Emmylou Harris: Bluebird : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Bluebird' isn't one of those easy Emmylou Harris albums that immediately take you to honky-tonk heaven. Instead, Harris has fashioned a mature, articulate record that demands careful listening.

Built around strong songs caressed by Harris's silvery voice, Bluebird, which examines the intricacies of relationships, reveals that Harris is content with her role as the godmother of today's neo-traditionalist movement. Though it'd be nice to hear her kick out the footlights in one last honky-tonk stampede, one can understand her desire to age gracefully. She settles into the quieter material easily, especially George Hancock's poignant "If You Were a Bluebird." But "Heartbreak Hill," the album's rockingest song, proves that the forty-one-year-old songstress has still got it. It's heartening to see that country's beacon of taste is shining on.