Disco de Collin Raye: “Never Going Back”

If you're a fan of his past tunes...Love, Me...If I Were You and so on then his latest release will not disappoint! It's got all the great love songs and adds a bit of fun along the way in Mid Life Chrysler and his remake of Stuck In The Middle With You makes this a great CD from start to finish.

True talent, to me, is an artist who can perform many different types of songs and do them all well. For anyone who has listened to all of Collin Raye's songs and who has seen him in concert without any help from the studio in a live setting, Collin Raye exhibits true talent. This CD, created in Muscle Shoals, AL is nothing short of TERRIFIC. The CD combines Eagles style country rock with story songs, love songs, ballads, and much more. The song "She's With Me" was written by Collin as a tribute to his 8 yr old granddaughter, Haley. Every review I have read on different sites claims a different song on the CD as a "favorite." That is because they are all excellent and are all Number One choices. I respect the opinions of anyone who reviews music, but anyone who rates this CD with only 1 star is on a different planet....Sorry, but read all the reviews from the industry critics...you are on your own. Makes me wonder if something else is factoring into your review????

Saw artist on Fox News Show "Huckabee" and followed Mike Huckabee's recommendation to buy. Great C & W artist. I love the song "My Mid-Life Chrysler".

Raye came out blazing in 1991, reeling off four straight million selling albums and a string of hit country singles. He waxed a compelling catalog that mixed standard Nashville topics with more daring message songs, but his commercial success tailed off at decade's end. Freed from his contract with Epic, Raye's gone the indie route with a live disc and a series of studio albums that rekindle the melodic productions of his hit years. His latest is more relaxed than 2005's

, staying closer to the balladry of 2006's

. Raye's Nashville fans may wonder where the twang got to, but his adopted West Coast country-rock sound fits him well. Eagles fans will do a double-take as the title track borrows a good page from the Don Henley songbook.

The echo of Henley's voice is actually heard throughout the album, even when the lyrics turn to more straightforward love ballads and the productions gain a smoothness the Eagles typically didn't seek. Raye clearly learned a thing or two about record production during his tenure with Epic, and with producer Michael Curtis he's waxed an indie album that sounds as polished as anything on the majors. That may seem easy in this day of vocal tuning, digital processing and automated mixing, but knowing what to record and how to record it aren't lessons that come with computer software. This is a mainstream album, but Raye's loosened up his Nashville instincts by recording in Muscle Shoals, allowing local players to add a dash of swinging soul that pushes the music beyond cookie cutter contemporary country.

The Muscle Shoals sound refreshes a cover of Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You." You can still hear the song's signature melodic hook, but the organ and guitar are rowdier and the vocal is more of a bar-band blues shout than the original's nasal nod to Dylan. Dire Straits-styled guitar chords open the satisfied "Mid-Life Chrysler," and a serendipitous Las Vegas adventure provides the story for the carefree "Where it Leads." A few of the love songs sound pedestrian in this company, and a cover of "Without You" is staged as a duet (with Susan Ashton) that's professional but no match for Nilsson's signature hit. More engaging is the lost-husband tearjerker "The Cross" and Raye's thought-provoking take on a Christian's individual responsibility, "The Only Jesus." The album closes with the highly personal "She's With Me," a tender acoustic ballad written by Raye for his granddaughter.

On its surface, this album sounds like others coming out of Nashville, and could readily catch on with radio. But there's a lot more heart, soul, craft and emotion here than the typical Music Row construction, and this could also catch on with those who've forsaken mainstream country. Raye's fans will find him in great voice and spirits, and those alt.country fans who find that commercial production favorably crosses their ears once in awhile should check out the upbeat tracks for a taste of country rock and soul. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

I purchased this CD to give to my sister in law who along with her husband have loved and beautifully cared for their daughter who is severely handicapped for 27 years. I heard the song " She's With Me" during an interview that Collin did on Catholic radio and immediately thought of my niece and her loving parents. i was pleased that the CD arrived so quickly and happy to share Collins touching song with this family.