody, a clearing-house of songs he wrote before his first album. So, My Baby Don’t Tolerate is his first album of new songs in seven years, and two of its 14 songs – The Truck Song and San Antonio Girl – were previously released on 2001’s Anthology, Vol. 1 (which is bound to frustrate fans that bought that uneven collection just for the new tunes), leaving this as a collection of 12 new songs.” STE Tolerate “is very similar to The Road to Ensenada, sharing that album’s clean, unadorned production, directness, and preponderance of straight-ahead country songs.” STE In fact, “several songs sound like retreads from Lovett’s earlier efforts, even as a listener welcomes the reprised syncopated, hep cat, Louis Jordan-meets-Sister Rosetta Tharpe signatures that help define his quirky style.” AN “Given the long wait between albums and since the record is so firmly in the tradition of The Road to Ensenada that it could be branded a sequel, there may be an initial feeling of anticlimax, since there’s not that many songs and they all feel familiar. Such is the complication of a long wait – it invariably raises expectations – but judged as a collection of songs against Lovett’s other albums, My Baby Don’t Tolerate holds its own very well” STE as Lovett “still fuses country, blues, jazz, folk, big band, and pop like no one else on the planet.” AN “While long-time fans were reportedly disappointed with the album’s pop-flavored opening track Cute as a Bug,” WK “a by-now formulaic song of hottie lust,” AN “many of the other songs demonstrated his strengths as a storyteller.” WK In My Own Mind, which “was nominated for a 2004 Grammy in the category Best Male Country Vocal Performance,” WK tells the tale of “a family man who seeks solace from a busy household, drawing restorative power from nature (‘no rain, just the sunshine’).” AN “The album finds itself when Lovett begins revisiting dark places in his mind. and get right to the bleak antagonist who narrates the confused loss of the elegantly jazzy You Were Always There, the snaky blues of the title song, the pointy-toed send-up of bygone Music City hillbillies (Nashville), and the sly portrayal of the bribes of luckless blacks (Election Day) in the old-time South.” AN “Oddly, the album ends with two gospel songs with remarkably similar names, which some critics decried as an overly precious attempt at enforced quirkiness.” WK “As the infectious, if repetitious gospel numbers prove, the man with Eraserhead hair isn’t breaking any new ground.” AN Overall “many of his eccentricities are toned down…Even the handful of ballads are lighter, lacking the somber introspection of Joshua Judges Ruth or the subtleness of I Love Everybody. Everything here is out in the open, and it’s the better for it; musically, it may offer no surprises, but its directness is appealing, particularly because Lovett simply sounds good singing country songs. And that’s what My Baby Don’t Tolerate offers – Lovett singing good country songs and sounding good. It’s not a complicated pleasure, but it doesn’t need to be, and after a long dry spell, it sure is nice to have a new collection of songs from this reliable songwriter.” STE

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Lyle Lovett STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide AN Alanna Nash, Amazon.com WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 9/14/2009; last updated 5/20/2022.

Sting released Sacred Love

Sacred Love Sting

Released: September 29, 2003 Peak: 3 US, 3 UK, 3 CN, 13 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.1 UK, 3.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock > adult alternative

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Inside [4:46] Send Your Love [4:38] (with Vicente Amigo) (9/1/03, 29 A40, 3 AA, 30 UK, 44 AU) Whenever I Say Your Name [5:25] (with Mary J. Blige) (12/20/03, 77 RB, 60 UK) Dead Man’s Rope [5:44] Never Coming Home [4:58] Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) [3:55] (4/26/04, 14 AA, 60 UK) Forget about the Future [5:12] This War [5:29] The Book of My Life [6:14] (with Anoushka Shankar) Sacred Love [5:43] (2/7/04, 2 AA) All songs written by Sting. Total Running Time: 52:37

Rating: 3.453 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Sting scored a moderate comeback success greater than most had imagined possible with 1999’s Brand New Day, re-establishing himself as a viable commercial artist instead of merely settling for living legend status. Part of this success was due to ‘Desert Rose,’ featuring vocalist Farhat Bougallagui's careening cadences that garnered attention, particularly when they were showcased in a car commercial that kicked the album into high commercial gear.” AMG “Sting picks up on this, adding three guest vocalists to the ten-track Sacred Love album (the 11th track is a remix of the lead single, Send Your Love – which happens to be better, since it eliminates the rather annoying Indian-styled hook) – Vincente Amigo and Anoushaka Shankar are paired with Mary J. Blige, who in this context is presented as a world music artist.” AMG “None of the guests makes much of an impression here, but neither does Sting, since this is an album that puts sound over song or performance. Sacred Love is to Brand New Day what Mercury Falling was to Ten Summoner’s Tales – a fussy, overworked stab at maturity, one that has impeccable craft but is obscured by its own meticulousness. It is professional to a fault, using its maturity and preciseness to obscure the fact that the songs don't really work.” AMG “Sting isn’t always hemmed-in, even ending Inside with a hysterical rant that makes him seem like a madman, but it has the effect of making the rest of the album seeming too deliberate and far from adventurous. It’s far from a bad listen, nor is it embarrassing, but it’s entirely too predictable, coming across as nothing more than well-tailored, expensive mood music, which is certainly far less than what Sacred Love could have been.” AMG Notes: Multiple editions of the albums were issue with bonus tracks, such as a remix of “Send Your Love,” a live version of “Shape of My Heart,” a remix of “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” and the song “Like a Beautiful Smile. “

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sting AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/29/2008; last updated 11/17/2021.

David Bowie Reality released

Reality David Bowie

Released: September 16, 2003 Peak: 29 US, 3 UK, 9 CN, 13 AU Sales (in millions): 0.15 US, 0.1 UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: glam rock/classic rock veteran

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. New Killer Star [4:40] (9/29/03, --) Pablo Picasso (Richman) [4:05] (12/25/03, --) Never Get Old [4:24] (2/04, --) The Loneliest Guy [4:11] Looking for Water [3:28] She’ll Drive the Big Car [4:35] Days [3:18] Fall Dog Bombs the Moon [4:04] Try Some, Buy Some (Harrison) [4:24] Reality [4:23] Bring Me the Disco King [7:45] Songs written by David Bowie unless indicated otherwise. Total Running Time: 49:25 The Players: David Bowie (vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, saxophone, stylophone, percussion) Tony Visconti (guitar, keyboards, bass, backing vocals) Gerry Leonard, Earl Slick, David Torn (guitar) Mark Plati (bass, guitar) Sterling Campbell (drums) Mike Garson (piano) Gail Ann Dorsey, Catherine Russell (backing vocals)

Rating: 3.415 out of 5.00 (average of 25 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Instead of being a one-off comeback, 2002's Heathen turned out to be where David Bowie settled into a nice groove for his latter-day career, if 2003's Reality is any indication. Working once again with producer Tony Visconti, Bowie again returns to a sound from the past, yet tweaks it enough to make it seem modern, not retro. Last time around, he concentrated on his early-'70s sound, creating an amalgam of Hunky Dory through Heroes. With Reality, he picks up where he left off, choosing to revise the sound of Heroes through Scary Monsters, with the latter functioning as a sonic blueprint for the album.” AMG “Basically, Reality is a well-adjusted Scary Monsters, minus the paranoia and despair — and if those two ingredients were key to the feeling and effect of that album, it's a credit to Bowie that he's found a way to retain the sound and approach of that record, but turn it bright and cheerful and keep it interesting. Since part of the appeal of Monsters is the creeping sense of unease and its icy detachment, it would seem that a warmer, mature variation on that would not be successful, but Bowie and Visconti are sharp record-makers, retaining what works — layers of voices and guitars, sleek keyboards, coolly propulsive rhythms — and tying them to another strong set of songs.” AMG Like Heathen, the songs deliberately recall classic Bowie by being both tuneful and adventurous, both hallmarks of his '70s work. If this isn't as indelible as anything he cut during that decade, that's merely the fate of mature work by veteran rockers. So, Reality doesn't have the shock of the new, but it does offer some surprises, chief among them the inventive, assured production and memorable songs. It's a little artier than Heathen, but similar in its feel and just as satisfying. Both records are testaments to the fact that veteran rockers can make satisfyingly classicist records without resulting in nostalgia or getting too comfortable. With any luck, Bowie will retain this level of quality for a long time to come.” AMG Notes: There is also a version of this album that includes a bonus disc with songs “Fly,” “Queen of All the Tarts (Overture),” and a rerecording of “Rebel Rebel” (originally on Diamond Dogs.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for David Bowie AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 2/20/2008; last updated 8/9/2021.