LadyAntebellum - Own The Night
2011, Capitol Records Nashville
2011, Capitol Records Nashville
Multi-platinum recording artistsLady Antebellum suffer an identity crisis on their latest album, Own TheNight, vacillating wildly between 1980's pop and thinly veiled 1980's popthinly veiled as country music. The blend largely explains Lady Antebellum'spopularity, as many of today's pop/country fans were Garth Brooks converts fromthe 1980's rock and roll they grew up on. Not there is anything wrong with anyof these styles, but Lady Antebellum's latest plays more like a closelysurveyed, market-designed product than an album of original art.
Things start out well with "WeOwned The Night". The 1980's pop theme is definitely here, but it'saccompanied by a memorable chorus and a great melody. Even "Just AKiss" satisfies as the sort of love song you might have heard at a juniorhigh dance circa 1985. Unfortunately, Lady Antebellum slip on their own formulaand fall into the soup for much of the rest of the album, playing sounds andstyles certain to register high for pop and country radio programmers, andforgetting the passion and energy that have made such stars so far.
It would be easy to blame this oneon the greedy record labels. It would be entirely in character for a label topush an already uber-successful band to alter their sound to maximize theprofit potential of an album, but it's a shame to hear a band with real talentgive in so whole-heartedly to the corporate shuffle. There are moments herewhen Lady Antebellum shines like the sun, particularly on the track "LoveI've Found In You", but there's an overarching feeling of cliché to OwnThe Night that's impossible to ignore.
Rating:2.5 Stars (Out of 5)
Learn more at www.ladyantebellum.com or www.myspace.com/ladyantebellum.
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