Up Against My Heart

 (9 customer reviews)

Thank God Sony saw what MCA never could...that Patty Loveless is a force to be reckoned with! This, the last of her MCA output is evidence of that! This CD is Patty at her best. She particularly stands out on "Up Against My Heart", "Hurt Me Bad" and gives the chill bumps a work out with "Can't Stop Myself From Loving You" which, if MCA had promoted properly could have been a #1 single, instead of promoting all that drivel they call 'country'. This is not drivel..this is true country and you can bet your money on it! Patty Loveless never disappoints and this is one of her most underrated CDs!!

Patty Loveless' best album with MCA also marked her swan song for the label. Though the album spawned the rockers 'Jealous Bone' and 'Hurt Me Bad(In A Real Good Way)', it remains one of her least commercially successful records, despite maintaining and surpassing the quality of her previous albums. 'Can't Stop Myself From Loving You', in which Loveless sounds like she's inhabited by Patsy Cline, is itself alone worth the price of admission. Her deep-rooted mountain soprano remains one of the great instruments of modern country, and those who discovered Loveless after she started hitting big with her Sony albums would be doing themselves a huge disservice by not checking out was is inarguably the most underrated album in her deep catalog.

I was knocked over by the WOMEN OF COUNTRY television special a few years ago, and among the moments that blew me away (other than Tammy Wynette's striding onto the stage during the entire all-star group's rendition of Chapin Carpenter's "Everything We Got, We Got the Hard Way") was Patty Loveless' singing the heart-tugging lyrics "I woulda never found you, if he had wanted to stay -- oh he hurt me bad, in a real good way!" Man, what a lady. I bought this album and others of Loveless' shortly thereafter, to my great pleasure. She knows how to pick tunes with fascinating lyrics. "Timber, I'm Fallin' in Love" (on another album) is also a personal favorite that shows both her humor and her willingness to sing songs of personal vulnerability. A strong, clear female voice, and deserving of all the attention she may get, I prefer her sincerity to the flashier stylists currently on the scene. I liked her fine as a brunette, but I understand the marketing...Read more