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Essence

by Lucinda Williams

ALBUM RANKINGS:

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All Time

of 455,625

3,956
2000's

of 265,887

557
2001

of 35,059

65

Ratings and rankings are based on all available critic reviews and awards.

Overall Rating: 2.9625 Essence is ranked overall as 2.9625 out of 4 stars

Avg. Critic Score: 3.0047 Essence has an avg. critic score of 3.0047 out of 4 stars

Essence Album Reviews

Critic Review Summary

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Featured Reviews

Entertainment Weekly

Lucinda Williams doesn't merely wallow in suffering. She savors it like a glass of your finest Bordeaux, and she's never taken longer swigs than she does on Essence . ...more

Entertainment Weekly

Her folkiest, gentlest album, Essence is a steamy slow-crawl..

All Music Guide

Between her well-documented determination to retail full control of her music and the plain-spoken willfulness of her best-known songs, Lucinda Williams is practically the working definition of a strong woman you do not want to mess with, but she reveals ...more

Rolling Stone

After toiling in relative obscurity and then in the partial shade of cultish appreciation, singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams bowled over most of the known rock universe with 1998'sCar Wheels on a Gravel Road. ...more

Rolling Stone

Essence finds Williams returning to the willful intimacy of her earliest records. Laid-back, rock-ish and small in scale, Essence never achieves grandeur but won't particularly alienate the fan for whom her wonders small and large are equally magical. ...more

Reviews by score:

See all (4) "Excellent" Reviews

Salon.com

It's a nervy progression, almost necessarily uneven because of the risks it takes, balancing a grace that soars toward aching perfection with an intimacy that elicits a squirmy discomfort....read the complete review at Salon.com

See all (9) "Very Good" Reviews

Blender

Subduing the bright tinge of her country-flavored roots rock, Essence's acoustic musings mix Delta blues with Nick Drake-style nocturnal intimacy, while Williams's voice limits itself to a hushed...read the complete review at Blender

See all (1) "Good" Reviews

Slant Magazine

Six years in the making, Gerald Simpson'sEssencebegins with the calming voice of Jennifer Neal on "The Universe" and the lush soundscape of "The First Breath." The first of several instrumentals, "Breath" sets the album's tone as a...read the complete review at Slant Magazine

See all (1) "Fair" Reviews

The Austin Chronicle

What makes an album great? If upon first listen it transcends comparison with the previous beloved effort, that's a start. Three years after the divinely inspiredCar Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams has bought herself another round of...read the complete review at The Austin Chronicle

See all (2) "Poor" Reviews

The A.V. Club

Songs don't come quickly to Lucinda Williams, especially when she's having a good time. In one infamous interview, she all but admitted to breaking off a relationship just to spark her muse. Essence follows a mere three-year gap for this least prolific...read the complete review at The A.V. Club

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