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Lyle Lovett
Joshua Judges Ruth
Lyle Lovett:  Joshua Judges Ruth Tell a Friend about this album

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Album Review

Released: 1992
Label: MCA
Selection #: 110508
A country, folk, jazz and blues fusion. Church, She's Already Made Up Her Mind, She Makes Me Feel Good, Baltimore, Family Reserve, etc.
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1 I've Been to Memphis
2 Church
3 She's Already Made Up Her Mind
4 North Dakota
5 You've Been So Good Up to Now
6 All My Love Is Gone
7 Since the Last Time
8 Baltimore
9 Family Reserve
10 She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To
11 Flyswatter/Ice Water Blues (Monte Trenckmann's Blues)
12 She Makes Me Feel Good
  
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Album Review

While "Lyle Lovett and his Large Band" wasn't a massive chart hit, it was successful enough to establish an audience for Lovett outside the boundaries of the country market, and 1992's "Joshua Judges Ruth" found Lovett seemingly free to follow his muse wherever it cared to go. "Joshua Judges Ruth" only bore the faintest glimmers of Lovett's country leanings (notable exception: "She'S Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To"), and more surprisingly it suggested he was also moving away from the broad-shouldered jazz and blues accidents that dominated much of "Pontiac" and "Large Band". Compared to his previous work, "Joshua Judges Ruth" sounds startlingly spare -- producer and engineer George Massenburg brings a clear and keenly detailed sound to these sessions that allows all the details of the low-key arrangements to be heard, and "She'S Already Made Up Her Mind," "Baltimore," and "Family Reserve" seem to have been recorded with this in mind. The songs also reflect a shift toward more serious and introspective themes for Lovett; outside of the gospel-influenced "Church" and the easygoing "She Makes Me Feel Good," his trademark humor is conspicuous in its absence, and loss, loneliness, and heartbreak dominate the lyrics. While the craft of "Joshua Judges Ruth" ranks with the finest work of Lovett's career, its spare and sober surfaces aren't especially engaging, and it's the sort of album fans are more likely to admire than embrace with pleasure. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

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