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20: For My Broken Heart (Reba McEntire)

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Album: For My Broken Heart
Artist: Reba McEntire
Year: 1991

1. For My Broken Heart
2. Is There Life Out There
3. Bobby
4. He’s in Dallas
5. All Dressed Up
6. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
7. Buying Her Roses
8. The Greatest Man I Never Knew
9. I Wouldn’t Go That Far
10. If I Had Only Known

Reba was 36 years old when this album was released, making it her eighteenth album. She has slowed down considerably. Through 1999, at age 44, she had released twenty-four albums, but she’s released only four since, deciding that acting poorly in her shitty sitcom was more rewarding. Or something.

The first two songs were the two big hits, and they’re good, but pretty generic. Bobby is a painful song about how euthanasia can affect family and is one of my favorite songs. Continuing with crushing emotions, All Dressed Up is about a lady with Alzheimer’s in a nursing home who continually stares out the front window waiting for family that’s never coming. I’ve had similar clients in my career, so I connect with it, but the song has a subtle touch that makes it accessible to all.

Reba’s cover of Vicki Lawrence’s The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia definitely does it justice. The Greatest Man I Never Knew is another somber tune about a girl who grows up with a father who is home but not present. The rest of the songs are pretty much about broken relationships and are all solid. If I Had Only Known is probably my favorite of them and with its slow tempo makes for a good end to Reba’s best album.

For those noticing that all ten songs on the album are all about heartache and death, it’s not coincidence. This was the first album she released after her band was killed in a plane crash (a plane she would have been on had she not been suffering from bronchitis).  She only wrote one of the songs on this album (Bobby), but admitted the song selection reflected her emotional state at the time and her hopes that it would be a healing project.

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23: Big Love (Tracy Byrd)

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Album: Big Love
Artist: Tracy Byrd
Year: 1996

1. Big Love
2. Cowgirl
3. Good Ol’ Fashioned Love
4. Don’t Take Her She’s All I Got
5. If I Stay
6. Don’t Love Make a Diamond Shine
7. Tuscon Too Soon
8. I Don’t Believe That’s How You Feel
9. Driving Me out of Your Mind
10. I Love You, That’s All

Tracy is probably best known for Watermelon Crawl, and it’s my favorite song by him as well. But while his earlier albums had a few monstrous hits, the filler was exceptionally poor.  His third album, Love Lessons, nearly made the list. When his fourth album came out, I was blown away.  While not every song here is amazing, it really feels like these ten songs were meant to be together, which is a fine achievement considering that the ten songs had nine different writers. Not a big fan of the album title, but the cover is nice, and implies Byrd’s big love is the expanse of nature.

Gary U.S. Bonds wrote Don’t Take Her She’s All I Got, which has been a big hit for everyone who’s recorded it, including Byrd. Big Love was the other smash from the album, and it’s a decent opener. Cowgirl is great tongue-in-cheek country swing. If I Stay is a sad, up-tempo break-up song but it would also make a great ballad in any genre. I Love You, That’s All is another break-up song, and one I kind of modeled my own break-ups after (i.e. not being a whiny ass about it).

After this album, Byrd kind of went good ol’ boy for a while, and he slowly rolled off the charts and he hasn’t done much lately. He’s one of several country artists whose favorite album of mine is their fourth, and most of them fell off a cliff afterwards. I think part of the reason is that a lot of them, once they make it big, stop singing about relationships and move towards family, or patriotism, or how awesome it is to be a redneck. In Tracy’s case, it was also because the filler got more boring than ever.

 

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31: Mud on the Tires (Brad Paisley)

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Album: Mud on the Tires
Artist: Brad Paisley
Year: 2003

1. Mud on the Tires
2. Celebrity
3. Ain’t Nothin’ Like
4. Little Moments
5. That’s Love
6. Somebody Knows You Know
7. Famous People
8. Hold Me in Your Arms
9. Whiskey Lullaby (with Alison Krauss)
10. The Best Thing I Had Going
11. The Cigar Song
12. Make a Mistake
13. Make a Mistake with Me (instrumental)
14. Is It Raining at Your House
15. Spaghetti Western Swing
16. Farther Along
17. Kung Pao

I promise is the final Paisley album on the countdown. Mud on the Tires is his third and the most consistent from beginning to end. Mud on the Tires is classic country, easy to listen and sing along to, and was an instant smash. Celebrity is a fun and honest critique of the desire to be famous. Then the album shoots off three decent consecutive slice-of-life songs before Somebody Knows You Know, a sad and cynical break-up song, showing off Paisley’s tenor voice.

Famous People is a cute song about an actress visiting small-town Kentucky.  Whiskey Lullaby is a crushing song about alcohol abuse and Krauss is great as usual. The Cigar Song is a funny tune that plays on the urban legend of the guy who insures his cigars against arson and the collects on the insurance after he smokes them. Then the album’s highlight for me is Make a Mistake, the shortest song in my top 500, coming in at 1:33.

The end of the album wraps up with Brad’s usual, an instrumental, a gospel song, and some talking songs by the Kung Pao Buckaroos that do nothing for me beyond the initial listen. Thankfully, they are at the end so I can skip them. Fourteen consecutive good songs is enough for me.

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32: Time Well Wasted (Brad Paisley)

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Album: Time Well Wasted
Artist: Brad Paisley
Year: 2005

1. The World
2. Alcohol
3. Waitin’ on a Woman
4. I’ll Take You Back
5. She’s Everything
6. You Need a Man Around Here
7. Out in the Parkin’ Lot (with Alan Jackson)
8. Rainin’ You
9. Flowers
10. Love is Never-Ending
11. The Uncloudy Day
12. When I Get Where I’m Going (w/ Dolly Parton)
13. Easy Money
14. Time Warp
15. Time Well Wasted
16. Cornography

Paisley’s fourth album further his ascendance to one of country’s elite, though not surprisingly, my three favorite songs were non-singles. The singles are fine enough and are worthy listens as well, but I hate to think that if I had never bought this album I’d be missing out on three great songs. I’m not surprised I’ll Take You Back wasn’t released as it’s a patented Paisley tongue-in-cheek ditty. But Out in the Parkin’ Lot is a great and surprisingly philosophical duet about bar parking lots, and Rainin’ You is a power ballad that tugs at the heartstrings.

As for the rest, The World, Waitin’ on a Woman, and the duet with Dolly are pretty solid as well.  The Uncloudy Day is his usual hymnal, in the vein of Willie Nelson’s version, and a 30 second outtake at that. The final track, Cornography, is just a a bunch of guys (including George Jones and Little Jimmy Dickens) telling a story with a ton of innuendo. It’s funny, but not something I want to hear when listening to a music album.

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33: Alright Guy (Gary Allan)

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Album: Alright Guy
Artist: Gary Allan
Year: 2001

1. Man to Man
2. Devil’s Candy
3. What I’d Say
4. Man of Me
5. Adobe Walls
6. What’s on My Mind
7. Alright Guy
8. The One
9. I’m Doin’ My Best
10. I Don’t Look Back
11. What Would Willie Do

Gary Allan’s velvet voice has allowed me to forgive his relatively weak lyrics as evidenced by my owning his first five albums.  I stopped because they’re continuing to get worse and I just can’t support that anymore. He reached his zenith with his fourth album, Alright Guy. In retrospect, this should probably be somewhere around #50, but too late now!

The biggest hit from this album is The One, a super-generic ballad that is romantic I guess, but signals the weak point of the album for me. Until that point, the album is definitely #33 material. What I’d Say is an honest and painful look at what it’s like to be around an ex. Adobe Walls is a simple song about a tryst with a Mexican girl, but Gary’s voice about makes me melt.

The title track is a bit awkward, but worth it for mention of “book of pictures of Madonna naked” and referring to police officers as “a couple of dicks.” It’s out of nowhere for the normally mild Allan. The final highlight is What Would Willie Do, which more or less spends several minutes pointing out every fault of Willie Nelson, up to and including how ugly he and his family are. He uses this information to point out that life can’t be that bad and if a guy like this can do something with his life, then maybe you can, too. It’s obvious Willie didn’t take offense, as on Allan’s next album they sang a duet together.

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35: Steers & Stripes (Brooks & Dunn)

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Album: Steers & Stripes
Artist: Brooks & Dunn
Year: 2001

1. Only in America (D)
2. The Last Thing I Do (D)
3. The Long Goodbye (D)
4. Go West (B)
5. My Heart Is Lost To You (D)
6. Good Girls Go To Heaven (D)
7. When She’s Gone, She’s Gone (B)
8. Ain’t Nothing ’bout You (D)
9. Unloved (D)
10. Deny, Deny, Deny (B)
11. Lucky Me, Lonely You (D)
12. I Fall (B)
13. Every River (D)
14. See Jane Dance (B)

Come 2001 I was worried about Brooks & Dunn as their music had been slowly worsening over their past few albums. The first time I spun this I was floored. Part of that, in retrospect, was my low expectations. But I was happy to see my favorite country artist come back and put together something great.

Only in America is probably the least annoying flag-waving song in country music, as it’s more about opportunity than arrogance, but it still reveals some ignorance about luck and circumstance. Thankfully, the rest of the album sticks with the duo’s bread-n-butter, relationship songs. Trisha Yearwood helps out on The Last Thing I Do, which is a lyrically improved version of the standard “trucker’s comin’ back home” song. The album’s major hit is The Long Goodbye, which isn’t terribly inspired but showcases Dunn’s amazing, amazing voice. I’m not sure anyone in country music can do a break-up ballad like Ronnie Dunn. Simply gorgeous.  His voice is also showcased well on My Heart Is Lost To You and Unloved, the latter surprisingly not released as a single. Every River, the worst song on the album, was released however, and predictably was the album’s only single not to be a top ten hit.

Kix only gets five of the fourteen songs on the album, but he does his best. One of his best five songs, When She’s Gone, She’s Gone, is a beautiful break-up song that is more about breaking up with New Orleans than the girl. Kix was always the stronger songwriter, and he really puts you in the city.   See Jane Dance is as dumb as it sounds, but Brooks knows it and it’s pretty inoffensive.

Brooks & Dunn released three more albums after this one before they broke up, and none of them were able to reach what they did here. Their songs eventually seemed less like collaborations than two guys doing their own thing and just combining their work for a release. I was neither surprised, nor sad, when they broke up.  But they had an awesome run.

Music

46: Who Needs Pictures (Brad Paisley)

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Album: Who Needs Pictures
Artist: Brad Paisley
Year: 1999

1. Long Sermon
2. Me Neither
3. Who Needs Pictures
4. Don’t Breathe
5. He Didn’t Have to Be
6. It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway
7. Holdin’ On to You
8. I’ve Been Better
9. We Danced
10. Sleepin’ on the Foldout
11. Cloud of Dust
12. The Nervous Breakdown
13. In the Garden

Around the time Brad Paisley hit the country scene I was bemoaning the loss of the country music I loved in the early 90’s. I was grateful someone who could play guitar and write honest music (that didn’t rely on being a good ol’ boy) was getting radio play. Sadly, Brad is the last new country artist I have an album from, on this countdown or otherwise. I like a song or two from some of the new people, though almost exclusively from the ladies (e.g. Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry), and never an entire album. It all just sounds so samey, poppy, and uninteresting.

That said, I think Brad has been failing a bit as of late. I haven’t particularly enjoyed his last two albums either, partly because he’s now secure enough in his career that the good ol’ boy stuff is coming out. Not Toby Keith territory by any means, but I just have no interest in hearing another singer talk about how awesome being a redneck is.

His first album had none of that, and it’s an amazing debut. Long Sermon is about how annoying it is when a pastor keeps going and going when the weather is gorgeous outside, and he continues with the tongue-in-cheek humor with Me Neither and a couple other songs. What launched his career, however, were his ballads. Who Needs Pictures is a pretty awesome breakup song, and He Didn’t Have to Be is a touching tribute to stepparents. The Nervous Breakdown shows Brad’s mad skills with the guitar, and his version of the classic hymnal In the Garden is way better than any I ever heard in church.

Music

48: Old Enough to Know Better (Wade Hayes)

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Album: Old Enough to Know Better
Artist: Wade Hayes
Year: 1994

1. Don’t Make Me Come to Tulsa
2. I’m Still Dancin’ With You
3. Old Enough to Know Better
4. Kentucky Bluebird
5. Don’t Stop
6. What I Meant to Say
7. Steady as She Goes
8. Family Reunion
9. Someone Had to Teach You
10. It’s Gonna Take a Miracle

My favorite two tracks on the album were not singles. Where have we heard that before?

Wade Hayes burst onto the country scene with a number one hit in Old Enough to Know Better. It would be his last number one song. In fact, he had six top ten hits, his first album producing four. And then his career spiraled steadily downward. In 1997, he released a cover of Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman, which is one of my favorite songs. But it tanked so badly that the album was delayed. After his fourth album failed to produce any Top 40 songs, he went twelve years without recording. Yowzers.

His debut album still holds up today, though. The title track is pretty damn solid. Don’t Stop sounds like a classic rocker. What I Meant to Say is a decent ballad with a pretty cool music video shot backwards. Kentucky Bluebird is a gorgeous Keith Whitley cover. Steady as She Goes is a cover of a rare Brooks & Dunn song. In fact, looking at all of the covers Wade Hayes did, I like nearly all of his versions better.

My favorite song is Family Reunion, about a guy who was raised by his mother, and after his father dies he brings his body back so he and his mother can have a funeral and be with him one last time. Yeah, I tend to like really depressing songs, but at least this one ends on a high note.

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50: Thinkin’ About You (Trisha Yearwood)

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Album: Thinkin’ About You
Artist: Trisha Yearwood
Year: 1995

1. Thinkin’ About You
2. XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)
3. You Can Sleep While I Drive
4. The Restless Kind
5. On a Bus to St. Cloud
6. Fairytale
7. Those Words We Said
8. O Mexico
9. I Wanna Go Too Far
10. Til I Get It Right

Thinkin’ About You is a pretty uneven album, but deserves its spot in the top fifty thanks to featuring two of my favorite songs.

Before she married Garth, Trisha had a pretty successful solo career, though not because of me. Of the five songs that were released on this album, my two favorites are the two that charted the worst. I Wanna Go Too Far was a top ten hit and I still don’t understand it.

The title track is pretty unmemorable but Trish sings it really well. You Can Sleep While I Drive is a gorgeous cover of a Melissa Etheridge song, and one I often rock my baby to sleep singing. On a Bus to St. Cloud got more play in my area than most of the country because of the local connection. It’s about a lover committing suicide and is one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard. As for the rest of the album, the standouts are the melodically relaxing Fairytale and O Mexico.

 

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52: Who I Am (Alan Jackson)

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Album: Who I Am
Artist: Alan Jackson
Year: 1994

1. Summertime Blues
2. Livin’ on Love
3. Hole in the Wall
4. Gone Country
5. Who I Am
6. You Can’t Give Up On Love
7. I Don’t Even Know Your Name
8. Song for the Life
9. Thank God for the Radio
10. All American Country Boy
11. Job Descripion
12. If I Had You
13. Let’s Get Back to Me and You

Jackson’s career took off pretty fast and hit it’s first high note with Chattahoochee, on this third album. He’s had some pretty amazing songs, including She’s Got the Rhythm (and I’ve Got the Blues) and Midnight in Montgomery, but most of his albums contain one or two songs that are just trying to be too cute. This album pretty much stays away from that.

It starts with a pretty decent cover of Summertime Blues, then rattles off a couple of #1 hits in Livin’ on Love and Gone County, the latter being one of Alan’s more creatively composed songs. I initially placed Hole in the Wall in the “too cute” category, and it is silly, but over the years it’s grown on me, mostly because deep down it’s a really depressing song (about a guy who completely flips out after noticing a nail hole where a picture of his ex used to hang).

Oh I guess a saner man
Would simply paint it
But I’m not sane and after all
It’s my wall, ain’t it
I’ve got this hammer in my hand
And when I’m through
There’ll be a hole in that wall
Big enough to drive a truck through

The middle of the album is where Who I Am really heats up. I Don’t Even Know Your Name is a fun ditty about a guy who gets so drunk he accidentally marries his ugly waitress, and Song for the Life is easily my favorite. a wonderful ballad by Rodney Crowell. Job Description is my third favorite on the album. The album ends pretty weakly, as there is no reason to have those final two songs. But eleven solid songs in a row was enough to make the countdown.

Sidebar: I find it annoying that 99% of country album covers are just a picture of the artist. Is that just the safe thing to do?  They make them completely unmemorable.