Country reviews Letter E
-
Artist
:
Sara Evans
Release Date:
08 March 2011
Review:
It was with some
trepidation that I expected
this album. Sara Evans is for
me one of my favorite country
singer, like Miranda Lambert.
So with each new release, I
wonder if I'll find the
quality that made me hang from
the beginning to the previous
albums. The album presents a
powerful sound but mostly a
lot of ballads. Sara's voice
is captivating, it's good to
find it back !. Her
Desperately makes me think of
her Born to Fly, then there is
the very good Anywhere, where
we have only one desire: to go
with her. Her vocal mastery on
Ticket to Ride is impressive,
these melodies are superb. She
co-writes a lot of tracks. The
ballad Life Without Losing is
beautiful and the lyrics are
very beautiful. Her Born To
Fly bluegrass version is a
true gift to her fans. With
this album, Sara shows that
she is still among the big
names in country music. It’s
true the best things in life
are worth waiting for. A very
good country album.
Rating:
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release Date:
03 August 2004
Review:
This album is a
tribute to Fred Eaglesmith as
you'll understand. Fifteen
artists succeed and make a
"Tribute" by making their own
interpretations of some of his
hits. This album surprises me as
it’s quite successful, and I am
tempted to say that it would be
good to have a the second
volume. Of course, it’s for the
fans of the artist. His music is
here more accessible. No doubt a
good album that will delight his
fans.
Rating:
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release Date:
2000
Review:
This album represents a
return to bluegrass for this
Canadian artist. For once the CD
reconciles me a little with the
singer. Certainly it’s not the
best in bluegrass, but it’s one of
those albums, which is more
accessible for an audience that
doesn’t necessarily clings to his
eternal mixture of styles. We’ll
remember tracks like The Building,
Do You Love Me Now, I Shot Your
Dog with its funny lyrics. An
unpretentious CD, fun to listen
to, but for once I won’t complain.
Rating:
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release Date: 12
August 2008
Review:
The artist offers us a
Spiritual album in his particular
style. We feels the very hard rural
side of his childhood. The lyrics
are always very tough and he brings
little hope. Fans may be conquered,
but I admit that I have trouble.
Shoulder to the Plow, Tinderbox, I
Pray Now are the least depressing
yet. This album is for his hardcore
fans. If not go your way.
Rating:
By
Sheppard Micoud - ACS Staff Journalist
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release Date: 08
January 2007
Review:
This album is different from
the previous ones. If we find a little
bluegrass, he offers us most of the
time very slow tempos, it sounds like
classical music. Please note I have
nothing against the genre. What I
mean, is that even a soft classical
melody seems more rhythmic than some
of these songs. Then after everyone
can make their own opinion, but then I
am not hook at all. I find that the
mix is not so good, there is no unity.
We no longer knows what we listens. If
you're a fan, you can expect a
different album, but after all, this
artist is outside the box.
Rating:
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release
Date: 2002
Review:
Another album that will appeal to
his fans because I honestly see no
reason to talk about it. A mixture of
rock and blues, but where is the country
music on this album ?. Difficult to
find. Certainly it’s "authentic", he
writes poetically if you want. But no
nothing happens I won’t enjoy this
album. So if you are attracted by his
rather special style, go for it !.
Otherwise, I honestly see no reason to
dwell on such an opus. There is so much
better, and yet I have nothing against
this singer.
Rating:
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release
Date: 1994
Review:
This Ontario native, offers a very
special music. His style is quite simple,
traditional one might say, he sings what
is on his mind. Some may say that this is
a true artist, let's just say that he is
part of an older generation. One could
compare his style between a mix of folk
music and bluegrass. His words are always
rather sad and difficult, reflecting the
difficulty of rural life. Tracks like
Thirty Years Of Farmin', I'm Just Dreaming
are nice to listen. I admit I'm not a big
fan but we must recognize that his music
is emotionally charged. Here he gives us
an acoustic album that will delight fans
of the genre, the others will spend their
paths.
Rating:
Artist
:
Fred
Eaglesmith
Release
Date: 03
August 2004
Review:
The Canadian singer still offers us
some personal albums. A good mix of folk and
country. The compositions are well
interpreted, he feels his music. Everything
is here quite repetitive and simple but it
works. So I would not say that this is his
best album, but we are pleasantly surprised
with the track Sorry You Left Me or Thirty
Years of Farming, he perfectly varies
styles. Musically it’s successful. The only
complaint we can make is to be too
repetitive with the themes of his songs, but
hey it's a matter of taste. So why not take
advantage of those few minutes of calm and
relax by listening to this album. A
significant thing, Yellow Barley Straw shows
us beautiful vocal harmonies that I’ll leave
it to you to discover. However we’ll forget
the song Indiana Road, frankly everything
sounds out of tune. For fans traditional
country.
Rating:
Album:
Restless
Release
Date: 4 October 2005
Review:
After
many albums of the highest quality, a number of
incalculable hits, this latest opus is a
disappointment. It’s not bad, but still very far
from her real potential. It's just good, you
feel a hesitation in her music. We enjoy songs
like Restless, Perfect, Suds In The Bucket but
that's it. We like the album but it’s far from
her actual level, then this is a mixed album. We
are far from her Born To Fly or No Place That
Far. Okay let’s not be too hard, the album is
nice to listen, but when you are Sara Evans, we
could have expected a lot more.
Rating
:
Album:
Real Fine Place
Release
Date: 4 October 2005
Review:
Sara
Evans co-written 6 tracks like Momma's Night
Out, These Four Walls and surrounds herself with
Sheryl Crow (Roll Me Back in Times), Radney
Foster and George Ducas. As usual the quality is
at the rendezvous, although it’s not my favorite
album. W are in heaven from the beginning with
Coalmine and A Real Fine Place to Start. The
artist wonderfully varies tempos and offers us
very successful tracks like Cheatin',
Supernatural, Kissing Missouri. An album a
little calmer, a bit slower than the previous
ones. Her voice did miracles and reminds us that
Sara Evans is still a great country singer who
decidedly doesn't lack talent.
Rating
: 
Album:
No Place That Far
Release
Date: 1997
Review:
Second
album for Sara Evans and first step in the big
leagues if I may say so. What is impressive with
this CD is the incredible number of talent who
had worked with the singer, proof of its great
potential and immense talent. Just think between
a sumptuous duet with Vince Grill in No Place
That Far, another with Alison Krauss and Union
Station for These Days. We don’t know which way
to look. But this isn’t over yet because even
Martina McBride joined for a version of Fool I'm
A Woman. You tell me it's over now, the list
stops there, and no, the great George Jones
sings with her on Cupid. Sara Evans amazes us
with this album. The track that impressed me the
most is the beautiful and so catchy Cryin‘ Game.
This album proves that this singer is full of
resources and she’s already able to compete with
the best, starting her second album. That should
be enough to convince you to get it.
Rating
:
Album:
Born To Fly
Release
Date: 2006
Review:
What an
album! Sara Evans offers a quality worthy of the
greatest artists. Whatever the tempos, she
arrives to transport us, it’s simply amazing.
She has the most beautiful voices in country
music, and she knows how to use it. To speak
about this album, we should describe all the
songs, because they are all successful, of an
incredible beauty. I think I could talk about
this album for hours. I'm really impressed by
this singer. Surprisingly, confusing, especially
charming, this is how I would describe this CD.
It’s simply an invitation to dream. Sara’s voice
is sublime, like the voice of an angel, let
yourself be lulled by it and she will heal all
your ills. As you can see, you've got a
must-have and a singer to discover if it’s not
already done.
Rating
: 
Album:
Always There
Release
Date: 2006
Review:
This is
a greatest hits album release for Mother's Day
at Hallmark stores in 2006, and only available
in the USA. If we are pleasantly surprised to
find a live version of Suds In The Bucket,
followed by an acoustic version Born To Fly. The
singer doesn’t stop there and offers us two of
the most attractive new tracks. We are also
pleased to found Be Happy, Cryin’ Game. Note the
great Brooklyn & Austin with its confusing
and seductive words. The only major problem is
that Sara doesn’t even do the bare minimum
because there are only eight tracks, what a
pity, because the album was pretty original. Why
didn’t add 3 or 4 songs? You could have a high
quality CD. As you can see this album is
primarily for her fans. For those who like to
discover her, I would advise to turn to her
latest greatest hits or another of her albums,
where you can hear more songs , because no doubt
that Sara Evans is one of the best country music
artists today.
Rating
:
Artist:
Kathleen Edwards
Album:
Back To Me
Release
Date: 1 March
2005
Review:
This
young Canadian has a compelling voice and a
unique style. She has the ability to be able to
relax, heal your ills just with her voice. You
can listen to this album anywhere, the
atmosphere is really successful. The originality
comes mostly from the song lyrics, because I
must say that most mid tempos are similar, but
it’s not serious, Miss Edwards takes us into her
world. She dares and that is what we love.
Sublime tracks like In State, Old Time Sake,
Good Things or Summerlong. It's not maybe pure
country in the sense that we don’t hear the
traditional rhythms and instruments but this is
a sweet country. This artist is worth talking
about, because the atmosphere of this album is
very successful.
Rating
:
Artist:
Kathleen Edwards
Album:
Failers
Release
Date: 14
January 2003
Review:
Kathleen Edwards sings a lot about
love, attraction between a man and a woman and
having been betrayed. Despite Hockey Skates who
is very sad, Kathleen managed to convey softly
her message. The first song of this album is
probably the one that sounds the most country of
her entire career, or at least more than usual
when we know her. The Lone Wolf so typic with a
simple chorus highlights the sensuality and
softness of her voice. Bellevue brings us
surprising lyrics while putting forward a loud
sound. This is her first album, who certainly
won’t please everyone, but take the time to
listen to Miss Edwards because her music is
worth the trip, each track is a separate story,
playing a special feeling. To discover.
Rating
:
Artist:
Eleven Hundred Springs
Album:
This Crazy Life
Release
Date: 2 February 2010
Review:
From
the first track we begin to dream of a road trip
in America. This is the kind of album to listen
to when you travel to the US, it reminds me of
memories. If we would have liked a little more
beat in the sequences, the lyrics and the music
are going relatively well. The CD is nice to
listen, a good outlaw country, their style’ll
make you dance and have a good time. The
singer's voice matches perfectly with the genre,
the solos are rather good, a nice album for fans
of this genre. What more can I say if only the
songs Show Me The Money (Or i Will Show You the
Door) is so true, the chorus’ll stay in your
head for a long time. Road trip for some, a bar
atmosphere to others, but in any case it’s a
good album.
Rating
:
Artist:
Katrina Elam
Album:
Katrina Elam
Release
Date: 5 October 2004
Review:
I had
discovered her during a duo on one of Keith
Urban’s tour. She has a nice voice and beautiful
melodies. Good tracks like I Want a Cowboy,
Normal create a good atmosphere. The downside is
that not everything stand out. We like to listen
to this album in the car but it lacks something.
However Katrina has it all but we’ll have to
wait a second album, to make us want to come
back and return to her music.
Rating
:
-
Artist:
Paul Eason
Album:
The Mountains of Nuevo
León
Release
Date: 25 March 2008
Review:
I
remember to have discovered this artist at the
22nd festival in Craponne sur Arzon. A good
performance for this Texan. First album but what
an opus!. I was impressed to see him on stage
but the album is a real treat. You really feel a
typical blend of Texan and Mexican music, Paul
Eason literally immerses us in Texas with
Mexican influences. It's not some Latino music,
but a perfect alchemy. We are under his spell
with tracks like The Mountains of Nuevo León,
Maybe tonight. The hits keep coming. In short an
album where we feel a lot of emotions, he’ll
make you want to explore his world, a Texas land
that invites us to get lost in its immensity, to
discover the Mountains of Nuevo León. An
invitation to dream.
Rating
:
Album: 50-Odd
Dollars
Release
Date: 15 June 1999
Review:
This
Canadian singer offers a variety of music, rock,
blues and a little country. I say a little
because we are really far from what we use to.
So I know you have to listen to other music you
might say but then I admit I am not a fan.
Certainly some tracks are more country than
others, but we have to find them, Crazier,
Georgia Overdrive. We feels more blues rock
influences than anything else and he isn’t doing
well, we are not impress. An album that you
listen once but I'm not sure to listen it a
second time.
Rating
:
Album: Level
Release
Date: 05 April 2005
Review:
This
Texan band mixes genres, some Country
influences, but also some pop metal, grunge and
rock. I'm usually a bit reluctant, but then we
must admit that the mix is successful. So of
course this isn’t pure Country but in any case
the album listen is well balanced, even if we
feel a lot of metal and Country, he reminds me a
little of Kid Rock, I did say a little. Songs
like Oklahoma Girl, Everything Is You, Bottom
Line and especially Small Town Kid, are very
good. An album that’ll make you discover a good
country band mixing grunge and metal. A good
start, in addition they have wrote all their
songs.
Rating
:
-
Artist:
Sarah
Evans
Album:
Greatest Hits
Release
Date: 09 October 2007
Review:
Sarah
Evans is for me the best Country singer of all
time, so this means I won’t be objective in my
review. Let's say to simplicity that the album
includes most of the songs that have made her
famous while providing us with new tracks. This
is where Sarah Evans is different from many
other artists. She doesn’t just gives us the
best tunes on a CD, too simple for her, she
offers 4 new tracks and not the least because
they fully deserve their place in the album. New
songs are As If, Love You With All My Heart,
Pray For You, Some Things Never Change. You want
a powerful and beautiful female voice, an artist
to discover, then stop, you just find her.
Rating:
Album:
Three Chords abs the Truth
Release Date: 30
September 1997
Review:
This
album is one of her earliest. If the radios
didn’t honor her as they should have at the
time, I am surprised by the beauty of her songs.
It's crazy, Sarah Evans is one of those artists
like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert,
who can’t make bad music. Certainly this is not
her best CD, but her voice is there and tracks
like, Shame About That, I've Got A Tiger By The
Tail, Walk Out Backwards suggest her a great
future. And I am not even talking about The Week
The River Rages and True Lines, which are purely
beautiful. Whether you like Sarah Evans or not,
this is a good album to put into your home
stereo !
Rating:
Album:
Asking
For Flowers
Release Date:
4 mach 2008
Review:
This
album is a good mix of Irish folk and new
country. The Kathleen Edwards’s voice makes me
think of one of the Corrs’s voice, a sweet
intonation so special. The sound is catchy, I
Make The Dough, You Get The Glory and her lyrics
are original, Asking For Flowers is simply
beautiful, Oil Man's War bewitch you. Everything
is very good, but it lacks a little bit of beat
for my taste. Musically it’s near perfection,
it's really a pleasure to listen !
-
Rating:
