Review Summary: Happiness ain't prison, but there's freedom in a broken heart
The Weight of These Wings is a beautiful and personal record. While I’m not certain that the double album is entirely necessary – as with most releases of this type, I can narrow it down to 13-14 tracks that surpass it – I still admire a lot of things about what Miranda Lambert does here. As one of the most popular country artists in the world, she makes almost no bid whatsoever to turn this into a commercial or radio success. The instrumentation and production are stripped down, doing a one hundred eighty degree turn on her recent career trajectory. I respect that after a high-profile divorce with fellow country star Blake Shelton, she looks inward instead of lashing out or trying to set the record straight. During one of the most contentious moments of her life, she takes a chance to tell her side of the story and instead writes a moving string of personal reflections. Here, Lambert escapes the quaint, narrow-minded borders by which country musicians have more or less always been defined (whiskey, trucks, and divorce) in order to craft something with more emotional significance than mainstream appeal. In a way it reminds me of Jewel’s debut album, because a lot of these songs sound like they were written out of Lambert’s car while traveling through the heart of America with a guitar strapped to her shoulder. That probably isn’t the most apt comparison, but the fact that it crossed my mind speaks volumes about what this album
is.
The Weight of These Wings is an immensely personal, adamantly focused collection of tracks that were written less for us and more for Lambert’s own closure. It’s more raw and organic than what we typically hear from young country musicians nowadays, placing production squarely on the backburner in order to focus on the things that matter most: Miranda’s gorgeous vocals and heartfelt, storytelling lyrics which shed light upon her recent struggles and regrets, as well as her upbringing and where she’s from. It’s really just as much folk as it is country, which is a blend that suits Lambert quite well. Even if a handful of the twenty four songs present here don’t live up to her massive reputation as a country superstar, it’s forgivable when you look at the big picture of what
Wings is: one of the best country albums of 2016.
Sometimes these wings
Get a little heavy
And I can't stay between the lines but I'm rocking steady
When I can't fly, I start to fall
But I've got wheels
I'm rolling on
