Customer Reviews

Storms of Life

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Randy Travis struggled to gain recognition at a time when record companies weren't interested in traditional country music, but he finally made it big with this album and the country hits that it contained. Some of these singles pre-dated the album, which Randy was only allowed to complete when it was clear that it would sell in reasonable quantities. Even so, sales far exceeded anything that Randy, his manager (and future wife) or his record label could ever have expected. The album eventually sold over three million copies.

The first single, On the other hand, struggled to get airplay and was only a minor country hit when first released although it sold much better than the average minor hit. The follow-up, 1982, was released at a quiet time for new singles. With few new releases, radio stations reluctantly gave it airplay, whereupon it eventually became a top ten country hit. Capitalizing on this, Warner then re-issued On the other hand. This time, it went all the way to number one, become the first of many chart-toppers for Randy.

With two major country hits to his credit, the time was right to record more tracks to complete this album. Among the other tracks here are Digging up bones (a number one hit), No place like home (a number two hit) and other great songs such as the title track, There'll always be a honky tonk somewhere, Reasons I cheat, My heart cracked but it did not break, Messing with my mind and Send my body, the album established Randy as country music's then-new superstar.

While there have been some magnificent compilations of Randy's music, this album stands on its own merit. If you enjoy traditional country music, you'll love this album.

After wallowing through periods of Countrypolitan and the Urban Cowboy crossovers, Nashville snapped to attention - albeit briefly - for the class of 1986. In the front row, along with Dwight Yoakam (who was said to be "too country for country"), was Randy Travis and this major label debut. Stripping country music down to its near-acoustic essence, Travis mated his one-in-a-million voice with rough-and-tumble experience (he ran away from home when he was 16 and had a few scrapes with the law) to forge songs that mated the beauty of George Jones' and Lefty Frizell with the exposed nerves of Merle Haggard. Even with those comparisons in hand, Travis' voice is as distinct and immediately identifiable as his notable predecessors.

Not only did this album dominate the charts with its singles, but it was also the first country album to sell multi-platinum (triple, in fact). With Nashville having subsequently found rock production and banal lyrics as its latest crossover path, Travis' debut is ever more appealing and vital to country fans. Songs of temptation ("On the Other Hand"), infidelity ("Reasons I Cheat") and failure ("Diggin' Up Bones") are perfectly balanced by sentimental tear-jerkers ("No Place Like Home") and the mid-tempo honky-tonk of the title track and the hit single "1982." With all of Nashville's machinations to draw fans from outside the core country audience, it's ironic that Travis' country-to-the-bone debut is more likely to make this draw by virtue of its astounding heart and quality. Simply put: one of the finest debut albums in country music history.

This is Randy's mainstream debut album and one of the best country debut albums of the era, along with Dwight Yoakam's "Guitar, Cadillacs, etc, etc". The album is jam packed full of great songs, wonderful singing and playing and superb production from Kyle Lenning. There are quite a few of Randy's "Best Of" albums out there and all of them sample heavily from the "Storms of Life" album; a very good indication that the album was out of the top draw. It is incomprehensible that this album is now out of print although there are some Amazon re-sellers selling it for less than $5 which is amazing value for one sensational record. I'm not a big Travis fan (I only have two of his albums (vinyl) and one CD - this one) but the Storms Of Life albums is a necessary purchase for any traditonal country music fan.

Since the days of Elvis there has been a blending of country and rock or pop singers and around the time Randy Travis recorded "Storms of Life" there were no big stars who sang with a "real country" voice that brought to mind earlier recordings of Lefty Frizzell and George Jones. (Interesting that the brief meteoric country career of Keith Whitley was taking off at the same time and overlapped so much that Whitley's "On the Other Hand" was released almost simultaneously with Travis' version on this recording.)

So much for the brief historical perspective: "Storms of Life" is a great, great Country Record. Randy Travis infuses these tracks with a bone-chilling baritone that quivers your eardrums and works it's way into your marrow. The songs are about obstacles in life and love-lives. On the title track he croons that "The Storms of Life are washing me away...." "1982" burns with the intensity of a man phoning an operator near the edge of insanity, begging to be reconnected to his wasted years. "On the Other Hand" gives the mental state of a man counting the reasons for his temptation, but restrained by the reminder of the golden band "on the other hand." "Reasons I Cheat" crosses that border as the tortured voice catalogues a grocery list of influences on the cheating narrator. Performed by a singer even a shade less talented this song would be pitiful, but Travis compiles his list beginning with a low growl and propelling the song toward a musical climax.

If I had to toss every Country record I own but one - I think this is the one I'd keep. I have almost 4,000 CDs, and most of the time I have the player set on random. This afternoon Shakira, The Beatles, Billy Joel and Beethoven's 5th Symphony preceded "Send My Body" on my player, and THIS is where I turned the volume up.

Country fan - I'm talking to you... Get it.

There are very few albums where every song is a winner, but this is one of them. All ten songs could have been released as successful singles. "1982" (originally titled "1962" but that title was wrong for a singer as young as Travis) and "On The Other Hand" were the first two hits followed by "Digging Up Bones" and "No Place Like Home" but the quality doesn't drop one iota on the non-singles such as "Reasons I Cheat" and "Send My Body (Home On A Freight Train)" and "There'll Always Be A Honky-Tonk"

I've been collecting recordings since 1968 - this is one of my top five ever along with JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON, BUCK OWENS LIVE IN LONDON, COUNTRY CHARLEY PRIDE and GUITAR TOWN - Steve Earle

Unlike many albums in my collection, I feel a connection with Storms of Life. When I was a kid, My mother and I listened to this album in the car. Fast forward a decade or so. I had grown up, changed music tastes (going from country to Christian music with a dash of rock, pop, and R&B thrown in) and thought Country was music one lost brain cells listening to. This all ended when I rediscovered this album in her CD collection. It showed me what country should be: truthful and pure music about common emotions that people go through such as divorce ("No Place Like Home"), infidelity ("Reasons I Cheat") and others ("The Storms of Life"). These are favorites, but the singles such as "1982", "Diggin' up Bones", and "On the Other Hand" and other songs such as Send My Body and "My Heart Cracked (But It Did Not Break)" are good as well.In saying all of this, there are songs I've never been able to connect with such as "There'll Always Be a Honky Tonk Somewhere" and "Messin' with My Mind". For Country Music before it became about how much alcohol you can consume, a Republican Party auxiliary, or about the "badonkadonk" this is an album to own. I also recommend this to folks who like other genres as well but want to audition a country CD for your collection, try it! Come on down and sit a spell.

A wonderful album from country renaissance man Randy Travis! Every song is a keeper and every song has a different story to tell. Best of all is the opening song, *On The Other Hand*. Just listen as the backing chorus comes in after the first verse. Randy also includes bouncy honkytonk on tracks like *The Storms of Life* and *1982* , some country blues with *Messin With My Mind*, and even a little comedy with *There Always Be A Honkytonk Somewhere*. Of course, his specialty seems to be the soulfull ballads, but Randy also proves he can handle a faster tune with the swinging *My Heart Cracked*. Travis' vocals are smooth and steady as he delivers each song with confidence and ease. The lyrical content harps back to the simple things in life and nature. This album will take you to that gravel road in the countryside---grassy fields and tall trees on both sides.

Thank You

When Randy Travis came out with his debut album, Storms Of Life, in '86, he was a relatively unknown artist. However, this album is a classic. Paul Overstreet(who would later become a successful artist himself) contributed a couple of Randy's classic tunes to this record: "On The Other Hand", and "Diggin' Up Bones". The former is a celebration of marital fidelity, while the latter is about a man who is looking through things his wife left behind after she left him("I'm diggin' up bones...exhumin' things that's better left alone"). "No Place Like Home" and Randy's debut single "1982" were also big hits from this album. The songs are on Storms Of Life are all authentic country songs without a lot of extra production. When Randy came along in the mid-'80s, he, like George Strait before him, helped pull country music out of its glitzy, heavily-synthesized "Urban Cowboy" craze and back to its roots. Unfortunately, a few years ago, Randy(at least in my opinion) got caught up in his commercial success and released some music that veered from the traditional country he started out with. Thankfully, he's gotten back on track the last few years and come out once again with some great, authentic country music, as he did on Storms of Life. Years after Randy first came out with it, Storms Of Life remains a classic.

After 13 years and almost 14 (soon to be released 14th album " A Man Aint Made of Stone") this ..Randy Travis's first effort still holds it's mezmerizing qualiies.

I have every thing Randy has ever recorded and this still remains my favorite, along with his (radio rejected )last album for WB "Full Circle"

As far as this country music enthusiest is concerned,Randy could sing the " yellow pages" and still sound more sincere than most of todays so called "mega stars" .

There isn't one song on this entire album that can be percieved as insincere or unrealistic in its delivery or melodic phrasings.

This is what country music is suppose to sound like and what seems to be in todays climate a more and more "endangered species"

I met Randy Travis at Fanfare in Nashville in 1986. At the time, he was one of the new artists they were introducing with his own tiny booth. I didn't have to wait in line. I just walked up and talked to him for quite a while. Nobody else was waiting. Little did I know at the time that he was about to release "Storms of Life" which is one of the greatest country albums ever. It belongs in the collection of anyone who says they like music.

When Randy Travis released this album, country music was struggling for an identity. After the Nashville Sound and pop influences had diluted country music to the point that many people couldn't tell the difference anymore, a group of traditionalists rode in to save the genre. George Strait broke the trail. Randy Travis followed behind him. This album is pure country. There's nothing that isn't country about it.

"Storms of Life" includes a lot of songs that didn't get radio play but deserve attention. It produced several huge hits, but literally every song on the record should have been a number one hit. One of my favorites is "Reasons I Cheat" because it is so raw and so real. It is what country music is.

This is just a great record. You should buy it.