My American readers might be wondering why I am only just reviewing this album now; since it was released on December 10 on US shores. However, I am actually located in the UK, and it has only just come out here, and while I aiming this site at an American audience, I am not magic, and cannot access music that isn’t available here. So I was excited to finally have a full listen to the record outside of the show itself, and simply as a record without visual aid or narrative.
What quickly becomes apparent just by looking at the track listing is that whoever compiled it was more concerned about including all the characters rather than making sure it was full of solid, great songs. The inclusion of Chaley Rose singing ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ a capella for example, feels like a forced attempt to include her and remind listeners that she can actually sing too. Then there’s the lack of Connie Britton – she features on the duet ‘Ball and Chain’ with Will Chase, but there’s a glaring omission of any of her other tracks, notably the feel-good power track ‘The Best Songs Come From Broken Hearts’, where she magically regains her voice. Even her on-screen daughters, Lennon & Maisy, get two tracks, while Clare Bowen is featured on four. There are even two versions of ‘A Life That’s Good’, one of the album’s standout tracks and co-written by the awesome Ashley Monroe, but I hardly think one version from Lennon & Maisy and one from Charles Esten is necessary, seeing as the musical styles are practically identical.
Perhaps I’m being fussy. After all, they were kind enough to include Sam Palladio’s ‘Can’t Get It Right’, which is a personal favorite of mine and could easily have been overlooked, not being spotlighted particularly aside from it supposedly being about Gunnar’s dead brother. There’s also a length 17 tracks on the deluxe, which is more than they’ve ever included before, and is most welcome, in addition to more-or-less balancing upbeat tracks and gentle ballads. The problem is some of them just weren’t as memorable as others they could have put on the record, meaning that while everyone is represented the song collection is not quite as strong for me.
Aside from track selection, however, what’s notable about this album is the way it differs from its two predecessors. Although all the songs are all designed to come from totally different artists, there is more of a thematic synergy this year, obviously designed to strengthen the brand of the show and increase album sales. One side, such as with Hayden Panettiere’s ‘Trouble Is’, Chris Carmack’s ‘What If I Was Willing’, Aubrey Peeples’ ‘Tell Me’ and Hayden & Chris’ collaboration ‘Can’t Say No To You’, works within a firmly modern country format, with full pop production (plus strong electric guitar and mandolin aspects), upbeat tempos and simple, catchy melodies. On the other side, we have gentle, haunting and ethereal Americana ballads, from Sam Palladio’s ‘Can’t Get It Right’, to Clare Bowen & Charles Esten’s ‘This Town’, to Clare Bowen & Sam Palladio’s ‘Why Can’t I Say Goodnight’ through Jonathan Jackson’s ‘How You Learn To Live Alone’ and Clare Bowen’s ‘Waitin’’.
Then there’s an “other” category, within which both versions of ‘A Life That’s Good’, and ‘Share With You’ sit, functioning within a cheery, delicately harmonized folky sound. There also the more rock & roll sound, which we hear through ‘Ball and Chain’, ‘Be My Girl’ (Sam Palladio & Jonathan Jackson) and ‘Playin’ Tricks’ (Charles Esten) with the heavily Motown sound of ‘Come See About Me’ an anomaly as it’s a Supremes cover. So commercial rock/pop, haunting Americana, cheery folk, and dirtier rock & roll. Across those four categories, they can appeal to a large portion of the overall music market and there’s multiple offerings for each sound that fans (and potential fans) can indulge in. Perhaps the track listing is more for that intention rather than making sure everyone is represented, and perhaps they can be forgiven in that respect. However, I just hope an attempt to streamline things more in this season doesn’t result in the songs being more forgettable. Because I feel like they already may be.
