The Northeast Kingdom
| The Northeast Kingdom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Studio | Room & Board Studio | |||
| Label | E-Squared[1] | |||
| Producer | The Twangtrust | |||
| Cheri Knight chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Northeast Kingdom is an album by the American musician Cheri Knight, released in 1998.[2][3] It was Knight's second solo album.[4] Knight supported the album with a North American tour.[5]
Production[edit]
The album was produced by the Twangtrust, a duo of Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy; Earle also played guitar.[6][7][8] The album was recorded in two weeks at Room & Board Studio, in Nashville, although for months Knight avoided listening to the completed project.[9][10] Tammy Rogers, Emmylou Harris, Will Rigby, and Garry Tallent were among the musicians who contributed to The Northeast Kingdom.[11][12] Knight conceived of many of the songs while working on her Massachusetts farm.[13]
Critical reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [6] |
| Orlando Sentinel | [12] |
| Spin | 8/10[15] |
The Chicago Reader wrote that "Knight still sings in an unaffected warble that would make Linda Thompson proud, but this time the able production duo ... masterfully guide that voice on a long, colorful ramble."[16] No Depression thought that the album "arguably defines the moniker 'alternative country' and at the same time stomps on it, defying any genre tag anyone might throw out there."[11]
Jon Pareles, of The New York Times, listed The Northeast Kingdom as one of 1998's best "underheard" albums, writing that "country meets its Celtic heritage in death-haunted songs of love and strife."[17] Spin stated that Knight "heads right into a rich weave of rootsy introspection without stopping to wonder what's country."[15] The Washington Post determined that "a strong undercurrent of reverberating guitars, harmonies and rhythms pushes a lot of the music far beyond the Nashville mainstream."[18]
AllMusic called the album "extremely ambitious, smart mainstream pop with a lot of indie rock and country elements."[14]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dar Glasgow" | |
| 2. | "Rose in the Vine" | |
| 3. | "If Wishes Were Horses" | |
| 4. | "Northeast Kingdom" | |
| 5. | "Black-Eyed Susie" | |
| 6. | "Crawling" | |
| 7. | "The Hatfield Side" | |
| 8. | "White Lies" | |
| 9. | "Dead Man's Curve" | |
| 10. | "All Blue" | |
| 11. | "Sweetheart" | |
| 12. | "Black-Eyed Susie Reprise" |
References[edit]
- ^ "Cheri Knight". NPR.
- ^ "Cheri Knight Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
- ^ Roberts, Michael. "Harvest time". Dallas Observer.
- ^ Fusilli, Jim (29 May 1998). "Review/Recordings: Soul, Fury, Pathos and Funk". The Wall Street Journal. p. W5.
- ^ "Massachusetts-born Cheri Knight...". Portland Press Herald. 4 June 1998. p. 14D.
- ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 646.
- ^ Ochs, Meredith (March 10, 1998). "Sharps and Flats: Cheri Knight". Salon.
- ^ Unterberger, Richie; Hicks, Samb (February 18, 1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides.
- ^ McGuinness, Jim (13 Mar 1998). "She's Sowing Seeds in Two Careers". Lifestyle/Previews. The Record. p. 31.
- ^ Renzhofer, Martin (1 May 1998). "Knight Cultivates an Album Rooted in Regret, Despair". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. E14.
- ^ a b "Cheri Knight – The Northeast Kingdom". No Depression. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ a b Gettelman, Parry (13 Feb 1998). "Kristin Hersh, Cheri Knight". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 7.
- ^ "Flower Power". My City Paper.
- ^ a b "The Northeast Kingdom". AllMusic.
- ^ a b Schone, Mark (Feb 1998). "Reviews". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 2. p. 107.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (March 5, 1998). "Cheri Knight". Chicago Reader.
- ^ Strauss, Neil (January 14, 1999). "Treats for Off-the-Menu Tastes". The New York Times.
- ^ Joyce, Mike (15 Mar 1998). "Cheri Knight, 'The Northeast Kingdom'". The Washington Post. p. G7.