Top Ten Country and Bluegrass Music Sales |
Top Ten Country Music
Raising Sand by Robert Plant, Alison Krauss
Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that's one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies--almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for. --Alanna Nash Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that's one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies--almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 23 October, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $11.99 
Just A Little Lovin' by Shelby Lynne
Release Date: 29 January, 2008 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99 
Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends by Anne Murray, Celine Dion, Nelly Furtado, Olivia Newton-John, Carole King
Release Date: 15 January, 2008 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $14.99 
Moment Of Forever by Willie Nelson
Release Date: 29 January, 2008 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99 
The Ultimate Hits ( Garth Brooks ) by Garth Brooks
Release Date: 06 November, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $23.98 Our Price: $11.99 
Brighter Than Creation's Dark by Drive-By Truckers
Release Date: 22 January, 2008 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $12.97 
A Wonderful World by Tony Bennett, k.d. lang
Never mind the project's odd couple, "He's got a girlfriend; so does she" marketing shuck. This is a musical love affair in all its splendor. Produced by the seemingly chameleonic producer T Bone Burnett (who previously revived traditional bluegrass with spectacular success on O Brother, Where Art Thou?), the septuagenarian legend and his unlikely contemporary foil affectionately court a dozen songs from the Louis Armstrong repertoire with the warmth and natural grace that have been a deceptively effortless Bennett trademark for 50-plus years. The pair kick proceedings off with a playful, irony-free "Exactly Like You," then perform a tender vocal waltz across both the ages and the masterful, sympathetic orchestrations of the late Peter Matz, one of Bennett's longtime collaborators. But it's on the more melancholy performances, like "If We Never Meet Again," "I'm Confessin'," and the Armstrong perennials "Wonderful World" and "Lucky Old Sun," that the pair tap into something akin to timeless musical telepathy. Her own talents hardly in need of burnishing, lang invests the project with some gratifying new smokiness and is rewarded with a postgraduate course in saloon singing for the ages. It's an album that begs the best kind of question: When do we get an encore? --Jerry McCulley Never mind the project's odd couple, "He's got a girlfriend; so does she" marketing shuck. This is a musical love affair in all its splendor. Produced by the seemingly chameleonic producer T Bone Burnett (who previously revived traditional bluegrass with spectacular success on O Brother, Where Art Thou?), the septuagenarian legend and his unlikely contemporary foil affectionately court a dozen songs from the Louis Armstrong repertoire with the warmth and natural grace that have been a deceptively effortless Bennett trademark for 50-plus years. The pair kick proceedings off with a playful, irony-free "Exactly Like You," then perform a tender vocal waltz across both the ages and the masterful, sympathetic orchestrations of the late Peter Matz, one of Bennett's longtime collaborators. But it's on the more melancholy performances, like "If We Never Meet Again," "I'm Confessin'," and the Armstrong perennials "Wonderful World" and "Lucky Old Sun," that the pair tap into something akin to timeless musical telepathy. Her own talents hardly in need of burnishing, lang invests the project with some gratifying new smokiness and is rewarded with a postgraduate course in saloon singing for the ages. It's an album that begs the best kind of question: When do we get an encore? --Jerry McCulley Release Date: 05 November, 2002 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $11.98 Our Price: $8.97 
Carnival Ride by Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts, hastily made and released some five months after she won the 2005 American Idol crown, was surprisingly solid and tuneful. For her follow-up, producer Mark Bright steers her toward the big Martina McBride skies, with a plethora of strings and huge emotional crescendos. Underwood co-wrote four songs, mostly with the tried-and-true tunesmiths who made Some Hearts soar. On the torchy heartache ballad "I Know You Won’t," she gives a beautifully nuanced and controlled performance, but if that song would suit any number of lush female pop stars from Celine Dion on down, "Flat on the Floor" rocks hard while preserving co-writer Ashley Monroe’s Appalachian angst. Still, there are missteps: the easy tears of the unlikely war ballad "Just a Dream," a too-obvious attempt to repeat the sass of "Before He Cheats" ("The More Boys I Meet"), and the Shania-ish bad-girl-on-Cuervo stomp of "Last Name." The big payoff, then, is how much 24-year old Underwood has improved as a vocalist. How often listeners line up for this Carnival Ride depends on their attitude about country music’s continual melding with pop, and how they feel about a princess upstart taking home the awards that used to go to her heroes. --Alanna Nash Carrie Underwood Photos
More from Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts, hastily made and released some five months after she won the 2005 American Idol crown, was surprisingly solid and tuneful. For her follow-up, producer Mark Bright steers her toward the big Martina McBride skies, with a plethora of strings and huge emotional crescendos. Underwood co-wrote four songs, mostly with the tried-and-true tunesmiths who made Some Hearts soar. On the torchy heartache ballad "I Know You Won’t," she gives a beautifully nuanced and controlled performance, but if that song would suit any number of lush female pop stars from Celine Dion on down, "Flat on the Floor" rocks hard while preserving co-writer Ashley Monroe’s Appalachian angst. Still, there are missteps: the easy tears of the unlikely war ballad "Just a Dream," a too-obvious attempt to repeat the sass of "Before He Cheats" ("The More Boys I Meet"), and the Shania-ish bad-girl-on-Cuervo stomp of "Last Name." The big payoff, then, is how much 24-year old Underwood has improved as a vocalist. How often listeners line up for this Carnival Ride depends on their attitude about country music’s continual melding with pop, and how they feel about a princess upstart taking home the awards that used to go to her heroes. --Alanna Nash Carrie Underwood Photos
More from Carrie Underwood
Release Date: 23 October, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.97 Our Price: $9.99 
2008 Grammy Nominees by Various Artists
Release Date: 29 January, 2008 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $9.99 
Enjoy The Ride by Sugarland
One of country's fastest-rising acts, Sugarland arrive at their follow-up to 2004's triple-platinum Twice the Speed of Life in a considerably altered state. Chief songwriter and founding member Kristen Hall is gone, and producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood) has been usurped in favor of crossover hitmaker Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One could argue that these are the predictable results of success--by opening for such megastars as Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn, the Atlanta-based trio was forced to retool its organic, singer-songwriter, folk-rock sound to fill arenas. And while their intricate vocal harmonies added a subtle creative dimension to their debut, Enjoy the Ride is made up mostly of songs ("County Line," "Mean Girls") constructed to showcase lead singer Jennifer Nettles's big voice in ways the previous album did not. While the repertoire was written by Nettles and surviving partner Kristian Bush in collaboration with proven songsmiths Bobby Pinson, Lisa Carver, and Tim Owens, much of the wistful intimacy of the first album is now diminished. Furthermore, it seems foolish to now call this act a duo, as Bush receives very little time in the spotlight apart from his vocal harmonies and performance on guitar and mandolin. None of this should matter on the charts, however, since the real focus was always on Nettles, whose twangy, force-field soprano more than carries the day. As before, the lyrics are upbeat and positive--if the message of the first album was of flight and searching, the theme here is of digging in. The winsome Nettles does a fine job of selling it all, positioning herself as the Ambassador of Optimism, the Deep South successor to Jo Dee Messina. --Alanna Nash One of country's fastest-rising acts, Sugarland arrive at their follow-up to 2004's triple-platinum Twice the Speed of Life in a considerably altered state. Chief songwriter and founding member Kristen Hall is gone, and producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood) has been usurped in favor of crossover hitmaker Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One could argue that these are the predictable results of success--by opening for such megastars as Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn, the Atlanta-based trio was forced to retool its organic, singer-songwriter, folk-rock sound to fill arenas. And while their intricate vocal harmonies added a subtle creative dimension to their debut, Enjoy the Ride is made up mostly of songs ("County Line," "Mean Girls") constructed to showcase lead singer Jennifer Nettles's big voice in ways the previous album did not. While the repertoire was written by Nettles and surviving partner Kristian Bush in collaboration with proven songsmiths Bobby Pinson, Lisa Carver, and Tim Owens, much of the wistful intimacy of the first album is now diminished. Furthermore, it seems foolish to now call this act a duo, as Bush receives very little time in the spotlight apart from his vocal harmonies and performance on guitar and mandolin. None of this should matter on the charts, however, since the real focus was always on Nettles, whose twangy, force-field soprano more than carries the day. As before, the lyrics are upbeat and positive--if the message of the first album was of flight and searching, the theme here is of digging in. The winsome Nettles does a fine job of selling it all, positioning herself as the Ambassador of Optimism, the Deep South successor to Jo Dee Messina. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 07 November, 2006 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99 |
Texas Swing
50 Number Ones by George Strait
When George Strait's "She'll Leave You With a Smile" moved to the top of the country charts in early 2003, the handsome Lone Star crooner bested Conway Twitty for the most No. 1 singles by a solo artist. This collection of 50 chart-toppers, spanning 22 years, showcases the Cadillac of country singers at his best, blending traditional and contemporary stylings, but never straying too far from the core of his Texas barroom sound. "Fool Hearted Memory," from 1982, proves that Strait had his uncluttered production and straightforward vocal approach down from the start, no matter how many producers guided him to his peak. Through the years, the path to superstardom dictated that he trade the crisp Western swing of "Right or Wrong" and "Ace in the Hole" for squishy, mid-tempo crowd pleasers like "Check Yes or No" and "Write This Down." But he redeemed himself with such poignant heartbreakers as "So Much Like My Dad" and "…Smile." This retrospective's one new track, "I Hate Everything," about a man in a bar who's besotted more from pain than whiskey, doesn't match up with the singer's best material, but it's still got that irresistible Strait hook: average-guy sincerity wrapped in a down-to-earth heart. --Alanna Nash When George Strait's "She'll Leave You With a Smile" moved to the top of the country charts in early 2003, the handsome Lone Star crooner bested Conway Twitty for the most No. 1 singles by a solo artist. This collection of 50 chart-toppers, spanning 22 years, showcases the Cadillac of country singers at his best, blending traditional and contemporary stylings, but never straying too far from the core of his Texas barroom sound. "Fool Hearted Memory," from 1982, proves that Strait had his uncluttered production and straightforward vocal approach down from the start, no matter how many producers guided him to his peak. Through the years, the path to superstardom dictated that he trade the crisp Western swing of "Right or Wrong" and "Ace in the Hole" for squishy, mid-tempo crowd pleasers like "Check Yes or No" and "Write This Down." But he redeemed himself with such poignant heartbreakers as "So Much Like My Dad" and "…Smile." This retrospective's one new track, "I Hate Everything," about a man in a bar who's besotted more from pain than whiskey, doesn't match up with the singer's best material, but it's still got that irresistible Strait hook: average-guy sincerity wrapped in a down-to-earth heart. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 05 October, 2004 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $19.97
It Just Comes Natural by George Strait
When the announcement came that George Strait was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, there were those who thought it was premature. After all, Strait is only in his early 50s, and with 53 #1s, more than anyone else in Nashville history, he is still an active working artist, not the sort who sits back on a million-acre ranch remembering when. But one spin through It Just Comes Natural and it's obvious why the quiet Texan deserved his induction now. He simply has no mainstream peer, for either his consistency on the charts or his continuing to raise the bar with his confident, nuanced performance. Here, on an album recorded in Key West, Strait sounds even more relaxed than usual, as if he took more time to live with the songs--15 in all--before he recorded them. Throughout, he amply demonstrates his ability to choose material that pushes the country genre beyond its core themes of God, family, and patriotism while still staying traditional. So many of the songs catch one off guard, either because of their different subject matter (the way the lyric of "Come on Joe" gradually tells us the dead never really leave the living) or in their sophisticated approach to a routine topic (the head-spinning recognition of an old flame in Bruce Robison's "Wrapped"). Then there's the artistry with which producer Tony Brown's handpicked studio cats elevate an already great song even higher (a sizzling cover of Guy Clark's folk/honky-tonk/Western swing classic "Texas Cookin'"). Twenty-five years after his recording debut, Strait is still as crisp as the crease in his Wranglers. Yet the leader of the Ace in the Hole band has yet another card up his freshly starched sleeve. The man who doesn't talk in concert and rarely speaks to reporters leads off with "Give It Away," a divorce-and-damage saga set off by--surprise--a recitation! --Alanna Nash When the announcement came that George Strait was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, there were those who thought it was premature. After all, Strait is only in his early 50s, and with 53 #1s, more than anyone else in Nashville history, he is still an active working artist, not the sort who sits back on a million-acre ranch remembering when. But one spin through It Just Comes Natural and it's obvious why the quiet Texan deserved his induction now. He simply has no mainstream peer, for either his consistency on the charts or his continuing to raise the bar with his confident, nuanced performance. Here, on an album recorded in Key West, Strait sounds even more relaxed than usual, as if he took more time to live with the songs--15 in all--before he recorded them. Throughout, he amply demonstrates his ability to choose material that pushes the country genre beyond its core themes of God, family, and patriotism while still staying traditional. So many of the songs catch one off guard, either because of their different subject matter (the way the lyric of "Come on Joe" gradually tells us the dead never really leave the living) or in their sophisticated approach to a routine topic (the head-spinning recognition of an old flame in Bruce Robison's "Wrapped"). Then there's the artistry with which producer Tony Brown's handpicked studio cats elevate an already great song even higher (a sizzling cover of Guy Clark's folk/honky-tonk/Western swing classic "Texas Cookin'"). Twenty-five years after his recording debut, Strait is still as crisp as the crease in his Wranglers. Yet the leader of the Ace in the Hole band has yet another card up his freshly starched sleeve. The man who doesn't talk in concert and rarely speaks to reporters leads off with "Give It Away," a divorce-and-damage saga set off by--surprise--a recitation! --Alanna Nash Release Date: 03 October, 2006 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $12.99
40 #1 Hits by Merle Haggard, Clint Eastwood
Release Date: 23 March, 2004 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $13.97
![Pure Country [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] by George Strait, Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser, Kyle Chandler, John Doe, Rory Calhoun, Molly McClure, James Terry McIlvain, Toby Metcalf, Mark Walters](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21J4D0V1J3L.jpg)
Pure Country [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] by George Strait, Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser, Kyle Chandler, John Doe, Rory Calhoun, Molly McClure, James Terry McIlvain, Toby Metcalf, Mark Walters
With the help of producer Tony Brown, George Strait redefined his relationship to the contemporary country mainstream with this 1992 soundtrack album, which became the bestselling single release of his career. In the movie, Strait portrays a country star who walks away from the smoke and mirrors to get back to his down-home roots. The ballad "When Did You Stop Loving Me" is as pure country as it gets in this day and age, while "The King of Broken Hearts" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" introduced Strait's audience to an exceptionally gifted songwriter named Jim Lauderdale. --Rick Mitchell With the help of producer Tony Brown, George Strait redefined his relationship to the contemporary country mainstream with this 1992 soundtrack album, which became the bestselling single release of his career. In the movie, Strait portrays a country star who walks away from the smoke and mirrors to get back to his down-home roots. The ballad "When Did You Stop Loving Me" is as pure country as it gets in this day and age, while "The King of Broken Hearts" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" introduced Strait's audience to an exceptionally gifted songwriter named Jim Lauderdale. --Rick Mitchell Release Date: 15 September, 1992 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.97
The Essential Marty Robbins by Marty Robbins
Release Date: 28 June, 2005 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $15.97
Great Records Of The Decade: 40's Hits, Vol. 1 by Various Artists
Release Date: 20 August, 1990 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $7.98 Our Price: $7.18
Down Every Road by Merle Haggard
For a long time, Merle Haggard has been best known for his least-important music--"Okie from Muskogee" and its sequels, "The Fighting Side of Me" and "Are the Good Times Really Over." All three of these patriotic novelty songs are included on this four-CD box set, but they are dwarfed by the riches around them. Songs such as "Running Kind," "If We Make it Through December," and "I Started Loving You Again" eschew sloganeering to draw powerful portraits of working-class folks pulled in one direction by a longing for footloose freedom and in another by economic realities and emotional ties. The catchy directness, the poetic vernacular, and Haggard's baritone purr mark those numbers as examples of country music at its finest. Down Every Road is as crucial as Robert Johnson's Complete Recordings, Hank Williams' Original Singles Collection ... Plus, or Bob Dylan's Biograph. --Geoffrey Himes For a long time, Merle Haggard has been best known for his least-important music--"Okie from Muskogee" and its sequels, "The Fighting Side of Me" and "Are the Good Times Really Over." All three of these patriotic novelty songs are included on this four-CD box set, but they are dwarfed by the riches around them. Songs such as "Running Kind," "If We Make it Through December," and "I Started Loving You Again" eschew sloganeering to draw powerful portraits of working-class folks pulled in one direction by a longing for footloose freedom and in another by economic realities and emotional ties. The catchy directness, the poetic vernacular, and Haggard's baritone purr mark those numbers as examples of country music at its finest. Down Every Road is as crucial as Robert Johnson's Complete Recordings, Hank Williams' Original Singles Collection ... Plus, or Bob Dylan's Biograph. --Geoffrey Himes Release Date: 02 April, 1996 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $52.98 Our Price: $31.97
Asleep at the Wheel - 20 Greatest Hits by Asleep at the Wheel
Release Date: 01 April, 2003 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $16.98 Our Price: $9.97
Vintage by Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys
Best known for 1951's "The Wild Side of Life," Thompson wed prewar Western swing to postwar honky-tonk and created a sound that proved viable both on the radio (where swing was usually ignored) and in the dance halls. He kept it up with a steady string of hits that included beer-drinking ballads, heart songs, folkish material, and flat-out novelties; though he plied a distinctly Texas sound, he was never shy about looking to the Southeast for material. His bands, often joined in the studio by guitarist Merle Travis, framed his vocals perfectly without ever taking the spotlight off the singer (and also cut instrumental hits such as "Wildwood Flower" on their own). With 20 tracks, this is the best single-CD sampler of Thompson's early work. --John Morthland Best known for 1951's "The Wild Side of Life," Thompson wed prewar Western swing to postwar honky-tonk and created a sound that proved viable both on the radio (where swing was usually ignored) and in the dance halls. He kept it up with a steady string of hits that included beer-drinking ballads, heart songs, folkish material, and flat-out novelties; though he plied a distinctly Texas sound, he was never shy about looking to the Southeast for material. His bands, often joined in the studio by guitarist Merle Travis, framed his vocals perfectly without ever taking the spotlight off the singer (and also cut instrumental hits such as "Wildwood Flower" on their own). With 20 tracks, this is the best single-CD sampler of Thompson's early work. --John Morthland Release Date: 11 June, 1996 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $5.98 Our Price: $5.98
Ride With Bob by Asleep at the Wheel
Ride with Bob is the new and improved sequel to Asleep at the Wheel's star-studded 1993 effort, Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys. The playing behind the high-profile guest vocalists is hotter and looser this time, with plenty of solo space and the Wheel's Ray Benson assuming Wills's jovial ringleader role. Merle Haggard delivers a wild falsetto version of "St. Louis Blues" backed by the Squirrel Nut Zippers' horns, and Willie Nelson steps out with the Manhattan Transfer on "Going Away Party." Steve Wariner and Vince Gill trade fluid guitar licks on "Bob's Breakdown," Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin share a mic on "Faded Love," and the Dixie Chicks romp through "Roly Poly." All of Asleep at the Wheel's recordings have been tributes to Wills's Western-swing legacy in one way or another, but this is as close as they've come to distilling the timeless essence of the sound. --Rick Mitchell Ride with Bob is the new and improved sequel to Asleep at the Wheel's star-studded 1993 effort, Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys. The playing behind the high-profile guest vocalists is hotter and looser this time, with plenty of solo space and the Wheel's Ray Benson assuming Wills's jovial ringleader role. Merle Haggard delivers a wild falsetto version of "St. Louis Blues" backed by the Squirrel Nut Zippers' horns, and Willie Nelson steps out with the Manhattan Transfer on "Going Away Party." Steve Wariner and Vince Gill trade fluid guitar licks on "Bob's Breakdown," Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin share a mic on "Faded Love," and the Dixie Chicks romp through "Roly Poly." All of Asleep at the Wheel's recordings have been tributes to Wills's Western-swing legacy in one way or another, but this is as close as they've come to distilling the timeless essence of the sound. --Rick Mitchell Release Date: 10 August, 1999 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $13.98 |
Top Ten Outlaw Country Music
Enjoy The Ride by Sugarland
One of country's fastest-rising acts, Sugarland arrive at their follow-up to 2004's triple-platinum Twice the Speed of Life in a considerably altered state. Chief songwriter and founding member Kristen Hall is gone, and producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood) has been usurped in favor of crossover hitmaker Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One could argue that these are the predictable results of success--by opening for such megastars as Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn, the Atlanta-based trio was forced to retool its organic, singer-songwriter, folk-rock sound to fill arenas. And while their intricate vocal harmonies added a subtle creative dimension to their debut, Enjoy the Ride is made up mostly of songs ("County Line," "Mean Girls") constructed to showcase lead singer Jennifer Nettles's big voice in ways the previous album did not. While the repertoire was written by Nettles and surviving partner Kristian Bush in collaboration with proven songsmiths Bobby Pinson, Lisa Carver, and Tim Owens, much of the wistful intimacy of the first album is now diminished. Furthermore, it seems foolish to now call this act a duo, as Bush receives very little time in the spotlight apart from his vocal harmonies and performance on guitar and mandolin. None of this should matter on the charts, however, since the real focus was always on Nettles, whose twangy, force-field soprano more than carries the day. As before, the lyrics are upbeat and positive--if the message of the first album was of flight and searching, the theme here is of digging in. The winsome Nettles does a fine job of selling it all, positioning herself as the Ambassador of Optimism, the Deep South successor to Jo Dee Messina. --Alanna Nash One of country's fastest-rising acts, Sugarland arrive at their follow-up to 2004's triple-platinum Twice the Speed of Life in a considerably altered state. Chief songwriter and founding member Kristen Hall is gone, and producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood) has been usurped in favor of crossover hitmaker Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One could argue that these are the predictable results of success--by opening for such megastars as Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn, the Atlanta-based trio was forced to retool its organic, singer-songwriter, folk-rock sound to fill arenas. And while their intricate vocal harmonies added a subtle creative dimension to their debut, Enjoy the Ride is made up mostly of songs ("County Line," "Mean Girls") constructed to showcase lead singer Jennifer Nettles's big voice in ways the previous album did not. While the repertoire was written by Nettles and surviving partner Kristian Bush in collaboration with proven songsmiths Bobby Pinson, Lisa Carver, and Tim Owens, much of the wistful intimacy of the first album is now diminished. Furthermore, it seems foolish to now call this act a duo, as Bush receives very little time in the spotlight apart from his vocal harmonies and performance on guitar and mandolin. None of this should matter on the charts, however, since the real focus was always on Nettles, whose twangy, force-field soprano more than carries the day. As before, the lyrics are upbeat and positive--if the message of the first album was of flight and searching, the theme here is of digging in. The winsome Nettles does a fine job of selling it all, positioning herself as the Ambassador of Optimism, the Deep South successor to Jo Dee Messina. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 07 November, 2006 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99
At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash had been breaking new ground for a decade when At Folsom Prison suddenly made the world at large take notice. The interaction of a volatile prison population starved for entertainment and a desperately on-form Johnny Cash was electrifying. His somber machismo finally found a home. The songs, which included every prison song Cash knew ("I Got Stripes," "The Wall," "25 Minutes to Go," "Cocaine Blues," plus his own "Folsom Prison Blues") were tailored to galvanize the crowd. This set is all about atmosphere. Live at the Grand Ole Opry this ain't. The 1999 version drops the San Quentin portion of the original CD reissue, instead adding three cuts to complete the full and uncensored Folsom show. --Colin Escott Johnny Cash had been breaking new ground for a decade when At Folsom Prison suddenly made the world at large take notice. The interaction of a volatile prison population starved for entertainment and a desperately on-form Johnny Cash was electrifying. His somber machismo finally found a home. The songs, which included every prison song Cash knew ("I Got Stripes," "The Wall," "25 Minutes to Go," "Cocaine Blues," plus his own "Folsom Prison Blues") were tailored to galvanize the crowd. This set is all about atmosphere. Live at the Grand Ole Opry this ain't. The 1999 version drops the San Quentin portion of the original CD reissue, instead adding three cuts to complete the full and uncensored Folsom show. --Colin Escott Release Date: 19 October, 1999 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $11.98 Our Price: $7.97
The Essential Willie Nelson by Willie Nelson
With 41 tracks drawn from nine record labels, the two-disc Essential Willie Nelson is impressive in its breadth. Disc one is simply superb; it begins with 1961's "Night Life," recorded for the obscure Bellaire label, and moves on to several of Nelson's early 1960s Liberty recordings, an overlooked gem recorded for Monument in 1964 ("I Never Cared for You"), a cherry-picked selection of his RCA and Atlantic sides, and finally his mid-1970s hits for Columbia (where he found his greatest chart success, beginning, in 1975, with the No. 1 single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"). Disc two, however, is hit-or-miss. Classics like "On the Road Again," "Pancho & Lefty," and "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" are offset by such lesser material as "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" (recorded with Latin pop star Julio Iglesias), the phoned-in "City of New Orleans," and the sounds-better-on-paper "Highwayman" collaboration with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. (Just because they all made it to No. 1 doesn't make them "essential.") Nelson's two best albums of the 1990s, Across the Borderline and Teatro, are represented by a paltry two songs. The disc ends with collaborations with U2, Lee Ann Womack, and Steven Tyler and Aerosmith (the previously unreleased "One Time Too Many"). None is particularly worthy of a best-of collection. Still, while it doesn't quite live up to its billing, the Essential Willie Nelson offers an excellent career overview of one of country music's true legends. --David Hill With 41 tracks drawn from nine record labels, the two-disc Essential Willie Nelson is impressive in its breadth. Disc one is simply superb; it begins with 1961's "Night Life," recorded for the obscure Bellaire label, and moves on to several of Nelson's early 1960s Liberty recordings, an overlooked gem recorded for Monument in 1964 ("I Never Cared for You"), a cherry-picked selection of his RCA and Atlantic sides, and finally his mid-1970s hits for Columbia (where he found his greatest chart success, beginning, in 1975, with the No. 1 single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"). Disc two, however, is hit-or-miss. Classics like "On the Road Again," "Pancho & Lefty," and "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" are offset by such lesser material as "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" (recorded with Latin pop star Julio Iglesias), the phoned-in "City of New Orleans," and the sounds-better-on-paper "Highwayman" collaboration with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. (Just because they all made it to No. 1 doesn't make them "essential.") Nelson's two best albums of the 1990s, Across the Borderline and Teatro, are represented by a paltry two songs. The disc ends with collaborations with U2, Lee Ann Womack, and Steven Tyler and Aerosmith (the previously unreleased "One Time Too Many"). None is particularly worthy of a best-of collection. Still, while it doesn't quite live up to its billing, the Essential Willie Nelson offers an excellent career overview of one of country music's true legends. --David Hill Release Date: 01 April, 2003 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $13.97
The Essential Johnny Cash by Johnny Cash
It's a great and perhaps impossible challenge to encapsulate the highlights of Johnny Cash's vast musical catalog in a two-CD, 36-song collection like this. Yet, though it barely scratches the surface, 2002's The Essential Johnny Cash--part of a series of compilations and reissues celebrating Cash's 70th birthday--does present three-dozen satisfying and balanced snapshots of some of the Man in Black's most memorable work for the Sun, Columbia, and Mercury labels. Above all else, these 36 selections are wonderful reminders of Cash's rustic eclecticism. Cuts range from '50s Sun rockabilly classics like "Hey Porter" and "I Walk the Line" to '60s country-folk gems like "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and Cash's memorable duet with Bob Dylan on Dylan's "Girl from the North Country." Also included are more recent samplings of Cash's celebrated collaborations, including "Highwayman," which he recorded in 1984 with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as part of the on-again, off-again supergroup the Highwaymen, and "The Wanderer," a fervent gospel collaboration with U2 that appeared on the band's 1993 album, Zooropa. --Bob Allen It's a great and perhaps impossible challenge to encapsulate the highlights of Johnny Cash's vast musical catalog in a two-CD, 36-song collection like this. Yet, though it barely scratches the surface, 2002's The Essential Johnny Cash--part of a series of compilations and reissues celebrating Cash's 70th birthday--does present three-dozen satisfying and balanced snapshots of some of the Man in Black's most memorable work for the Sun, Columbia, and Mercury labels. Above all else, these 36 selections are wonderful reminders of Cash's rustic eclecticism. Cuts range from '50s Sun rockabilly classics like "Hey Porter" and "I Walk the Line" to '60s country-folk gems like "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and Cash's memorable duet with Bob Dylan on Dylan's "Girl from the North Country." Also included are more recent samplings of Cash's celebrated collaborations, including "Highwayman," which he recorded in 1984 with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as part of the on-again, off-again supergroup the Highwaymen, and "The Wanderer," a fervent gospel collaboration with U2 that appeared on the band's 1993 album, Zooropa. --Bob Allen Release Date: 12 February, 2002 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $13.97
Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits by Gordon Lightfoot
Though he rose from the ranks of journeyman '60s folksinger to become a potent and consistent '70s hit maker, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot's stock in trade was as much hard-eyed, dispassionate observation as romance or poetic whimsy. Perhaps that's why his songs have been covered by everyone from Elvis (this set's "Early Morning Rain") to Dylan. If there's such a thing as an alpha-male folkie, Lightfoot certainly fits the bill. Spanning the tongue-in-cheek chauvinism of 1965's "For Lovin' Me" and the cheatin' ways of "Sundown" to more introspective fare like "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Beautiful," this 20-track collection presents a concise primer on Lightfoot's career and craft. After his career peaked with one of the most unlikely top five hits ever, the gloom-laden 1976 narrative "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Lightfoot's production tailed off sharply, though this anthology's "Stay Loose" ('86) and "Restless" ('93) are testament to his enduring skills as a songwriter and performer. --Jerry McCulley Though he rose from the ranks of journeyman '60s folksinger to become a potent and consistent '70s hit maker, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot's stock in trade was as much hard-eyed, dispassionate observation as romance or poetic whimsy. Perhaps that's why his songs have been covered by everyone from Elvis (this set's "Early Morning Rain") to Dylan. If there's such a thing as an alpha-male folkie, Lightfoot certainly fits the bill. Spanning the tongue-in-cheek chauvinism of 1965's "For Lovin' Me" and the cheatin' ways of "Sundown" to more introspective fare like "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Beautiful," this 20-track collection presents a concise primer on Lightfoot's career and craft. After his career peaked with one of the most unlikely top five hits ever, the gloom-laden 1976 narrative "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Lightfoot's production tailed off sharply, though this anthology's "Stay Loose" ('86) and "Restless" ('93) are testament to his enduring skills as a songwriter and performer. --Jerry McCulley Release Date: 02 April, 2002 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $10.97
John Denver - Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits by John Denver
Release Date: 05 October, 2004 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $16.97 Our Price: $9.97
Mescalito by Ryan Bingham
A vagabond spirit permeates these tales of truck stops, tip jars, boxcars, and love left behind, with a slide guitar punctuating arrangements that range from acoustic folk to classic rock (amid hints of the Rolling Stones, Neil Young's Crazy Horse, and a young Tom Waits). Yet ultimately, the impressive debut by this Southwestern, raspy-voiced troubadour is more than the sum of its songs, as the sequencing almost amounts to a narrative of life on the road, with the world-weary, end-of-the-line "Long Way from Georgia" and "Ever Wonder Why," leading to the renewal of "Sunrise." Former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford produced and provides multi-instrumental support, with Texas honky-tonk legend Terry Allen offering guest vocals and piano on "Ghost of Travelin' Jones." --Don McLeese A vagabond spirit permeates these tales of truck stops, tip jars, boxcars, and love left behind, with a slide guitar punctuating arrangements that range from acoustic folk to classic rock (amid hints of the Rolling Stones, Neil Young's Crazy Horse, and a young Tom Waits). Yet ultimately, the impressive debut by this Southwestern, raspy-voiced troubadour is more than the sum of its songs, as the sequencing almost amounts to a narrative of life on the road, with the world-weary, end-of-the-line "Long Way from Georgia" and "Ever Wonder Why," leading to the renewal of "Sunrise." Former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford produced and provides multi-instrumental support, with Texas honky-tonk legend Terry Allen offering guest vocals and piano on "Ghost of Travelin' Jones." --Don McLeese Release Date: 02 October, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $11.99
Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems by Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris, godmother of the Americana movement, is a phenomenon for any number of reasons, one of which is that she has has managed to conduct more than four decades of her remarkable career without a single misstep. While Harris has always been committed to honoring the roots of old-school, traditional country, she also expanded the music beyond its conservative lyrics and narrow melodic structures without abandoning its core themes of enduring love, family, and prideful sense of place. Throughout, she interpreted and wrote songs of integrity and emotional depth and resonance, surrounding her keening soprano with a Who's Who of players and collaborators, including Rodney Crowell, the McGarrigle Sisters, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Lanois, and Mark Knopfler. This unusual 4-CD compilation isn't a greatest-hits package, but rather a gathering of Harris's personal favorites, most of which have never appeared on other collections. Some of the most compelling tracks are special collaborations ("Jordan," with Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash), previously unreleased live, studio, and demo tracks (the folky "Falling in a Deep Hole," circa 1970), and contributions to tribute projects (Townes Van Zandt's chilling "Snake Song"). Harris's reedy voice is one of the most empathetic instruments in all of popular music, and perhaps no other female performer of the genre has been able to capture the desperate, paralyzing sense of longing and loneliness as well as this greatly revered singer. That may be a red flag of warning for the Prozac generation, but this deeply satisfying set stands as a benchmark of 40 years of artistry, as well as an uncommonly soulful illumination of the human condition. --Alanna Nash Emmylou Harris, godmother of the Americana movement, is a phenomenon for any number of reasons, one of which is that she has has managed to conduct more than four decades of her remarkable career without a single misstep. While Harris has always been committed to honoring the roots of old-school, traditional country, she also expanded the music beyond its conservative lyrics and narrow melodic structures without abandoning its core themes of enduring love, family, and prideful sense of place. Throughout, she interpreted and wrote songs of integrity and emotional depth and resonance, surrounding her keening soprano with a Who's Who of players and collaborators, including Rodney Crowell, the McGarrigle Sisters, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Lanois, and Mark Knopfler. This unusual 4-CD compilation isn't a greatest-hits package, but rather a gathering of Harris's personal favorites, most of which have never appeared on other collections. Some of the most compelling tracks are special collaborations ("Jordan," with Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash), previously unreleased live, studio, and demo tracks (the folky "Falling in a Deep Hole," circa 1970), and contributions to tribute projects (Townes Van Zandt's chilling "Snake Song"). Harris's reedy voice is one of the most empathetic instruments in all of popular music, and perhaps no other female performer of the genre has been able to capture the desperate, paralyzing sense of longing and loneliness as well as this greatly revered singer. That may be a red flag of warning for the Prozac generation, but this deeply satisfying set stands as a benchmark of 40 years of artistry, as well as an uncommonly soulful illumination of the human condition. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 18 September, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $74.98 Our Price: $67.49
Stardust by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson has never been one to do the safe or expected, and this Booker T. Jones-produced album of pop standards from the '30s and '40s certainly fits the profile. It's also one of the better albums of Nelson's career, allowing Willie to dip his fragile, quivering tenor all around the beat in songs like "All of Me" and "Unchained Melody." Jones's organ, piano, and string arrangements are low-key and swinging (except on the almost wooden "On the Sunny Side of the Street"), and Nelson's vocals on "Georgia on My Mind" and "Moonlight in Vermont" are filled with a dignified and slightly jazzy country soul. The 1999 reissue adds a pair of bonus cuts to the mix, including the lullaby-like "Scarlet Ribbons" and the somewhat out-of-place "I Can See Clearly Now." --David Cantwell Willie Nelson has never been one to do the safe or expected, and this Booker T. Jones-produced album of pop standards from the '30s and '40s certainly fits the profile. It's also one of the better albums of Nelson's career, allowing Willie to dip his fragile, quivering tenor all around the beat in songs like "All of Me" and "Unchained Melody." Jones's organ, piano, and string arrangements are low-key and swinging (except on the almost wooden "On the Sunny Side of the Street"), and Nelson's vocals on "Georgia on My Mind" and "Moonlight in Vermont" are filled with a dignified and slightly jazzy country soul. The 1999 reissue adds a pair of bonus cuts to the mix, including the lullaby-like "Scarlet Ribbons" and the somewhat out-of-place "I Can See Clearly Now." --David Cantwell Release Date: 19 October, 1999 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $11.98 Our Price: $8.97
Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson
Though this 1975 album cost Willie only $20,000 to record, it handed him the success he'd craved after years as a hit songwriter and modestly successful singer. By blending originals and vintage material, he created a timeless Western saga, one that originally left Columbia Records, who'd guaranteed him artistic control, skeptical. The label's doubts, amplified by the fact that Nelson had recorded the album in Texas with only his seven-piece touring band, evaporated after the album and two singles, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Remember Me," became huge hits and launched Willie into the stratosphere. This enhanced version preserves the original sequence, adding four bonus tracks. One, a brief snippet of Bach's "Minuet in G" from the 1986 Red Headed Stranger film, is inconsequential. Three more, from the 1975 sessions, are enjoyable covers of Hank Williams's "I Can't Help It If I'm Still in Love with You," Bob Wills's "A Maiden's Prayer," and Pee Wee King's "Bonaparte's Retreat," footnotes to the original but welcome nonetheless. --Rich Kienzle Though this 1975 album cost Willie only $20,000 to record, it handed him the success he'd craved after years as a hit songwriter and modestly successful singer. By blending originals and vintage material, he created a timeless Western saga, one that originally left Columbia Records, who'd guaranteed him artistic control, skeptical. The label's doubts, amplified by the fact that Nelson had recorded the album in Texas with only his seven-piece touring band, evaporated after the album and two singles, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Remember Me," became huge hits and launched Willie into the stratosphere. This enhanced version preserves the original sequence, adding four bonus tracks. One, a brief snippet of Bach's "Minuet in G" from the 1986 Red Headed Stranger film, is inconsequential. Three more, from the 1975 sessions, are enjoyable covers of Hank Williams's "I Can't Help It If I'm Still in Love with You," Bob Wills's "A Maiden's Prayer," and Pee Wee King's "Bonaparte's Retreat," footnotes to the original but welcome nonetheless. --Rich Kienzle Release Date: 04 July, 2000 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $11.98 Our Price: $8.97 |
Top Ten Bluegrass
The Ultimate Hits ( Garth Brooks ) by Garth Brooks
Release Date: 06 November, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $23.98 Our Price: $11.99
Carnival Ride by Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts, hastily made and released some five months after she won the 2005 American Idol crown, was surprisingly solid and tuneful. For her follow-up, producer Mark Bright steers her toward the big Martina McBride skies, with a plethora of strings and huge emotional crescendos. Underwood co-wrote four songs, mostly with the tried-and-true tunesmiths who made Some Hearts soar. On the torchy heartache ballad "I Know You Won’t," she gives a beautifully nuanced and controlled performance, but if that song would suit any number of lush female pop stars from Celine Dion on down, "Flat on the Floor" rocks hard while preserving co-writer Ashley Monroe’s Appalachian angst. Still, there are missteps: the easy tears of the unlikely war ballad "Just a Dream," a too-obvious attempt to repeat the sass of "Before He Cheats" ("The More Boys I Meet"), and the Shania-ish bad-girl-on-Cuervo stomp of "Last Name." The big payoff, then, is how much 24-year old Underwood has improved as a vocalist. How often listeners line up for this Carnival Ride depends on their attitude about country music’s continual melding with pop, and how they feel about a princess upstart taking home the awards that used to go to her heroes. --Alanna Nash Carrie Underwood Photos
More from Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts, hastily made and released some five months after she won the 2005 American Idol crown, was surprisingly solid and tuneful. For her follow-up, producer Mark Bright steers her toward the big Martina McBride skies, with a plethora of strings and huge emotional crescendos. Underwood co-wrote four songs, mostly with the tried-and-true tunesmiths who made Some Hearts soar. On the torchy heartache ballad "I Know You Won’t," she gives a beautifully nuanced and controlled performance, but if that song would suit any number of lush female pop stars from Celine Dion on down, "Flat on the Floor" rocks hard while preserving co-writer Ashley Monroe’s Appalachian angst. Still, there are missteps: the easy tears of the unlikely war ballad "Just a Dream," a too-obvious attempt to repeat the sass of "Before He Cheats" ("The More Boys I Meet"), and the Shania-ish bad-girl-on-Cuervo stomp of "Last Name." The big payoff, then, is how much 24-year old Underwood has improved as a vocalist. How often listeners line up for this Carnival Ride depends on their attitude about country music’s continual melding with pop, and how they feel about a princess upstart taking home the awards that used to go to her heroes. --Alanna Nash Carrie Underwood Photos
More from Carrie Underwood
Release Date: 23 October, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.97 Our Price: $9.99
Enjoy The Ride by Sugarland
One of country's fastest-rising acts, Sugarland arrive at their follow-up to 2004's triple-platinum Twice the Speed of Life in a considerably altered state. Chief songwriter and founding member Kristen Hall is gone, and producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood) has been usurped in favor of crossover hitmaker Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One could argue that these are the predictable results of success--by opening for such megastars as Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn, the Atlanta-based trio was forced to retool its organic, singer-songwriter, folk-rock sound to fill arenas. And while their intricate vocal harmonies added a subtle creative dimension to their debut, Enjoy the Ride is made up mostly of songs ("County Line," "Mean Girls") constructed to showcase lead singer Jennifer Nettles's big voice in ways the previous album did not. While the repertoire was written by Nettles and surviving partner Kristian Bush in collaboration with proven songsmiths Bobby Pinson, Lisa Carver, and Tim Owens, much of the wistful intimacy of the first album is now diminished. Furthermore, it seems foolish to now call this act a duo, as Bush receives very little time in the spotlight apart from his vocal harmonies and performance on guitar and mandolin. None of this should matter on the charts, however, since the real focus was always on Nettles, whose twangy, force-field soprano more than carries the day. As before, the lyrics are upbeat and positive--if the message of the first album was of flight and searching, the theme here is of digging in. The winsome Nettles does a fine job of selling it all, positioning herself as the Ambassador of Optimism, the Deep South successor to Jo Dee Messina. --Alanna Nash One of country's fastest-rising acts, Sugarland arrive at their follow-up to 2004's triple-platinum Twice the Speed of Life in a considerably altered state. Chief songwriter and founding member Kristen Hall is gone, and producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood) has been usurped in favor of crossover hitmaker Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One could argue that these are the predictable results of success--by opening for such megastars as Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn, the Atlanta-based trio was forced to retool its organic, singer-songwriter, folk-rock sound to fill arenas. And while their intricate vocal harmonies added a subtle creative dimension to their debut, Enjoy the Ride is made up mostly of songs ("County Line," "Mean Girls") constructed to showcase lead singer Jennifer Nettles's big voice in ways the previous album did not. While the repertoire was written by Nettles and surviving partner Kristian Bush in collaboration with proven songsmiths Bobby Pinson, Lisa Carver, and Tim Owens, much of the wistful intimacy of the first album is now diminished. Furthermore, it seems foolish to now call this act a duo, as Bush receives very little time in the spotlight apart from his vocal harmonies and performance on guitar and mandolin. None of this should matter on the charts, however, since the real focus was always on Nettles, whose twangy, force-field soprano more than carries the day. As before, the lyrics are upbeat and positive--if the message of the first album was of flight and searching, the theme here is of digging in. The winsome Nettles does a fine job of selling it all, positioning herself as the Ambassador of Optimism, the Deep South successor to Jo Dee Messina. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 07 November, 2006 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99
Still Feels Good by Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts has always been an anomaly in country music. Signed to the Disney label Lyric Street, they arrived in 2000 as essentially a trio (winning lead vocalist Gary LeVox fronted pin-up boy Joe Don Rooney on electric guitar and Jay DeMarcus on bass) that traveled and recorded with additional musicians to make up a full band. Despite their workingman backgrounds, their repertoire was so pop-oriented that hardly anyone could really call them country, and the group bristled at being dubbed Nashville's Boy Band. Yet while they were primarily marketed to teens (the young set screams their lungs out in concert), a lot of adults found their bouncy, bubbly radio tunes irresistible. And in 2006, when they released their fourth album, the quadruple-platinum Me and My Gang, they sold more than 700,000 records the first week, ending up as the best-selling artists of the year across all genres. Now comes the follow-up, and with the group sharing production credit with hit-meister Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill), they turned out an extremely well-built album of heavily layered, grown-up pop. (The one country-ish song, "Bob that Head," about the joys of Friday night cruising in a tricked-out truck, almost amounts to a rap.) DeMarcus has said that the band took its time making the record, and it shows--everything about it telegraphs a growing maturity. Not only do Rooney and DeMarcus play on every cut (which they didn't do until Me and My Gang), but the trio has a hand in writing much of the material that doesn't come from the pens of Nashville's most reliable songsmiths (Jeffrey Steele, Neil Thrasher, Steve Robson, Hillary Lindsey, and headliner Kenny Chesney on "Take Me There"). It all goes down quite smoothly, from the sexy title track to the pain ballad "Better Now," to the (too-obvious) social commentary of "It's Not Supposed to Go Like That." As a measure of that, even actor/singer Jamie Foxx's guest appearance on the silky "She Goes All the Way" blends seamlessly with the rest of the material, much of it crafted to manipulate the emotions with power choruses, stinging electric guitar solos, and throbbing drums. But unlike the Rascals' other albums, there aren't many story songs here. And though LeVox's hangdog tenor hammers home the devastating ache of failed relationships ("Help Me Remember"), there's no standout tune like "What Hurts the Most," and not a lot of this sticks in your head after it's gone. Yes, as the title promises, it "Still Feels Good," but only for a little while. -–Alanna Nash Rascal Flatts has always been an anomaly in country music. Signed to the Disney label Lyric Street, they arrived in 2000 as essentially a trio (winning lead vocalist Gary LeVox fronted pin-up boy Joe Don Rooney on electric guitar and Jay DeMarcus on bass) that traveled and recorded with additional musicians to make up a full band. Despite their workingman backgrounds, their repertoire was so pop-oriented that hardly anyone could really call them country, and the group bristled at being dubbed Nashville's Boy Band. Yet while they were primarily marketed to teens (the young set screams their lungs out in concert), a lot of adults found their bouncy, bubbly radio tunes irresistible. And in 2006, when they released their fourth album, the quadruple-platinum Me and My Gang, they sold more than 700,000 records the first week, ending up as the best-selling artists of the year across all genres. Now comes the follow-up, and with the group sharing production credit with hit-meister Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill), they turned out an extremely well-built album of heavily layered, grown-up pop. (The one country-ish song, "Bob that Head," about the joys of Friday night cruising in a tricked-out truck, almost amounts to a rap.) DeMarcus has said that the band took its time making the record, and it shows--everything about it telegraphs a growing maturity. Not only do Rooney and DeMarcus play on every cut (which they didn't do until Me and My Gang), but the trio has a hand in writing much of the material that doesn't come from the pens of Nashville's most reliable songsmiths (Jeffrey Steele, Neil Thrasher, Steve Robson, Hillary Lindsey, and headliner Kenny Chesney on "Take Me There"). It all goes down quite smoothly, from the sexy title track to the pain ballad "Better Now," to the (too-obvious) social commentary of "It's Not Supposed to Go Like That." As a measure of that, even actor/singer Jamie Foxx's guest appearance on the silky "She Goes All the Way" blends seamlessly with the rest of the material, much of it crafted to manipulate the emotions with power choruses, stinging electric guitar solos, and throbbing drums. But unlike the Rascals' other albums, there aren't many story songs here. And though LeVox's hangdog tenor hammers home the devastating ache of failed relationships ("Help Me Remember"), there's no standout tune like "What Hurts the Most," and not a lot of this sticks in your head after it's gone. Yes, as the title promises, it "Still Feels Good," but only for a little while. -–Alanna Nash Release Date: 25 September, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $9.99
Some Hearts by Carrie Underwood
Would American Idol winner Carrie Underwood have landed a major-label recording contract without winning the hugely popular television contest? Probably. The big-voiced Oklahoman has the pipes, the look, the pedigree, and, most important, the emotional resonance to sustain a professional career. As an investment in her future, her label eschewed the easy path in putting out an album to take advantage of her publicity, going for a name producer, Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Lonestar), to handle half the tracks. It also solicited material from the same top songwriters (Diane Warren, Brett James, Troy Verges, Rivers Rutherford) who stock albums by Hill, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, and Wynonna. "Jesus, Take the Wheel," the hit first single, shows off the best of Underwood's power vocals, while the sexy rocker "We're Young and Beautiful" pulls her out of her ballad-heavy comfort zone, and her autobiographical "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore" bolsters her authenticity. If the young performer oversings on occasion (the overwrought bonus track, "Inside Your Heaven"), and settles for too many generic themes, she still surprises in her ability to go head-to-head with country’s reigning females. Will Underwood really survive to be a contender for the Martina throne? Let's just say that American Idol judges and voters picked the right contestant. If the posturing Bo Bice had won, rock stars would hardly be quaking in their boots. --Alanna Nash More American Idol Winners
Would American Idol winner Carrie Underwood have landed a major-label recording contract without winning the hugely popular television contest? Probably. The big-voiced Oklahoman has the pipes, the look, the pedigree, and, most important, the emotional resonance to sustain a professional career. As an investment in her future, her label eschewed the easy path in putting out an album to take advantage of her publicity, going for a name producer, Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Lonestar), to handle half the tracks. It also solicited material from the same top songwriters (Diane Warren, Brett James, Troy Verges, Rivers Rutherford) who stock albums by Hill, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, and Wynonna. "Jesus, Take the Wheel," the hit first single, shows off the best of Underwood's power vocals, while the sexy rocker "We're Young and Beautiful" pulls her out of her ballad-heavy comfort zone, and her autobiographical "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore" bolsters her authenticity. If the young performer oversings on occasion (the overwrought bonus track, "Inside Your Heaven"), and settles for too many generic themes, she still surprises in her ability to go head-to-head with country’s reigning females. Will Underwood really survive to be a contender for the Martina throne? Let's just say that American Idol judges and voters picked the right contestant. If the posturing Bo Bice had won, rock stars would hardly be quaking in their boots. --Alanna Nash More American Idol Winners
Release Date: 15 November, 2005 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.97 Our Price: $8.99
Taylor Swift by Taylor Swift
Three years ago, a 13-year old Taylor Swift set out to be a star and moved from Reading, Pennsylvania, to Nashville. By 14, she had a publishing deal, and by 15, a recording contract. In these days of Bianca Ryan (and before her, Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes), many are called, but few are chosen. Swift, it appears, is one of the chosen ones. Her vocal talent is modest, though sweetly affecting, her style seemingly influenced by the radio hits of early Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch, and perhaps Cyndi Thomson. And at times, her youthfulness shows--she encoded messages in the lyrics of her CD booklet, starting with the name of the boy who cheated on her from "Should've Said No" (the album's strongest offering). But in writing or co-writing all 11 songs on this debut, Swift demonstrates remarkable maturity, particularly in crafting a hooky, radio-ready chorus. Though she sounds ridiculous looking back from the perspective of an 87-year old woman on "Mary's Song," to her credit she mostly writes about what she knows--unrequited high-school crushes ("Teardrops on My Guitar"), teenage angst ("Tied Together with a Smile"), and complete immersion in starry-eyed romance (her breakout hit "Tim McGraw"). Swift has such wistful charm and tunefulness that only a curmudgeon could dismiss her, and in fact, more than 60,000 fans lined up to grab this CD the first month of release. No wonder Rascal Flatts and George Strait added her to their tours. Look out, Carrie Underwood--there's a new kid in town. --Alanna Nash Three years ago, a 13-year old Taylor Swift set out to be a star and moved from Reading, Pennsylvania, to Nashville. By 14, she had a publishing deal, and by 15, a recording contract. In these days of Bianca Ryan (and before her, Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes), many are called, but few are chosen. Swift, it appears, is one of the chosen ones. Her vocal talent is modest, though sweetly affecting, her style seemingly influenced by the radio hits of early Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch, and perhaps Cyndi Thomson. And at times, her youthfulness shows--she encoded messages in the lyrics of her CD booklet, starting with the name of the boy who cheated on her from "Should've Said No" (the album's strongest offering). But in writing or co-writing all 11 songs on this debut, Swift demonstrates remarkable maturity, particularly in crafting a hooky, radio-ready chorus. Though she sounds ridiculous looking back from the perspective of an 87-year old woman on "Mary's Song," to her credit she mostly writes about what she knows--unrequited high-school crushes ("Teardrops on My Guitar"), teenage angst ("Tied Together with a Smile"), and complete immersion in starry-eyed romance (her breakout hit "Tim McGraw"). Swift has such wistful charm and tunefulness that only a curmudgeon could dismiss her, and in fact, more than 60,000 fans lined up to grab this CD the first month of release. No wonder Rascal Flatts and George Strait added her to their tours. Look out, Carrie Underwood--there's a new kid in town. --Alanna Nash Release Date: 24 October, 2006 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.98 Our Price: $9.99
Reba Duets by Reba McEntire
Country music queen Reba McEntire sounds like she feels at home with a variety of big-name artists, who wisely adapt to her style rather than making her stretch to accommodate them. Perhaps the biggest surprise is her duet with Justin Timberlake on "The Only Promise That Remains," which he wrote for her as an acoustic ballad far removed from most of the music he makes on his own. The power balladry of "Because of You" receives the full diva treatment in its teaming of McEntire with Kelly Clarkson, while Carole King adds some pop buoyancy to "Everyday People" (not the Sly and the Family Stone classic). LeAnn Rimes pays trans-generational homage with opener "When You Love Someone Like That" (which also closes Rimes’ recent Family as a bonus cut). "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma," a duet with Ronnie Dunn, finds the pair writing as well as singing together, and Vince Gill offers his "These Broken Hearts" for the duet treatment. Faith Hill and Reba wring high drama from "Sleeping with the Telephone," which humanizes the war from the perspective of a soldier’s wife whose husband is overseas. --Don McLeese Country music queen Reba McEntire sounds like she feels at home with a variety of big-name artists, who wisely adapt to her style rather than making her stretch to accommodate them. Perhaps the biggest surprise is her duet with Justin Timberlake on "The Only Promise That Remains," which he wrote for her as an acoustic ballad far removed from most of the music he makes on his own. The power balladry of "Because of You" receives the full diva treatment in its teaming of McEntire with Kelly Clarkson, while Carole King adds some pop buoyancy to "Everyday People" (not the Sly and the Family Stone classic). LeAnn Rimes pays trans-generational homage with opener "When You Love Someone Like That" (which also closes Rimes’ recent Family as a bonus cut). "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma," a duet with Ronnie Dunn, finds the pair writing as well as singing together, and Vince Gill offers his "These Broken Hearts" for the duet treatment. Faith Hill and Reba wring high drama from "Sleeping with the Telephone," which humanizes the war from the perspective of a soldier’s wife whose husband is overseas. --Don McLeese Release Date: 18 September, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99
Lost Highway by Bon Jovi
Given the chart success of their Grammy-winning country single "Who Says You Can't Go Home," it's no surprise Bon Jovi upped the ante by recording an entire album paying homage to Nashville. In some ways, it's amazing they didn't do this sooner, given the way Keith Urban in particular is blurring country-pop lines, much as Garth Brooks and others did in the 1990s. To their credit, you won't find predictably shallow invocations of past country icons or any self-conscious, in-your-face down-home twang added strictly to remind the listener of the musical premise. In fact, Lost Highway isn't "Bon Jovi goes country" so much as a meaningful tribute to the Nashville ethos done on their own terms. They honor the spirit of the town through 12 simple, direct originals. The intimate, smoldering "(You Want To) Make a Memory," the ballad "Seat Next To You," "Lost Highway" and its roaring celebration of freedom, and "Stranger," an effective duet with LeAnn Rimes, all invoke country's spirit, and "I Love This Town," an eloquent nod to Nashville itself, ties it together admirably. --Rich Kienzle Given the chart success of their Grammy-winning country single "Who Says You Can't Go Home," it's no surprise Bon Jovi upped the ante by recording an entire album paying homage to Nashville. In some ways, it's amazing they didn't do this sooner, given the way Keith Urban in particular is blurring country-pop lines, much as Garth Brooks and others did in the 1990s. To their credit, you won't find predictably shallow invocations of past country icons or any self-conscious, in-your-face down-home twang added strictly to remind the listener of the musical premise. In fact, Lost Highway isn't "Bon Jovi goes country" so much as a meaningful tribute to the Nashville ethos done on their own terms. They honor the spirit of the town through 12 simple, direct originals. The intimate, smoldering "(You Want To) Make a Memory," the ballad "Seat Next To You," "Lost Highway" and its roaring celebration of freedom, and "Stranger," an effective duet with LeAnn Rimes, all invoke country's spirit, and "I Love This Town," an eloquent nod to Nashville itself, ties it together admirably. --Rich Kienzle Release Date: 19 June, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $13.98 Our Price: $9.99
A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection by Alison Krauss
A Hundred Miles or More carries the subtitle A Collection, and what a curious collection it is--cuts from soundtracks, side projects, and tribute albums, plus guest duets on other artists' albums and five previously unreleased tracks. In other words, this is a collection of Alison Krauss performances that have never appeared on an Alison Krauss album, though it holds together better than such a grab-bag approach might suggest. Highlights such as her duet with Brad Paisley on "Whiskey Lullaby" and her a cappella rendition of "Down to the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou? will be familiar to most Krauss fans, though it's doubtful that many share her infatuation with retro rocker John Waite (with whom she revives his "Missing You" and duets on a cover of Don Williams's "Lay Down Beside Me."). Other projects represented range from Disney to the Chieftains to the Louvin Brothers (she duets with James Taylor on their "How's the World Treating You." There's minimal contribution from her Union Station band--making this a solo release by default--and little information to indicate whether the previously unreleased tracks were outtakes from earlier releases or recently recorded for this one. --Don McLeese More Alison Krauss
A Hundred Miles or More carries the subtitle A Collection, and what a curious collection it is--cuts from soundtracks, side projects, and tribute albums, plus guest duets on other artists' albums and five previously unreleased tracks. In other words, this is a collection of Alison Krauss performances that have never appeared on an Alison Krauss album, though it holds together better than such a grab-bag approach might suggest. Highlights such as her duet with Brad Paisley on "Whiskey Lullaby" and her a cappella rendition of "Down to the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou? will be familiar to most Krauss fans, though it's doubtful that many share her infatuation with retro rocker John Waite (with whom she revives his "Missing You" and duets on a cover of Don Williams's "Lay Down Beside Me."). Other projects represented range from Disney to the Chieftains to the Louvin Brothers (she duets with James Taylor on their "How's the World Treating You." There's minimal contribution from her Union Station band--making this a solo release by default--and little information to indicate whether the previously unreleased tracks were outtakes from earlier releases or recently recorded for this one. --Don McLeese More Alison Krauss
Release Date: 03 April, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $17.98 Our Price: $11.97
5th Gear by Brad Paisley
Like his friend Vince Gill, Brad Paisley has achieved the often-difficult feat of reconciling being an entertainer and world-class guitarist. He's proven that on four admirable albums, and 5th Gear follows in that vein. Certainly "Ticks," an airy, radio-friendly ditty, is not the true substance here. That comes with such superior fare as the insightful "All I Wanted Was a Car" and "Online," a sly satire of people's Web facades. While his duet with Carrie Underwood ("Oh Love") is a bit cut and dried, Paisley ably handles "Letter to Me," "It Did," and "Mr. Policeman," a 21st-century outrun-the-law tune. The closing hymn, "When We All Get to Heaven," and ripping instrumental "Throttleneck" are Paisley at his best. It's admirable that he invites his venerable buddies, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Vince Gill, and Bill Anderson, along with Dolly Parton, to join in, but the obligatory "Kung Pao Buckaroos" skit is wearing a bit thin. Better to feature them musically, the way he includes Dickens, Gill, and Anderson on "Bigger Fish to Fry." In a time where lines between county and pop are blurring far too much, it's comforting to know Paisley still realizes and respects the differences. --Rich Kienzle Like his friend Vince Gill, Brad Paisley has achieved the often-difficult feat of reconciling being an entertainer and world-class guitarist. He's proven that on four admirable albums, and 5th Gear follows in that vein. Certainly "Ticks," an airy, radio-friendly ditty, is not the true substance here. That comes with such superior fare as the insightful "All I Wanted Was a Car" and "Online," a sly satire of people's Web facades. While his duet with Carrie Underwood ("Oh Love") is a bit cut and dried, Paisley ably handles "Letter to Me," "It Did," and "Mr. Policeman," a 21st-century outrun-the-law tune. The closing hymn, "When We All Get to Heaven," and ripping instrumental "Throttleneck" are Paisley at his best. It's admirable that he invites his venerable buddies, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Vince Gill, and Bill Anderson, along with Dolly Parton, to join in, but the obligatory "Kung Pao Buckaroos" skit is wearing a bit thin. Better to feature them musically, the way he includes Dickens, Gill, and Anderson on "Bigger Fish to Fry." In a time where lines between county and pop are blurring far too much, it's comforting to know Paisley still realizes and respects the differences. --Rich Kienzle Release Date: 19 June, 2007 Audio CD More Info... List Price: $18.97 Our Price: $9.99 |
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