Track Listing

1. Telephone
2. 10 Rocks
3. If I Were Smart
4. Gonna Be Better
5. I Don't Think So
6. I'm Alive
7. I Will Stay
8. Lonesome
9. Evil Man
10. Buttons And Beaus
11. Baby
12. One With The Sun

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49269 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Shelby Lynne wrote, sang, produced, and played all the guitar parts on her mellow, moody, and sonically stripped-down eighth album, Identity Crisis. Surely the title ironically refers to Lynne's eclectic career itself rather than this slow-burning, excellent album, with its lyrics so personal and honest, one feels like a voyeur at times. Identity sounds like a living room session; the demos made for the big album before the hot-shot producer came in and ruined everything. Lynne's voice is as relaxed, assured, and richly emotive as ever, buoyed by acoustic bass and guitars, electric piano, and minimal percussion. Notable deviations from the candlelit vibe include the mid-tempo rocker "Gotta Be Better" (which sounds like PJ Harvey jamming with X), the gospel chorus that peaks through on "10 Rocks" (the record's sole hokey tune), and of course "Lonesome" (a gorgeous old school Nashville-sheen tune that expertly evokes Patsy and Kitty with multi-tracked vocals and sweeping strings). The story goes that a lengthy phone conversation with Willie Nelson led to the lovely, uplifting last tune, "One With The Sun." Which is cool, because if this album is reminiscent of anybody, it's Nelson ca. Red Headed Stranger --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

A Return to Form
This album is a huge relief. After her last record 'Love, Shelby'(following on the heels of her Grammy-winning 'I Am Shelby Lynne'), we thought we had lost her. She certainly had lost us. Everything about that cd was wrong, from her sex-kitten poses on the covers (well, maybe not that wrong), to the mediocre material, to the strident and overbearing production by 'hit-maker' Glen Ballard, who mistook Shelby for Alanis. Now with a new record company (which, along with the insinuating title of the current cd, leads us to believe that her last effort was not all her doing) and with herself at the creative controls, Lynne has made a very successful return to form. The songs, all written by Lynne, are tuneful and personal. Her honey and grits vocals are mixed up-front, so she feels like she's in the room. Her versatility is demonstrated with bits of rock, country, blues, gospel and, of course, those heart-tugging ballads. Confoundingly, with her 'Identity Crisis', Shelby Lynne seems to have hit her stride. If so, her future bodes even better.

Shelby returns to her strengths
Thank heaven this album is more "I Am Shelby Lynn" than "Love, Shelby".
Working with Glenn Ballard (Alannis's producer) was such a crucial miscalculation - and probably took a lot of steam out of what was a career height in the wake of Shelby's Grammy winning "I Am.." project. Here, Shelby returns to her strengths - serious Memphis-style soul, country ballads that ache and uplift, and instrumentation that accompanies, rather than drowns out that gorgeous voice.
You can't help but clap along with "10 Rocks", the best song on this disc - it's a Shelby written original (all of this disc was written and produced by Shelby), a gospel tinges blues number that features some awesome piano playing by Billy Payne of Little Feet. "Lonesome" is the closest thing you will get nowadays to the kind of music Patsy Cline used to perform (take a hint, Leanne Rimes). And the hushed sounds of two beautiful songs "If I Were Smart" and "I Don't Think So" are strong statements on the power and emotion that Shelby pours into her vocals.
It's great to have this wonderful singer back doing the kind of music that fits her voice - and it is clear that the "Identity Crisis" that her last album represented has been resolved favorably.

Remember When Country Was Good?
Some of us remember when Shelby Lynne pretended to be in the country music mainstream. She never seemed happy there, always wanting to take off in a direction the labels wouldn't sanction. Now that she has a musical identity she built herself, not only is she plainly happier with her work, so are the rest of us.

This album is so eclectic, and so anti-commercial, that it's surprising a label like Capitol would even touch it. From the Nashville Sound arrangements of "One With the Sun" to the gospel of "Ten Rocks," from the blues of "Evil Man" to the straight-ahead rock'n'roll of "Gotta Be Better," this CD is a capsule history of American music. It also fits together so well from tune to tune, despite the disparity of the selection, that it's easy to listen to over and over.

Shelby's latest isn't going to be for everybody. It's a very stripped-down, austere sound, with lyric content sharp enough to cut steel, and that won't sit well with a mass audience. But for those who love country, and its associated forms, from back when country was still good, this album is worth the cost from the first track.