Different Things

Tracy Byrd | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rocket Science
• ASIN: B000J103ZW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,063 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid self-released record from a veteran country star, November 6, 2006

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Different Things (Audio CD)

Tracy Byrd's still going strong... His last record had some great hits (especially "The Truth About Men") but I guess he still felt it would be fun to put out an independently-released record this time around. It doesn't sound that much different from his other records, but for Byrd's fans, that's really good news. This is a solid record that country fans fan really sink their teeth into.... Maybe next time he'll do something a bit more rugged and rough, but if you like Top Forty twang, the way Tracy Byrd has always done it, you'll want to check this album out.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bryd's Rejuvenated Though Not "Different", November 24, 2006

By 

Timothy Yap "thy4568" (Sydney, NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Different Things (Audio CD)

Prime Cuts: Just One Woman, A Cowboy and a Dancer, Biggest Thing in Texas

For every album cover Tracy Byrd has donned a Stetson, but stylistically he has wore many hats. Riding on the crest of the odious line dance craze with "Watermelon Crawl," giving Hallmark a run for their money with the ultra-romantic "Keeper of the Stars," and arousing more fun than the barroom allows with "Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo," Tracy Byrd has never been claustrophobic in his choice of material. Nevertheless, lethargy had the upper hand towards the tail end of his RCA tenure when he saturated his repertoire with down right silly novelty ditties such as "Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman" and mediocre rock such as the awfully misconstrued "Johnny Cash." Thankfully, a label change (now on his self-financed Blind Mule Records) turned things around for the better. Teaming with songwriter Mike Geiger, Byrd has helmed one of his finest CDs since "No Ordinary Man" and his eponymous debut. Just like his variegated-style oeuvre, there is a bit of everything on this record: from raved up spitfire rock to stone-cold country balladry to those gorgeous love ballads to unforgettable story songs with an unforgettable twist, everything that we have come to love about this Texan is neatly contained within this disc. Not given to a moment of doze, "Different Things" is Bryd's return to fine form.

Of the last category, "Cheapest Motel" is a frisky tale of marital infidelity told with a twist. Painting a raunchy rendezvous of two adulterous couple in a seedy motel, "Cheapest Motel" later tells of how when the man was discovered, it cost him his wife, kids and possessions, thus fostering the single's greatest hook, "the cheapest motel in town cost him everything." For those who cannot get enough of Byrd's penchant for consummate narrative songs a listen to "A Cowboy and a Dancer" will impress. A story song of two mismatched lovers hitting off after been ruffled by life's storms over a fiddle-drenched waltz, "A Cowboy and a Dancer" attests to the all-surpassing power of love. Romance is again the tableau of "Just One Woman," a touching love ballad very much in the "Keeper of the Stars" tenor. Though charting no new terrain, the western swing "Biggest Thing in Texas" is a standard fare valentine to the Lone Star state. However, this track bristles with so much energy that it will get your toe tapping and lips lynching over its infectious melody.

As novelty ditties does littered Byrd's portfolio, this new disc is by no means an exception. Though the idea of the amalgam of western and beach cultures may sound aberrant, yet somehow "Saltwater Cowboy" works. Perhaps with the beach loving cowboy Kenny Chesney in mind, "Saltwater Cowboy" details a Stetson-wearing fisherman toasting to Chris Ledoux while singing Jimmy Buffett hits. An inspirational ode limning the message of "what I want and what I need have always been different things," the title track's booming beat has a way of ministering to those who need a little chicken soup for the soul. However, tracks such as "The More I Feel Like Rocking" and "Hot Night in Country" suffer from mauling over tried themes with average melodies that just do not match up to Bryd's standard.

Overall, a change of label and the presence of co-producer Mike Geiger have worked out for the better. Gone are those insipid novelty numbers and those ear-destroying rockers. Back are lots of steel, fiddles and Bryd's animated vocals grit with a believable honesty that are always winsome. Also with the plethora of styles and lyrical content, this CD will not present opportunities for snoozes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Under-recognized, January 6, 2008

By 

R. Berryman "RMB" (Sun City, CA (USA)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Different Things (Audio CD)

An excellent album (as usual) from this under-recognized C&W singer. He is slightly too Texas-oriented, but this is a common problem among country performers who forget there's more to America than Texas. Otherwise, it's excellent.