West (Lucinda Williams album)

West is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on February 13, 2007, by Lost Highway Records. The album debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, selling about 57,000 copies that week.[1] According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album had sold 250,000 copies in the United States by October 2008.[2]

West
Studio album by
Lucinda Williams
ReleasedFebruary 13, 2007 (2007-02-13)
RecordedThe Village
GenreAmericana, folk rock
Length68:40
LabelLost Highway
ProducerHal Willner, Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams chronology
Live @ The Fillmore
(2005)		 West
(2007)		 Little Honey
(2008)

The track "Are You Alright?" was featured during the closing scenes of an episode of House ("Fetal Position"), which first aired April 3, 2007.[3] It also appeared in the fourth episode of the HBO series True Detective, which first aired February 9, 2014.[4] The track "Rescue" was featured on a season one episode of Brothers and Sisters (episode 18, first aired April 8, 2007).

The track "Come On" earned Williams two Grammy Award nominations in 2008: Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song.[5] Both awards went to Bruce Springsteen for "Radio Nowhere".[6]

The track "Unsuffer Me" was featured during the closing credites of ""All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" that was released in 2022. [7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Being There Magazine[10]
Music Box[11]
Okayplayer[12]
Pitchfork3.5/10[13]
Q[14]
Robert ChristgauA[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Twisted Ear[17]

West was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 69, based on 28 reviews.[8] AllMusic remarked "Williams is nothing if not a purely confessional songwriter. She continually walks in the shadowlands to bring out what is both most personal yet universal in her work, to communicate to listeners directly and without compromise", and concluded that the album "will no doubt attract more than a few new fans, and will give old ones, if they are open enough, a recording to relish".[9]

The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said Williams "affects authenticity as shamelessly as her role model, Bob Dylan, but with respect to all the other noble old pros deploying blues and country readymades, the craftiness of Williams' vocals, meaning their unnaturalness, secures their vitality. She doesn't fake spontaneity--she honors it as one of the constellation of life virtues she hopes her songs evoke and subsume."[15] Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 18 on their list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007,[18] while the track "Are You Alright?" was ranked at No. 34 on their list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[19]

Awards
Grammy Awards nominations for West
Year Nominated work Category Result Ref.
2008 "Come On" Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance Nominated [5]
Best Rock Song Nominated

Track listing

All songs written by Lucinda Williams.[20]

  1. "Are You Alright?" – 5:18
  2. "Mama You Sweet" – 4:45
  3. "Learning How to Live" – 5:12
  4. "Fancy Funeral" – 4:15
  5. "Unsuffer Me" – 5:40
  6. "Everything Has Changed" – 3:38
  7. "Come On" – 4:53
  8. "Where Is My Love?" – 5:23
  9. "Rescue" – 5:35
  10. "What If" – 5:41
  11. "Wrap My Head Around That" – 9:07
  12. "Words" – 3:33
  13. "West" – 5:40

Bonus tracks

  • "Words" (alternate version) – 3:57 (iTunes United States)
  • "Where Is My Love?" (demo version) – 5:28 (Best Buy)
  • "Rescue" (demo version) – 5:37 (Best Buy)
  • "Unsuffer Me" (demo version) – 6:27 (indie retailer's bonus disc)
  • "Everything Has Changed" (demo version) – 3:49 (indie retailer's bonus disc)
  • "Learning How to Live" (demo version) (Japanese edition)
  • "What If" (demo version) (Japanese edition)

Personnel

Charts
Chart performance for West
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21][22] 53
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 60
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24] 29
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 95
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] 60
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] 52
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 33
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 30
US Billboard 200[32] 14
US Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 5

References
  1. "Norah Rebounds To No. 1 In Post-Grammy Week", Billboard.com, February 21, 2007.
  2. Ayers, Michael D. "Lucinda Williams lightens up on 'Honey'". Reuters. October 3, 2008.
  3. "House - Fetal Position - Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  4. "True Detective - Who Goes There - Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  5. "Artist: Lucinda Williams". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  6. "Artist: Bruce Springsteen". The Recording Academy. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  7. Fedor Tot (October 18, 2022). "London Film Festival Review: Laura Poitras’ ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’" Vague Visages. Retrieved 2023-06-25
  8. "Reviews for West by Lucinda Williams". Metacritic. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  9. Allmusic review
  10. Being There Magazine review
  11. Music Box review
  12. Okayplayer review
  13. Pitchfork Media review
  14. Rees, Paul (March 2007). "Lucinda Williams – West". Q (248): 116.
  15. Robert Christgau review
  16. Rolling Stone review
  17. Twisted Ear review
  18. Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
  19. No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
  20. Lucinda Williams (2007). West (booklet). Lost Highway Records.
  21. "Lucinda Williams chart history". Retrieved October 2, 2021 – via imgur.com.
  22. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 302.
  23. "Ultratop.be – Lucinda Williams – West" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  24. "Dutch Charts > Lucinda Williams". Dutch Album Top 100. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Lucinda Williams – West" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  26. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Lucinda Williams". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  27. "Italiancharts.com – Lucinda Williams – West". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  28. "Charts.nz – Lucinda Williams – West". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  29. "Swedishcharts.com – Lucinda Williams – West". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  30. "Swedish Charts > Lucinda Williams". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  31. "Official Charts > Lucinda Williams". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  32. "Billboard 200 > Lucinda Williams". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  33. "Billboard Top Rock Albums > Lucinda Williams". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
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