Personal Top 10 Country Albums

I asked a friend to compile her list of top 10 books ever. In return, she asked for my top 10 country albums I thought she should have. Ten is all?! So hard. But here's what I came up with-


Without further ado,
10 (+) Country Albums You Must Have:

1. Deana Carter, The Chain.
A very cool album which consists completely of covers- all music her dad, who is/was a studio guitarist and producer, had a hand in in the original stages. Also includes much collaboration with many of the original artists. Fresh sound. SO COOL.

2. Lori McKenna, Unglamorous.
There's just something about this woman. She was "discovered" by Faith Hill and has tracks recorded by Faith, Tim McGraw, Sara Evans, among man others. Still, the songs are way better when she sings them herself. The last track on this album kills me every time.

3. Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors.
I'm always surprised at how much Tim McGraw music I actually own because I don't consider myself one of his biggest fans or anything, but this particular album has a really organic sound for such a commercial artist. The songs are good, and as a whole it feels timeless. I've owned this one for four or five years and it's a go-to when I don't know what else I want to listen to.

4. Phil Vassar, Shaken Not Stirred.
I DO consider myself a big Phil Vassar fan- he's a great songwriter, lyricist, pianist, and performer. This album is the most cohesive and I prefer the sound of this one to his others. Another to check out might be his Greatest Hits, though. He rerecorded some of the hits he's had as a songwriter for other artists (like Jo Dee Messina's "Bye Bye") and they're really simple, nice recordings.

5. Sugarland, Love on the Inside.
Their music just keeps getting better. I love this one because Kristian does a lot more singing and their arrangements don't feel like stuffy commercial country. Very vocal, very organic. The deluxe fan edition has some awesome stuff at the end like a live Matt Nathanson cover, and that track alone is worth the extra two dollars or whatever it is.

6. Nickel Creek, Reasons Why: The Very Best.
I saw these guys live and never expected any four people (counting the bass player) to be able to make THAT MUCH SOUND come out of those little acoustic instruments. They're perfect in nearly every way and the subject matter isn't so typical, which is refreshing.

7. Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
This girl does real country music up right. She's got attitude and songwriting chops and is not afraid of a good old-fashioned steel guitar.

8. Reba McEntire, It's Your Call.
You have no idea how hard it was for me to pick just ONE Reba album. Pretty much any of her '90s albums, especially the early '90s, are The Tops in my book. Even so, I own almost everything she's done since 1986. Maybe even since before that. No. I'm serious. It's Your Call is full of reasons I really fell in love with her, though. Take It Back, He Wants to Get Married... it's a good album.

9. Brad Paisley, 5th Gear.
Some people just don't get it, but I find Brad Paisley HILARIOUS. He's got a way with melody, too, and can play guitar like a dreeeeeeam. It's traditional with a twist, and I'm all about country sounding like country. Plus, "Online" is a little too appropriate, I think.

10. Sara Evans, Restless.
Girl can SING, and this is probably her best collection of songs as a whole. "Otis Redding" is still my favorite- just paints a lighthearted, romantic little picture.



Honorable mentions go to Dierks Bentley, only because I absolutely could not decide which of his albums you should have. I love them all equally, in different ways, and so just couldn't make the decision. I couldn't even give you a Dierks playlist and pick favorite tracks because I seriously love THEM ALL.

Also to Bethany Dick, whose latest is only 4 tracks long BUT you can download it for free (www.myspace.com/bethanydick)! She's originally a Montana girl like I am, and she and my friend Fiddler actually know each other, so it's kinda cool.




What do you think, country fans? What did I leave out? Anything you wouldn't have included? Which Dierks album would you have chosen?

Prayer of a Common Man, again

So really, guys? Honestly? It pains me to say this, A LOT, not only because I ran out and bought the CD on the release date, and not only because after the first track I thought, "Hmm, a little weird, but MAJOR potential," and not only because the poor guy just (relatively speaking) got a divorce and one of the best songs on the whole album was co-written by his ex-wife in what seems to have been some unfortunate foreshadowing, but because I. LOVE. PHIL. VASSAR. I love him quite a bit. I've seen him live TWICE, and I can't recall seeing any other major label performer more than once. I own each of his CDs, even the Greatest Hits, because HI! New recordings of songs I love by the man who wrote them! Who could resist?! Not me.

But this new album? This Prayer of a Common Man? It is a disappointment.

Believe me, I tried. I left this CD in my car stereo for weeks. I listened to it over and over, while I was packing, while I was studying

I'm not saying there aren't a few good tunes. The first track, "This is My Life," is one of those great working man tracks complete with Vassar-style word play and melodies, and his token "heeeeey-ee-eh-yeahs," and "whoa-oh, whoa-ohs." It also features some production techniques, and even moreso, arrangements atypical of country music, and therein was where I heard the potential. I didn't immediately jump for joy, but I thought to myself, "This could grow on me..."

The next track was so TYPICAL Phil that I could have sworn I'd heard it somewhere before... perhaps, oh, I don't know, American Child? And, folks, AC was arguably his weakest album. Sophomore slump and all. Of course, the song hasn't been anywhere before, but it's just got that sound, that melody, those lyrics... Did he perhaps dig into his archives? Not out of the question, but couldn't they have done something new with the arrangement, at very least?

"My Chevrolet" one of those nostalgia songs. Not bad, but I liked "Amazing Grace" better.

"Love is a Beautiful Thing" is a song I'm actually quite in love with. I defended his cover of the tune (Paul Brandt did it some time ago in the '90s) assuming he'd penned it, considering the style and all, and knowing Phil is a songwriter... it seemed a safe assumption. But no, it's a Craig Wiseman/Jeffrey Steele tune. At any rate, it's a great song, and sung well by Phil. My only complaint with this tune, a complaint I've had from the beginning, was the backseat the piano took to everything else (is that an electric pedal steel? what is that?) in the arrangement. Dude plays piano! Come on!

"Prayer of a Common Man" is a decent tune, and I think maybe my lack of appreciation for this one is just the subject matter. I don't relate. I think a lot of people will though. It's a well written song, I can hear the piano, and the vocal performance is stellar.

"I Would" is presumably the next single. It's one of Phil's upbeat songs, and it's decent, but it's another of those songs that sounds like every other Phil song. With each of his other albums, there were the songs I loved, and there were the songs I would have labeled "filler." Not bad, never gonna make it to radio, just there to take that track space that needs to be taken. The tracks I loved were usually nine or ten, and the filler tracks only two or three. Unfortunately, I've only taken you through six tracks so far, and this is the third filler track I've heard so far.

And now begins the "I Don't Know What He Was Thinking" half of the disk. Retro Rock? From the '50s? Seriously Phil? REALLY?

Okay, I'm not sure that's completely fair because I don't know my old music well enough to go putting labels or decades on all of it. Let's just say, this sounds OLD.

"Why Don't Ya?" is the first of these songs. Brainless lyrics, doo-wop backup vocals and all.

"It's Only Love" starts with a very early Beatles vocal, and then inexplicably morphs into Phil-filler material. Something Phil isn't really great with is sarcasm or snark. I spoil myself with Brad Paisley, I suppose, who is master of humor and wordplay in country music. Phil tries here, though. He's being ironic, and the words work, but the music doesn't fit. Brad's funny with the words AND the music--he makes them work together. Phil doesn't quite have that. It's a little disappointing.

Thank God, back to another great song: "Let Me Love You Tonight," The Ballad I Always Fall In Love With on this album. He's always got at least one great ballad on every album, and I'm SO glad that I didn't have to be disappointed with at least that part this time around. The most heartbreaking part of this whole thing is that he wrote it with Julie, his ex-wife, and it's completely and totally about breaking up. I can't believe they wrote it together. It makes me wonder when and under what circumstances it was written. It's truly heartbreaking.

"Baby Rocks" is just awful. It's just not even... good. "Hoo-hoos" reminiscent of Kenny Chesney's "Young" (and someone knows how much I hate those), no real melody, kind of old sounding but not really, stupid screaming in the beginning, and a very, very cheesy hook: "my baby rocks like a rolling stone." Hmm. Have I heard that before? The one thing I do find interesting about this track, and I'm not sure if it was purposeful or not, is one of the riffs in the instrumental. It sounds like a foreshadow of the melody of the next song. If that's true, whoever produced this did so with the ALBUM in mind, and I love thinkers like that...

"The World is a Mess" is another "old" sounding tune, and I'm not a huge fan of it, but it does have its moments. When you hear it, if you do, tell me if the line "I need the money honey" doesn't make you just wanna sing/scream at the top of your lungs. Just tell me, really. I do like the feel of this one in the verses, it's the chorus that just leaves me scratching my head and going, "huh?"

"Crazy Life" is a good closer, a good Phil tune, not so typical that I feel that I've heard it before, but it's got enough of him in it that it really reminds me why I love him. It's also really simple--great piano, and only piano for more than a minute. Even when the rest of the arrangement comes in, it's really simple, lovely, acoustic, mandolin, a little guitar, and subtle drums. This tune is truly lovely, and I wish the album was full of more tunes like this one.


So to finish, I'd say I guess I don't regret picking this album up, but after Shaken Not Stirred, I was just expecting... better. Shaken Not Stirred changed a lot from the first two albums, so it's not that I'm bitter about the change from that one to this one. I loved the change. It was brilliant, really, and I was excited to see where else Phil could go. Unfortunately, he didn't take a path that really excited me, but hey, maybe that retro mumbo-jumbo will work for someone else...

Also, after I listen to something again so I can rip on it, I usually find I didn't hate it quite as much as I remembered. So there's that.

Like Johnny and June

New music to discuss at some point in the near future:

Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible

Jason Mraz's We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
Phil Vassar's Prayer of a Common Man, revisited...

But for now, I just turned on country radio, something, as you know, I only do on occasion, and heard a song I'd been told to keep my ears open for: a song called Johnny and June.

The song is the latest from Heidi Newfield, former front girl of Trick Pony. I spent the entire song trying to figure out who that voice belonged to, and never really put my finger on it, because the style is definitely different than the Trick Pony style. However, it's a great song, and the lyrics are just... well... perfect.


Heidi Newfield: Johnny & June EPK

Phil Vassar, Prayer of a Common Man

I have this insane urge to call up Phil Vassar, like we're friends or something, and tell him that his new CD is INCREDIBLE and I'm just so damn proud of him.

The songwriting is solid as always, but he's taken some major leaps and bounds in his sound. I've always said that Phil isn't just mainstream country. He doesn't make the same album over and over again. His self titled debut and American Child did sound fairly similar, but with Shaken Not Stirred, he went a little more Billy Joel and even Ray Charles, with his Greatest Hits (for which he recorded six or seven new tracks of songs he wrote but that were made popular by other artists) he went for a simple, more acoustic approach, and with the new album, Prayer of a Common Man, he took yet another direction. Some of the tunes are a little more radio friendly, but some of them, especially the first track, I almost want to use the term avant garde. The ones that are a little more typical are still produced differently... in a way that you feel as if you're listening to the music in an arena (with a good sound technician...) rather than from a machine reading a disc. It feels energetic and LIVE.

Of course, he's also on a new label this time around, which is something I didn't realize was happening until I read the liner notes and noticed he thanked his "new family" at Universal South. Another thing I noticed... no mention of Julie, and no wedding ring in the photos. Somebody got a divorce...

The music though. Man, the music. I'm a fan.

The disc dropped YESTERDAY. Go out and grab it. Let's give this man some great first week sales. He deserves them.