| Music - New Albums |
| CD Review: Allan's 'Tough All Over' From The Heart |
| by Julian Spivey |
| Gary Allan’s Tragic Masterpiece |
In November of 2004 country music singer Gary Allan’s wife committed suicide. Shortly after his devastating loss Allan went back into the recording studio to begin a follow up to his previous album “See If I Care.” In October Allan’s new album entitled “Tough All Over” was released on the MCA Nashville record label. The album quickly gained acclaim as one of the greatest country music albums of 2005.
Only when an artist can put his every emotion and feeling into an album will that album be something special. Gary Allan’s “Tough All Over” is indeed something special. “Tough All Over” is perhaps one of the darkest country music albums ever recorded and in some ways rival the darkness of Johnny Cash’s final recordings.
The first single released to radio from “Tough All Over” was “Best I Ever Had” a cover of the 2001 Vertical Horizon song. “Best I Ever Had” is a song about somebody who is trying to cope with a love that is no longer around. Gary Allan puts his every feeling into this track. The most haunting, and possibly best song on “Tough All Over” is one entitled “I Just Got Back From Hell.” The song while not written by Allan is one that is eerily related to his wife. The pain is plain to see in Allan’s voice during his performance of this song, especially in the lines, “Forgive me if I had any part, if I ever broke your heart in two, forgive me for what I didn’t know, for what I didn’t say or do.”
If you are looking for an album filled with happy songs, “Tough All Over” sure isn’t the album for you. If you are looking for an album from an artist who gives his all and performs from his heart and records the music that he wants to record then “Tough All Over” is the album for you. “Tough All Over” is an album not just for country music fans, but an album that all music fans of all genres will enjoy or at least respect. Gary Allan is not your typical country music singer and if you don’t believe that check out “He Can’t Quit Her” his track about addiction to love, which sounds more like an alternative rock song than a country song.
The final track of “Tough All Over” entitled “Puttin’ My Misery on Display” is basically what Allan has done on this album. Allan has put his misery on display for all of us to listen to and it takes extreme guts to do something of that measure. Musical performers who play by the rules and record the sappy music that record companies want them to play are abundant in the music industry this day and age.
Gary Allan is one of the few artists today who play by their own rules and play what they feel. “Tough All Over” is an album straight from Gary Allan’s heart and soul and I’m sure the music will touch the heart and souls of fans of every musical genre everywhere. |
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