Customer Reviews

See If I Care

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I fell in love with Gary Allan after seeing his video for Tough Little Boys. However, I didn't really like the song. Then Songs About Rain was released and I was sold. I also saw the great review this album got in Blender Magazine and was intrigued. Blender is not known for singling out Country artists. So, I proceeded to Amazon, purchased the album and haven't stopped listening to it since. I love it so much, I burned a copy for each one of my CD players, so I don't have to carry it around and worry about it getting damaged. If I had any say in the matter, every song on this album would be released as a single, they're all phenomenal. My favorite by far though has got to be the first track, Drinkin' Dark Whiskey. If you're a fan of country music this is a must have for your CD collection, don't overlook it!

I think it's pretty offensive when Gary Allan is nominated for HORIZON awards, when he's been releasing albums since 1996. If anything he should be up for Entertainer of the Year or Male Vocalist of the Year at the country awards. But that's part of Allan's appeal, is that he isn't overplayed like other male acts, yet he still brings in the solid hits time after time. SEE IF I CARE is Allan's follow up to 2001's ALRIGHT GUY.

The album opens with "Drinkin Dark Whiskey", a strong contender for a single, a nice honky tonk to open the album with. The first single is the sentimental ballad "Tough Little Boys", which was a big hit for him. The title track is a great ballad that would also make a nice single. "Can't Do It Today" is an excellent country song, that pushes his vocals. Other highlights on the set include "Songs About Rain", "Nothing On But The Radio", "I Can Love You", and "Don't Look Away". Overall another solid set, with any justice he will find a lot of success with this album and get the acclaim he deserves.

It's easy to underestimate Gary Allan. After all, he's been called one of the sexiest men in country music, and that title usually means all looks and no goods (if you catch my drift). If you look at the album credits, you figure that this guy's a one man show: doesn't write much, doesn't play, just sings. Maybe you think him inferior because he detours around mainstream country music, and does his own honky-tonk/alt-country thing.

It isn't until you listen to one of his albums that you realize that he can sing better than any of his peers. It isn't until you see him live that you realize he can play guitar as good as he can sing. And it isn't until you've listened to mainstream country that you discover Gary Allan's music is BETTER than what most radio stations play.

On his fifth album, SEE IF I CARE, Gary Allan delves into a mixture of contempory country/alt-country/honky-tonk. The album kicks off with the enchanting and rollicking honky-tonker "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey," and moves easily into the mournful, "i'll get over you some other time" tune "Can't Do It Today."

From there you hit the first single, "Tough Little Boys," an ode to fatherhood that, although an excellent song, stands out on the album as the only one of its ilk. The title track is in a similar vain to "Can't Do It Today," an "uncaring" kiss-off to an old flame seen on the street with her new lover.

"Songs About Rain," "You Don't Know a Thing About Me" (which features Allan's songwriting talent), and "Don't Look Away" explore the dark side of love, while "I Can Love You" explains that loving his woman is the thing this guy goes best.

"Guys Like Me" (penned by Trent Summar) was made for Allan: a song about how honky-tonkers with their guitars are disappearing. "Nothing on But the Radio" suggests a little rough-housing (You and me and the lights down low/With nothing on but the radio). And "A Showman's Life", about the downside of honky-tonking that isn't always revealed, is a duet with the one and only Willie.

So, are you interested yet? You should be. Gary Allan is one of the most underestimated--yet talented--country singers today. His distinctive voice lends his songs the air of experience, even if he doesn't write them himself. SEE IF I CARE is yet another masterpiece by this "California boy with [his] old guitar". Gary Allan promises on this album--and delivers. Boy, does he deliver!

Still trying to figure out why Gary isn't up there with Chesney, Urban and company in the popularity department. His cd's just keep getting better. I never tire of this cd or Smoke Rings in the Dark (my other favorite) though they all have something to offer a country music fan. He has one of the best voices in country music today. My favorite tracks are, "See If I Care" "Don't Look Away" and "You Don't Know A Thing About Me" but they are all quite good. He is definitely an artist with crossover appeal as my husband can attest to. Don't let the negative reviews fool you. If classical is your style you may want to look elsewhere, but if you like good country music don't miss this cd or the chance to see him live!

Another great CD from Gary Allan! The first single "Tough Little Boys" obviously resonated with programers and listeners alike, as it shot to #1 back in the fall of 2003. The album doesn't stray too far from his past ones, which have worked well for him. Allan proves he has a good ear for great songs, evidenced by the ones on this album. The title track should be a single, it's a great ballad written by Jamie O'Hara. "Songs About Rain" is the current single, and a great one at that. Whether its ballads like "Can't Do it Today""I Can Love You", "Don't Look Away", or honky tonk uptempos like "Drinkin Dark Whiskey" and "Nothin On But The Radio", Allan shows his strengths in all. The songs are great, and the closer (a duet with Willie Nelson) on "A Showman's Life" is definately an album highlight. Hopefully he starts to get recognized for his talents, with this release, it could happen!

On 9/30 when this record came out, I rushed to the local music store only to find that it hadn't arrived. Sure, they had the new Sting and Dido CD's, but no Gary Allan. What the heck?!!! I live in Idaho people. Around here, you better have some country music! Anyway, this was perhaps the one time I've been glad to have Walmart nearby. Thank God they had it, because Gary Allan is the best thing going in country music. Every album has been wonderful and refreshing, and he has stayed true to the Bakersfield sound. Before his new album came out, I saw Gary on CMT and he said he thought "See If I Care" was probably his best, even better than his (and mine) previous favorite, "Smoke Rings In The Dark". I was a bit skeptical. I mean artists always talk up their latest release to sell records. But after one listen I found Gary wasn't kidding. "See If I Care" is gonna be big folks. At least it deserves to be. Gary's voice has never been better, and the album has a great mix of his trademark rasp and a gentle falsetto. The best cut is "Can't Do It Today", and my other favorites are "See If I Care", "Don't Look Away", and "You Don't Know A Thing About Me". "A Showman's Life", a duet with Willie Nelson, ain't a bad way to close the album either. My only complaint is Willie's (not Gary's) voice is the last one you hear before the CD ends. But that's a minor detail. This record is fantastic, something you'll enjoy from the first listen. And if you're already a Gary fan, what are you waiting for? Go get it!

I picked up this CD during christmas sales because I liked the song "Nothing On But The Radio" and in the begining I just listed to that song and "Songs About Rain" because they were the ones that I knew, but just the other day I decided to listen to the whole thing and it is AMAZING. It is one of the few CDs that I have that I actually like all of the songs. Even my non-country music liking friends love this CD. Some of the songs on it are really moving. I especially like "See If I Care" and "A Showman's Life". GO GET THIS CD!!!

The consistency is back! Allan's last album was a solid but uneven attempt. This is a 'listen-all-the-way-through' album. There's not a clunker in the set. I haven't owned this long enough to say whether this is as good as 'Smoke Rings in the Dark', but it's darn good. The opener is a rollicking barnburner that you'll probably never hear on the radio. The first single, 'Tough Little Boys' is a tearjerker...and a little outside Gary's usual area of song subjects, but a good song nonetheless. 'I Can Love You' will be Gary's biggest hit yet.... it's a love song not cut from the same cloth as the rest of Nashville's cliche-fests. If this record doesn't break Gary big, it's the world's loss... he's a star in my book, regardless. And this is a 4.68 star CD (rounded up to 5). Buy it!

This is the first Gary Allen CD I've purchased and I'll be sure to buy others. I liked "Songs About Rain" so much I decided it was time to buy one of Mr. Allen's cds and I was not disappointed. Tim McGraw *was* my favorite male country artist, Gary Allen may have replaced him.......

This is one of the best Country albums to come out of a major Nashville label in quite a few years. After a pair of introductory albums that failed to fully catch Allan's brilliance, he's unspooled a trio of releases that find surer footing and better material. Though he occasionally dips into treacle, more often than not, he sings tunes with the surefooted confidence of a gunslinger.

The album's opener, "Drinking Dark Whiskey," sets the tone right out of the gate. Allan's vocal careens towards a hoarse yodel as the band rocks him along this honky-tonk tale of temptation's consequences. The zydeco-edged two-stepping "Guys Like Me" spells out Allan's lot in life, "There's no more smoky bars in California / There ain't no wild life left in Tennessee / But I keep on living every song I'm singin' / And they're trying to put an end to guys like me."

Allan's music takes in the romanticism and genre-blending of the Mavericks and Dwight Yoakam, but it also cuts sharp and dark, like the Clint-Black-meets-The-Smithereens "Can't Do It Today," on which the mix of pedal steel and electric piano provide a novel backing for Allan's impassioned vocals. Similarly, the mid-tempo, "Songs About Rain," is a country waltz whose echoes of pop songs is the perfect foil for Allan's gloomy day. The force of Allan's vocals, bottled up on ballads like Jamie O'Hara's "See If I Care," is even more impressive. The slower tempo and introspective lyrics strain to contain his heartbreak, lending the song a visceral emotional edge.

Allan may not be "The" voice, but he's certainly a unique voice, one whose raw talent and artistic burnish blows away anything else heard out of Nashville these days. Even the album's mainstream ballads, such as the album's hit single, "Tough Little Boys," and "I Can Love You" are surprisingly believable in Allan's capable hands. The shuffle-paced "Nothing on But the Radio," the languorous trail harmonies of "Don't Look Away," and a fine duet with Willie Nelson for Jesse Winchester's "A Showman's Life," amply demonstrate how finely he's tuned his ears for selecting material.