Gravitational Forces

For the general property of mutual attraction between bodies of matter, see Gravitation.

Gravitational Forces
Studio album by
Robert Earl Keen
ReleasedAugust 7, 2001
Genrecountry, folk, singer-songwriter
Length49:42
LabelLost Highway
ProducerGurf Morlix,
Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen chronology
Walking Distance
(1998) 		Gravitational Forces
(2001) 		Farm Fresh Onions
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com(favorable)[1]
Allmusic[2]
Austin Chronicle(favorable)[3]
Country Music(mixed)[4]
Daily O'Collegian(favorable)[5]
Dirty Linen(favorable)[6]
Goldmine(favorable)[7]
The Music Box[8]
NetRhythms(favorable)[9]
New York Times(mixed)[10]
Performing Songwriter(favorable)[11]
Sing Out!(favorable)[12]

Gravitational Forces is an album by Texas-based country/folk singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen. It was first released in the United States on August 7, 2001, on Lost Highway Records.

One reviewer described this album, Keen's ninth, as being "just a hair more to the country side of the folk-rock-country axis than ever before."[4] Indeed, producer and multi-instrumentalist Gurf Morlix, and the various long-time members of Keen's own road band did not shy away from including fiddle solos and steel guitars in the mix when they suit Keen's songs. "I wanted to keep a real natural, organic sound," says Morlix, "My job as producer varies from artist to artist. I help them find the sound they want and then do what it takes to get that on record."[13]

As usual, Keen's songwriting is full of narrative stories and character sketches. A review in Performing Songwriter magazine described the characters found in Gravitational Forces as "everyday people pulled, led, and sometimes dragged by some outside strength."[11] Billboard noted, however, that Keen's more recent tales avoid some of the violent imagery found in some of his earlier songs. Keen has admitted, "Yeah, the body count's a little lower this time."[14][15]

Keen began recording the album after his previous label, Arista Austin had closed down, and before finding his new, albeit brief, home on Lost Highway Records. "When we started this project I hadn't made a deal with any record company," Keen says, "I just knew I would have a deal one way or another."[14] The release arrived at a time when Keen was beginning to receive wider recognition outside of his home state of Texas.[14][16] It peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, later matched by his 2015 album Happy Prisoner:The Bluegrass Sessions as Keen's highest ranked albums on that chart.

  1. ^ Jennifer Webb, "CD Review: Gravitational Forces – Robert Earl Keen", Countrymusic.About.com
  2. ^ Scott Cooper, "Review: Gravitational Forces", Allmusic
  3. ^ Christopher Gray, "Phases and Stages", Austin Chronicle, October 19, 2001
  4. ^ a b Mitch Potter, "Review: Robert Earl Keen — Gravitational Forces", Country Music, 215, October–November 2001, p.88
  5. ^ Josh Crutchmer, "Keen's latest tour de Force", The Daily O'Collegian, October 4, 2001
  6. ^ Colleen Moore, "Linen Shorts: Robert Earl Keen – Gravitational Forces", Dirty Linen, 96 October–November 2001, p.71
  7. '^ Fetzer Mills Jr., "New Releases", Goldmine, 27:20:553, October 5, 2001, p.20
  8. ^ John Metzger, "Review: Robert Earl Keen – Gravitational Forces", 8:11, November 2001
  9. ^ Mike Davies, "Robert Earl Keen – Gravitational Forces (Lost Highway)", NetRhythms
  10. ^ "Robert Earl Keen – Gravitational Forces" New York Times, October 19, 2001
  11. ^ a b Clay Steakly, "Check it Out!:Robert Earl Keen", Performing Songwriter, 9:56, September–October 2001, p.16
  12. ^ Michael Tearson, "Off the Beaten Track: Robert Earl Keen – Gravitational Forces", Sing Out!, 45:4, Winter 2002
  13. ^ Kerry Dexter, "Robert Earl Keen: Texas Rising", Dirty Linen, 100, June–July 2002, p.21-23
  14. ^ a b c Ray Waddell, "Keen Hopes His New Lost Highway Disc Will Defy Gravity", Billboard, 113:28, July 14, 2001, p.55
  15. ^ Compare these songs to e.g. "Whenever Kindness Fails" or "Blow You Away" from 1993's A Bigger Piece of Sky
  16. ^ "Austin City Limits Interviews: Robert Earl Keen" Archived October 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pbs.org, August 22, 2001