Rolling Stone (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]he tops herself on what will likely remain the country album of the year....Smoking."
Rolling Stone (p.112) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007".
Entertainment Weekly (p.139) - "The non-violent side of small-town yearnings is here too....She never stoops to teardrops-on-my-guitar banalities." -- Grade: A-
With her first hit single "Kerosene," Miranda Lambert introduced a wild-eyed country gal persona that suddenly made supposed bad girl Gretchen Wilson seem about as staid and conservative as Reba McEntire. Lambert's follow-up album, 2007's CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND, maintains that image: In the title track and first single, Lambert herself is the title character, addressing her former flame's new girlfriend in slightly unhinged terms. The equally crazed opening track "Gunpowder and Lead" is even more threatening. Elsewhere, however, Lambert shows a softer side, performing covers of Emmylou Harris's "Easy From Now On" and Gillian Welch's "Dry Town" with sensitivity and emotional depth. Lambert is a more capable singer than her image suggests, and CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND opens up her musical persona nicely.