ALBUM REVIEW: You Still Got Me – Beth Hart
BETH HART puts her entire being into her music. This is still true on her eleventh album, You Still Got Me, which includes songs dedicated to her family, who have been by her side throughout her twenty-eight year career. Her most recent album – 2022’s A Tribute To Led Zeppelin – saw her covering songs by LED ZEPPELIN. However, she is more than a just a cover artist. She’s best known for songs such as Caught Out In The Rain, Bad Woman Blues, and LA Song (Out of This Town). All of her songs are raw and honest. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and You Still Got Me is no different.
Opening with Savior With A Razor (featuring Slash), HART‘s voice is instantly recognisable and powerful. Yet she never overwhelms the mellow rock instruments. They blend perfectly together. Whilst rock has been stereotyped for being too noisy, HART shows that this is not the case.
Her swaggering rock sounds unique and also nostalgic at the same time. Whether it’s the upbeat Never Underestimate A Gal, whose piano and guitar instruments blends well with HART‘s spoken-word delivery, or the jazz-inspired Drunk On Valentine, BETH HART shows that rock doesn’t have to be a stale genre. Whilst each song is different, the album stays consistent throughout its runtime.
Although a couple of slower songs in the middle of the album slow the pacing down, the rest of You Still Got Me is medium paced. Don’t Call The Police is the first of two back-to-back long songs. It’s six and a half minutes long, yet it doesn’t drag on. Its verses are slow, backed by a haunting piano, whereas the choruses are fast-paced and guitar-driven. Yet neither of them clash thanks to the build-up in the song.
The second song that is six minutes long in total is the title track, and is written for HART‘s husband, Scott Guetzkow, who she’s been married to since 2001 and has been a great support in her life. But it’s not just a run-of-the-mill love song. It is also about her friends and family who have supported her throughout the years.
The slow-paced song is a highlight on the album, thanks to its simplistic mix of violins and guitar, which stay in the background and let HART‘s voice shine. It’s not the only song to be dedicated to people in her personal life, as Wonderful World, an earlier song on the album, is written about all the women in her family. The lyrics in both songs are just two examples of her fantastic song writing, which is prominent in the entire album.
Closing song Machine Gun Vibrato is a grunge-influenced rock song that is one of the few fast-paced songs on the album. It is an energetic closing to the album, but it is another brilliant example of how versatile HART is because it fits in with the rest of the album. This is thanks to the production. The pacing of the album is a medium paced one, as the majority of the songs are between three to four minutes long.
Overall, You Still Got Me is a fantastic album by BETH HART, who proves that she is a brilliant songwriter and singer. Her heart is on her sleeve and the lyrics reflect this as they are raw and honest, especially when it comes to songs about her loved ones. Each song is different, and the difference in sound keeps the audience listening. Furthermore, HART‘s powerhouse vocals are the star of the album and they never get overwhelmed by the instruments. Although a couple of songs slow the album down, the rest of the pacing is medium paced. On her eleventh album, BETH HART proves that there is more to rock that meets the eye.
Rating: 9/10
You Still Got Me is out now via Provogue/Mascot Label Group.
Like BETH HART on Facebook.