Customer Reviews
Baby, Sweet Baby 
2008-09-21
I saw Lucinda at Bumerbershoot in Seattle this summer. It was at Memorial Stadium, which is a bad place for live music (accoustically), but the song Essence just blew me away. Quickly it has become my summer of '08 theme song. I'm an old fart, and I like every kind of music, but she seems to have the ability to hit that bluesy nerve right smack dang hard and sexy too. Makes me want to do a little dance with a shady woman in a smoky honky tonk. Gonna have to review her entire song book on Itunes and make my own LW's greatest hits CD ... definitely going to include that Drunken Angel song too.
Lucinda delivers 2008-05-04
This is anice collection of songs from this talented singer/songwriter. Lucinda Williams is always on top of her game. Her story telling ability shines through once again. She is one of the most talented females in the music business, never a disappointment.Her imagery conjures up tangible feelings in the listener.
Wow 2008-04-28
I've wanted to check out LW's music for a few years now and finally jumped in with this CD and was blown away. I had high expectations from reading the other reviews, but I was totally unprepared for what I heard. Gritty, smooth, musical, instantly likeable etc etc. LW's voice and delivery is like the light coming from a lighthouse on a foggy night. Unforgettable. I own over 500 CD's and listened to a lot of artists, LW and this CD have moved up to near the front of the pack. I can't wait to buy some more of her music.
Wow, this is the start of something... 
2008-04-17
This was the work that I started to realize that Lucinda Williams was not only a great song writer/performer, but a true musical icon. She keeps pushing the envelope, and has the talent and dedication to go even further. If it has her name on it I will buy it, and if it is like "World Without Tears" or "West" I will by copies for gifts.
Great CD 2008-04-01
Lucinda is just fantasic and writes and sings from the heart and loved her when I saw her in concert in NYC a few years ago.
Brilliant 2008-01-26
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A Passionate Peak 2007-12-06
Lucinda Williams' ESSENCE is the single best album I've ever heard by a woman. It has everything. Strong guitar work, passionate singing, mood, emotional build. But most of all, it is well written. Williams knows no female peer when it comes to song writing. She's easily on a par with Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, or Bob Dylan. She writes songs about real things that we can all understand. Life experiences. And she does it so well.
ESSENCE evolves around three strong statements; "Blue," "Essence," and "I Envy the Wind." "Essence" is just fabulous. It builds on the proof of love and explodes with truths. A song about yearning, desire, and unrequited love, sang like only Lucinda can; with breathtaking sexual passion. She literally undresses the male listener with her voice and takes away your ability to resist.
"I Envy the Wind" describes that empty feeling we have when we lose what we want most, and we know that even the wind has more than what we are left with. Depressing? Of course. Uplifting? Hardly. Beautiful? Absolutely. "Blue" is an emotional wonder. Where ".....Wind" leaves you breathless, "Blue" brings hope. And it is so beautifully sung that it creates a yearning for more.
I've never been as satisfied with a studio album by a female singer as I've been with ESSENCE, and I highly recommend it to anyone who can appreciate singing and songwriting as art.
Oh My God, Essence Is A Gorgeous Record... 2007-05-10
Enjoyable CDs like Lucinda Williams' Essence (2001) are generally the exception and not the rule, but this songstress and her band deliver; Tony Garnier plays bass, Jim Keltner plays drums, Bo Ramsey plays electric guitar, Reese Wynans plays Hammond organ, and Charlie Sexton tackles several instruments. This release followed Lucinda's greatest success -- the Grammy Award winning Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.
Strong songs on this roots rock CD are the longest ones -- Are You Down, Bus to Baton Rouge, Essence, Out of Touch -- because Lucinda's backing band gets to display their wares. Their instrument choices are often unexpected and unusual: fuzz bass, guitars (electric experience, electric octave, live loop, resolectric, slide, and tremolo), one note harmony, acoustic papoose, violins and violas.
Since you're interested, please know Essence was affectionately recorded at Mastermix Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota during 2001. Many of the polishing touches on this recording are very subtle, but the genius lies in Lucinda's use of predominantly male singers -- Jim Lauderdale, Gary Louris, and Charlie Sexton -- for both harmony and background vocals. Joy Lynn White also appears on three tracks.
Even though the shorter songs -- Steal Your Love, I Envy The Wind, Blue, Reason To Cry -- are pleasant, they really could have stood out more. Steal Your Love (Track Two) could have shimmered with harmonica, peddle-steel guitar and clarinet. I Envy The Wind (Track Three) could have likewise benefited from an extended refrain with flutes, piccolos, and recorders.
Not to complain really, but Blue (Track Four) and Reason To Cry (Track Eight) both sound like dour songs that could have been uplifted through some sort of piano accompaniment. Williams sings these tracks with such soft tenderness and love that background piano might have proved distracting, but I'd love to hear these tracks covered by the talented Cat Power for example.
Could I name two favorites? Certainly. Out Of Touch (Track Five) is the closest thing to a pop song. Bus To Baton Rouge (Track Ten) is also a delicate and sentimental song that tells a complex stories in under forty lines. Other than gems Blue and I Envy The Wind, I could listen to this pair of songs for hours.
Essence (Track Seven) is one of two power ballads on this album, and Lucinda nails it down perfectly with driving vocals that glimpse at addiction, death, obsession and transcendence. Alternately, Get Right With God (Track Nine) has biblical undertones, is more rollicking, and serves as the prefect counterpoint to the album closing Broken Butterflies (Track Eleven) which hints at forgiveness and healing.
Personal aside: Does anybody have Lucinda's email address? I had it before but lost it. I'd love to give her more songs.
Possibly her best 2007-02-09
Anything that Lucinda Williams puts out is worth owning. Her ballads are sung from the heart with passion and soul, and that's what makes this CD great. although the cut "Get right with God" is good, it doesn't fit in with the rest, and probably should have been recorded on a different disc. That being said, if it wasn't for that slight flaw, I'd have to rate this one 5 plus stars. In my humble opinion Lucinda Williams is the best female recording artist today.
Lucinda gives hope on an otherwise bleak, generic 21'st century music scene 2006-12-30
I just discovered this amazing singer-songwriter about two years ago with World Without Tears,a cross between Neil Young and Billie Holiday might be stating it too simply, but the first rate songwriting and real emotion to spare are undeniable, Bus to Baton Rouge literally brings me to the point of tears on almost every listening, I highly reccomend this and the other two cd's I have, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road and World Without Tears.Not a bad track to be found. Can't wait to see her live.
