I need to collaborate with Jack White

Well, since her single "Portland, Oregon" has FINALLY went into pretty heavy rotation on MTV (probably a good half year or so after the album was actually released), you, the mainstream/semi-mainstream fan might finally be catching a wiff of the hype surrounding this record. Heck, you might even be interested if you should buy the record. So let me help break it down for you.

The reason behind all the hype this record is recieving is, yes, Jack White's production. Personally, even though I'm not a huge fan of Loretta Lynn, I can respect anyone that can hold up a career as long as she has, and I think that should be reason enough for this album to recieve hype. But hey, it's got Jack White! Jack White!!!

So, besides hype, what does Jack bring to the table with his production and occasional collabo? Well, press and Loretta alike have said that he brings a really stripped down, organic sound to the record. Well, I'm here to say that's a load of bs. I bet the Backstreet Boys have made more lo-fi recordings than this.

The songs are all pretty polished, but the song that seems to have the most soul is probably also the best song on the album and also the song currently in rotation as her single - the collabo with Jack White, "Portland, Oregon". But here's where they try to trick you. Like all of Jack's work with The White Stripes, they've chosen the most commercially viable song to release as a single, and it's really quite misleading as to what the rest of the album is comprised of. For example, while "High On a Mountain Top" may be a pretty good song in its own right, it definetely is NOT another "Portland, Oregon", if that's what you're expecting.

So, in closing, if you like "Portland, Oregon", and are going to be able to keep your mind open to a couple different sounds, you might enjoy this. If you're already into Loretta's sound, you'll probably enjoy this. But by and large, I doubt anyone will enjoy this record on the same level it's been getting hyped at.