I Loved Her First

Heartland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lofton Creek
• ASIN: B000I8OOO2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,115 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Despite the touching title ballad, most of Heartland's debut is as generically bland as the Alabama group's name, and a little too stylistically eclectic to establish much of an identity. "Freebird in a Firebird" celebrates the glory days of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the sexual fantasy of "Let's Get Dirty" channels both the Rolling Stones and the Who, and the obligatory countrier-than-thou anthem, "Too Country," comes from the Hank Williams Jr. school. Yet treacle such as "You" would be rejected by '70s soft-rockers Bread as too wimpy, and "Play Hurt" and "Built to Last" are simply catalogs of clichés. Recorded with veteran producer-songwriter Walt Aldridge (who shares credit on much of the material, none of it written by the band) at Fame in Muscle Shoals, the band evokes that studio's fabled soul grooves on "No Getting Over Me" and "Judge a Man by the Woman," highlights that show promise. --Don McLeese

Product Description

All it takes for a popular regional act to be catapulted into the national spotlight is one special song. Suddenly hometown heroes find themselves climbing the charts and enjoying that first brush of stardom. That is exactly what's happening to Heartland, a talented band of Alabama musicians who are rapidly becoming the most talked about new act in country music. Collectively, Heartland encompasses a variety of musical influences including Johnny Cash, Alabama, Van Halen, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, AC/DC, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. Each member of the band grew up absorbing a rather diverse musical diet and those varied influences have helped shape the full-bodied, robust sound that defines Heartland's musical persona. Like all young bands Heartland practiced, performed and dreamed of stardom. Seeing that whole package earned the band an enthusiastic legion of fans. In addition to headlining their own shows, they've opened for Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson, Neal McCoy, Diamond Rio and many others. The members of Heartland soon found themselves in the studio working with hit songwriter-producer Walt Aldridge, a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. That association led to the group's fast-rising single, "I Loved Her First," which was penned by Aldridge and Elliott Parks. Working with Aldridge in Muscle Shoals' Fame Studios, the band has put together a potent collection of songs defined by the inimitable Heartland sound. Jason says the band takes pride in that fact that there's no one else that sounds quite like they do when they get together. It's a unique sound forged from years under hot spotlights in sweaty clubs with audiences on their feet screaming for more. It also comes from years of friendship, camaraderie and a shared musical vision. When one spends any amount of time around these guys, their respect for each other and their friendship is obvious. After all they've been through a lot together. Talent, drive and a great sense of humor, country music fans are connecting to those qualities & so much more with Heartland. Like the image their name evokes, this group of young men personifies the best of America's country lifestyle, & they connect with audiences because their music reflects the hopes, challenges & dreams of everyone out there in the heartland and beyond.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wedding Reception Music, January 9, 2007

By 

Thomas C. Stoddard "connoisseur" (Wilmington, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Loved Her First (Audio CD)

The title song of this album was recommended to me when my daughter married last month. I needed a tune for that traditional dance of the bride with her father. I bought this album for that purpose, and this song captured my emotions at the time perfectly. It was a magical moment. I heartily recomend "I Loved Her First." Not a lot of tunes out there addresses fatherly sentiments.
Oh, but be careful to understand. I recommend the SONG, not the album by Heartland of the same name. The rest of the tracks, really, did not do a whole lot for me. I found it repetitious, and quite pedestrian so far as country music goes. I am a fan of the country genre, and I don't quite know a good comparison to make to communicate where Heartland is. They are definitely less complex musically than, say, Alabama. Their lyrics are less inspired, than, say, Toby Keith. They are just out there -- nothing to really commend their music; pleasing enough, standard themes, not exceptional. Probably making a great living on the State Fair circuit.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heartland Goes for the Heart with their Debut CD, October 20, 2006

By 

Timothy Yap "thy4568" (Sydney, NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Loved Her First (Audio CD)

Prime Cuts: I Loved Her First, Built to Last, No Getting Over You

In today's country music soundscape of swinging honky tonk badonkadonk and yee haw pulp, thank God for Heartland. Instead of recording those down right silly novelty ditties, these six men band has made the bull's eye for the heart. Their lead single, "I Have Loved Her First," a gorgeous teary-eyed ballad about a father giving her daughter away in marriage draws upon the resplendent tradition of classics such as Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses." And such an effort has certainly reaped handsomely when "I Have Loved Her First," made it all way to the pinnacle of the chart, a fleet almost unheard of for an independent imprint act. Stylistically, Heartland's ross-matriculation of soft 70s rock and blue-collared country coupled with lead singer Jason Albert's country-bluesy tenor calls to mind the long gone era of Alabama, Exile and Restless Heart.

For fans who have been smitten by the title track, "Built to Last" will easily be a favorite. A tender ballad that tells of an elderly couple offering marital advice to a pair of newly weds, "Built to Last" is well serviced by Albert's ernest delivery and an unforgetable tune. Whetting the appetite of the hopeless romantic even more is the languid ¾ ballad "Judged a Man By His Woman" which puts the definitive measure of a man's worth not by the toys he has, but by the way he treats his woman. While the inspirational "Play Hurt" underscores the timeless message of not allowing our failures to stand in our way of progress.

Adding an imminent down home poignancy to Ronnie Milsap's "No Getting Over You," it's also the album's only cover. On the other hand, the newly composed "Boys Like Us," with its redolent thundering drums and spitfire fiddles calls to mind the thematically similar Sawyer Brown's "The Boys and Me." Similarly, the creatively titled "You," penned by Jason Sellers and Ray Stephenson, may not charter any new ground, but its salacious guitar riffs are of note. However, tracks such as the Skynyrd-wanna-be "Freebird in a Firebird" and the slightly lurid "Let's Get Dirty" suffer too much from an ear-popping rock overkill.

With superb production coming from Walt Alderidge, who has been known for his songwriting abilities, this CD stands toe to toe with any major label product out there. Safe to say, the ballads here are well-chosen and brilliantly performed--especially for the romantic at heart, these paeans are weaved with breathtaking magic. While many country acts today lean more towards their pop counterparts in favoring style over content, these lads from Alabama show us that songs that expound on the issues of the heart still light up radio request lines, even if it's a record on an independent label.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly good, January 9, 2007

By 

Booty (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Loved Her First (Audio CD)

Like many people, I suspect, I bought this album for its debut single and so was pleasantly surprised to find that the whole album is enimently enjoyable. It gets off to a rollicking start and shows a lot of depth and polish throughout. It's country with roots and a little bit of an edge.