Lady Antebellum

1	Love Don't Live Here 3:50
2	Lookin' for a Good Time 3:07
3	All We'd Ever Need 4:40
4	Long Gone 3:34
5	I Run to You 4:16
6	Love's Lookin' Good on You 3:21
7	Home Is Where the Heart Is 3:45
8	Things People Say 3:50
9	Slow Down Sister 3:06
10	Can't Take My Eyes off You 4:45
11	One Day You Will 4:30

Barnes & Noble

A powerhouse trio comprising Hillary Scott, Charley Kelley, and Dave Haywood, Lady Antebellum is charging out of the box with what's not only the strongest country debut of early 2008 but a record that could become a mainstream classic. Terrific original songs, expressive singing, and striking country-rock arrangements mark the group's turf right from the git-go, in the album-opening hit single, "Love Don't Live Here." "Looking for a Good Time" follows, a driving, pull-no-punches expression of lust for a one-night stand, featuring ferocious guitar riffing and dramatic give-and-take vocal trade-offs between Scott and Kelley. No nihilists or hedonists this trio, though: about the time you catch your breath, the Antebellums settle into "All We'd Ever Need," a regret-filled power ballad detailing the narrator's all-consuming guilt over losing a good thing; it's a dynamic tour de force that makes all the right moves. "Long Gone" follows, echoing with Byrds and Springsteen flourishes in the rich organ support and cascading guitar lines as Scott and Kelley blend in captivating harmony, documenting the transformation of a once-gullible gal who's heard all the lines, all the promises, and is "gone like the wind under Superman's cape." It's as heartless a kiss-off song as country music has produced in the past couple of decades, and despite its bitter, backbiting reflections, it's delightfully rockin' when it kicks into high gear. For Lady Antebellum, it looks like things will only get better from here. David McGee

All Music Guide

Lady Antebellum is a two-guys-and-a-girl trio comprised of co-lead singers Charlie Kelley and Hillary Scott with multi-instrumentalist Dave Haywood. The group is also a songwriting collective, a Nashville rarity, co-writing most of the songs on its self-titled debut album. The three may have come up with material as good as what a publisher could have provided, although they never stray too far from formula, as reused titles like "Love Don't Live Here," "Long Gone," "I Run to You," "Home Is Where the Heart Is," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," suggest. Love is true or false, depending on the song, or it's forgotten in the honky tonk haze of "Lookin' for a Good Time." Kelley has a sturdy country baritone, but he sometimes sounds a bit too pleased with his own rich tone and comes off mannered. Scott, by contrast, seems to know that her voice can't match Kelley's for distinctiveness, so she works harder at coming up with striking phrasing and emotional force. The contrast gives their duets a chemistry that is the band's strongest element. Producers Victoria Shaw and Paul Worley give the record a pop/rock sound, with plenty of guitars and rhythmic punch, the better to goose a little more feeling from the singers. At this point, Lady Antebellum is a group that seems to know the basics of contemporary country but isn't ready to move beyond them or redefine them for its own ends. Still, this is a good beginning. William Ruhlmann