Revolution

iTunes Review

Miranda Lambert first cast herself as a dangerous woman, a lover once burned but no more. Her thirst for vengeance was as tough as this young Texan’s love. While she can still convey these truths with an impeccable country voice — a slight twang to a Southern accent that knows how to roll a vowel for its complete emotional content — it isn’t all she can do. Musically, her third album is more of what people enjoyed about her first two, with the songwriting getting ever stronger. The electric guitars cry rock ‘n’ roll, while the pedal steel throws things back over the country fence and the harmonies hold everything else in place. “White Liar” is the bulldozing opener that leads the way for the sweeter bounce of “Only Prettier” and the tender ballad, “Dead Flowers.” “Me and Your Cigarettes,” “Airstream Song” and “Makin’ Plans” are classic country, while “Maintain the Pain” uses some funkier-sounding guitars to shoot out her car radio. And she completely rocks out with manic banjo and guitar distortion for a cover of John Prine’s “That’s The Way That the World Goes ‘Round.”