''Devotion + Doubt'' (sometimes formatted as ''Devotion+Doubt'') is the second studio album by Richard Buckner, and his first album released on a major label. It was released on March 11, 1997 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

. Buckner recorded the album shortly after the end of his first marriage.

Critical reception

Mark Deming Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

wrote that it was "a significantly more ambitious and accomplished effort than uckner's 1994 debut album''Bloomed''" and "a creative left turn that more than lived up to the promise of 'Bloomed''.

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

' Erik Hage wrote that ''Devotion + Doubt'' was "...a gut-wrenching song cycle that deserves a place in the divorce-album hall-of-fame alongside Dylan's ''

Blood on the Tracks ''Blood on the Tracks'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 20, 1975, by Columbia Records. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. Dy ...

''". Peter Blackstock of '' No Depression'' wrote that "It's the voice that brings Buckner's music to flesh; he is, above all else, a singer. It's a smooth, melodious croon, by nature, but imbued with such a warm, bittersweet darkness that the sound seems to ooze from the speakers in richly layered browntones with every careful cadence." A review in ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards ...

'' praised the album's songs, saying that once you can read its lyric sheet, the previously fragmented lyrics cohere. The review said that once this becomes clear, the songs "...complete ''Devotion & Doubt''s promise." Dan Kening of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' was less favorable in his review of the album, writing, "Buckner saddles even his better songs, like "Lil' Wallet Picture" and "A Goodbye Rye," with such pretentious lyrics ("Once upon a blue thing or two/Eyes and sighs and a moon confused") that they sink under their own self-conscious weight." Robert Christgau similarly mocked Buckner's lyrics, writing in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', "he has just the sensitive baritone to make awful seem awful romantic to sad sacks and the women who love them."

Track listing

Personnel

* Richard Buckner – primary artist, vocals, arrangements *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...

– mastering * J. D. Foster – production *Michael Hall – arrangements *

Craig Schumacher Craig Schumacher is an American Record producer, producer and audio engineer based in Tucson, Arizona. He is known for recording and mixing albums by Calexico (band), Calexico, Devotchka, Neko Case, Giant Sand, The Jayhawks, Friends of Dean Martin ...

– engineering

Guest artists

Joey Burns Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Q ...

John Convertino Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Q ...

Howe Gelb Howe Gelb (born October 22, 1956, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer based in Tucson, Arizona. Projects Gelb's approach to music is collaborative and he has recorded with a number of s ...

Champ Hood Carroll DesChamps "Champ" Hood (August 16, 1952 – November 3, 2001) was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist. He was inducted into the Austin Music Memorial in 2011, the Austin Chronicle’s Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a fi ...

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References

{{Authority control 1997 albums MCA Records albums Richard Buckner (musician) albums