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"Billy Ray Cyrus," unfortunately,
became victim to his overnight success and ballistic shot to
super stardom. But, it is sort of a forgone conclusion that unless
you are going to make a career out of a novelty songs, rocketing
to saturation-level success with a song that before it was RELEASED
had a dance named after it for God's sake, virtually INSURES
a backlash. And lest we forget what happened with "that"
song and its album 6 scant years ago, what success indeed it
was. "Some Gave All," as we approach the end of the
millennium, still remains one of the top 10 selling albums of
ALL genres in the 90''s, not to mention that in 1996 this first
monster album was marked as one of the top 20 selling albums
of ALL TIME. "Some Gave All " was even #1 in pop albums
LONGER than the soundtrack to "Titanic." Billy Ray
didn't even have a sophomore slump. His follow-up album, "It
Won't Be The Last," was also a #1 song, and for those people
who would give him a chance, also spawned some hit songs free
of any novelty associations, most notably the killer tunes "In
The Heart Of A Woman," and the Bruce Springsteen-meets-the-Hills
High School nostalgia anthem "Words By Heart."
Considering all of these facts, backlash
or no backlash, it is almost insulting to call this album a "comeback."
Despite the fact that he hasn't had even a Top 20 song between
May of 1994 and June of 1997, Cyrus has proven he has some of
the most rabidly loyal fans in the business. He's won a truckload
of Music City News Awards (which are voted on by the public)
during his absence from the charts.
However, a comeback of sorts it is. Except
for one notable song, "It's All The Same To Me," from
his '97 "Greatest Hits" album, Billy has gone in some
laudable, but somewhat confusing other directions, in order to
be taken seriously and shake off the onus of "that"
song. While the albums "Storm In The Heartland" and
"Trail Of Tears" got OK reviews, and had some nice
tunes, the fact that the pony-tailed, hi-top shod one was now
trying to become some sort of country John Mellencamp (of the
"Scarecrow" album) was unsettling. By throwing songs
down our throats about endangered eagles, mis-treated Indians,
flooded folk and the like, it seemed a bit jarring, if not gimmicky,
to say the least - although somewhat unfairly, since BRC seems
to be a very morally dedicated fellow.
Well, I am thrilled to say this album puts
Billy Ray Cyrus back on solid ground - both content and presentation
wise. There isn't a bad song in this bunch. In fact, most of
them sport killer lyrics and have Top 10 written all over them.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of response to the first release,
"Time for Letting Go," but Billy has definitely got
him a new hit with the current, and second, single from this
awesome album, "Busy Man," a new take on "Cat's
In The Cradle" without being maudlin.
The opening cut is a #1 waiting to happen.
"How's My World Treating You" is a dandy song, recalling
Toby Keith's killer hit "That's My House," with its
take on an ex-husband calling to chat with a new husband about
the delivery of divorce papers. "Under The Hood" is
full of nifty, double-entendre warnings of the danger in jumping
right into a new love, the same experience as with a fast car
you might not know enough about yet. "Give My Heart To You"
could be sappy glop if not for its wizardly put-together lyrics
such as "I give 40 honest hours to a boss I never met/ I
gave my soul to Jesus.. but I give my heart to you." The
same is true for the tune "Missing You," which starts
out with the flooring line "I live for the phone, I die
for the Mail/ I took your picture right off the nail."
The whole album is a thrilling pleasure,
but most kudos have to be given to the title cut. "Shot
Full Of Love" is one of those perennials, so well constructed
that it seems almost cover-proof. The Dirt Band's and Juice Newton's
covers' of the song in the 80's were rather different, and both
monster hits. Billy's bluesier, deeper, but still swirlingly
thrilling version deserves to be too.
So if you gave up on the now ponytail-less
(and lets hope now wearing grown-up shoes) Cyrus ages ago, thinking
of him as a goof ball hack who hit the lottery, I urge you to
give him a break and get this album. There won't be many late
90's country discs as solid and fun and just plain great as this
one. |
