Gary Allan - Tough All Over
By: Cheryl Harvey Hill, Sr. Staff Journalist
Today's country music may have more texture and angles than the simple "three chords and the truth" that gave birth to it but its basic DNA hasn't been altered. No matter what you are going through in your life, I can guarantee you that there is a country song that can accurately describe your feelings down to a T. Gary Allan's new album, Tough All Over, is an affirmation of this fact.
Allan has always had that coarse, cultured by trial and tribulation, depth to his voice that gives it a distinct edginess and enables him to deliver lyrics with an effortless sucker punch to the depth of your feelings but on Tough All Over he takes it to a new level; one that isn't easy to listen to at times because every syllable is conveyed with gut wrenching emotion and many of them, unashamedly, tinged with pain.
This is his first album since he lost his wife and, after much retrospection, he decided there was no point in trying to hide the hurt because he couldn't; instead, he confronted his grief, put it down on paper, set it to music and, as the final song on the album verifies, he put his "misery on display."
On his website it states: For Gary Allan, no real choice ever existed about the subject of the twelve songs on Tough All Over. "Not addressing what happened to my family would have been wrong," says Allan. "It’s a part of our lives and part of who I am. I absolutely had to work through what had happened, through music."
The popularity of reality shows on television is proof positive that we are a nation of voyeurs; we can't seem to turn away from the accident, no matter how horrific it might be. I think it took a great deal of personal courage for Allan to allow the world to view snapshots of a time in his life when he was/is clearly fragile and defenseless; he could have closed the door and drawn the blinds but he didn't. With this soul-bearing album, he answers all the exhaustive questions that have been asked, and some that no one had the audacity to ask. The result is a powerful, musical journey that, he now says, was a crucial step towards his own healing and I think this selfless act will be of comfort to others who have had the misfortune to walk that mile in his shoes. Just realizing you are not the only one to feel a certain way can be immensely consoling.
Despite the fact that much of the lyrics on this album are difficult to listen to, Allan's voice is compellingly mesmerizing and you can't seem to muster up the courage to turn off the CD player. It isn't that you are enjoying the heartache; quite the contrary, you are waiting, praying, hoping for the clouds to part and the sun to finally shine. For that reason, "Puttin' Memories Away" comes as a huge relief since it offers hope for a future that isn't permanently devastated by the events of the past. In this song you finally get a sense that Allan has regained some semblance of balance and the good memories have finally begun to outweigh the bad.
Allan co-wrote on three of the songs on this album but it is the dramatic final cut, "Putting My Misery on Display," which he wrote by himself, that was the most staggeringly gripping track for me. The song runs for over six minutes; Allan's earnest delivery of the heartbreaking lyrics is brilliantly complimented by four minutes of some of the most extraordinary and spellbinding guitar playing I've ever heard. The final song on the album begins as an emotional free fall but the dramatic instrumental ending allows you to, thankfully, land on your feet and I found it to be restorative after such an emotional journey. Ending with such intense musical drama, after such moving revelations, leaves you feeling exhilarated rather than exhausted.
Allan states that Tough All Over has become his favorite record; he now describes the final sessions as "the most expensive therapy I've ever had." I think his intimate disclosures and revelations will prove to be cathartic for a lot of folks and kudos to his fantastic group of musicians (keyboardist Steve Nathan, drummer Chad Cromwell, electric guitarist Brent Rowan, bass player Michael Rhodes, acoustic guitarists Jake Kelly and John Willis, percussionist Eric Darken, fiddle player Hank Singer and steel player Robby Turner). These are the same musicians that have been recording with him since his very first studio album and I'm certain that the fact that they have become personal friends over the years provided Allan with a recording environment that contributed immensely to the overall excellence of this project.
www.garyallan.com
Today's country music may have more texture and angles than the simple "three chords and the truth" that gave birth to it but its basic DNA hasn't been altered. No matter what you are going through in your life, I can guarantee you that there is a country song that can accurately describe your feelings down to a T. Gary Allan's new album, Tough All Over, is an affirmation of this fact.
Allan has always had that coarse, cultured by trial and tribulation, depth to his voice that gives it a distinct edginess and enables him to deliver lyrics with an effortless sucker punch to the depth of your feelings but on Tough All Over he takes it to a new level; one that isn't easy to listen to at times because every syllable is conveyed with gut wrenching emotion and many of them, unashamedly, tinged with pain.
This is his first album since he lost his wife and, after much retrospection, he decided there was no point in trying to hide the hurt because he couldn't; instead, he confronted his grief, put it down on paper, set it to music and, as the final song on the album verifies, he put his "misery on display."
On his website it states: For Gary Allan, no real choice ever existed about the subject of the twelve songs on Tough All Over. "Not addressing what happened to my family would have been wrong," says Allan. "It’s a part of our lives and part of who I am. I absolutely had to work through what had happened, through music."
The popularity of reality shows on television is proof positive that we are a nation of voyeurs; we can't seem to turn away from the accident, no matter how horrific it might be. I think it took a great deal of personal courage for Allan to allow the world to view snapshots of a time in his life when he was/is clearly fragile and defenseless; he could have closed the door and drawn the blinds but he didn't. With this soul-bearing album, he answers all the exhaustive questions that have been asked, and some that no one had the audacity to ask. The result is a powerful, musical journey that, he now says, was a crucial step towards his own healing and I think this selfless act will be of comfort to others who have had the misfortune to walk that mile in his shoes. Just realizing you are not the only one to feel a certain way can be immensely consoling.
Despite the fact that much of the lyrics on this album are difficult to listen to, Allan's voice is compellingly mesmerizing and you can't seem to muster up the courage to turn off the CD player. It isn't that you are enjoying the heartache; quite the contrary, you are waiting, praying, hoping for the clouds to part and the sun to finally shine. For that reason, "Puttin' Memories Away" comes as a huge relief since it offers hope for a future that isn't permanently devastated by the events of the past. In this song you finally get a sense that Allan has regained some semblance of balance and the good memories have finally begun to outweigh the bad.
Allan co-wrote on three of the songs on this album but it is the dramatic final cut, "Putting My Misery on Display," which he wrote by himself, that was the most staggeringly gripping track for me. The song runs for over six minutes; Allan's earnest delivery of the heartbreaking lyrics is brilliantly complimented by four minutes of some of the most extraordinary and spellbinding guitar playing I've ever heard. The final song on the album begins as an emotional free fall but the dramatic instrumental ending allows you to, thankfully, land on your feet and I found it to be restorative after such an emotional journey. Ending with such intense musical drama, after such moving revelations, leaves you feeling exhilarated rather than exhausted.
Allan states that Tough All Over has become his favorite record; he now describes the final sessions as "the most expensive therapy I've ever had." I think his intimate disclosures and revelations will prove to be cathartic for a lot of folks and kudos to his fantastic group of musicians (keyboardist Steve Nathan, drummer Chad Cromwell, electric guitarist Brent Rowan, bass player Michael Rhodes, acoustic guitarists Jake Kelly and John Willis, percussionist Eric Darken, fiddle player Hank Singer and steel player Robby Turner). These are the same musicians that have been recording with him since his very first studio album and I'm certain that the fact that they have become personal friends over the years provided Allan with a recording environment that contributed immensely to the overall excellence of this project.
www.garyallan.com