Miranda Lambert: Palomino Review

Following her Grammy-winning album, “Wildcard,” Miranda Lambert had some major shoes to fill with the release of “Palomino.” Much like the last artist I reviewed, Jason Aldean, Lambert is also famous for her blend of country and southern rock. She has been a country music staple since her debut album, “Kerosene,” in 2005, and continues to get better as the years pass. “Palomino”, Lambert’s eighth studio album, is truly brilliant.

Lambert decided to lean more towards country here, and it works perfectly. “Palomino” might be one of the best road trip albums ever, full of wandering and wondering.

“Palomino” is one of the thematically strongest mainstream country albums I’ve heard in quite a while. Lambert evokes such a strong sense of travel and motion throughout the album. Nearly every single song on this fifteen-track record carries over the theme of travel. Tracks such as “Scenes,” “Tourist” and “Pursuit of Happiness” display this the most.

Lambert’s cover of rock legend Mick Jagger’s “Wandering Spirit” is an absolute delight. Again keeping with the theme of wandering, quite literally here, Lambert absolutely kills this cover. She once again proves how effortlessly she can shift from country to rock. This track, obviously, is the only song Lambert didn’t write on the album, however, it was a perfect cover to add to an album such as this.

The writing present on “Palomino” is simply top-notch. Lambert is a co-writer on all 14 original songs on the album, teaming up with long-time writing partners, Luke Dick, Jon Randall and Natalie Hemby. Lambert finds unique ways to cover familiar topics.

This is most apparent in her ability to transform seemingly straightforward love songs such as “In His Arms” and “I’ll Be Loving You.” These songs conceptually could have been extremely boring in the hands of lesser artists. However, Lambert, Dick and Randall’s writing shines through and makes these songs a must-listen. Again, Lambert keeps the theme of travel forefront in these songs, creating great imagery using specific states and their characteristics (red skies in El Paso).

The closing track, “Carousel,” displays Lambert's writing prowess arguably the best, putting the perfect bow on this gift of an album. “Carousel” is a classic-in-the-making, detailing a love story between two circus performers that is sure to bring a tear to your eye. The amount of world-building and character-creation Lambert created in four minutes and twenty seconds is simply incredible.

Lambert’s current single, “If I Was a Cowboy,” is another great track. The western-inspired track is full of great, traditional instrumentation. The hook, “If I was a cowboy, I’d be the queen,” is a great line that blurs gender stereotypes. The track also continues Lambert’s ability to create progressive country music like her 2013 single, “All Kinds of Kinds.”

The album’s overall pacing is incredible. It’s quite long, coming in at 15 tracks and 51 minutes. However, “Palomino” flies by faster than Lambert does through cities on the beautiful track, “Tourist”.

I don’t have any major criticisms of this album. I could definitely see “Country Money” being cut from the album. It doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the tracks, and it is one of the more boring songs both lyrically and sonically. I also am not a big fan of The B-52’s inclusion in “Music City Queen.” Their presence brings down the otherwise really strong song.

Overall, Lambert released an absolute gem of an album with “Palomino.” Thematically rich, lyrically strong and sonically rocking, the record is a triumph from Lambert. She crafted a delight of an album that truly flies. This is a must-listen and a must-add to anyone’s summer road trip playlist.

9/10