Having had a career spanning 17 years, and a life providing more than enough material for writing powerful country songs, Allison Moorer is releasing a Greatest Hits collection following on from her early 2015 release of her acclaimed 7th studio album ‘Down To Believing’. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Moorer’s work, as I was before ‘Down To Believing’, this is a wonderful collection of down-to-earth country and Americana songs, providing an excellent introduction into the work of this wonderful singer-songwriter.
The collection begins with ‘Call My Name’, a beautiful ballad displaying all of Allison’s impressive country credentials, with melancholy lyrics exploring longing, backed by wailing steel guitar and acoustic guitar. The style of song is very indicative of Allison’s music in general, and the honesty and magic of the music is absolutely wonderful.
Songs like ‘Long Black Train’ display Allison’s more ‘Honky-Tonk’ twist of country, with a strong rhythm held using a drum kit and more of a boot-stomping feel to the upbeat song. Similarly ‘The One That Got Away (Got Away With My Heart)’ is one of the most upbeat tracks on the 34-track, 2-disc collection. Using more electric guitar and banjo, it throws back to a period in country music where this kind of song would be commonly be heard on the radio and in bars in Nashville, rather than the pop-sheen of contemporary covers that seems to plague it nowadays.
Although there is a refreshing diversity of style on this collection, the prevailing song style remains the slower ballads, the kind of song that you listen to the lyrics of to appreciate properly. ‘Alabama Song’ is a highlight, displaying some lovely acoustic instrumentation to complement the slow swing of the melody. Similarly ‘Pardon Me’ is very effective as an emotive track and displays a similar country swing rhythm and a theme of lost love and redemption. To be perfectly honest, it is a welcome shock to my reviewing system to be actually writing about such a collection that contains 34 tracks, all of which are authentically country.
Having said this, disc 2 shows Allison’s equivalent of the ‘country evolution’ argument, containing tracks with a higher level of instrumentation and production. But the key point here is that ‘country evolution’ doesn’t mean abandoning country, and this is exactly what Allsion avoids doing, keeping the steel guitars and banjos but just adding more drums, electric guitars, and even a string orchestra on ‘Cold In California’. Although the sound is more polished and pop-like, the effect is exactly the same as in disc 1, remaining rooted in wonderful emotive lyrics, melodies, and most importantly in country music.
This more modern style is similar to that adopted in her most recent album ‘Down To Believing’ which brilliantly conjures some of the most dramatic, cathartic songs that I’ve heard. The same occurs here, where the added instrumentation adds a level of depth to a lot of the songs. Although there is a lot of country still here, songs like ‘Steal The Sun’ brings a bit of R&B to the table, created by the bounce of the electric guitar and the groove swing adopted by Allison in her vocals.
As I said, if you are unfamiliar with Allison Moorer’s music, you should brush up, because contained in her back catalogue is some of the more genuine country you will find, and this is the collection to serve as your introduction. Kind of makes pop-country seem a bit *#+* doesn’t it?
Originally posted here.
