| Show - Allison Moorer | |
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Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
Allison Moorer has released three critically acclaimed CDs in her short 6 year career without really getting much major exposure. Sure, she was the woman behind the mike in The Horse Whisperer with her Academy Award nominated ballad "A Soft Place To Fall," but country radio has hardly spun any of her stuff. Fortunately for Allison, she has a fan in Tony Brown. When Tony created his new label Universal South last year, he took with him (from MCA Nashville) Bering Strait, Dean Miller and Allison.
To follow up her first Universal South release, 2002's Miss Fortune, Allison recorded a live show from January 2003 at the famous Nashville hot spot 12th & Porter. The release, simply called Show, contains 14 great songs from her three CDs with a couple new tracks included in the mix. A DVD of the show is included as a bonus for those who purchase the first pressing of the CD. The DVD is identical to the CD except it includes an acoustic performance of Allison's haunting ballad about her parents, "Cold Cold Earth."
Leading off the record is a rocking version of "Day You Said Goodbye" from her second MCA CD, 2000's The Hardest Part. This heart wrenching song features some very well written lyrics and is a great way to start of a show.
Featuring sounds that highlight Allison's great band, "Alabama Song" is a cool song about yearning to go back to the state you love with your spouse. The steel guitarist is highlighted here just as he is in a breathtaking version of the previously mentioned "A Soft Place To Fall." Written with Gwil Owen (Pinmonkey's "Augusta"), "Soft Place" is a tender ballad about an old love that still bubbles under the surface for Allison.
"Yessirree" is a fun song about a special tavern called the Blue Moon Tap Room owned by a guy named Tony. This is the type of song that paints a picture of a place that everyone would love to have near them, a cool, cheap watering hole to hang out at. This song first appeared on the Miss Fortune album.
As one of three "new" songs on the CD, "I'll Break Before I Bend" is an rocking song with wonderful slide guitar tones backing a slick guitar lick and bluesy vocals by Allison. This track would sound great on adult rock radio for it certainly ain't a country song. That being said, it's a barn-burner that Allison gets to let her vocals go and wryly says "maybe that'll be my first hit single" after it's over.
"Let Go" was one of my favorite tracks from Miss Fortune and this self-penned ballad about loss or the lack there of is given a sparse acoustic arrangement to let the listeners feel the emotional impact of the song. Obviously about the loss of her parents, the song hits the gut pretty hard.
Joining Allison for three tracks is her sister Shelby Lynne. After hearing them run through the great "Bring Me All Your Lovin'" (a song Trisha Yearwood recorded), I now have confirmation that these two sisters possess the strongest set of voices to be or have ever recorded songs in Nashville. They sing separate lines and versus on this song and I hope they someday do a duet CD together for I think it'd sound wonderful.
Allison and Shelby bring down the house with a great rendition of the song which gave Miss Fortune its name - "Going Down." This Rolling Stones influenced track is fun and certainly is the type of song that would be absolutely a blast live. The DVD is cool to watch to see how Allison and Shelby interact together throughout the three song set that ends with this track.
"Send Down An Angel" was one of the best songs from The Hardest Part and its emotion packed lyrics sound even better in a live setting than they do on the studio version. It's a song about a woman who is asking for God's help to help her understand why she loves her husband the way she does and why she continues to stay by his side even when he doesn't always tell her where he is.
"Dying Breed" is a haunting, dark song about a woman who follows her family's historical path down the dark and lonely trail. "I take after my family, my fate's the blood in me, no one grows old in this household, we are a dying breed" Allison sings over one of the better melodies I've heard in quite some time.
After they sang together last year on Farm Aid, Allison joined Kid Rock for a version of his hit song "Picture" and for this record, Kid returns the favor with the outlaw tale of "Bully Jones." The song shows that Allison and Kid have a good time with this song.
"Bully Jones" is a fitting way to conclude a great live record. If more artists were as dynamic as Allison Moorer then maybe, just maybe, Nashville would have a better reputation than it currently has with mainstream music critics. As this record stands, it should place Ms. Moorer on many "best of 2003" lists for the fourth time. If you like well written songs, then you'll like Allison Moorer's Show CD.
Song List:
Album cover used with permission of Universal South
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble