Patty Loveless Album: “Strong Heart”

This is a really underrated album from Patty Loveless, and it has some of her best material. There was a time, back between 1994-1996 where Patty Loveless was on top of country music, and was winning all sorts of accolades. When she released her 1997 album LONG STRETCH OF LONESOME, it failed to yield a top 10 hit and it seemed country radio lost interest after that. Which is a shame, because they missed the boat on this album, and ones that would follow this one that were truly exceptional.

This album gets a lot of criticism because it is apparantely "too pop". Not at all. The title track, and a few other songs, have pop sounding arrangements, but the heart of it is still country. You look at artists like Shania Twain, and you will see this is definately country in comparison to Shania!

The album opens with the Matraca Berg written "You're So Cool", which would have been a great single. It has a nice sing a long quality to it. "The Last Thing On My Mind", written by Rebecca Lynn Howard, is a great ballad that was the second single from the album. One of my favorites is "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again", an excellent country ballad that teams Loveless up with Trisha Yearwood and Claire Lynch. Great song!

The first single from the album was "That's The Kind Of Moon I'm In", it should have been a bigger hit but didn't really catch on with country radio. "Thirsty" is a nice duet with Travis Tritt. The title track is another favorite, as is the wonderful ballad "She Never Stopped Loving Him", which is the show stopping song here I believe. So much passion and it's a sad story, but it's great.

Overall, her 2000 album STRONG HEART may not have been as popular as past albums, but don't pass on it, it's a great album with some really good songs that country radio should have heard!

If you're looking for a really beautiful country album by a female artist, you won't do better this year than Patty Loveless' STRONG HEART. Not only are the songs lovely to hear, but the production on this album is some of the best, most inspired studio work I've heard in a long time. The arrangements are original yet lush, and every production seems perfectly suited to each song on the album. If you like Patty, I can't recommend this album too highly. It is as good as there is out there right now and you won't be disappointed.

Patty Loveless has released a rare thing in country music these days, a COUNTRY album. This album has all of the elements of Patty that fans have come to enjoy over the years. The first track is her fun song. She has the ballads that her voice carries so well, as well as uptempo songs that keep the album from being boring.

There are several wonderful tracks on this album. The title track, "She Never Stopped Loving Him", and "My Heart Will Never Love This Way Again." On all of these songs, you can hear why Patty Loveless has been doing what she does for so long.

On a personal note, since country females have all become so enamoured with the idea of being a pop star, country music has missed out. It was so wonderful to hear Patty use her "twang" and not make her album towards a pop crowd. Wish some other females would do the same.

I really liked the first track "You're so Cool"....and as the CD progressed I thought...hm....different kind of sound but Patty's voice makes it palatable. So I gave it a few more listens. As one of the reviewers posted below the essence is pure country because the tunes (though some of them admittedly are of a pop nature)are produced intelligently enough to make Patty's voice the prime element. Patty is one singer who can pull off this kind of music and not make it sound like 'bubblegum' but country. Its the quality of her beautiful voice and the great arrangements. Its such a shame that a talent like Patty has to take a back seat to those "bubblegum divas" out there who have huge organizations to back them up. ANd shame on country radio for ignoring this gem of a CD!! Patty is second to none and is in a class all by herself....top notch all the way!! Give this a listen and you'll see why it grew on me and why it will grow on you too!!

This album "Strong Heart" from Patty Loveless is just another album in the lines of classic songs on classic albums. The first single "That's The Kind Of Mood I'm In" really started this album off right with just the right amount of energy(how it only hit #13 is beyond me). The latest single "Last Thing On My Mind" showcases Patty's voice very well, and hopefully will return her to top 10 status where she belong, those are just two example of how good this album is, the song that I really like on this album is the title cut "Strong Heart" the opening to the song is just so relaxing to listen to, and the song is so soothing to listen to that you just might forget the it's country, just another example of great artistry from a great artist.