Mountain Soul II

Take a vocalist at the height of her prowess, remove the need to play to the mainstream, let her loose in the genre she's most comfortable in, surround her with the best Appalachian bluegrass musicians, let the man who loves her the most produce and protect her and give her 15 musical gems to sing. Provide absolutely flawless arrangements, production and engineering and you have the recipe for Patty Loveless' new CD "Mountain Soul II." The result is just a stunningly beautiful recording that is easily one of 2009's best of all genres.

Every cut is a delight, compelling, pure, sometimes heartbreakingly sad but always anchored by Patty's outstanding vocals. She has been wonderful for decades and with "Mountain Soul II" takes it to another level. Not a weak cut here but if I had to list my favorites they would be "A Handful Of Dust," "When The Last Curtain Falls," "The Bramble And The Rose," "Busted" and "A Prisoner's Tears." My apologies to the other songs because I could...Read more

Mr. Dorfman has said it much more eloquently than I, but let me add my $.02. I've been listening to and playing country music for 50 years and this is the first time I've been able to say this about any album, it's perfect! I've always been a Patty Loveless fan but her last three albums have been just stunning. Mountain Soul II is the best of the bunch. Patty is the most soulful and versitile female country singer to have ever walked the planet. Sorry Patsy, Loretta and Tammy but it's true. She has matured into a singer who has no equal. Her name belongs up there with Jones, Haggard, Cline and dare I say, Williams Sr. I know I sound like a kid gushing over the latest pop wonder but I'm an old guy with lots of miles on my odometer and lots of listening experience so what I've said here is heart felt. My hope is that some of the current crop of country performers (male and female) will listen to and learn from her.

For fans of "Real" Country music, please read on. For those of you who feel that what is shoved down your throats on the so-called Country music stations is "Country" music, you can stop here. I don't want to waste your time.

Patty has been around for awile now, considered by many to be one of the old guard, so to speak. She has come to a point of her career obviously, that she doesn't really care if the radio stations play her music or not(not that it doesn't hurt her inside, I'm sure), but is simply proud that she can still satisfy her core fan base and hold on to her integrity. She absolutely does that with Mountain Soul II. This is an album of epic proportions -a work of art. For those of you who still love good ole' "real" Country music, don't hesitate for one day to purchase this gem. A few years ago Patty chose to go back to her roots and record "Mountain Soul" which received fantastic critical acclaim, but of course was missed by radio(deliberately),...Read more