As the seasons and episodes progress, I find it harder and harder to remember the majority of the songs performed on Nashville, or at the very least recognize them. I’m not sure whether I’m paying less attention, the performances are made less prominent, or perhaps even there are just even more songs to take in, making it difficult to become familiar with all of them. The ones that continue to crop up or which serve as part of integral scenes are far easier to remember, of course, and the ‘Season 3: Volume 2’ edition of the collection of soundtrack albums does make a bid to include plenty of those.
Hayden Panettiere’s ‘Mississippi Flood’ (written by Lucie Silvas, Tofer Brown and Jamie Floyd), for example, has been used a couple of times – once as part of Juliette’s famous rooftop performance, and again as one of the songs she’s working on for her new album. Connie Britton and Chip Esten’s ‘The Rivers Between Us’ (written by Eric Kaz and J.D. Souther) meanwhile is the emotional song they perform during Rayna’s 10th Opry anniversary celebration, right before she corners him up at the cabin and he tells her he has cancer, and it reappears on Rayna’s record player when she’s musing over the past and crying over her lover’s mortality. Lennon & Maisy Stella’s ‘Heart On Fire’ (written by Sarah Buxton, Blair Daly and Kate York) is the song the girls record together for the Music In Schools program, of which Maddie’s solo version is taken and used by Jeff to convince Teddy to sign her to a contract. It is this, ultimately, which gets Jeff fired from head of the label, making it a key point in the plot. And then there’s Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio and Jonathan Jackson’s ‘My Song’ (written by Sarah Siskind and Femke Weidema), the moment when Scarlett rises above her fears regarding bad memories of mental illness, and takes on the haters in a slightly terrifying performance one year after her meltdown.
These songs, among others, form key parts of the flow of this record as a whole, interspersed with less memorable material but nonetheless taking us on a journey through vignettes from the season. Will Chase and Laura Benanti’s ‘Can’t Help My Heart’ (written by Sarah Buxton, Jedd Hughes and Kevin Griffin) reminds us of that passionate studio performance that led to late night coffee that led to Sadie tragically shooting her ex-husband Pete, and ultimately led to her leaving the show. Chris Carmack’s ‘I’m On It’ (written by Matt Jenkins, Matt Ramsey and Trevor Rosen) sums up Layla’s heartbreak and the poor decisions she has continued to make in her vulnerable state, while Jonathan Jackson’s ‘This Is What I Need To Say’ (written by Sarah Siskind) takes us back to Avery’s teary performance to his unborn child and heavily pregnant wife. Will Chase’s duet with Maisy Stella on ‘Have A Little Faith In Me’ too, is a heartwarming reminder of little Daphne getting her moment to shine on stage without her sister, but instead with the man who almost became her stepdad.
Various emotions are brought to the forefront as the eighteen tracks on this record progress, but to really enjoy it in its entirety it does seem to be necessary that you watch the show first. The songs that really pop are those that come with a snapshot of the scene in which they were performed on the show, so those that are hard to place are not as successful, and a fan of Nashville is going to enjoy this far more than a non-fan just purely for the added narrative. We feel Sadie’s pain over her violent ex in Laura Benanti’s ‘Sad Song’ (written by Ashley Monroe and Matraca Berg), and the same goes for left-at-the-altar Luke as he parties to forget on Will Chase’s ‘If I Drink This Beer’ (written by Jonathan Singleton and Brad Tursi). The reason they work is because we have lived with these characters over time and seen their hardships at length, so the songs are extensions of that rather than the other way around.
For that reason, I’m not sure this album will be compelling enough for a non-Nashville fan, limiting their market somewhat. Mind you, that’s really been the case with all of the soundtrack albums, with only a couple hinting at potential as a standalone package. It’s not that the songs are bad (far from it), they just benefit from context when there are so many different vocalists and personalities involved. This is therefore a solid selection from the show, although there are a couple I didn’t remember whatsoever, and could have done without (particularly when the Target deluxe edition features a whopping 20 tracks).
Verdict? A great addition to any Nashville diehard fan’s collection. But they’ve released better editions.
