Bitter Sweet (Kim Richey album)

The album was produced by Angelo and John Leventhal, who also cowrote some of the songs.[7][8][9] Richey either wrote or cowrote all of its songs.[10]

Bitter Sweet was recorded with Richey's touring band as the backing musicians.[11] Kenny Vaughan played guitar on the album; Sam Bush played mandolin.[12][13] "I'm Alright" employs accordion, mandolin, and banjo.[14] John Crooke duetted with Richey on "Fallin'".[15]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]
Chicago Tribune	[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[18]
Lincoln Journal Star	[19]
Los Angeles Daily News	[20]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[8]
The Republican	[15]
Spin	8/10[21]

The Chicago Reader wrote that "a few tunes suggest the mid-70s turquoise and denim of Linda Ronstadt, but there are also a number of gritty, loose songs."[22] Spin determined that the "best tracks tastefully tangle alternative country's string band purity and mainstream country's gloss."[21] The Chicago Tribune thought that Richey's band "plays with the rapport of the Jayhawks and The Band before them, laying barbed-wire guitar leads and earthy harmonies over acoustic strumming and rough-and-tumble rhythms."[17]

Stereo Review stated that Richey "cuts through country's plastic heart to usher in the genre's new realism."[23] The Los Angeles Daily News called the album "excellent," and praised the "terrific vocals and top-notch country-rock musicianship."[20] The Lincoln Journal Star concluded that Richey "cements her growing reputation as the rare artist who manages to appeal to both Nashville's most hidebound factions and its alternative-minded strains."[19]

AllMusic wrote that "Richey is a fine lyricist, capable of taking a cliché and twisting it or reinvesting everyday language with meaning."[16] The Dayton Daily News deemed Bitter Sweet the best album of 1997; the Nashville Banner and The Province listed it among the year's best country albums.[24][25][26]