I made a special trip to Target on the day Sugarland's new album "The Incredible Machine" was released. I had a general idea of what to expect as I saw Sugarland in concert at the end of September and they played some of the tunes off the album. Since they were carefully spaced amongst older Sugarland stuff (which is more towards country on the music continuum), it didn't occur to me at the time that their fourth album was actually going to be a departure from country. And by that, I meant that Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush were going to jump further away from the genre that they've thrived in than Taylor Swift has.
It took me a few times around the album to actually form some opinions about it. As with the previous three (3) albums, I need to be in a certain mood for some of the songs and I have some definite favorites... Here's a track by track review
1) All We Are - This one is kind of 'eh' for me. It's an interesting anthem to set the tone for the album and after hearing the whole thing, it makes some sense why it's first.
2) Incredible Machine - The title track doesn't disappoint, unless you were expecting something in the way of country music.
3) Stuck Like Glue - I really enjoyed this song when it was first released as a single over the summer. I still think it's a lot of fun but like many hits on country stations, it's hit the point of being overplayed. Jennifer really shows off her vocal talent and even breaks it down in a Gwen Stefani-like interlude towards the end of the song which caught me absolutely off guard the first couple of times I heard it.
4) Tonight - I can't put my finger on it, but this reminds me of a song I liked from the 80's. Although the, "tonight, tonight, tonight" is reminiscent of a NKOTB song, I was thinking more along the lines of a B-side Belinda Carlisle tune. Like many B-sides, it's rather forgettable.
5) Stand Up - This is a powerful but simple song. When I heard it at the concert, the chorus immediately drew me in and seemed familiar and I found myself singing along.
6) Incredible Machine (interlude) - I have absolutely no use for this track. In fact, I'm a little disappointed it is its own track number. The fact that the deluxe edition cost me less than $12 makes me just a little more accepting of it but then I realize without it, the album is only ten tracks long and that seems awfully short for a fourth album, doesn't it?
7) Every Girl Like Me - This is a fun little tune that sounds a little like a match.com personal ad.
8) Little Miss - This song really strikes a chord with me. The lyrics are simple, but profound. "Little Miss I'll take less when I always give so much more." "Little Miss who you are is so much more than you like to talk about." Yeah, that's me. And it's probably you, too.
9) Find The Beat Again - I seriously feel like Jennifer is channeling Debbie Harry from Blondie in this track. It's peppy, it's up beat and it was a ton of fun at the concert to echo the "hey's". But, so SO SOOO not country. If you haven't noticed that this far into the album, you've probably somehow fallen asleep.
10) Wide Open - This song is tons of fun to crank up in the car and sing along to. One of my favorite lines from the song - actually, from the entire album - is this: "Every life has a moment where sweat meets fate - on your mark get ready, get ready now."
11) Shine The Light - This seems to be to be this album's version of "Fall Into Me" (on the "Love on the Inside" album). I love that it features just Jennifer and a piano. It's a lovely song but lacks the emotional power which I've associated with Jennifer's solos/less Kristian-intense songs, e.g. "Fall Into Me" or "Stay."
It's sure not country, but I like it...
