Disco de Tim McGraw: “Let It Go”

Tim McGraw didn't get to be a country superstar by having the best voice in Nashville. He did it by having the best ear in town. Every Tim McGraw CD has been marked by the impeccable selection of songs. And "Let Go" continues the family tradition. It's another collection of powerful songs including "Train No. 10," "Shotgun Rider," "Put Your Lovin' On Me" and "Comin' Home." These alone would be enough to make this CD a success but wouldn't earn it 5 Stars. For that you need a little bit more and different.

And Tim gives us the extra effort with a kids' chorus on "Last Dollar," a Metallica-like break on the brilliant "Between The River And Me" and by overturning our expectations of the usual duet with Mrs. McGraw by not giving us another syrupy love song but by choosing a meditation on the addictive nature of love, "I Need You" (I need you like a needle needs a vein) in which even Faith sings with a desperate gravitas we don't expect from her.

Now don't think my saying Tim doesn't have the best voice in Nashville means he isn't a masterful singer, able to comfortably handle anything from the uptempo cowboy songs to the agonizingly honest ballads like this CD's brilliant "Nothing To Die For." As his songs show more maturity so do his vocals. He is no longer just a singer but a first class interpreter. His vocals take these high quality songs and elevates them further. He has handled the jump from superstar to artist with complete success. His creative vision and ability to wonderfully convey it is a rarity in music, especially country music with its pretty boys in hats and Shania wannabes.

The new Tim McGraw CD is a complete success that doesn't let it go after the music stops. It stays with you and leaves you wanting more.

"Let it Go" is a solid McGraw CD. It may not be the best CD of his but certainely one you will be glad you have in your collection. My favorite songs on the CD are: Last Dollar, Suspicions, Train #10, Between the River and Me, Comin' Home, and Shotgun Rider. These could all easily be singles in the future. The first part of the CD the songs, other than Last Dollar, all sound similar. That's one reason I enjoy all the songs on the second half so much better. I am getting sick of his duets with Faith. She's got a great voice, but she's not a favorite of mine. There is speculation that 07 will be the last time Tim and Faith will tour together. Thank god for that. Overall this CD is worth a four star rating. It would have been five but too many just so-so songs. I do think it's better than "Live Like You Were Dying." I don't know why people feel that is such a great CD. It has an awful depressing feel to it. The only songs I like on that CD are "My Old Friend" and "Back When." "Let it Go," in my humble opinion, is much better.

While the likes of Keith Urban or Rascal Flatts are incorporating strong pop influences (one must say: successfully) into their music, Tim McGraw is doing none of that. Even though one might be inclined (including myself) to believe that might also be the route he would take for his latest album, he did far from that.

To me, "Let It Go" is one of the most traditional albums, Tim has delivered to date and not only because the albums closer "Shotgun Rider" is a strone-traditional cowboy song, that is delivered and produced like it was 50 years old (and to me just sounds like that: outdated and boring).

On the other end of the spectrum you find the first single and album opener "Last Dollar", a happy, radio-friendly and sonically delightfully surprising song; of course having his girls singing the closing out chorus adds to its charm.

"I'm Workin'" is a thoughful mid-tempo song, that Tim has learned to do so well, about the thoughts that crawl up during a lonely night shift, symbolizing the state of affair of many of our lives: not enough time to even say "I love you".

The title cut has an infectious chorus and deals with new beginnings and is again mostly mid-tempo, just like most of the album seems to be used as a vehicle to do, what country has always been doing best: telling stories and not necessarily being dance music (in this case).

As you can already tell by the title "Whiskey and You" is traditional country, as is "Kristofferson". The latter, to me personally is disappointing, lyrics-wise. Kristofferson may have started out by getting drunk and writing songs about a woman leaving the bad guy, but to set a charismatic and politically active poet in that one stool sounds like a very one-dimensional and limited view to me, lacking respect.

On this album McGraw does two cover versions. "Between the River and Me" was written by his friends the Warren Bros. and it already was probably the best song on their album "Well Deserved Obscurity" a couple of years back. Even though the current version is not bad, it somehow lacks the bite of the original; maybe it is just the mellower voice of Tim Mcgraw, when he is telling this mysterious crime story about abuse and possible homicide that does somehow not catch on.

The second cover is one of most legendary hits by a highly underrated musician, who passed away way too soon: "Suspicions" by Eddie Rabbit. "Suspicions" was probably the first shot by Eddie at breaking away from a traditional country career. The sounds that started to come out of the workshops of Rabbit, Stevens and Malloy in the late 70's and early 80's could hardly be classified and were so unique, that they didn't fit in anywhere really. They mostly were so much ahead of its time (listen to the album "Step By Step" it you ever get to chance to still find it somewhere to discover what kind of sounds you can produce with guitars) that they still sound fresh and new 30 years later - especially "Suspicions", which had that strong R&B rhythm and a risky flute, contrasting nicely with Rabbits singing style! I personally think that every cover of that song can only pale to the original! McGraw does a good job (already for the fact of bringing that song back to the public) and he makes it a more live-sounding (less artificially produced) guitar-based song, than the original (no flute), unfortunately lacking bass. An honourful bow to the late Mr. Rabbit!

Another Warren Bros. write and probably the most edgy-rock oriented cut on the album is the cool "Train #10". Great production focus was set on the vocals, lifting them above the instrumentation for the Faith Hill duet "I Need You". Both of them shine on this clever song about love-addiction, going down easy.

Overall I would have wished for a few more musical risks, but maybe having the courage to make a more-or-less traditional country album is more than enough prowess and shows that Tim McGraw no longer needs to follow trends, but is setting them himself. And after all, recording "Suspicions" shows his respect for other risk-taking musicians and needs to be applauded anyways.

FOLLOW UP: A big thanks to the folks at Tim's website that were kind enough to post this review on his home page on March 29....what a surprise and what a great honor. THANKS and see you in Sacramento August 6th!!!

If you had to find two words to describe Tim McGraw's career, consistent and evolutionary would probably be the most accurate and this has never been truer than on this new carefully crafted masterpiece, Let It Go. As crazy as I was last year after hearing that Greatest Hits II was coming out vs. a new album, the wait was more than worth it when confronted by Let It Go, which may well be the best album of the contemporary country era.

While it's difficult to point to any one McGraw album as "the best" (each seems to have its own way it excels), Let It Go immediately rockets to the top of the list because it manages to do so many things well; it blends the evocativeness of Live Like You Were Dying with the rockiness of Set This Circus Down and the romanticism of A Place in the Sun. Sonically, Let It Go is far and away McGraw's best album with soaring, multilayered instrumentation and thoughtful songs and lyrics that communicate the emotion of LLYWD, but with more of a groove (after a few hundred listens, LLYWD almost seems macabre, a trait that will not be shared by Let It Go).While many pointed to LLYWD as Tim's peak, Let It Go quickly dispels that belief because it continues to show not an artist at rest, but rather one who is still growing and getting better. In the end, while Everywhere was McGraw's best overall album, Let It Go raises the bar higher, sounding like what it is: Everywhere with 3 kids and 10 years of maturity under its belt.

The entire album sounds like nothing else on country radio today; with incredibly creative arrangements that adds incredible depth to every track and much tighter "studio chemistry" among the Dancehall Doctors, Let It Go grabs the listener from the first track and holds you to the final one.

It's hard to pick standout songs here (there are so many) but here goes:

I'm Workin': a very emotional song. I am an aspiring law enforcement officer so the subject of this one really hits home. From a broader perspective the song is about our busy lives in general and how, no matter how bad it seems, we should be thankful for what we do have. When Tim sings "I know I couldn't do it if you weren't there....there would be no home to come home to, no reason to care" I just crumple.

Let It Go: vies for best song on the album honors. The song rocks and the guitar work by Darran Smith at the end is creative and a nice thing to hear in a genre that relies so much on "cookie cutter" arrangements. The songs' message of redemption and moving forward feels good to sing because of its take that/fist pumping tone. Just a sharply written song with lines like "trying to buy back the pieces of my soul...that's hard to do when the devil won't get off your back...its like carrying around the past in a hundred pound sack" (Should be a single).

Put Your Lovin' On Me: Awesome song; sonically incredible throughout with piercing lyrics. It's a "you're a gorgeous woman and I'm a strong-but-vulnerable man" kind of song that is simple, but works because it conveys so much with so little.....very sexy.

Nothin' to Die For: This song is specifically about a man caught up in alcoholism. More broadly: ever felt like, for all the great things in your life, you just can't take much more? That's this song. The word that comes to mind with this song is "powerful". There is a surprise at the end I won't spoil, but suffice to say when Tim sings "and the in-box, out-box, box you in and the money you make ain't worth the time you spend to make your pay...doctor says the numbers don't lie...yeah the graveyard is full of those who didn't have the time to die" the message hits home that sometimes those "big deals" in life, maybe aren't such a big deal after all.

I Need You: most are familiar with this one from the tour and Tim's NBC special, but the studio version takes the song to a whole new level. Those who are sick of Tim/Faith duets (I probably fit into that category), please don't kill me, but this should be a single as it has "monster hit" written all over it and is too well written to not let the whole world hear it. Different from their prior efforts in all the good ways....primarily because for some reason you don't immediately think of their relationship when you hear it...you think of yours.

Train #10: What a cool song!!! We have all been standing at a crossroad in our lives where we want to do something but can't seem to do it? That is this song. Get past the first chorus and the odd title finally makes sense too. Well crafted lyrics and rocking music make it a joy to listen to and the line about a procrastinator making up his mind to procrastinate more makes me smile every time. Tim co-wrote this one and he should be very proud (Another potential single).

Whiskey and You: whenever a song title like this makes you think Tim is going to regress to some stereotypical country fare, he surprises with something a little deeper and better executed than normal. No exception here...the song is hard to explain, but it's got nice hooks-well done and immediately likeable.

Suspicions: This one is a curve ball. I never thought I would hear and Eddie Rabbit song on a McGraw album, but here it is. Tim has been doing one of these funk/blues songs the last few records and I usually don't like them very much, but this one is different somehow. This song is fun for me because my wife is a hottie like in the song and while I would never have a suspicion about her, the line "when I go out to a party with you, you always turn every head in the room. I just know what's on every man's mind" makes me smile because it reminds me of her. Another very sexy song.

Comin' Home: The first time I heard this songs' opening the name "John Denver" jumped into my head. This is unlike anything Tim has recorded before. And I love it. A really sweet song that just feels good; you feel like you're coming home as you listen to it. The whole song is basically a big metaphor and, while songs like this usually come off cheesy, this one does not. I love the line in the chorus that goes "Then I looked at you and knew I never knew nothin' and it broke this heart of stone. It's a lot like comin' home".

Last Dollar: well, everyone has heard this one so it speaks for itself.

The album is rounded out with the really nice Warren Brothers-penned "River and Me", which is a story song that is nice change of pace for Tim, the catchy Kristofferson, and a nice hardcore country tune "Shotgun Rider" where Faith sings harmony.

When I wrote my review a year ago for Reflected: Greatest Hits Vol. 2 I wrote the following conclusion:

"Reflected Shows Where McGraw Has Been and What is Yet to Come: though fans and critics alike are hesitant to anoint people as legends until they are dead or at least 50 plus, McGraw is quickly reaching that level. Many pointed to his last album as the CD of his career but I beg to differ. With the new music here alongside what came before, it becomes instantly clear that McGraw, who has his 40's still ahead of him, is an artist who, should he choose, can go the way of George Strait and continue to be a valid if not dominating force in his genre well past most artists "prime"."

I don't know what else to say: Let It Go is what an album filled with what I heard in the 4 new tracks on Reflected sounds like....and so much more. It is a joy and privilege to listen to and purchase the music of such an accomplished artist.

With Let It Go, Tim has shown us what he is truly capable of and it's truly amazing. This album is easily the single best country music album in the last 20 years. The country music industry would do well to take notice of this album, its about as good as it gets.

I just saw Tim & Faith in concert last week in Fresno. One of the best concerts I've ever been to. Tim sang quite a bit from this CD. He has matured so much as a singer and entertainer. I enjoy him so much more now than I used to. Maybe because I'm not 18 anymore. Well worth the money. While some may think this CD is dark, but it's more like country to me.