Joe Nichols - Real Things
Review by: Cheryl Harvey Hill, Sr. Staff Journalist
Country music is designed to touch our hearts and souls so who better to convey that message than someone with a voice that often resonates so deeply through you that you find yourself doing pursed lips breathing just to clear your head and calm your heart. There is no doubt about it, Joe Nichols is the class in classic country and as impossible as it may seem, he just keeps getting better and better.
The only thing that never changes about this charismatic native of Rogers, Arkansas, is his delightful sense of humor and the fact that he never takes himself too seriously. Perhaps it is his innate, unassuming nature that allows him to fill each song to the brim with so much emotion. He shares an important hallmark of all truly great artists; he never displays any fear of exposing his own vulnerability which is, no doubt, why it is easy to believe that he singing from his own experiences.
Thirteen has always been my lucky number and I think it is definitely lucky for Nichols too because choosing a favorite track from the thirteen on this album was just about impossible. "Real Things" has all the components of a hit song and Nichols conveys it with just the right amount of feeling, but "All Good Things" is a really great song too and his delivery is eloquent in its simplicity. "Let's Get Drunk and Fight" is an up-tempo song with a clever hook that is certain to have everyone singing along.
"My Whiskey Years" caused me to hit replay quite a few times and "If I Could Only Fly," which features Lee Ann Womack, definitely ranks high among my favorite tracks. Like a melodic kaleidoscope, each song displays a different pattern of emotion, each one as fascinating, as captivating, and as entertaining, as the other.
According to Nichols, this is the album he would have made from the beginning, if he'd "had the skills time has helped him accumulate." Well, I've known him for many years and I am certain that he has always had the skills; he just needed a little maturity to fine tune them. He is one of those special artists who was destined to be an entertainer. You can't learn to sing like Nichols, he was born to do this. When it comes to Real Things, Joe Nichols is.
It's All Good
Fanclub Party
Old Things New
Joe Nichols in Concert - Las Vegas, NV 2002
Country music is designed to touch our hearts and souls so who better to convey that message than someone with a voice that often resonates so deeply through you that you find yourself doing pursed lips breathing just to clear your head and calm your heart. There is no doubt about it, Joe Nichols is the class in classic country and as impossible as it may seem, he just keeps getting better and better.
The only thing that never changes about this charismatic native of Rogers, Arkansas, is his delightful sense of humor and the fact that he never takes himself too seriously. Perhaps it is his innate, unassuming nature that allows him to fill each song to the brim with so much emotion. He shares an important hallmark of all truly great artists; he never displays any fear of exposing his own vulnerability which is, no doubt, why it is easy to believe that he singing from his own experiences.
Thirteen has always been my lucky number and I think it is definitely lucky for Nichols too because choosing a favorite track from the thirteen on this album was just about impossible. "Real Things" has all the components of a hit song and Nichols conveys it with just the right amount of feeling, but "All Good Things" is a really great song too and his delivery is eloquent in its simplicity. "Let's Get Drunk and Fight" is an up-tempo song with a clever hook that is certain to have everyone singing along.
"My Whiskey Years" caused me to hit replay quite a few times and "If I Could Only Fly," which features Lee Ann Womack, definitely ranks high among my favorite tracks. Like a melodic kaleidoscope, each song displays a different pattern of emotion, each one as fascinating, as captivating, and as entertaining, as the other.
According to Nichols, this is the album he would have made from the beginning, if he'd "had the skills time has helped him accumulate." Well, I've known him for many years and I am certain that he has always had the skills; he just needed a little maturity to fine tune them. He is one of those special artists who was destined to be an entertainer. You can't learn to sing like Nichols, he was born to do this. When it comes to Real Things, Joe Nichols is.
It's All Good
Fanclub Party
Old Things New
Joe Nichols in Concert - Las Vegas, NV 2002
