# Life Is Messy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Life_Is_Messy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Life_Is_Messy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Messy > Source revision: 1337556340 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ***Life Is Messy*** is the seventh studio album by American [country music](/source/Country_music) artist [Rodney Crowell](/source/Rodney_Crowell), released in 1992 by [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records). It peaked at number 30 on the [Top Country Albums](/source/Top_Country_Albums) chart. The songs, "[Lovin' All Night](/source/Lovin'_All_Night)", "[What Kind of Love](/source/What_Kind_of_Love)", "It's Not for Me to Judge", and "Let's Make Trouble" were released as singles. ## Content The album's first two singles, "[Lovin' All Night](/source/Lovin'_All_Night)" and "[What Kind of Love](/source/What_Kind_of_Love)", were both released as singles. They respectively reached No. 10 and No. 11 on the [Hot Country Songs](/source/Hot_Country_Songs) charts in 1992.[3] "[The Answer Is Yes](/source/The_Answer_Is_Yes)" was covered by [Michelle Wright](/source/Michelle_Wright) on her 1996 album *[For Me It's You](/source/For_Me_It's_You)*, while "Lovin' All Night" was covered by [Patty Loveless](/source/Patty_Loveless) on her 2003 album *[On Your Way Home](/source/On_Your_Way_Home)*. ## Critical reception William Ruhlmann of [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) concluded his review with, "Taken together, the songs on *Life Is Messy* made for a fascinating portrait of an artist at a personal and professional crossroad -- but it didn't have much to do with commercial country music circa 1992, which is what it was primarily marketed as."[2] He compared the songs' sounds primarily to "a pastiche of late-'50s/early-'60s pop".[2] A review by Jack Hurst in the *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)* rated the album 3.5 out of 4, saying that the album had "a throbbing sound that is out on the pop-ish progressive end of the country spectrum, it treats life in all its surreal hurtfulness without neglecting its epic joys."[4] A less positive review came from [Alanna Nash](/source/Alanna_Nash) of *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*, who thought that the album showed emotional influence from Crowell's then-recent divorce from fellow musician [Rosanne Cash](/source/Rosanne_Cash), and highlighted the song "I Hardly Know How to Be Myself", which the two wrote, as the best song on the album. She also compared Crowell's voice favorably to [Roy Orbison](/source/Roy_Orbison) but added that "too many of his songs splinter into nebulousness with the occasional joltingly bad line".[5] ## Personnel From *Life Is Messy* liner notes.[6] **Musicians** **"It's Not for Me to Judge"** - [Marc Cohn](/source/Marc_Cohn) - background vocals - [Bobby Colomby](/source/Bobby_Colomby) - background vocals - [John Leventhal](/source/John_Leventhal) - electric guitar, acoustic guitar - [Jeff Porcaro](/source/Jeff_Porcaro) - drums - [Michael Rhodes](/source/Michael_Rhodes_(musician)) - bass guitar - [Steuart Smith](/source/Steuart_Smith) - electric guitar, [slide guitar](/source/Slide_guitar) - C. J. Vanston - keyboards **"What Kind of Love"** - [Mickey Curry](/source/Mickey_Curry) - drums - [Don Henley](/source/Don_Henley) - background vocals - [Booker T. Jones](/source/Booker_T._Jones) - organ - [Larry Klein](/source/Larry_Klein) - bass guitar, keyboards - [Linda Ronstadt](/source/Linda_Ronstadt) - background vocals - Steuart Smith - guitars **"Lovin' All Night"** - [Eddie Bayers](/source/Eddie_Bayers) - drums - [Barry Beckett](/source/Barry_Beckett) - [electric piano](/source/Wurlitzer_electric_piano) - Rodney Crowell - acoustic guitar, percussion - [Jim Horn](/source/Jim_Horn) - saxophone - John Leventhal - guitars, percussion - Michael Rhodes - bass guitar - Vince Santoro - background vocals - [Lari White](/source/Lari_White) - background vocals **"Life Is Messy"** - Eddie Bayers - drums, percussion - Vicki Hampton - background vocals - John Leventhal - guitars - Jonell Mosser - background vocals - Michael Rhodes - bass guitar - C. J. Vanston - keyboards - Lari White - background vocals - [Steve Winwood](/source/Steve_Winwood) - background vocals **"I Hardly Know How to Be Myself"** - Eddie Bayers - drums - Barry Beckett - organ - John Leventhal - piano, guitars - [Leland Sklar](/source/Leland_Sklar) - bass guitar **"It Don't Get Better than This"** - [Larry Byrom](/source/Larry_Byrom) - background vocals - [Jim Lauderdale](/source/Jim_Lauderdale) - background vocals - [Albert Lee](/source/Albert_Lee) - background vocals - John Leventhal - guitar, bass guitar, piano, background vocals - [Larrie Londin](/source/Larrie_Londin) - drums **"Alone but Not Alone"** - [Vinnie Colaiuta](/source/Vinnie_Colaiuta) - percussion - [Shawn Colvin](/source/Shawn_Colvin) - background vocals - Larry Klein - bass guitar, tremolo guitar, background vocals - Steuart Smith - guitars **"Let's Make Trouble"** - [Alex Acuña](/source/Alex_Acu%C3%B1a) - drums, percussion - Larry Klein - bass guitar, keyboards - Reginal Sales - slack drum - Steuart Smith - guitars - [Sam Phillips](/source/Sam_Phillips_(musician)) - background vocals **"The Answer Is Yes"** - Eddie Bayers - drums - Barry Beckett - organ - Vicki Hampton - background vocals - John Leventhal - guitars - Vince Santoro - background vocals - Leland Sklar - bass guitar - Steve Winwood - background vocals **"Maybe Next Time"** - Barry Beckett - organ - John Leventhal - keyboards, guitar, percussion - Larrie Londin - drums, percussion - Vince Santoro - background vocals - Lari White - background vocals **Technical** - Michael Brauer - mixing (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10) - Bobby Colomby - production - Rodney Crowell - production - Jim Dineen - engineering (tracks 1, 6, 10) - Larry Klein - production - John Leventhal - production - Dan Marnien - engineering and mixing (tracks 2, 7, 8) - Roger Nichols - engineering (tracks 3, 4, 5, 9) - C. J. Vanston - production - Michael Verdick - engineering (track 1) ## Chart performance ### Album Chart (1992) Peak position U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 30 U.S. Billboard 200 155 Canadian RPM Country Albums 9 ### Singles Year Single Peak chart positions US Country US AC CAN Country CAN CAN AC 1992 "Lovin' All Night" 10 — 9 — — "What Kind of Love" 11 9 2 47 5 "It's Not for Me to Judge" — — — — — "Let's Make Trouble" — — 78 — — ## Sources 1. [AOL Music Profile](http://music.aol.com/album/life-is-messy/94497) for "Life Is Messy" 1. Ruhlmann, William. ["*Life Is Messy* review"](http://www.allmusic.com/album/life-is-messy-mw0000073098). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved 7 March 2017. 1. Whitburn, Joel (2012). *Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2012*. Record Research, Inc. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-89820-203-8. 1. Hurst, Jack (June 25, 1992). ["*Life Is Messy* review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120928134011/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-06-25/features/9202260029_1_star-diamonds-and-dirt-rodney-crowell). *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)*. Archived from [the original](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-06-25/features/9202260029_1_star-diamonds-and-dirt-rodney-crowell) on September 28, 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2017. 1. Nash, Alanna (May 22, 1992). ["*Life Is Messy* review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081016132752/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,310553,00.html). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,310553,00.html) on October 16, 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2017. 1. *Life Is Messy* (CD booklet). Columbia Records. 1992. CK 47985. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Life Is Messy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Messy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Messy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.