Dwight Yoakam – Blame The Vain
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Posted On July 1, 2005
Dwight Yoakam’s eighteenth album, his first self-produced effort, is a mishmash of the tried-and-true old and the very strange new.
On the opening title track, Yoakam returns to the driving rock reminiscent of one of his best songs, “Fast As You”. The same is true of “Intentional Heartache”, a rousing ode to the south highlighted by the bongo playing of Motown percussionist Bobbye Hall. The song’s power is dampened, however, by the reincarnation of Yoakam’s famous film alter ego, Sling Blade villain Doyle Hargraves, for an ad-libbed rant that goes on a bit too long.
“Lucky That Way” and “Does It Show” recall the beautifully lonesome songs of Buenos Noches From A Lonely Room. The rockabilly cut “Three Good Reasons” rocks out, but is hampered by nonsensical lyrics (“I’ll give you three good reasons for leavin’/number one is that I’ve forgotten number two/Number three is in a place that’s been kept hidden for so long/that I can’t remember what is true.”)
“Just Passing Time” is buoyed by former Ventures guitarist Gerry McGee, who provides a beautiful fingerpicking answer to Yoakam’s startling acoustic guitar solo on the devastating ballad. McGee’s stylings also highlight “The Last Heart In Line”, a Jimmy Webb homage backed by rising strings and horns. No Yoakam album would be complete without a tip of the hat to Buck Owens, of which there are two here: “I’ll Just Pretend,” a shuffle with a killer riff and pedal steel weaving throughout, and “I Wanna Love Again”.
The biggest misstep is the prologue to “She’ll Remember”, which begins with a long, strange trip that features Yoakam talking nonsense about a woman in a weird Count Dracula accent. At long last, the spoken intro ends and the song turns into a bouncing keeper featuring some of Yoakam’s best vocals on the disc.
“Watch Out”, is the quietest song on the disc, and one of the best. It’s a “Runaround Sue” kind of warning about a woman who has taught the narrator a lesson or two about handling women. It rocks one minute and slows to a mourning wail the next, almost bipolar in character.
Some of these experiments are chances Yoakam might not have taken with his longtime producer Pete Anderson on board. Overall the album still feels assured, though it likely would have been better with Anderson to rein him in on occasion.
