The Weight of These Wings [LP]

by Miranda Lambert

Overview

Miranda Lambert came to stardom via reality TV, so living in public isn't unusual for her, yet suffering through a public divorce from Blake Shelton had to take its toll. Lambert, however, doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve on The Weight of These Wings, a sprawling double-disc album released in the wake of her separation from Shelton. She channels whatever sorrow she has into a moody, muddy production that has more in common with the impressionistic smears of Daniel Lanois than whatever sounds were emanating from Nashville in 2016. Even on its sunnier songs -- the slurring stumble of "Pink Sunglasses," the Southern shade on "We Can Be Friends" -- The Weight of These Wings seems to take place at dusk, its melodies and rhythms nestling into a comforting murk. Perhaps Lambert never explicitly writes about heartbreak, but she's got leaving on her mind -- she opens the record with "Runnin' Just in Case" and concludes with "I've Got Wheels," realizing along the way that she's a "Highway Vagabond" while throwing in a cover of Danny O'Keefe's "Covered Wagon" for good measure -- and admits there are "Things That Break." All these songs suggest some uncertainty lurking in Lambert's heart, but The Weight of These Wings is a work of extreme confidence. If the two discs don't appear to adhere to their specific subtitles (disc one is called "The Nerve," the second "The Heart"), all 24 songs derive from the same viewpoint, which isn't markedly changed from 2014's Platinum. Maybe the swagger is tempered a bit, but Lambert still blends ballads with pop, old-time country, sly stories, and a bit of rebellious rock. By radically shifting her sound, she winds up focusing attention on her songwriting and musicality: it may have mainstream songs, but The Weight of These Wings isn't produced like a country-pop album, so it demands attention and rewards close listening. It is by no means tight, but its excess is also its asset because immersion reveals different pleasures with every spin. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/18/2016
Label:	Rca
UPC:	0889853230518
Rank:	42611

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Runnin' Just in Case
2. Highway Vagabond
3. Ugly Lights
4. You Wouldn't Know Me
5. We Should Be Friends
6. Pink Sunglasses
7. Getaway Driver
8. Vice

Disc 2

9. Smoking Jacket
10. Pushin' Time
11. Covered Wagon
12. Use My Heart
13. Tin Man
14. Good Ol' Days
15. Things That Break
16. For the Birds

Disc 3

17. Well-Rested
18. Tomboy
19. To Learn Her
20. Keeper of the Flame
21. Bad Boy
22. Six Degrees of Separation
23. Dear Old Sun
24. I've Got Wheels

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Miranda Lambert   Primary Artist,Lead Vocals
Chris Carmichael   Strings
Luke Reynolds   Piano,Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Matt Chamberlain   Drums,Percussion
Glenn Worf   Bass,Piano,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Lex Price   Bass,Guitar (Acoustic)
Frank Liddell   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Hargus "Pig" Robbins   Piano
Chris Coleman   Drums,Trumpet,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Lucie Silvas   Vocals (Background)
Lillie Mae Rische   Vocals (Background)
Scotty Wray   Guitar (Electric)
Aaron Raitiere   Vocals (Background)
Gwen Sebastian   Vocals (Background)
Spencer Cullum   Guitar (Steel),Lap Steel Guitar
Madi Diaz   Vocals (Background)
Louis Newman   Timpani
Frank Rische   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Eric Masse   Vocals (Background)
Anderson East   Vocals (Background)
Annalise Liddell   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Natalie Hemby   Composer
Jack Ingram   Composer
Chris Carmichael   String Arrangements
Shake Russell   Composer
Shane McAnally   Composer
Gavin Lurssen   Mastering
Waylon Payne   Composer
Jon Randall   Composer
Liz Rose   Composer
Jessi Alexander   Composer
Miranda Lambert   Composer
Ashley Monroe   Composer
Glenn Worf   Producer
Mando Saenz   Composer
Frank Liddell   Producer
Lucie Silvas   Composer
Foy Vance   Composer
Adam Hood   Composer
Danny O'Keefe   Composer
Josh Osborne   Composer
Rodney Clawson   Composer
Brent Cobb   Composer
Scotty Wray   Composer
Tracy Baskette-Fleaner   Design,Creative Director
Aaron Raitiere   Composer
Luke Dick   Composer
Gwen Sebastian   Composer
Daniela Federici   Photography
Brittany Hamlin   Production Coordination
Chris Taylor   Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Recording Assistant
Eric Masse   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Becky Fluke   Photography
Anderson East   Composer
Terri Jo Box   Composer
Nicolle Galyon   Composer
Annalise Liddell   Assistant Engineer
Johnny lavoy   Photography