Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert release new albums

Thought I'd include a write-up I did in the Transcript on the new albums from Oklahoma native Blake Shelton and his gal pal Miranda Lambert, a Texan.

By Andrew W. Griffin
Pop Writer
The Norman Transcript
Posted: June 15, 2007

I’m not sure if it was coincidental or not but two of the best new country albums to be released in the past month or so happen to be by artists that also happen to be going steady.

The two stars I’m talking about Ada native Blake Shelton and Lindale, Texas singer Miranda Lambert. And yes, it’s official. They are a couple, according to a number of reports I’ve come across. Good for them. I happen to be big fan of both of these young stars.

So, I’m checking the Billboard country charts and for the past five weeks that their albums – Shelton’s “Pure BS” and Lambert’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” respectively – have been riding high with Lambert sitting pretty at #9 and Shelton looking sharp at #12. Not too shabby. I wonder how many couples (well, maybe Faith Hill and Tim McGraw) have had Top 20 albums at the same time.

And listening to the two discs, I have to say that they’re both solid, tuneful and even exciting recordings. That’s always refreshing.

Let’s start with Blake Shelton first. His previous album, 2004’s “Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill,” Shelton was on top of his game with a varied and cool collection of country music. Now, with “Pure BS,” we get Shelton continuing that tradition, but it seems slightly more heartfelt. There are very emotional songs mixed with a few where Shelton is sticking his tongue firmly in cheek, which is fine with this fan.
Always a solid balladeer, Shelton strikes pure, country-pop gold with “Don’t Make Me.” The rollicking “The More I Drink,” is a honky-tonker with a chorus that sticks in your head for at least an hour or so.

The album closer, “The Last Country Song,” is a real winner, with brief cameos from John Anderson and George Jones.

The song I happen to prefer over all others on “Pure BS” is the opening track, “Can’t Be Good.” This is reminiscent of his prison breakout tune “Ol’ Red.” Shelton’s still got it, that’s for darn sure.

Meanwhile, Shelton’s gal pal, Miranda Lambert is hot on the heels of her smokin’ debut from 2005, “Kerosene,” with the slightly less fiery “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

And while the album may not spark as much interest as her debut, there are still some terrific songs here. First, she kicks off the disc with the “Goodbye Earl”-esque “Gunpowder & Lead,” ingredients, Lambert says, that “little girls are made of.” Whoa! Better watch it, fellas! That includes you, Blake Shelton.

The two “town” songs – the Gillian Welch/David Rawlings-penned “Dry Town” and Lambert’s own “Famous In a Small Town” - are both solid efforts from the feisty Texan. And then there’s the bluesy folk-rocker “Down.” You can almost feel the humidity increasing as storm clouds gather out over the Gulf.

Much of the material, framed largely with a classy, Americana vibe, has Lambert addressing subjects relating to love won and lost. From the melancholy “Desperation” to Patty Griffin’s “Getting Ready.” The listener senses that Ms. Lambert is thinking a lot about the subject.
Can’t blame her.
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