The Best You’ve Never Heard #2 – Mark Chesnutt and George Jones – Talkin’ To Hank

This, my friends, is a fun piece of music.  Released on both George Jones’ “My Very Special Guests” and Mark Chestnutt’s “Longnecks and Short Stories” albums, this song put a grin on my face the very first time I heard it.  The Possum and Mark Chesnutt blend well together, and really seem to both understand and enjoy this lighthearted tune.  It’s a humorous take on the idea that Hank didn’t really pass away in the back of that Cadillac, he just moved off into the mountains to live in peace.  More a dream one might have after a shot or ten, it’s every hardcore country fan’s fantasy, stumbling on Hank Williams, real or his ghost, off in his secluded cabin.  The imagination used in the lyrics, though a bit predictable, is a smooth and oddly comforting train of thought.  The words of wisdom are believable, and could have easily been collected from the recordings Hank did as Luke the Drifter. 

All in all, a song worth digging a bit to find, and a good tune to lighten your mood, and let your mind wander where it will.

Single Review – Rissi Palmer – No Air

Wow.  And not the good kind.  This single is an embarrassment to country music.  No, on second thought, this release might be more embarrassing for R&B and Pop. Because, folks, this is not a country record.  I can’t say for sure what it is, other than a really bad cover of a song that was at best medicore in its original form.  The song, No Air, went to the top of the Pop Chart for Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown.  It is not destined for similar success for Miss Palmer.  For those of you who’ve been with me for a while now, you may recall that I took issue with the material she chose to record on her debut album as being far too pop.  I openly wished for her to record some new material, though this is far from what I had in mind.  This is ridiculous.  Adding a banjo to a pop record, singing it off beat, and shipping it out to country radio does NOT make it country. 

In conclusion, this is the last post that will feature Rissi Palmer on Nashville Now.  I did indeed declare that she had the talent to break the barrier and that she could indeed have a career in country.  But, I find it now very obvious that she has no interest in being a country musician, so I wish her all the luck with her pop career.  You can perhaps follow her career from here on out on a site dedicated to pop, but she is no longer welcome here on Nashville Now.  We’ll stick to country, and it’s sad that Rissi Palmer didn’t chose to do likewise.

The Best You’ve Never Heard #1… “What Would Waylon Do”

To kick off the Best You’ve Never Heard Series, I’ve chosen a track that I only discovered myself this past week.  While thumbing through the Joe Diffie catalog, I realized that I’d never given his 2004 indie debut, Tougher Than Nails, a good listen.  It is much the same as his earlier albums for Sony, and still a little too country for radio to embrace.  But it’s light and fun, and authentic country.  Tucked neatly at track number 8 is a tune titled What Would Waylon Do?  Honestly, I was hooked from there, and this song is just as much fun as you might imagine. 

Pairing Joe and the legendary Possum, George Jones, is a match made in hillbilly heaven.  The banter that leads into the song is classic.  George with his drawled and sarcastic “Yeah” is a touch that still makes me smile.  And the fun just starts there.  True in form to pay tribute to Waylon, we take an average hard luck night in the life of a two bar singers, and twist it around what the old Outlaw might have done.  Kicking in doors, shootin’ out the lights, and going on to “Scare the dog out of the sound man, with a “Hoss, let’s get this right.”"  I can actually buy that hook, line, and sinker.  I can hear Ol’ Waylon, eyebrow cocked, saying that.  It’s real.  And it’s one of the best songs that name-drop a legend that I can sign off on.  I say that as this wasn’t thrown down our throats like Taylor Swift (Tim McGraw) and Jason Aldean (Johnny Cash) as nothing more than cashing in on the name-drop, while the song and the title have, dare I say, nothing in common.  Well worth the listen, and well worth the laughs.

Vitals:  Released on 2004’s “Tougher Than Nails”, Broken Bow Records, Joe Diffie featuring George Jones.

The Best You’ve Never Heard…

Welcome to a brand new series here on Nashville Now, “The Best You’ve Never Heard”.  This will be an open-ended series that could never possibly be concluded.  The series will feature both songs that never, or barely, charted, and album cuts that must be heard.  There are no real qualifications or rankings involved, only that the songs be fairly obscure, and that they be worth a good listen.  Diamonds in the rough if you will.  Some may come from household names and superstars, some from folks you’ve never heard of.  You’re suggestions are most welcome.  Email them to us at nashvillenow@live.com. 

Some of these are easy to find.  Others may require that you scratch around a bit to dig them up.  But I hope that you find these little gems worth the search.  Happy hunting!

 

James Otto – Follow Up

I hate to brag, but when you nail one, you nail one.  I reviewed “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” back in November, the very week it went for adds.  And I said it was gonna be a big one.  This week, kids, it sits atop the charts, proving that perhaps country radio hasn’t totally lost it.  It led me to thinking about the amazing comeback the Otto has made in the past few years.  He is really a success that is attributed to coming into his own.  It’s rare in this world of handlers and over-bearing career management.  How many of the stars you love present themselves as who they really are?  I can only think of a few.  Look at Otto.  When you listen to him now, or see him in concert, is there any doubt that this is really who he is?  Not one doubt in my mind.  He’s comfortable in his skin, wears it well, and as a result, is turning out some great music.  Can you imagine what, say, Faith Hill would be capable of if she just let loose, like she did at the CMA’s a couple of years ago, carried it over to her music, and just had some fun?  She’s got the pipes, but has just gotten too commercialized.  Now it’s always a gamble.  It doesn’t always turn out so well.  Ask Ray Scott.  Ask Jamey Johnson.  Ask Dale Watson.  Walking your own path doesn’t always take you to the top, but I bet those boys sleep well at night, though they may not see the top of the charts for a long time.  How many record execs told Johnny Cash that a prison album would never sell?  And that it would ruin him?  Folsom and San Quentin later, how must they have felt?  Never underestimate authienticity. 

Now, to be fair, I must go ahead and say that I would rather have a botched root canal than listen to Taylor Swift.  But she’s got the ear of an audience.  Teens and tweens relate to her and can sense that she’s real, and she’s one of them.  She’s a real version of Miley Cyrus.  And like anyone who’s real, it ain’t always pretty.  If you saw her glitter guitared, arm waving performance at the CMA’s last November, you know what I mean.  She may seem a bit manufactured to the 30-something crowd, as it did to me at first.  But she was raised for this.  She was groomed to become exactly what she is.  Real sells records, like it or not.

And as a final example, I gotta pick a bit on Kellie Pickler.  Let me go down the list of sad strikes against her as a genuine persona in country music.  She came from American Idol, having changed her name to a more commercial friendly one, adopted Dolly as a hero, got a fake rack to match, and made an album that is tailored to get airplay on radio.  Decisions that will not put an artist in good standing on Nashville Now.  But, in four short minutes, she melted me.  Her performance of “I Wonder”, which she wrote about her estranged mother, broke my heart.  It was real, and as she ended it in tears, my heart went out to her.  She made me feel it.  And that, if nothing else, is very, very, real.

So, in conclusion, country music fans are very intuitive.  They see most artists for what and who they are.  And we know real.  Perhaps, with guys like James Otto sitting atop the charts, others will follow suit, find themselves, and then turn out a string of the best country music we’ve heard in a very long time.  He’s put it off to a great start.

I’m back, and why I went away…

My last post on this site was all the way back in November of 2007, and after that last post, I walked away and left this little site for dead.  Why, you may wonder, after the great start and response that the site got in its first few months, would I abandon it?  The answer is never so simple to such a question. But, in all fairness, those of you who took the time back then to read my humble posts, and the almost 4,000 of you who have read them in my absence, deserve an answer.

I walked away after the 2007 CMA Awards.  “Country Music’s Biggest Night.”  Or so they say.  It was on that night, telecast from Nashville and done so to showcase our genre of music to the world, that country music sold it’s soul.  Not that it all happened that night, of course, but that was the night the lights went out and the very foundation of my country soul could take no more.  I wish that I could put my finger on just where it all went wrong.  Just when the music stopped.  I couldn’t.  All I know is that there, alone in the rain, I no longer knew what country music was.  Or where it was going.  I’d just watched a child make a complete fool of herself, and everyone not only cheered, but declared her a prodigy.  The show was more pop than anything I’d ever call country.  This wasn’t my Grandpa’s country.  It wasn’t Ol’ Hank’s country.  This wasn’t my country.  So who’s was it?  Or was I right when I said, on the day we laid Johnny Cash to rest, that Country is Dead?

To me, it seemed, it was.  And, as with any death, I grieved.  Country music was a life long companion with whom I’d shared most every high and low.  A close friend to say the least.  So, off on an oddyssey of grief I went.  I didn’t miss a single step.  I started with denial.  This had not happened.  I popped in every old album I could find, touching everything I could from 1940 to somewhere around the mid 70’s.  I said to myself that this, my friend, is country.  The way is should be.  Country is indeed alive and well, and better than ever.  Alive in my car, my house, anywhere I could choose what was playing.  But slowly, I realized that I was one of the few still living in the “good ole days”.  Try the radio, I told myself.  It can’t be that bad.  But, denial subsided as I realized that a lot of the crap on the airwaves was actually just as bad as I thought it was.  So on I moved to the next stage:  anger.  I listened to all the “new country” crap I could, soaking it up for hours at a time, and then unleashing it in angry tirades to anyone who would listen.  And, occasionally, to those who could have cared less.  I was a one man idiot crew.  I debated if I could single-handedly bring this new country mess to an end.  And yes, if anyone wondered, I really did get mad and yell at the radio, just hoping it would yell back.  I must here admit that it’s tiring to fight against something that doesn’t know you’re yelling, and would only laugh if it did.  So tired and frustrated, I moved on into bargaining. 

Let’s make a deal.  I can find enough good out there to keep it all rolling along.  For every Taylor Swift there’s a Dale Watson.  For every Rascal Flatts there must be at least one more Alabama.  I tried to sell this to myself for quite sometime.  Then, I looked at the theory for a good hard minute.  And I realized that this was a deal nobody else was gonna buy.  Real country can’t crack the top 40.  And, though it’s out there, it’s just not the main anymore.  Nashville went Hollywood, and I couldn’t bring her back.  So, resigned, I moved on to depression. 

There, I gave up.  I just made the sad but easy decision that I could insulate myself with my vinyls and my re-issues on cd so closely that I wouldn’t have to care anymore.  I could make it tolerable for me, and to hell with the rest of the world.  If they wanna buy that crap, go ahead.  Merle and I could sit and sing and cry in our beers.  We can find enough to worry about without even caring about where country music is today or where it goes tomorrow.  What difference would one man and his opinion really make anyway?  Just shut it down and feel sorry for myself.  So I did.  For months I did.  For many months. 

Then, as it always does, the final stage of grief rode into view.  Acceptance.  Slowly, gradually, I accepted it.  Country, my friends, is indeed dead.  At least my country, my little take on the greatest genre of music to ever grace three chords, is gone forever.  And that’s ok.  It really is.  Because things evolve, and even the best of dreams must end.  And the best part of it is simply this.  As long as I draw breath on this old ball of rock, country will live in me.  And I’m not alone.  There are a few of us left.  And we’re not really the quiet sort. 

So let it be said:  I’m tryin’.  It may take a while, but I’m gonna give it my best shot.  But the reviews are back.  The commentary is back.  The mouth has returned, and this is gonna be fun.  If you’re looking for politically correct, move on.  If you want to hear it smoothed over and sugar coated, then go buy yourself a copy of Country Weekly (from now on known around here as Country Weakly.)  The gloves are off, my friends.  There are no holds barred.  It’s on, and I’m calling all takers.  Read on, and comment away.  Cause this life has no guarentees, and this little site may fall on its collective face, but its gonna be on heck of a ride.  Welcome back… to the new Nashville Now!

Single Review: Eric Church – Sinners Like Me

Relative newcomer Eric Church is back on the charts with the title track from his debut album, Sinners Like Me.  After the success of his first single, How ‘Bout You, he followed up with Two Pink Lines and Guys Like Me, and was met with marginal success.  Strangely, radio all but ignored both, due in part to the sheer number of young men in the same vein sending singles to the air.  This song, however, is sure to get some attention.  It’s simple, catchy, and one of those songs that invariably gets stuck in your head.

As songs that grasp our mortality, and the simple fact that we’re all little more than sinners, this is as good as any.  The arrangement is easy on the ears, and though the foot pedals are used liberally on the guitars, it remains smooth.  Starting from the first verse, Church paints a vivid picture in the mind.  It’s very easy to relate to, and though serious, there is just enough humor worked in to keep the listener from taking the song, life, and this simple truth too seriously. 

I found the second verse very reminiscent of Trent Tomlison’s One Wing In The Fire, though Sinnersis lighter fare, and easier to digest.  Songs like this are rare, having both lyrical weight and deceptively smooth delivery. 

With the recent track record of the powers-that-be at country radio finally realizing that it’s ok for a hit to have some religious overtones, as is evidenced with hits like Three Wooden Crosses, Me and God, Long Black Train, and several others, Sinnersshouldn’t be shied away from as it would have been ten years ago. 

All in all, this is a quality release from a rising star, released at a great time, and if the Country Gods smile upon it, Sinners could well launch Eric Church ahead of the pack, and into the next level of Nashville’s Best.

Grade:  A

Single Review: James Otto – Just Got Started Lovin’ You

Few country fans are all that familiar with James Otto, and may mistake this as his first single, and when the album drops in either late 2007 or early 2008, may mistake it for a debut.  Otto, though, is not new to the game.  He may even look vaguely familiar to CMT viewers, as he was a regular in the series MuzicMafia TV a few years back.  I say vaguely, because this is a James Otto, version 2.0.  No longer the clean cut pretty boy he seemed then, the long haired, bearded Otto is now in a much improved form.  His debut album, Days of Our Lives, didn’t meet any commercial or critical acclaim.  There were some good moments on that project, but all in all, it was dead in the water.  No promotion, and no fanfare.  It did, however, include a song later taken to the top by Brooks and Dunn, If It’s the Last Thing I Do. 

With Just Got Started Lovin’ You, Otto comes into his own, and I hope it foreshadows the rest of the upcoming album.  The sparse, yet adequate musicianship on this song allows Otto’s rich baritone to be the highlight.  He inflicts just the right amount of bluesy grit to the verses, and really cuts it loose just right on the chorus, which is surprisingly catchy.  There is no real revelation in the lyrics themselves, as this theme has been almost overly covered, but Otto’s take is fresh enough to not make it feel like just another manly love song.  Country has always had a great deal of soul, and he does a good job of fusing it all together in this single.  For the first time in his still young career, James Otto has a real chance at chart success here, and the exposure this song could reap would propel him among the top up-and-comers on the Nashville Scene.

Grade:  B+

Rest in Peace, Mr. Grand Ole Opry

Today is a sad day in the world of country music, and in the hearts of many fans.  Another legend passed away on Sunday night, Mr. Porter Wagoner.  Country will never be the same.

As countless tributes and memorials will be forthcoming over the next week, and as many already have, I’m going to take a different path with mine.  I loved the music Porter gave us, and I can’t count the smiles he out on my face sitting in the audience at the Opry.  His legacy stands for itself, and will forever.  I’m going to take this a different route, one that I think he’d approve of, though he’d never have said this himself.

I’m tired.  I’m embarrassed.  And I’m ashamed.  We should all be.  Again, we got too busy, too driven by success, and we forgot.  We forgot about Porter, the same way we forgot about Johnny, the same way we forgot about Buck.  Porter Wagoner was an institution in country music.  Recently, his 50 years as a cast member of the Grand Ole Opry was celebrated.  He released his final album, Wagonmaster, and what I believe will be his enduring single, Comitted to Parkview.  And we hardly noticed.  If CMT and country radio is your connection to country music, then you probably didn’t notice at all.  Save the sites that have vision and roots, the coverage was minimal.  Same for Buck and Johnny.  Same for Waylon.  Tammy.  I could go on and on.  We concentrate on the here and now so much, that we forget we have a past.  A past filled with icons, without whom we would not be where we are today.

Then, after we’ve barely even spoken their name in years, one of these icons of a day gone by passes on to the Big Stage in the Sky.  And you’d think it had all been different.  We cry, we have television specials, we have tributes, and make a production of it all.  We even go to the awards shows, and hold them in memorial for all to see.  When was the last time we even thought of them before that moment.  No doubt they will honor Porter at this years CMA’s.  When was the last time you saw or even heard mention of him on a CMA show as a relevant artist?  Years and years.  They’ve been forgotten, til now. 

Sure, we bring out one or two of the Old School each year, and induct them into the Hall of Fame.  We do it in such a manner as to say, “Good job, old fella.  You’re done.  Here’s your spot in the Circle, and we love you.  Now go back to retirement and we’ll move on.  We’ve got a few million more albums to sell.”

Remember all the way back to 1980, when Johnny Cash was inducted into the Hall?  He said, in his acceptance speech, after an humble thanks, that he wasn’t done.  He said watch out, I’m just gettin’ started.  But the country music establishment saw to otherwise.  He was done in commercial country.  Forgotten for the better part of two decades.  Only after the American Recordings projects got too big to ignore, and he passed, did the establishment change its tune.  The honors and accolades then fell from the rafters, from the very people who turned him to the streets.  And where was the apology, where was the change of how we do business to assure we never make the same mistake again?  Curiously absent.

This madness has to stop.  I hated to write such an article while mourning the death of Porter.  I’d like to just sit and listen to his great catalog and have a good cry.  But I’ve done that too many times before.  We have to stop ourselves right now, while the pain is fresh, the void too big to overlook, and make some changes.  There’s still a few of the Old Dogs left.  The Hag, Willie, Ray Price, Billy Joe Shaver, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee, Charlie Pride, Little Jimmy, Bill Anderson – just to name a few.  Will we do the same to them?  God, I hope not. 

Here’s my challenge to you.  Do something to make a difference.  Anything.  Just don’t allow this to happen again.  What am I suggesting?  Many things.  First, educate yourself.  Take the time to do your homework.  Never again call yourself a country fan if you think it all started with Garth.  For you, it may well have.  But that’s just not good enough.  Do your homework.  Trace it all back to its roots.  And enjoy the ride, as I know you will.  Then take some sort of action.  Go to the Hall the next time your in Music City, and spend the day.  See it for yourself.  Go to the Opry.  Buy the old albums, and then buy the new ones that the old artists put out.  You just may find yourself hooked.  Call your radio station.  Tell ‘em to ease off the pop they keep playing and put something real on.  When the CMT awards come around, to hell with what they want you to vote for, write one in, and make a statement.  Give the old hands a fair shake.  They know how it’s supposed to be done, and they still do it oh, so well.

Now, see, just like Porter, they aren’t gonna ask you for this.  They have too much dignity to do that.  And they shouldn’t have to.  That’s what I’m here for.  A wake up call, and a call to arms, all in one.  You want to honor Porter, and his memory?  The take a stand.  Refuse, along with me, to allow this to ever happen again.  No greater compliment could be paid.  And, along the way, stop and ask yourself, as you write a tribute of your own, to look at yourself.  When was the last time you popped a Porter album in and gave it a listen?  If you don’t wanna answer that question, you’re a part of the problem.  Be a part of the solution.

I’ll close with the chorus of a Dale Watson song, Legends (What If), from his Live in London cd.  I believe that Dale, as he so often does, says it best…

Each time one slips away,

We say, “Man, they were great.”

Wish I’d went to see them their last show.

Radio may have buried them,

While they’re here let’s cherish them.

Before all our Legends are gone…

POST YOUR THOUGHTS!!

I very much encourage you to post your comments on any or all of the posts on my site!  I want to know what you think!  Agree?  Think I’m crazy?  Let me know.  While you will not be likely to sway my opinions, and I won’t try too hard to sway yours, I would love to hear from YOU!  Thanks for visiting Nashville Now!

Single Review: Luke Bryan – We Rode In Trucks

Luke Bryan is riding high on the success of his previous release, All My Friends Say.  Sadly, his follow-up, We Rode In Trucks, leaves a great deal to be desired.  The song is well delivered, with a lot of feeling.  But we’ve heard it all before, in several different forms.  From Tim McGraw to Tracy Byrd to Montgomery Gentry, even as recently as Bucky Covington, songs about growing up country are, unfortunately, growing old.  Give us a new prospective.  Granted, country is all about, well – country.  But to make a worthwhile single, you have to give listeners something that they haven’t heard before.  Life, love, and heartache are all still as viable as ever as song topics, but you have to evolve them into your own message.  Luke Bryan clearly falls short on this one.  The tune is too easily forgettable, and he can do so much more.

Grade:  C-

Single Review: Crossin Dixon – Make You Mine

Right now, country music is seeing an influx of great bands like no time in recent memory.  With Flynnville Train, the Randy Rogers Band, Whiskey Falls, and many others, many of these bands are destined to fall through the cracks.  Crossin Dixon has taken a step toward setting themselves apart with this single.  It’s catchy, silky smooth, and an easy listen.  I had some issues with their debut single, Guitar Slinger, as being somewhat unimaginative and simple.  This song is different.  Though it explores territory that we’ve obviously been over, it has something intangible that has it in my regular rotation.  Sure, I’m in love, and it makes me think of my fiance’ every time, but that’s not a bad thing.  Country Radio, take notice:  Crossin Dixon has arrived.

Grade:  A

Album Review: Rissi Palmer – Rissi Palmer

Ouch.  This one hurts.  For an artist who turned down a contract to record pop, and stuck it out for a deal in country music, I expected much more.  Though she came from neither American Idol nor Nashville Star, her sound hints otherwise.  A little digging around, and there it was, she competed in Talented Teens, and from that, was offered the R&B contract she declined, and made her way to Nashville. 

In a genre where black musicians have never faired well, with the very few exceptions being Charlie Pride, Neal McCoy, and very few others, Palmer is a welcome addition.  She has great pipes, a charming style, and an easy sound.  However, the songs she presents on her self titled debut are lacking.  I hate to put anyone in this catagory, but it’s reminicant of Shania and Faith a few years ago.  It comes across medicore at best. 

I hate that race has come up as an issue when Palmer is discussed, but save her label pulling what was done to Charlie so many years ago (no pictures or concerts so no one knows you’re black) there was no way to avoid it.  And she addresses it in her first single, Country Girl.  Somehow, this cut took FIVE people to write, which baffles me, but it gently addresses being both an Afrian-American from St. Louis, and trying to make it in Nashville.  The single attempts to attract the urban Redneck Woman crowd, and whether it succeeds remains to be seen.  No track really grabbed me, and I found myself bored and struggling to get through the entire album in one sitting.

There is a place for Palmer in country music, but this album will not catapult her there.  She has great talent, there is no debating that.  But she needs better material to work with.  The slick production and her strong delivery fail to overcome the weakness that is the songs themselves.  Hopefully, she will survive what I anticipate to be weak to marginal sales and airplay from this album long enough to release another.  And hopefully, she will by then have some material worthy of her talents.

 Grade:  C-

Album Review: Dwight Yoakam – Dwight Sings Buck

 

Who else would, or perhaps even could, do a tribute so fitting to Buck Owens, the Hall of Famer who passed away last year?  Only Dwight.  Buck was, no doubt, the Godfather of the Bakersfield Sound, sharing that title with only Merle Haggard.  And Dwight, for better or worse, is the man to carry on the sound and the legacy.  Fortunatly, it is very much for the better. 

Dwight passed on recording these songs while Buck was still with us, but only out of respect and admiration, wanting Buck’s songs to be Buck’s.  I think the entire music world knew that this album was coming, after Dwight’s friend and hero passed on.  That, however, did not serve to diminish the project at all.  These are still the classics, performed just the way they were meant to be.  Dwight made them, for the duration of the set, his own.  He never leaves any doubt that this is an album of Buck’s music, but he allowed the songs to come to, and through, his own style.  There is no imitation here.  It has a natural feel to it, as it should.  The two men had a great deal in common musically, and the transistion is smooth and inviting.

The song selection was well made, and though some have asked why Streets of Bakersfield, the duet of a Buck song that the two took to number one in the late 80’s, is not included, there is only one real omission.  (As an aside, it would have been interesting to hear Bakersfield with Merle stepping into Buck’s shoes.)  Why (I’ve Got A) Tiger By The Tail was left off this album is the real mystery.  One of Buck’s more well known songs, I am very surprised to see it omitted.  Perhaps Dwight had a reason, and that may well come to light, or perhaps we’ll never know.  Other than that, this album is a joy to listen to, and a refreshing take on some songs we all know by heart.  A fitting tribute, that surely would have made Buck proud.

 Grade:  B+

Album Review: Gary Allan – Living Hard

 

And so it continues…

Building off the creative and definitive results of his 2005 release, Tough All Over, Gary Allan follows up with the release of Living Hard, and it seems that he has really found his path as an artist. 

(I have to disclose that I have been a fan of Gary for a very long time, and I began this blog today with the stated intention of his being my first review.  I will, however, try to keep this objective.) 

Living Hard, as an album, plays very well.  The songs are cohesive, and the songs go very smoothly from one to the next.  As he co-wrote six of the album’s eleven cuts, Gary was more involved with the writing than ever before.  (He co-wrote four tracks on Tough All Over.)  The gritty feel to the album, mixed with the rocking, dramatic cuts makes for a hard, edgy feel.  The general groove puts one in the mind of that same aura that Johnny Cash captured so masterfully on his prison albums, albeit this is not a live album.  The thought of Gary Allan doing a live show at Folsom or San Quentin today would, no doubt, be chillingly interesting.  Overall, Living Hard is a success.  It will capture the audience that he has had from his previous albums, and it should draw an even broader base of listeners to his flock.  Country has been devoid of a great deal of deeply, almost painfully, honest artists for some time.  You can feel the pain and resilancy of a hard life resonating through Allan’s voice throughout the tracks.  Did he do justice to himself, his unique sound, and his newfound musical freedom?  Absoutely.

Grade:  A-