Tarpaper Sky
| Tarpaper Sky | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Rodney Crowell | ||||
| Released | April 15, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Americana, country music | |||
| Length | 42:11 | |||
| Label | New West | |||
| Producer | Rodney Crowell, Steuart Smith, Dan Knobler | |||
| Rodney Crowell chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| American Songwriter |  |
| The Austin Chronicle | |
| Blurt | |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Country Weekly | A- |
| Exclaim! | 9/10 |
| The Independent | |
| Paste | 7.3/10 |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
| USA Today | |
Tarpaper Sky is the fourteenth solo studio album by Rodney Crowell. Crowell co-produced the album with long-time collaborator Steuart Smith and Dan Knobler. Tarpaper Sky follows Crowell's Grammy-winning duet album with Emmylou Harris, Old Yellow Moon and is his first release on New West.
Tarpaper Sky is made up of entirely original Crowell compositions. Doug Freeman, Austin Chronicle, credits Crowell for "balancing ballads and bar room stomps ... with his characteristic sense of autobiographical detail and precarious mortality."
The track, "God I'm Missing You," originally appeared on the 2012 Vanguard Records release Kin: Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell. Lucinda Williams performed the song on that compilation album. The phrase "Tarpaper Sky" appears in a line in that song.
Tarpaper Sky garnered critical acclaim by music critics. At Metacritic, they assign a "weighted average" rating called a Metascore to albums based upon the ratings and reviews by selected independent publications, and the album's score is an 84 out of 100 with nine reviews usad, which means the album received "universal acclaim". Thom Jurek of Allmusic rated the album four stars out of five, stating that "This is Crowell at his best: focused, balanced, clever, at times profound" on a release that is "a welcome return to form." At The Independent, Andy Gill rated the album four stars out of five, saying how the release "finds him relaxed and confident in his craft". Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that "With effortless melodies played with the grace and unforced power from a veteran band, 'Tarpaper Sky' showcases Crowell's still-potent voice, all honey and cedar and sly inflection, and his knack for finding the words to make simple wisdom and an older man's reflections resonate." At USA Today, Steve Jones rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of four, stating that this is a "fine collection of retro-sounding and embraceable tunes." At Country Weekly, Tammy Ragusa graded the album an A-, writing that "His lyrics are overflowing with imagery and meaning [...] both weighty and witty [...] and his voice is laden with texture."
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