Jelly Roll: Beautifully Broken

Jelly Roll has a big, beautiful voice. He drowns his soul in his music instead of drugs and alcohol. He writes about his addictions and recoveries in Beautifully Broken. His lyrics are honest and he delivered them from his heart. In “Winning Streak,” he reveals, “The broken man in the mirror, can’t look at me ’cause he’s guilty / And I swear that the last couple months, that motherfucker tried to kill me.” I enjoy the album throughout, but I wish the productions aren’t so polished. The acoustic settings would have matched better his his raw vocals. “Heart of Stone” in particular is way too refined for his confession: “Dear Lord, can you help me? I’ve fallen out of grace / I’m crawlin’ back to Heaven from this hell on earth I made / My blood has gotten heavy, there’s metal in my veins / It’s runnin’ like the river, filled with all of my mistakes.”