Customer Reviews

Completely

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The single BEAUTIFUL MESS gave notice that COMPLETELY was not going to be your typical Diamond Rio album. For this album, Diamond Rio has A BETTER IDEA and heads outside THE BOX with a few new WRINKLES. The result is SOMETHING COOL, and definitely Rio. Great song selection, great harmonies, fabulous musicianship -- wait till you hear RURAL PHILHARMONIC. MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT IT ALL is as country as it gets - Marty Roe's voice is as plaintive and soulful as it's ever been on this one. WE ALL FALL DOWN makes you stop and think about how we can't get through life without the support of loved ones. I BELIEVE this may be the best Rio album ever

I gave this album the highest rating for several reasons. This album has a little of everything - country/bluegrass, some jazzy stuff, and some pop flavored material. As always, their great harmonies are prevalent throughout. There are several great ballads on this cd. "We All Fall Down", "I Believe", and "Completely" are all excellent ballads that should be top 10 hits for these guys. One of my favorites on this album is "Big Old Fire" - this song is classic Diamond Rio with great harmonies and a little bit of a bluegrass feel. "Something Cool" is very original and different from anything else they've done - not one of my favorites, but it provides good variety to the album. "The Box" is a fun tune and another song that is completely original and like nothing they have recorded previously. Of course, "Beautiful Mess" is a strong song that is currently getting a lot of radio play. If you're a fan of Diamond Rio, this is a no-brainer - get the cd - you 'll love it. For those who haven't heard much of Diamond Rio, I'd still recommend it - you'll enjoy the harmonies and the musical diversity on this album.

Diamond Rio's latest disc, Completely, proves this group continues to shine as top notch musicians and vocalists. The 13 selections represent a good cross section of songs from the Western swing of "Something Cool" to the radio friendly "Beautiful Mess" to the out-of-the-country box "The Box" to the creative instrumental "Rural Philharmonic" written by band member Jimmy Olander. These songs showcase the tight harmonies of the band members, their instrumental prowness on the mandolin, keyboards, guitar and bass and feature Marty Roe's great lead vocals. My favorite songs are Beautiful Mess, I Believe (with its awesome lyrics),Something Cool, We All Fall Down and Wrinkles. If you like Diamond Rio,you'll like this CD. If you're unfamiliar with Diamond Rio, buy this album and their greatest hits CD for a good selection of their current and their earlier material. You won't regret it. Way to go Diamond Rio!

I was drawn to buy my first Diamond Rio CD by their incredibly tight, incredibly beautiful vocal harmony. This CD is really disappointing. The album is terribly over-orchestrated. So much so that the group really looses showcasing their vocals. I wish they would just do a freakin' "accapella" CD!!! This CD is just to "quirky" for me. I think they need to just pick a flavor & stick with it. They need some new, fresh writers, producers & managers. They've really cashed in on their ballads. I don't know why they try so hard to go away from that. They're really going to loose it if they don't hone in on what they do best...accenting their "vocals" & choosing great material.

If you like Diamond Rio, then you are going to like this album. There is a great variety of music from balads that make you choke back tears ("We all fall down" and "I believe") to more traditional country sounds ("Something cool" and "If you'd like some lovin'"). The song "Beautiful Mess" reminds me of a song from the band The Mavericks and its very catchy. "Rural Philharmonic is also a signature Diamond Rio instrumental. I really like Diamond Rio because they seem to get better and better with each album they release. This album definitely stands up there with all their great albums such as "One More Day" and "Love a Little Stronger".

Saying this isn't their best is like saying the Mona Lisa wasn't Da Vinci at the top of his form. Sure, these guys can do better, but it's still a masterpiece!

Their variety is propably what makes these guys so good. Though with this album, they tend to drift into traditional country--David Ball's "If You'd Like Some Lovin'" and the Bill Anderson/Steve Wariner-penned "Make Sure You've Got It All". But hey, Diamond Rio could do an opera and still make it sound appealing. With Marty's cool vocals, Gene's awsome mandolin playing and harmonies, Dana's bass and harmonies, Dan's keyboarding, Brian's steady drumming, and Jimmy's smooth guitar licks, Diamond Rio has quickly risen to the top of my all-time favorite artist list. And that isn't an easy trip, I'll tell you.

Telling you about my favorites won't help you, though, as we are different people. So I will, instead, point out a few songs. You've no-doubt heard the top ten (make it #1!) "Beautiful Mess." Now try "Big Ol' Fire," which heralds back to the band's earlier days and albums. "I Believe" is held down by strings (I believe, no pun intended, that this is the first album the band has used strings--big dramatic mournful sigh), but soars on vocals. "Something Cool" wouldn't be too out of place in an old Bogart film, and "We All Fall Down" describes a woman's love for her family. "The Box" is a cool mix of rock and bluegrass, while "Wrinkles" tells humorously of getting older. "Completely", penned by Diane Warren, is probably the worst of the album's songs, in that it is completely (again, no pun intended) filled with strings. "A Better Idea" is a cliched song of God-made-the-woman-for-me, but hey, it's Diamond Rio! "You'll Find Me" is again a cliche, the woman-leaves-note-man-goes-and-finds-her. The album peaks on the latest recorded intrumental (concert goers have heard a different one), "Rural Philharmonic". Again, strings, but this time, while not necessary, they aren't unwanted. Check out the cool do-wop lyrics near the end.

Diamond Rio is back yet again. Opry members, talented musicians and singers, and darn-good producers (they dropped their songwriting a few albums back, unfortunately--though Jimmy Olander did pen "Philharmonic"), Diamond Rio is incapable of putting out a disapointing album. Though not what we may have been expecting, "Completely" sums up a good career so far. It is also an appropriate title, as this album does completely cover most of the music genres. This may not be their best, but it is well-worth buying for new and old fans alike!

This cd is worth it if the only song on there was "I Believe". I know the reviews on this one haven't been very high but this song should definitely wind up a #1 hit.

I think it is great that the band has different song styles and it keeps it from being monotone. "Beautiful Mess" and "I believe" are really nothing alike but one has already been at the top of the charts the other should follow.

"I believe" might mean nothing or sound like the same if one has never experienced the loss of someone dear... especially someone as close as the woman being sung about in this one.
My best friend lost her husband unexpectadely and this song says things she has actually said and this song sings to the soul...it really goes beyond the life not yet touched with something almost impossible to express and does just that --- expresses it.

I am buying it for my friend and for another dear lady who lost her husband recently... it is my hope that this song will go as far up in the charts as it will in the hearts of those who know.

I personally think that this cd is one of Diamond Rio's best. The song " I believe" I thought very touching. It really reaches into your heart and makes you think and begin to understand. I heard the song for the first time on christmas day. My aunt (32) had just lost her husband(30) in a car accident this past fall, She played this song to help us all understand that just because a loved one passes on, that doesnt mean that they leave your heart forever. This song was so emotional it makes you really think, about what can happen when you believe and have faith. Also it is sung so well, that it really gets inside your heart.

This album gets 5 stars from me. I will recommend it to everyone. Anyone that has lost a loved one, I recommend that you listen to "I believe" It will touch your heart forever, and help your cope.

After the musical standard set by Unbelievable & One More Day, my expectations were, I guess, unreasonable. Once you get past Beautiful Mess (the reason it gets 3 stars instead of 2), this album lacks both the lyrical edge, emotion, and musical magic that I associate with that unique, complex Diamond Rio sound. Something's missing. It's almost as if they rushed to get another album out before they had the material to meet their previous standards. I still consider Diamond Rio one of the two most underated groups in country music (the ill-fated Restless Heart is the other one), but this CD won't get near the play time from me as their previous 2 efforts.

Being my first real experience with Diamond Rio, I had heard "Beautiful MEss" a few times on the radio and was drawn to get this CD. Of course its a great, catchy tune, but I wanted to hear what else D.R. had up their collective sleeves. I will agree completely (pun) that this CD contains nearly the entire spectrum of country music, both modern and conventional CW formats... but the one fault here lays in that the band has gone a little too far in the production department.

Let's get the coal out of the way first. A few tunes ('I Believe','Something Cool','Completely') fall way short, or just way outside, the mark; 'Completely' is just out of its league here on this CD... a bit too much sap, not enough groove... 'I Believe' sounds like some Michael W. Smith/Christian Pop Band trying to touch uninterested heart strings that don't need touching... sure it's a love ballad, but its way too sappy for it's own good and WAY over-produced... not appropriate for a great country band such as these guys... 'Something Cool' reminds me of poor Alfalfa trying to impress the girl in the old 'Our Gang' series... awkward, schreechy, and WAY off key. It's a light hearted tune, but just falls WAY short of it's intended mark, and nearly makes the band look like a joke. Fortunately we all know better. The rest of this CD makes up for these shortfalls.

'Beautiful Mess' is the diamond (pun) in this mine. Catchy, country and powerful, if you cant find yourself singing along with this radio hit your mostly likely not alive.

'Big 'Ole Fire' is a fine tune, standard, if somewhat generic country material, but it works, is very listenable, uplifting and positive, and tastefully produced.

'The Box' weighs in as acceptable, great groove, although the acapella "the box!" spiked throughout the tune tends to embarrass the listener. Not to mention the vocals have moments reminiscent of Stevie Wonder in the 1970's... Odd... But the tune has its high points, its definately got funk. Perhaps it could have been produced more tastefully, but it works, somehow... still a good tune.

"We All Fall Down" and "Wrinkles" are both awesome tunes. powerful, emotional, catchy, well produced and well sung, the band pulls together here to recover from the tailspin of the above mentioned shortcomings!

'If you'd Like Some Lovin' is a great old-style Buck Owens-ish tune. Great vocals, just the right amount of production, perfect genre country-western crooning. These guys can really pull off some excellent stuff when they want to! This is the lighthearted approach that (unlike 'Something Cool') really does work well.

'You'll Find Me' hmmm... not bad... a bit whiny, not bad... nothing gained nothing lost... much of this material falls outside what many would consider "country music"... but this is what makes Diamond Rio so great. They are not staying within "the Box" (ugh!) of country music... and this is a good characteristic of any successful band...

As has been stated "Rural Philharmonic" works perfectly... a great break and very cool. Instrumentally, it could very well fit into the soundtrack of a great western epic. Fun, full of depth and complexity, (instrumental and choral)... a piece composed of several "parts" to come together as a fine instrumental country-groove-bluegrass-orchestral exhibition. This is quite possibly the most musically exceptional component of this CD.

"Make Sure You've Got It All" is a fine way to close out the CD. A more convential contemporary country sound, akin to a (not so nasal) Randy Travis sound... A good way to wind down the momentum of the CD's second half. Good song writing, mandolin playing and production value.

Sure, this CD has it's flaws, but there's no question i will now explore more of Diamond Rio's catalog, and thats a good indicator of the overall quality of this release.
ENJOY!