|
"Southern Rain"
Ever since 1992's "Achy Breaky
Heart" made him a commercial smash and critical whipping
boy, Billy Ray Cyrus has struggled to overcome the "one-hit"
stigma, and it wasn't clear he'd ever succeed. He has. No longer
does he hide behind posturing. His vocals are stronger, more
confident, and expressive. While his musical edge is modern,
the occasional addition of steel and fiddles hasn't hurt. He
believably conveys a wide range of emotions and moods: renewal
on "You Won't Be Lonely Now," wistful nostalgia on
"Southern Rain," the passion of "Everywhere I
Wanna Be," romantic desperation with "Love You Back,"
and excruciating loneliness on "Without You." He ably
delivers the acerbic, satirical "Burn Down the Trailer Park"
and the roadhouse rockabilly tune "Crazy 'Bout You Baby."
With all this, he can be forgiven the smarmy "Hey Elvis"
and "We the People," a potential advertising jingle
masquerading as a patriotic number. Rough as the late '90s were
for Cyrus, they brought the BRC of 2000 real strength and maturity.
--Rich Kienzle |
Customer review from Amazon
Reviewer: Daniel A. Childs from Franklin,
Tennessee
I have followed Billy Ray Cyrus's
music for a very long time. I have all, or at least most of his
records, and I like all of them, very much. Each album has a
different type of theme or type of music to it, and Billy Ray
is very serious about what his fans believe and is very confident
about this album.This must be some of his very best work. Just
earlier today I was listening to the album, "Southern Rain"
[his most recent as of now], and there's just something I love
about every song on there. On this album, he expresses every
side of his music. The soft ballads, like "Everywhere I
Wanna Be", the rouph and touph stuff like "Crazy 'Bout
You Baby" and "Hey Elvis", his personal side like
"Southern Rain", and the great varieties of his out-standing
vocal abuility in "I Will" and "Love You Back".
Over all, this is a great album, and has done well as far as
I can see. I can't wait to hear the next one! Keep up the GREAT
work, Billy Ray! |
|
|
