Blame the Vain
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Dwight Yoakam occupies a singular position in contemporary country. No artist has better balanced mainstream commercial success with artistic, alt-country credibility, while somehow managing to embody both the music's most traditional and its most progressive impulses. Blame the Vain marks a milestone for Yoakam as his first self-produced effort since splitting with producer/guitarist/bandleader Pete Anderson. While the material seems to document the end of a relationship and the hope for romantic renewal, there's a freewheeling playfulness to the arrangements--the bongo-driven, rock & roll urgency of "International Heartache," the faux British accent and synthesizer intro on "She'll Remember," the shifting time signatures of "Watch Out." The tear-in-your-beer balladry of "Lucky That Way" and "Does It Show" should satisfy those who take their honky-tonk straight, no chaser, while the homage paid to timeless Roy Orbison ("Just Passin' Time"), early Johnny Cash ("I'll Pretend") and later Elvis Presley ("When I First Came Here") attests to the range and richness of Yoakam's artistry. He may no longer have the hits like he once did, but he hasn't lost the vision. --Don McLeese
From the Artist
"There’s a lot of Reckless joy on this album," says Dwight Yoakam, "we never left a session that wasn’t flat out fun."
Blame the Vain
Blame the Vain, Music, Dwight Yoakam, Alternative Country, Bakersfield Sound, Country, Honky Tonk, Neo-Traditionalist Country, New Traditionalist, Pop, United States of America
Music Info:
Recommended Music:
The Very Best Of [Original recording remastered]
The Complete RCA Victor Revolving Bandstand Sessions [Import]