We jump from a debut to album #42, unfortunately lacking any makeup-related promotional tie-ins…
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[5.14]
Alfred Soto: As safe as home itself — Blue Smoke boasts a killer version of Bon Jovi’s “Lay Your Hands on Me” — and sprays that theoretically huge gorgeous voice all over the wall. The problem: her voice doesn’t sound so huge and gorgeous anymore. I haven’t believed it since 2005’s Brad Paisley collaboration if not 1999.
[6]
Anthony Easton: Her voice has worn out. That’s what happens when you sing every day for decades and record dozens of albums. She recognized this, and she also recognized how the market has shifted. So the last few albums have been quieter, mostly bluegrass, with updated covers. Sometimes it leads to smart choices — the song “Travelin’ Thru” on the Transamerica soundtrack, her cover of “Stairway to Heaven,” for example. This song, while calming and sweet, disguises the rough edges of her voice but doesn’t provide more context; it doesn’t add the complexity that her last few albums have. It provides reassurance, but not against the feelings of death or the black edges of sadness like her other work on Sugar Hill has done. I like this, but I’m also disappointed.
[4]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Dolly is Dolly, which is terrific when you remember just how out-of-touch her voice sounds compared to modern C&W vocalists: the quivers in her fermata notes sound foreign in a world of Pro Tool-ed perfection, and hold an element of danger. You wonder if this is the time she’ll crack, even though you know in your heart of hearts that she never will. That time-honoured tension is one of the few noticeable characteristics that this hypercharged FM dial foot-tapper has going for it. Dolly is Dolly, but the song she inhabits isn’t anything.
[4]
Scott Mildenhall: There was a lad at school who had what seemed a semi-ironic yet very real love for Dolly Parton, and he often comes to mind when she does. He almost made professional football you know. Not that that has anything to do with this song, but it’s an anecdote more specific than anything in it. Admittedly anonymity might be excusable, but only if there was something — musically, lyrically, vocally — halfway engaging. Merely gesturing towards universality isn’t enough.
[5]
Brad Shoup: There’s new (the banjo/drumloop thing cribbed from Taylor, the utterly tragic cred-glomming Hank reference) and old (references to bums and fishing holes), and it sums to Jo Dee Messina. This isn’t a dwelling for one of the greats.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: Quick, think of a great Dolly Parton song. Go on, it’s easy, she’s got stacks. Is it a song about something specific that has reach far beyond expectation on account of a wonderfully intimate or inviting vocal performance, one with really cleverly-pieced together lyrics, too? Bet it is. That’s what makes her great. This, though, is only average. The almost apologetic banjo’n’beat is generic but modern, while the chunkier riff is generic and dated; it’s what a lot of people think all women who sang country sounded like between about 1998 and 2005. I know that even at her most pop she preferred to keep all the country trimmings, but this is all trimmings and no meat. Lucky for her the tremors of her voice still call to mind the greatness of what she is, even if the song itself calls to mind what everyone else was.
[5]
Megan Harrington: Dolly (and this extends to anyone who qualifies for AARP) is freed from the burden of reinvention and by extension, “Home” is a catchy tune and pleasant sentiment rather than a late-breaking new dimension to her persona. It’s not as disingenuous as it would be sung by Bob Dylan, but Dolly works and tours consistently. She’s hardly sitting around classifying plants and insects, but then, she’s always embraced fantasy. “Home” is a shade of eye shadow for a singer like Dolly.
[7]