Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there! 

Allison Moorer has a new album. 

I will totally admit to loving one of her albums, liking two others and detesting two. So - like any artist, it's a crapshoot. I'll also admit to not buying this disk, but picking it up at the liberry. 

I can almost say for certain, I may have been the first person to check out Down to Believing.

The thing with Moorer - she can be country, she can be Americana, she can be folk. At times even a little pop. Each album is little different - that works on some levels, and on others it doesn't. I like to be kept guessing here and there, but you just never what you're gonna get.

Down to Believing skews a little more country. Some of it older country, some of it new. To prove the latter, "Tear Me Apart" could easily be a Shania Twain song. I'm not saying this is a plus.

Moorer can do slower songs well - and her voice is totally suited for that, as she has a lovely one. But some of the slower material here doesn't work as well, as say as it did on the Duel. Some do - as I do really like the title track, "Gonna Get it Wrong" and "Thunderstorm / Hurricane" (though the latter really builds from a vocal piece to a fully fleshed instrumental rock gem - as the title might imply). But I am not feeling "If I Were Stronger".

On previous disk, Moorer could rock it too - as needed. On Believe, her results are a little more mixed. I totally dig "I Lost My Crystal Ball" and "Like it Used to Be".  While I like "Mama Let the Wolf In", I could just as easily see someone like Gretchen Wilson doing this track. And "Back of My Mind" is just fair as songs go. It's one of those tunes that could have been recorded and forgotten by just about anyone. Moorer is better than this song.

Still, the good certainly outweighs the bad. I enjoy this disk much more than Mockingbird, Crows or Getting Somewhere.