Search - Gary Allan :: Get Off on the Pain

Country Rocker delivers his best art to date ...

Bernadette A. Moyer | Lutherville, MD USA | 03/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So much great art is born of pain, NO REGRETS made me cry and is truly reflective and insightful. WE FLY BY NIGHT will appeal to all of us with that youthful night time party persona while managing real life. The women will swoon over the image of "When you pull me down on the couch and slowly slide off my boots" and like all Allan music there is enough country for the die hard fan and enough rocker here to keep both entertained. Who doesn't need a song like ALONG THE WAY? a great shot of I am sorry and humility. His subject matter is always timeless and as a result my bet is he will have staying power in an industry that otherwise thrives on "flash in the pan" "made" artists. He is a triple threat in that he sings, plays and writes add that to country meets rocker and he will be around for a good long time. Great record, his best work to date! Can't wait to see him again this April in Biloxi, MS!"

Superb country originals and passable Nashville stock

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 03/12/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Allan hit his stride with 1999's Smoke Rings in the Dark, and recorded a series of albums that retained his California twang even as Nashville dug in its fingers. His eighth album still offers some edgy and forceful vocals, but starts out with several tunes whose arrangements of piano, organ, strings and studio drums resound with Nashville's overbearing contemporary country-rock sound. Allan's relegated his superior original material to the album's second-half, opening the album with songs from Music City pros whose work leaves a more calculated impression. The productions on the first few cuts overwhelms Allan's earthiness, and even the sprightly "That Ain't Gonna Fly" sounds more like a studio band attempting to rock than a country band actually rocking.



But the mainstream sound fades away when the album reaches Allan's original material at track six. The intimate details of "We Fly by Night," co-written with Jamie O'Hara and Odie Blackmon, are given a stately tempo that allows Allan to consider the lyrics and add an echo of Roy Orbison's drama. Or maybe it's an echo of Raul Malo, as Dan Dugmore's steel and gentle notes of vibraphone give this track a compelling sophistication. Allan writes poetically of opening up to opportunities, begging for forgiveness and finding oneself, and the emotion with which he sings his own words is a world away from what he's able to muster for the album's stock Nashville compositions. Perhaps his label didn't trust that Allan's originals were radio-ready, but his songs are deeper and feel as if they're born of personal experience rather than someone else's songwriting appointment.



Thos who liked See If I Care might skip lightly through the first five tracks, as the album's second half is a twangy and soulful gem worth the wait. The deluxe CD edition adds four bonus cuts: the newly recorded "Long Summer Days," and live versions of "Right Where I Need to Be," "Best I Ever Had," and "Watching Airplanes" that were recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience. The disc (which also unlocks on-line video content) is delivered in a digipack with a 16-panel booklet that includes lyrics to the album's core ten tracks. Allan is effective in playing both the country mainstream and its rootsier edges, which may leave some fans enjoying one half of this disc more than the other. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]"

Love Gary Allan!

Bridget Merchant | Cheboygan, MI USA | 05/04/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love Gary Allan! This CD does not disappoint. Not a bad song in the bunch!"