Hot on the heels of their wildly successful self-titled debut album, Lady Antebellum has delivered a very solid albeit formulaic follow-up with Need You Now, an album destined to appeal to a very wide audience. There is no question that this mostly excellent new disc will churn out a handful of big hits on its way to multi-platinum status, but at what cost creatively? For Lady A, the trade-off is a subtle watering down of any true individuality, which is a hallmark of truly memorable music. Still, Need You Now is a more than worthy sophomore effort from the hottest thing in Nashville.
Title Track Soars
The members of Lady Antebellum, Charles Kelley (vocals), Hillary Scott (vocals) and Dave Haywood (background vocals, piano), released the album’s first single, the painfully longing “Need You Now,” months before the album hit the streets, and it proved an effective strategy. The single shot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Songs chart, as well as No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it whet the appetites of fans and industry types wondering how the trio would fair in the wake of a smashing debut album and its subsequent truckload of awards.
“Need You Now” also sets the theme for the album, which is tried-and-true country heartache and heartbreak. The best songs are the softer to mid-tempo numbers, and there are a bunch of them here. Lady Antebellum seems to lose focus a bit on the rockers, mainly because those up-tempo numbers feel a tad contrived and out of their comfort zone. Thankfully, the trio appears to understand that it’s the softer songs that butter their bread, the ones where Kelley and Scott play off of each other so effectively.
The album’s second single, “American Honey,” is pure nostalgic bliss, and Scott effectively channels her inner-Natalie Maines circa “Wide Open Spaces.” The acoustic instrumentation, complete with a Dixie Chicks-esque lilting fiddle weaving a subtle tapestry overhead, leaves you reminiscing for the simpler and more innocent days of youth: “Steady as a preacher/Free as a weed/Couldn’t wait to get goin’/But wasn’t quite ready to leave/So innocent, pure and sweet/American honey.”
The Trio's Songwriting Has Matured
Kelley, Scott and Haywood had a hand in writing the majority of the songs on Need You Now, and two albums in, their growth as songwriters is apparent. Beyond the album’s title track, which the trio co-wrote with Josh Kear, who also co-wrote Carrie Underwood’s Grammy-winning single, “Before He Cheats,” there are a bunch of winners here. “Ready to Love Again” is a beautifully tender song about the long road to recovery after a painful break-up: “Yeah, I’m ready to feel now/No longer am I afraid of the fall down/It must be time to move on now/Without the fear of how it might end/I guess I’m ready to love again.”
Another excellent song co-written by Kelley, Scott and Haywood is “When You Got a Good Thing,” a piano-driven love song which allows Kelley and Scott to do what they do best, which is sing back and forth to each other. Some have suggested that Kelley is Lady A’s version of Sugarland’s Kristian Bush, but I don’t agree. For one thing, as beautifully expressive and emotive as Scott’s voice is, she doesn’t pack nearly the firepower as Jennifer Nettles. Few do. So the chasm between Scott and Kelley’s voices isn’t nearly as great as the one between Nettles and Bush. Kelley more than holds his own when he is singing with Scott. Together, their voices meld seamlessly into one beautiful instrument, and even more so when Haywood chimes in.
Top-Notch Performances and Production
There is definitely a formula at work throughout Need You Now, and for the most part, the formula works. The album’s expert production is sharp, crystalline and very polished without being overly-slick. The usual drawback on most albums with such sonic precision is the inherent watering-down of individuality. In Lady Antebellum’s case, however, especially with regard to Hillary Scott’s vocals, very little emotion and feelings are lost. She has an uncanny ability to subtly express disappointed acceptance while also conveying deep longing. Kelley isn’t quite as adept at such nuance, but he’s an effective and believable singer nonetheless.
Need You Now is a worthy sophomore album that beautifully captures that time in most peoples’ lives when the fanciful dreams of youth have been shoved around and downright pummeled by life’s harsh realities. But the lessons here are positive: It’s entirely in your grasp to make the best of a bad situation and to keep moving forward with your head held high.
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Label: Capitol Nashville
Best Songs:
- “Need You Now”
- “American Honey”
- “When You Got a Good Thing”
- “Perfect Day”
Track Listing:
- “Need You Now”
- “Our Kind of Love”
- “American Honey”
- “Hello World”
- “Perfect Day”
- “Love this Pain”
- “When You Got a Good Thing”
- “Stars Tonight”
- “If I Knew Then”
- “Something ‘Bout a Woman”
- “Ready to Love Again”
Lady Antebellum Discography
- Lady Antebellum
- Need You Now