Customer Reviews

The Hardest Part

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Allison Moorer's "The Hardest Part" is the real thing. Following up on her critically acclaimed (but largely publically ignored)"Alabama Song" Moorer has put together a collection of songs that tell the story of true love. You won't find the country mainstream theme of "I love you, you love me, we'll live happily ever after" but rather the ins and outs of real live true love. She is very convincing as she dares her ex to say he's sorry just once more in "No Next Time" and in the title track where the line between living and leaving is beautifully blurred. But it's the hidden track where we see Moorer truly reveal her heart as she tells of her parent's tragic relationship.

Shania and Faith fans should pass on this one. But if you're hungry for some real country music from a real country diva then you'll really enjoy this new album by Allison Moorer. The hardest part about "The Hardest Part" is turning off the cotton picking CD player ........... it's that good!

"Life is Hard When Love is So Unkind." Those lyrics are the mantra of Allison Moorer's album "The Hardest Part." Moorer is a country music traditionlist as reflected by her songs. She has a strong, throaty voice, reminiscent of the finest blues belters. And her songs are not the happy Nashville fluff of such lightweights as Faith Hill and Shania Twain. Moorer sounds like she's been down that long lonely road of heartbreak and pain. The best songs are the opening title track, "Day You Said Goodbye," "No Next Time" and the hidden closing track, a bleak murder-suicide story that is as harrowing as anything I've ever heard. For fans of genuine country music, Moorer is the real deal.

I first discovered Allison Moorer on a sampler of the "Now That's What I Call the 40 Greatest Country Hits In The World Ever" type. She was singing "A Soft Place To Fall", sadly remembered by most people only as 'that song from The Horse Whisperer', but actually one of the finest American songs of the decade. However great the song, it was the voice that snared me. She has the flawless control and faithfulness to meaning of a classical lieder singer, coupled with the heartfelt sincerity of a singer-songwriter, the raw tenderness that belongs to the best of country & western, and the sensuality of a soul diva.

Allison's great blessing is that she sings in a quite limited contralto range that has never tempted her to pointless histrionics - none of the shrieking or swooping or yodelling that make some singers so exhausting to listen to. She doesn't need these gimmicks. She writes (or co-writes) fantastic memorable tunes with meaningful lyrics, and in performance she is able to wring every last ounce of meaning out of every word.

"The Hardest Part" is Allison's second album. The first was fairly conventional country rock of a uniformly excellent quality, but it was only a taster for the journeyman effort. Not so much a concept album (yech!) as a Song Cycle, we are given 10 or possibly 11 thematically connected songs charting the breakdown and tragic aftermath of a relationship probably inspired by her parents' fatal marriage.

The title track, a comfortable country quickstep (probably to reassure listeners in preparation for the more eclectic styling of later songs) gives you the moral: "children say that words can never harm you, only sticks and stones can make you cry" ... and you know intuitively that the album is going to be about the damage that words can do in real life.

The final uncredited track tells the stripped down, harrowing account of the outcome: An estranged husband goes mad with loneliness. He visits his abused wife pleading for forgiveness and reconciliation. When his pleas are rejected he kills her and then turns the gun on himself, leaving two young daughters as orphans. That much is family history.

In between the moral and the denouement we are offered nine songs of uniformly high quality, ranging from the laid-back semi-pop groove of "It's Time I Tried" to the electric guitar-driven rock of "Think It Over" or the pure country waltz of "Feeling That Feeling Again". But of course it's all Country really. Allison Moorer is pure Nashville TN. Sure she's one of the boldest of the new country brigade in assimilating fresh influences and keeping Country alive for the new millennium, but the classic twang comes through in every bar.

The stand-out track is "No Next Time", a delicious slow-building ballad featuring a climactic duet with Lonesome Bob, whose deep brown voice seems to come out of the ground. After all the heroine's questioning of her lover and herself during the earlier song, this one marks her realisation that his words after each betrayal("I didn't mean to make you cry, I apologise...there'll be no next time") have become no more than a repeated ritual. The penultimate track tells beautifully of her surprise on meeting him again to find that she is still in love, even as she accepts that there is no going back. And that is where the song fades into the album's sombre finale.

Just one minor criticism: It's barely long enough. Even with the hidden track it's not much more than 45 minutes, and that's only by stretching things out with a couple of minutes of unnecessary guitar solos. It could be half as long again without dragging. On the other hand, the album says everything it needs to say with unrivalled expertise, style and grace. Anything more would probably have spoiled the pudding.

It's hard to see how you could go wrong buying this. Even with such downbeat subject matter the end result is uplifting. I go in phases listening to pop, rock, symphonies, opera, jazz, folk and country, but it's years since I listened to a new album so many times over.

Although I have read a few interviews with Allison Moorer, I had never heard her sing a note before buying this album. A quick cruise through her pinup calendar of a website and you might be convinced she is another creation that only a record label could love. "The Hardest Part" reveals this to be an unfair conclusion, however. Somewhere between commercial Nashville and alt-country is where this music resides, wrapped in honesty and topnotch musicianship. It is, thankfully, never earnest. Ostensibly a concept album, the story is a ticking timeline of a dying relationship. This subject matter is hardly new ground but it is universal, and Moorer keeps it interesting. I like this record, especially because every song is written by Moorer and her husband - no Henry Ford school of songwriting here! It is sometimes difficult to keep separate the beauty of a singer with the beauty of a song; the former invariably colors the latter, I think. But Moorer's voice is excellent, all longing and truth and Alabama rawbone. Listen to this record completely, in sequence, by yourself, and you will feel intimacy. And stick around for the uncredited extra track, which packs an emotional punch that makes Johnny Cash murder-ballads like "Delia's Gone" sound like the Starlight Vocal Band.

I caught Allison Moorer on CNN late at night. She played "Send Down an Angel" on the guitar and it was truly moving and emotional. Promptly, I purchased the album and was pleasantly surprised to find the music as rich and personal as the solo performance. She has an amazing knack for expressing the simple truths that keep you up at night, just thinking. Found myself wondering, "What is she trying to say here?" and then, after a few times through the CD, "Oh, I get it; that's so true..." I rarely listen to country, but absolutely love this album. So, at the risk of being a "pop country" enthusiast, I would say that this music transcends all genres; that is, I can't imagine ANYONE not enjoying this album.

This is a breath of fresh air! In a day where country radio in my area of michigan plays nothing but assembly line country, I will grab The Hardest Part and crank it up on my car radio. If you love true music this is the disc for you! Allison's voice is so rare and her music is so truthful its a must for all country music fans. I also give Allison's first disc (ALABAMA SONG) a 5 star review! Must buy both

Allison Moorer is Shelby Lynne's younger sister. If you were a fan of early Emmylou Harris (think 70's), then you will love Allison Moorer. This is country music. Country music that is pure. Music that makes your toe tap. Moorer's voice matches the fiddle and the steel like a well fitting glove. The production is first rate with every lick a compliment to Allison's vocals. Every song is a winner and Moorer wrote or co-wrote them all. Sometimes a CD, no matter the genre just works. The Hardest Part is one of those. This is a delight.

Okay, first the disclaimers: 1) With the exception of a few artists, I am not a country music fan; 2) I have never written a review on Amazon.com before; and 3) I rarely give any album a five-star review. That said, I suggest you buy this album immediately. I had never heard of Allison Moorer until a few weeks ago, when I was checking to see if Kelly Willis had released anything new (buy all of her albums immediately too...). "The Hardest Part" was listed as a popular related title, and for some reason I checked it out. To say I'm glad I did would be an understatement - this album knocked me out. Allsion Moorer sings in a beautiful, blusey voice that is at times knowing, taunting, playful, confident, sly, sexy, and empathetic. And she's got a bunch of wonderfuly-written, lovingly-crafted songs to sing (all co-written by Moorer and her husband Butch Primm). These are serious songs about serious stuff. Which is not to say that there isn't a truckload of sly winks, knowing nods, and rolled-back eyes spread throughout the recording. It's obvious that both Moorer and the musicians had an awful lot of fun making this record, and both this love of craft and a seriousness of purpose show through on every song. There's not a clunker on the album. This is a definite desert-island disk.

This is a really great follow up to Allison Moorer's debut album ALABAMA SONG. THE HARDEST PART, her sophomore CD, was released two years after her debut in September 2000. It builds on the sound presented on her first, and the songs are nothing short of great. My favorite track, though not her own, is her emotional reading of the Rolling Stones' "Bring Me All Your Lovin". She makes this song into her own. "No Next Time" is another favorite, the lyrics are excellent, a great breakup song. The title track is a nice midtempo country number. "Send Down An Angel" is very sad but touching at the same time. Other highlights include "It's Time That I Tried", "Day You Said Goodbye", "Is It Worth It" and "Feeling That Feeling Again". Overall, to me this is her best album. You can't go wrong with any of them but this is an artistic acheivement, and one of her best albums yet.

On The Hardest Part, Allison Moorer is obsessed with pain; taking care to capture every nuance of its color, texture and value. The overall effect can overwhelm you (as it seems to have overwhelmed Moorer in the cover photo), but so strong are the craft and care given to the songwriting and musicianship that The Hardest Part transcends the heartbreak at its very core.

Note the ease with which Moorer simultaneously embraces and subverts the country music genre, effectively quoting from sources as disparate as Tammy Wynette and the Beatles -- in a single song no less (Send Down an Angel). Equally impressive is the way she manages to consistently hit a raw nerve while delivering an album that rewards intelligent, critical listening. The Hardest Part's centerpiece - the epic No Next Time - turns the idea of the boy/girl country duet on its ear while managing to build to an emotional climax that never fails to leave me stunned. Or check out the brilliant bridge on the album's only true up-tempo number, Think It Over. Moorer brings a screeching halt to the boot-scoot tempo so that a chorus of male back-ups singers can chant a litany of her lover's indiscretions while she offers some particularly pithy and savvy insight into why men cheat. You go, girl.

Finally, those who know anything about Moorer's past will surely be devastated by the "hidden" final track. I am a great admirer of Shelby Lynne's masterful I Am Shelby Lynne, but it's little sis Allison who offers an unflinching look at the tragedy that likely fuels both of their recent work.

This is a courageous and rewarding album from a major new talent. I can't wait to see what's next.