kitty

A song about a narrator whose woman completes him is a worthwhile concept, so long as one avoids pouring on the syrup.  But in this case, the execution falls very flat.

“If you wanna see my sweet side, my soft side, my best side, I just point at you,” Moore sings in the chorus.  The hook doesn’t have much heft, and is not particularly clever or interesting, but the bigger eye roll is that the song spends most of the time indulging in the tired backwoods rebel shtick on which too much of Moore’s career has already been wasted.

He’s got “a rough side, a wild side at least a country mile wide,” but so, it seems, does virtually every other twenty or thirty-something male artist on country radio.  The one-dimensional lyrics make Moore seem like a caricature, and when you add a brash, over-the-top country-rock production, the single seems to exemplify all of Moore’s most irritating tendencies as a recording artist.

It’s not as obnoxious as, say, “Bait a Hook,” but it’s also devoid of the earnestness of “‘Til My Last Day.”  ”Point at You” is just overly loud and entirely uninteresting.

Written by Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman, and Ben Hayslip

Grade:  C-

With her never-ending fascination with all things oral (even though she doesn’t have a mouth), it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise that fanatics would think that drawing the evil feline on their lips would be a good idea. Of course, that means the rest of us who possess even a tiny bit of sanity end up having to try to erase from our minds the image of Hello kitty lips:

One look at this and you realize that those who advocate abstinence sex education have been going about it all in the wrong way. Go ahead and teach as much such education as possible in schools, but simply require that all girls have to walk around with Hello Kitty on their lips and it’s guaranteed that they’ll never get as much as a kiss, let alone anything else. In fact, I can’t think of a better male repellent and warning that dealing with such a person guarantees a life in Hello Kitty Hell…

Sent in by Stacey

There is no doubt that Hello Kitty likes her rings. She expects her loyal fans to wear them at every stage of their lives, including when they get engaged and even when they get married. But what is a fanatic to do when someone with common sense points out how hideous that ring actually is? Have no fear — that is exactly the situation where the Hello Kitty brass knuckle ring comes into play:

What could be more Kitty like than wearing a big bow on your hand so that you can sucker punch someone who doesn’t agree with your fanaticism (with all the love and kindness that the evil feline professes, of course). I’m sure that this was created with the sole purpose to brand those who actually have a grasp of reality for life with a bow-scar across their face (with bonus points if the fanatic manages to create that scar on the left side of their forehead). There is probably the ulterior motive to make those who refuse to succumb to the HK brainwashing to suffer immeasurably more in a the worst hospital possible as they recover from the injury. It’s all part of the ongoing plan of world domination and eventual Hello Kitty hell for all that she envisions…

Sent in by Kelly P.

Hunter Hayes just scored a decently big pop hit with “Wanted”, which was initially his first big country hit.  Perhaps that’s why he’s taking a cue from the pop market, and re-releasing his first album in an expanded edition called (Encore) this summer.

That set will include a guest appearance from Jason Mraz, so it’s easy to think that musically, he might start taking his cues from the pop scene as well.   But “I Want Crazy”, the lead single from the expanded set, indicates that there’s no need to jump to that conclusion so far.

If anything, “I Want Crazy” is insanely derivative of Golden Road-era Keith Urban,  full of ridiculously catchy banjo riffs and melodies so light and breezy they practically float away.   Not surprisingly, his lyrics haven’t matured much, so even this new song’s charm is mostly adolescent, a fact all the more remarkable given it is co-written by Lori McKenna.

But as I’ve written before, he’s got the chops.  If he keeps his feet firmly grounded in country music and keeps developing his songwriting craft, he could develop into quite the artist.  For now, we have to settle for some radio filler that’s worth cranking up the volume for.

Written by Hunter Hayes, Lori McKenna and Troy Verges

Grade: B

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvtXgNtYFMs

It’s hard not to root for Chris Young.   He can really sing and his music would sound identifiably country if it was released twenty years ago, making it sound like Hank Williams in comparison to what’s passing for it these days.

But he’s got to pay the bills, I guess.  “Aw Naw” is a typical 2013 country party song that is easier to tolerate than most of the others because it’s sung really well and at least sounds like it’s been written and performed by people of legal drinking age.

Now, even the greatest country artists pandered to the trends of the times.   Check out the hillbilly humor tracks that even Alan Jackson and Pam Tillis recorded in the nineties, or the string-drenched crossover pap that even George Jones and Loretta Lynn succumbed to when Nashville went uptown in the seventies and eighties.

Those songs don’t make their way to the essential collections that surface when a great act’s radio days are done.   Hopefully, this one won’t make it to Chris Young’s when his time comes.

Written by Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley and Chris Young

Grade: B-

Listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmQQu6Kp90o

It’s not often that I sigh in relief when I’m sent some evil feline monstrosity, but today was one of those days. I was sent the following photo labeled as Hello Kitty breast implants, but it appears that in reality they are nothing more than soap bars. That sigh of relief, however, does come with a very dark and disturbing side. The relief I felt only could manifest because I knew in my heart that Hello Kitty breast implants were not out of the scope of possibility (and when you think about that, the horrifying reality I live in on a daily basis becomes all too clear).

While these don’t exist at the moment, it’s probably a pretty safe to conclude that it won’t be that long before there truly are Hello Kitty breast implants (my guess is that the people at Sanrio are right at this very second hitting themselves on the side of the head wondering how they could have never considered coming out with a line of breast implants before now). And you know that while they may initially be regular implants with the cat-with-no-mouth branded on them, it won’t stop there. Eventually they will be made in such a way that the woman’s breast will actually take the form of Hello Kitty (because, seriously, what better way to show your love of HK than to turn your breasts into the shape of her?) This will undoubtedly make the fanatic deliriously happy, but will haunt any person who sees it with sweat-inducing nightmares for the rest of their life (and probably require decades of intense mental therapy that still won’t be able to get that image out of their head). And, the truly horrifying thing is that once this happens, somehow it will continue to get worse from there…

Sent in by Betty

I’m not sure what it is with the evil feline and hair. Fanatics, in their delusional exuberance, feel that shaving the cat with no mouth into their hair is a good idea. Or turning their hair into a bow. Or going out and buying a Hello Kitty wig. And let’s not forget that there’s actually a Kitty hair salon. One would think that these people would have embarrassed themselves enough with all of this, but apparently not (which really shouldn’t be a surprise since it seems that this is the goal of their lives). Now we can add the Hello Kitty braid to the mix:

I’m not sure if there is anything that would make the average person want to shave the entire head of a little girl more than seeing this (and her mom’s head for good measure for encouraging her to have this done). Let’s all hope, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, that this doesn’t become a trend…

Sent in by Deede via Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care

Texas Country group the Randy Rogers Band has a new album out today called Trouble, and Country Universe has gotten a hold of one copy to give away to a reader.

Trouble is the Randy Rogers Band’s eighth studio album overall, and second release on MCA Nashville.  The album includes their new single “Fuzzy” as well as last year’s Top 40 hit “One More Sad Song.”

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below telling us your favorite song the Randy Rogers Band has recorded.  A winner will be chosen via random number generator, so be sure to include a valid email address.  The contest will close on Saturday, April 4, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern/ 11:00 p.m. Central.

One of the first things that you learn when you have a Hello Kitty fanatic in your midst is that they believe everything should be fashioned into the evil feline whether it makes sense or not. This is readily apparent with food which for some unfathomable reason, must bear the face of the cat with no mouth no matter what it happens to be. In what now appears to be a quest to ruin all fruits that are out there, she has decided to add another kittified fruit to the horrifying list of melons, watermelons and fruit displays by creating a Hello Kitty strawberry:

When your significant other thinks it’s a good idea to pack a half-dozen of these in your lunch to “brighten up your day,” what she is really doing is setting off a hurricane level warning siren that if you don’t get out of the relationship that very second, your life is going to be a torrential rain storm full of Hello Kitty Hellishness…

Sent in by Dawn (via Denna’s Ideas)

There are far too many fanatics out there who dream about wearing a wedding dress covered in faces of the evil feline. Even worse, they believe this would actually be a great way to celebrate a day that would undoubtedly be a preview to the unrelenting torture they plan to inflict on their partner for the rest of his life (we won’t even go into the engagement ring, the wedding rings, the wedding tiara, the wedding cake and all the other assorted excruciating painful crap that will have to be endured). What these fanatics fail to realize is that on that special day, this is what they are going to end up looking like:

No future partner, friend or family member should ever have to endure such complete hideousness, but the sad fact of the matter is that this is likely just the tip of the iceberg of the Hello Kitty Hell they will see in the years to come…

Sent in by Laura

Rest in Peace, Possum.

An extensive tribute piece to follow.  In the meantime, enjoy the voice that will remain immortal and share your memories and favorite songs in the comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvEDgLgKXn4

Scotty McCreery has stated in interviews that his main goal with his upcoming second album is to get a Top 10 radio hit.  First single “See You Tonight” makes that goal a little too obvious.

McCreery makes his songwriting debut on “See You Tonight” – a song which aspires to be nothing more than radio fluff, and doesn’t even work on that level.  A great hook is an important component of enjoyable radio fluff, but the hook of “Girl, I gotta see you tonight” is weak and forgettable.

The single largely abandons the moderate traditionalist bent of McCreery’s debut album, with a polished-to-a-fault contemporary arrangement and pounding guitars taking its place.  Though McCreery is a technically proficient singer, his performance does little to cut through the stink of pandering that hangs over the whole project.

Scotty McCreery may have strong voice, but his artistic potential will not be realized as long as he keeps shamelessly chasing radio.

Written by Ashley Gorley and Scotty McCreery

Grade:  C

Listen:  See You Tonight

When it comes to the evil feline, there are few things worse than having to confront her in the early morning before you are fully awake. With the last remnants of sleep still keeping your mind somewhat foggy, there’s absolutely no way to believe anything other than you’re suspended in some intensely bad dream when confronted with Miss Kitty and all her horrors. Knowing this, the Hello Kitty shower head is one of the most evil and sheer terror producing items that she has decided to brand.

Think about it. You wake up and head off to take your morning shower. You close your eyes, lean back and place your head under the warm stream of water. Relaxed and thinking that you are ready to begin the day, you make the terrible mistake of opening your eyes to see the cat that is supposed to have no mouth vomiting water all over you. This is definitely not how anyone should begin their day.

Even worse, you know that regular water spewing all over you would not be enough. There is no doubt that the shower head was created with a specially formulated substance inside to grow pink shower slime within it. After only a few uses, you’ll have Kitty vomiting a pink slime stream onto your head each and every morning. You know you are living in Hello Kitty Hell when not showering for months on end is the positive alternative…

Sent in by a number of different readers…

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

In the early eighties, a new kind of country band surfaced, structured like the rock bands that came before them, but deeply grounded in country instrumentation.  Alabama were the pioneers of the field, and they reached a level of superstardom beyond most bands of any genre during their peak.

Three of the four members of Alabama are cousins from the band’s namesake state, though Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry, and Randy Owen first began performing as Young Country in 1969. The band went through a series of day jobs and a series of drummers while honing their sound on the local music circuit in Alabama and neighboring states.  After switching to Wildcountry in 1972, and settling on Rick Scott as their drummer in 1974, they finally took the name Alabama in 1977.

A series of minor hits on an independent label led to a contract with RCA, after a final lineup change replaced Scott with Mark Herndon.   When the band broke in 1980 with the top twenty hit “My Home’s in Alabama”, what followed set a new bar for commercial success in country music.   The band scored a record consecutive 21 #1 hits, became the first act to win CMA Entertainer of the Year three times in a row, and released several multi-platinum albums, including the five million-selling Mountain Music in 1982.

Their success opened the floodgates for other country bands, eventually replacing vocal groups as the dominant non-solo sound in the genre.   Though they didn’t receive much critical acclaim for their work, their relevance on the commercial front was undeniable. Even as a wave of new acts in the nineties again raised the bar for what country acts could achieve, Alabama remained successful, consistently selling gold and platinum while radio continued to play their hits.

At the turn of the century, the band slowed down, even doing a farewell tour.   They still released music, however, scoring their first #1 country album in 17 years with Songs of Inspiration in 2006.  They also returned to the penthouse of the singles chart in 2011, scoring their 34th #1 single in support of Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama.”

They are currently recording and performing as a trio, with Herndon departing the group after a rift over royalties that led to a lawsuit. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, and returned to the stage in 2013 for a fortieth anniversary tour.

Essential Singles:

• Tennessee River, 1980
• Love in the First Degree, 1981
• Mountain Music, 1982
• The Closer You Get, 1983
• Forty Hour Week (For a Livin’), 1985
• Song of the South, 1988
• I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why), 1992
• How Do You Fall in Love, 1998

Essential Albums:

• Feels So Right, 1981
• Mountain Music, 1982
• The Closer You Get…, 1983
• Roll On, 1984
• 40 Hour Week, 1985
• Southern Star, 1989
• Dancin’, Shaggin’ on the Boulevard, 1997
• Songs of Inspiration, 2006

Next: #28. ?

Previous: #30. Jim Reeves

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

Gentleman Jim Reeves started off as a hardcore country singer, but his smooth crossover stylings would become synonymous with the Nashville Sound, combining with tragedy to grant him country music immortality only a dozen years into his career.

Growing up in Texas, Reeves picked up the guitar at an early age, mimicking the Jimmie Rodgers records that he discovered through his older brother.   A prodigious talent, Reeves was already singing on local radio shows before he entered his teens.

He was also a great athlete, and he played in a semi-professional league, followed by three years in the big leagues with the Saint Louis Cardinals.  But an ankle injury sidelined him, and he returned his attention to music.

He worked in radio while recording independent singles, eventually raising his profile with a series of hits on Abbott Records.  After three years of scoring big hits with them, he once again joined the big leagues, this time in the form of major record label RCA Victor.

Reeves was a consistent hitmaker throughout the fifties, but didn’t truly break through to superstardom until he softened his country sound with the pop stylings of the time.  “He’ll Have to Go”, released in 1959, became his signature hit, reaching the pop top ten while it topped the country charts for fourteen weeks.

His singles regularly charted country and pop from that point on, though he was far more successful in his home format.  Tragedy struck when Reeves died in a plane crash in 1964, but much like Patsy Cline before him, his notoriety only grew in the shadow of his untimely death.

In fact, Reeves would have his most significant run of hits in the years after his death, having an astonishing sixteen top ten singles over the course of seventeen years.  Some of those hits, like “Distant Drums” and “Blue Side of Lonesome”, are as beloved as the biggest ones released while he was still alive.

Reeves was one of the earliest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, joining those hallowed ranks in 1967.  “He’ll Have to Go” cemented its classic status with its induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame.   To this day, unreleased recordings continue to surface, and he remains one of the top-selling country artists of the Nashville Sound era.

Essential Singles:

• Mexican Joe, 1953
• Bimbo, 1953
• Four Walls, 1957
• Billy Bayou, 1958
• He’ll Have to Go, 1959
• Adios Amigo, 1962
• I Guess I’m Crazy, 1964
• Distant Drums, 1976

Essential Albums:

• Jim Reeves Sings, 1956
• Bimbo, 1957
• Girls I Have Known, 1958
• The Country Side of Jim Reeves, 1962
• Distant Drums, 1966
• The Blue Side of Lonesome, 1967

Next: #29. Alabama

Previous: #31. Randy Travis

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

The MavericksIn Time

A reminder of the magic that can happen when a strong lyric meets a fresh, engaging production and a vocal performance that cuts right to the bone.

Founded in 1989, The Mavericks enjoyed a successful run on MCA Records in the mid-nineties.  Though radio was generally lukewarm toward their efforts, that didn’t stop The Mavericks from quietly building a formidable fan following, selling gold and platinum at retail, and famously winning the 1996 CMA Vocal Group trophy without ever reaching the Top 10 at radio.  In Time marks the now-reformed band’s first new album in the ten years since their 2003 disbandment, as well as their first release since signing with Scott Borchetta’s Valory label.

Though The Mavericks have long been filed under the “Country” label, In Time, like much of the group’s past work, is a melting pot of genre stylings, incorporating, country, classic 1950s pop, and a heavy flavoring of Latin and Tex-mex influence.  The inimitable vocals of Raul Malo

continue to be the group’s most definitive feature, but The Mavericks still maintain their function as a group, with each member’s individual talents given ample spotlight, and with the arrangements incorporating everything from mariachi trumpets to surf guitar to pedal steel, there’s hardly a dull moment to be found.  Malo supplies a solid set of self-written material, taking writing credits on every track and collaborating with the likes of Gary Nicholson, Bob DiPiero, James House, and Al Anderson (who co-wrote The Mavericks highest-charting single, 1995′s “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down”).

There’s a sense of restless excitement evident on even the most melancholy of material, and the best tracks practically boil over with energy and urgency.  “Come Unto Me” demands to be heard with a swelling melody, forceful performance on Malo’s part, and an aggressive stop-and-start rhythm, no doubt making it nearly impossible for the narrator’s love interest to resist the titular come-hither call.  The jaunty organ-driven arrangement of opening track and second single “Back In Your Arms Again” almost makes the listener wonder if the narrator is bemoaning his on-again-off-again lover’s hold over him, or celebrating it.

Conversely, the band is able to utilize a less-is-more approach with equal efficacy, best  exemplified in the sorrowful ballad “In Another’s Arm,” in which Malo’s evocative delivery fills out every nook of the bare-boned arrangement.  Malo almost sounds like a male Patsy Cline on the regret-filled countrypolitan-tinged “Forgive Me,” while “That’s Not My Name” lightly plugs along in a manner that seems to mirror the defeat of its downtrodden narrator.  The penultimate track, “(Call Me) When You Get to Heaven” is over eight minutes long, but the smooth tango groove is so absorbing that one hardly notices, after which the set closes with a rousing Spanish version of “Come Unto Me” (“Ven Hacia Mi”).

“Lies” is slightly less satisfying, as the melody doesn’t quite match the punch of the songwriting and performance, but it ultimately pales only in comparison to its glorious counterparts.

It’s anybody’s guess how long The Mavericks will stay together this time, but the longer the better.  In Time is a richly rewarding set that deserves to be mentioned in any discussion of the year’s best albums – another fine Mavericks album which we have every reason to believe will age just as gracefully as its predecessors.

Top Tracks:  “Back In Your Arms Again,” “Come Unto Me,” “In Another’s Arms”

“Hearts don’t fly, but they can run like hell when they have to.”

Lori McKenna’s greatest gift as a writer is her ability to weave brilliantly constructed metaphors together with remarkably specific and often mundane details of small town, working class life.

“Salt”, the lead single from her upcoming album Massachusetts, perfectly showcases this talent of hers.  There are so many vivid details that place the listener into the story of one particular breakup, and she slips them in so naturally that it sounds like it must be autobiography.

The best example of this comes in the second verse, where while recounting how she has nothing to show for the time given to this tortured relationship: “Six years of crying, that’s all that you gave me. Not one more thing. Not even a baby. We were close one time…”

It’s those vividly true details that ground her writing in reality, which in this particular song is a harsh reality.  But the line this review opens with is in there as well. On its own,  it would be little more than a beautiful turn of phrase, a set of words that lingers with you and you might quote in casual conversation to sound more insightful than you really are.

But when metaphors that beautiful are tied into the life stories of the most ordinary people, McKenna is able to achieve something so special and unique. 

She finds the poetry and beauty hidden in the stories of people whose stories aren’t usually considered important enough to share in the first place.

There are a lot of good writers out there, many of whom are writing big hits for themselves and for others.  But I can’t shake this feeling that Lori McKenna is the best out of all of them.  Her gift is to get us to pay attention to people, places, and truths that are so easy to overlook.   I hope more people start to do the same with her music.

Pay attention, everyone.  Please pay attention.

Written by Lori McKenna

Grade: A

Listen:  Salt

After the enormous success of the Up! project, Shania Twain released a top-selling Greatest Hits album in 2004, which spawned three singles.  She then embarked on an extended hiatus before returning in 2011 with a new single and a reality series on The Oprah Winfrey Network.  In this set of retro single reviews, we’ll take a look at Twain’s six most recent single releases to date.

“Party for Two” (with Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
2004 Peak:  #7

The first single from Twain’s Greatest Hits package was her last Top 10 country hit to date, but only the second Top 10 hit for her then-up-and-coming duet partner Billy Currington.  The premise is shamelessly silly, as are the spoken word intro and the “You’ll be sexy in your socks” line, but Twain and Currington sell it with flair.  Twain delivers her verses with a flirty, playful performance, while Currington renders his with the same laid-back smolder that would become his calling card at country radio.

In the tradition of the Up! album, “Party for Two” was released in both a country and pop mix, with Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath appearing as Twain’s duet partner on the latter.  Unfortunately, McGrath’s performance lacks the character needed to sell a song of this ilk, and the gaudy pop arrangement has aged poorly in comparison to the country mix, demonstrating that Twain was often at her best when keeping a toe in country waters.

Written by Shania Twain and Robert John “Mutt” Lange

Grade (Currington version):  B+

Listen:  Party for Two (with Billy Currington)

Grade (McGrath version): B-

Listen:  Party for Two (with Mark McMcGrath)

“Don’t!”
2005 Peak:  #24

The soft, dobro-driven arrangement is the perfect fit for this angst-filled ballad.  Twain performs the song in an emotive almost-whisper of a delivery, while the evocative melody conveys regret and desperation with a tinge of hope.

Written by Shania Twain and Robert John “Mutt” Lange

Grade:  A-

Listen:  Don’t!

“I Ain’t No Quitter”
2005 Peak:  #45

The third and final single from Twain’s Greatest Hits fizzled due to lack of promotion.  Quite possibly Twain’s countriest single since “No One Needs to Know,” “I Ain’t No Quitter” lacks the lyrical cleverness of Twain’s best work, but she elevates the song through her fun, laid-back performance.  Likewise, the bouncy, fiddle and steel drenched arrangement is a delight.

Written by Shania Twain and Robert John “Mutt” Lange

Grade:  B

Listen:  I Ain’t No Quitter

“Shoes”
2005 Peak:  #29

A rare instance in which Twain worked with a team of co-writers in addition to her then-husband, “Shoes” was written for inclusion on a Desperate Housewives companion album, but the boot-stomping fiddle-laden arrangement would have not have sounded out of place on The Woman In Me.

The lyric draws on a series of humorous double-entendres comparing men to footwear. (“Some make you feel ten feet tall, some make you feel so small, and some you want to leave out in the hall or make you feel like kickin’ the wall”)  The concept is pure novelty, but Twain pulls it off brilliantly with a catchy everywoman-sing-along chorus and an in-on-the-joke vocal performance.

Written by Shania Twain, Robert Johnn “Mutt” Lange, Tammy Hyler, Joie Scott, and Kim Tribble

Grade:  B+

Listen:  Shoes

“Today Is Your Day”
2011 Peak:  #36

In the wake of Twain and Lange’s divorce, “Today Is Your Day” was the first Twain single since the days of her debut album not to be produced by Lange.  Unfortunately, David Foster’s production lacks the freshness and restraint of Lange’s work, with a clutter of instruments distracting from Twain’s performance instead of spotlighting it.

Twain’s vocal exudes sincerity, vulnerability, and age-earned wisdom, but struggles to overcome the fact that the lyrics amount to little more than a string of inspirational clichés.  Add some unnecessary vocal processing on top of that, and Twain’s comeback single falls greatly short of the event that it should have been.

Written by Shania Twain

Grade:  C+

Listen:  Today Is Your Day

“Endless Love” (with Lionel Richie)
2012 Peak:  #12 (U.S. Adult Contemporary)

A remake of Richie’s classic 1981 hit duet with Diana Ross, from his country duets project Tuskegee.  It starts out on a pleasant note, but gradually devolves into an overwrought shouting match that seems to go on forever as Richie and Twain attempt to force emotion into the song.

Written by Lionel Richie

Grade:  B-

Listen:  Endless Love (with Lionel Richie)

Previous:  It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing

The comfortingly reliable George Strait mixes it up a bit during his 1992-1993 run of singles with a cover of a beloved classic, hardcore country, a surprising country rocker, and a sweet love song for good measure.

“Lovesick Blues” 1992 Peak: #24

Strait ably tackles the Hank Williams classic. He doesn’t surpass the original, but it’s cool that he brought the song back in 1992. Imagine if somebody tried to do that now.

Written by Irvin Mills & Cliff Friend

Grade:  B+

“Gone as a Girl Can Get” 1992 Peak: #5

“Gone As A Girl Can Get” boasts one of the most interesting productions on a Strait song, featuring superb, jaunty instrumentation that elevates a good composition to a great song.

Written by Jerry Max Lane

Grade:  A

“So Much Like My Dad” 1992 Peak: #3

This downbeat single finds a man searching for answers for why is lady is leaving him and he knows he’ll find it from the example of his dad, because he’s so much like him. In a clever twist, however, he doesn’t ask his dad, but rather, asks his mom: “But if I’m so much like my dad, there must’ve been times you felt her way. So, tell me word for word what he said that always made you stay.”

Written by Chips Moman & Bobby Emmons

Grade:  B+

“I Cross My Heart” 1992 Peak: #1

Is there another pledge of devotion that defines 90s country music more than this love song? In another’s hands, this could be way too icky-sweet, but in King George’s hands, it’s just right.

Written by Steve Dorff & Eric Kaz

Grade:  A

Listen:  Lovesick Blues

“Heartland” 1993 Peak: #1

It’s always seemed counterintuitive for a song that begins with “When you hear twin fiddles and a steel guitar” to rock as hard as this song does, but the fact is that it’s as catchy and infectious as all get-out, so almost all is forgiven.

Written by Steve Dorff & John Bettis

Grade:  A-

Listen:  Heartland

“When Did You Stop Loving Me” 1993 Peak: #6

To make up for the previous rocker, Strait goes the other direction and adeptly sinks his teeth into a pure country weeper with a deliciously heartbreaking performance.

Written by Donny Kees & Monty Holmes

Grade:  A

Listen:  When Did You Stop Loving Me

“Easy Come, Easy Go” 1993 Peak: #1

I would have liked to have been listening to country music when this song was released as a single, as I’m sure it would have surprised me to hear Strait singing something sounding quite like this. The song promoting the dissolution of a relationship with no regrets is country, with a little groove and an over all chill vibe.

Written by Aaron Barker & Dean Dillon

Grade:  A

Listen:  Easy Come, Easy Go

“I’d Like to Have That One Back” 1993 Peak: #3

This song, however, portrays a lost relationship rife with regret. Strait’s performance, supported by strains of lonely steel, fully captures the pain of losing a good love due to one’s own negligence.

Written by Aaron Barker, Bill Shore & Rick West

Grade:  A

Listen:  I’d Like to Have That One Back

It’s been thirty years since the world was introduced to the voice of Wynonna Judd, a simple guitar strum being nothing close to enough preparation for the otherworldly voice that opened the debut Judds single, “Had a Dream (For the Heart)”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRepFD9Mys

Thirty years later, after about a decade of Judds music and another two decades of solo work, that voice is still that voice.  Wynonna has the ability to harness a true force of nature, having incredible depth and soul that remains under her complete control.

Less under control is her firebrand personality, an increasingly dramatic public image that has been overshadowing her music in recent years, but that’s mostly because she hasn’t been making nearly enough music.   Really, once she sings two or three notes, who really cares about her public image?

But what happens when that image starts to dictate the music? What happens when producers convince themselves that they have to be

just as loud and dazzling as the lady behind the mic?

“Something You Can’t Live Without” is what happens.

You’ve got Wynonna singing a great song that clearly means a lot to her.  She turns in a ferocious performance.   All the musicians need to do is give her a bit of support while mostly staying out of her way.

Instead, not only is the backing music way too loud, there is a cardinal sin committed that is simply unforgivable.  They actually put a digital effect on her voice.

You do that for bad singers. You do that for mediocre singers.  Sometimes, you even do that for good singers.  But to do it to one of the strongest vocalists popular music has ever seen is an insult.

I really like this record overall, simply because I can hear all that great Wynonna underneath the muck.  But much like those synthesizer-drenched Dolly Parton songs from the eighties, it’s just bewildering that the muck is there in the first place.

Such natural, God-given talent needs organic music to back her up.  I don’t care if it’s Memphis blues instead of Nashville country.  Just let her surroundings be as real as she is, and save all the artifice for the reality show circuit.

Written by Cactus Moser and Wynonna

Grade: B