‘All American Made’ review: Margo Price cements her place in country
"All American Made" is Margo Price's second studio album. Credit: Third Man
MARGO PRICE
“All American Made”
BOTTOM LINE Quickly developing into one of country’s brightest and boldest stars.
Over the course of her well-crafted sophomore album, “All American Made” (Third Man), you can practically hear Margo Price blossom from country traditionalist to undeniable country superstar.
She opens with the Loretta Lynn-influenced “Don’t Say It” and “Weakness,” songs that seemingly pick up where her well-received debut “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” left off. But only a couple of songs later you can already hear her raising her game with her duet with Willie Nelson, “Learning to Lose,” as they wonder, “Is winning really learning to lose?”
On “Pay Gap,” Price tackles the hot-button issue of wage inequality with an unflinching protest that is exceedingly rare in country music today. “We are all the same in the eyes of God,” she sings over a classic country, accordion-driven backdrop. “But in the eyes of rich white men, no more than a maid to be owned like a dog.”
She caps her increasingly bold pronouncements with the title track, pulling together references to President Ronald Reagan’s weapons sales to Iran and a series of presidential speeches, ensuring that “All American Made” is one of the most ambitious and fully realized country visions in years.
