Sugarland - The Incredible Machine
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CD Details
Artist: SugarlandEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2010-10-19
Music Label: Mercury Nashville
Soundtracks:
- All We Are
- Incredible Machine
- Stuck Like Glue
- Tonight
- Stand Up
- Incredible Machine (Interlude)
- Every Girl Like Me
- Little Miss
- Find The Beat Again
- Wide Open
- Shine The Light
Music reviews of The Incredible Machine
Music Review: A Big, Bold, Brash, Bombastic Mess
Rating: 1 Stars
Bottom-Line: I kept looking for something, anything to like about "The Incredible Machine," but time and again, track after track, my ears were assaulted by Big, Bold, Brash, Bombastic Mess
What is this decidedly unsavory trend underway wherein Pop/Rock artists are crossing over to the C&W arena and C&W artist are morphing into pop/rock artists? Kid Rock, Jon Bon Jovi, Darius Rucker, Jewel, and even Jessica Simpson have released C&W themed CD's in the last two years, while traditional C&W artists like Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, and now Sugarland are now embracing the Pop/Rock genre with gusto. Do the labels no longer apply?
Some personal perspective: after hearing a few cuts from Sugarland's debut album Twice The Speed of Life in 2004, I became a devoted fan of the then new C&W group which showcased the most adorable and talented lead singer I have seen and heard in quite some time, one Jennifer Nettles. There is very little I disliked about Twice The Speed of Life and it a testimony to the group's initial effort that I still have the CD in my car to this day.
Flash forward some 6 years. Jennifer Nettles has cut her hair, now looks like a suburban housewife, and her voice no longer sounds like it was angel spawned. And Sugarland forth studio album, "The Incredible Machine" released in October of this year is a wash; the CD is a big, bold, brash, bombastic mess, and I am chagrinned that I can find not even one track to like! Gone is any pretense of being a C&W album, not that Sugarland hasn't always danced on the fine line that now seems to separate Pop/Rock and Country, but with "The Incredible Machine" the duo has completely crossed over into Pop-land.
And that would be okay if the songs were enjoyable fair, but they are not; almost all of the tracks are loud, over engineered noise-makers in which Ms. Nettles' heretofore "incredible" voice is lost in the cacophony of Pop/Rock-inspired noise (it would be a stretch to call it music). And even when her voice can be heard clearly, Nettles can hardly be understood; on more than one occasion I had to replay a section of one song or another because I could understand what the once blonde bombshell is singing! And who told Kristian Bush he could sing at all? He is fine--most times--as a backup singer (far in the back), but as a lead, not so much.
"The Incredible Machine" sets its tone early, as track No.1 All We Are finds Ms. Nettles practically belting at the top of her lungs channeling some Def Leppard-era arena rock anthem complete with big drum beats, heavy guitar licks, and heavy breathing. That she has the equipment to pull that off is a given at this point, but the song's deafening bombast, including Bush's campy "We are!" and barely intelligible "We are Young" shouts in the refrain, isn't helped by the fact that Nettles doesn't bother to enunciate half of her consonants.
At the end of All We Are I had to check the album cover to make sure it said Sugarland I was listening to. Ms. Nettles' poor articulation is also a problem on the title track, The Incredible Machine (track No. 2) in which she repeatedly shouts the word "calling" in a way that sounds more like "cow lick," or "colic," no joke, it's that bad; I had to look the lyrics up on the Internet. And again on this track the bombast is simply too much, Def Leppard, Sugarland isn't.
On track No.3 Stuck Like Glue, the first release from the album, the bombast is gone, Ms. Nettles settles down and the song is somewhat fun to listen to, but it by no means C&W. But there are still passages in the song wherein Ms. Nettles is hard to understand and forget trying to parse out what Mr. Bush is trying to sing.
On past albums Sugarland's style was a mixture of traditional C&W cues with popular themes in the genre; the result was a unique sound all their own, not here. With few exceptions Bush and Nettles wrote all of the songs on "The Incredible Machine", but none of them hit on the traditional C&W themes of rural living, love of family, heart ache, hard times, all underpinned by faith. No, on "The Incredible Machine" just about all of the lyrics take on a church revival theme epitomized by track No.5 Stand Up, another brash, bold piece, in which both Nettles and Bush take on lead vocal duties and rasp about the need for girls and boys to stand up and "use their voice" to effect change. Again the song could have done much better without Bush's vocal input.
The overall tone of this album coupled with the rather weak songwriting, and lackluster vocals, combine to make "The Incredible Machine" far less enjoyable than previous Sugarland albums. Gone completely is the Sugarland sound of the past; the beautifully rich resonance that was fresh and entertaining, anchored by the strong twang-infused voice of Jennifer Nettles. The richness and purity of lead vocalist Nettles is gone as is the understated two-part harmony, replaced by mediocrity. Now that Bush has stepped out of the vocal shadows the vocal timbre of the group has changed for the worse.
I kept listening for something, anything to like about "The Incredible Machine", but time and again, track after track, my ears were assaulted by a Big, Bold, Brash, Bombastic Mess, I cannot recommend anyone subject themselves to. Even the last track, Shine The Light, which Nettles usually nails, is partially ruined by a piano accompaniment that is too loud and a voice that is equally too loud for a ballad.
Of the making of "The Incredible Machine" band members Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles said in an interview: "What would we write if we didn't have to fit a certain mold?" The problem with that sort of thinking is that very few people (fans, people that buy music) stray outside of their own musical molds. They like where they are and just because you shift tracks doesn't mean they are going with you on your wayward musical journey. And what you produce may appeal to no one at all.
Though Stuck Like Glue will no doubt find the same chart niche the majority of Taylor Swift's singles have found, it's hard for me to imagine a modern Pop audience buying into the majority of "The Incredible Machine's" material. And even though I have heard the single (Stuck Like Glue) on out local C&W station I have noticed a less "Pop-infused" version wherein the dancehall bridge has been edited out, signifying that country audiences have already started to resist Sugarland's new musical direction.
The importance of the context cannot be overstated, since with the release of The "Incredible Machine" Sugarland seems to have finally made the leap from Country to Pop and in so doing stands alienate many country fans who are going to dismiss the album outright. The far greater issue however is that "The Incredible Machine" is just awful of its own account and may not appeal to either Pop, or Country listener.
Description of The Incredible Machine
2010 release, the highly anticipated fourth album from the Grammy Award-winning Country duo consisting of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. The Incredible Machine was co-written and co-produced by Nettles and Bush. Features the single 'Stuck Like Glue'.Country CDs
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