Search - Ronnie Milsap :: My Life

Not as good as "True Believer," but a nice effort

Reginald D. Garrard | Camilla, GA USA | 07/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As I was browsing through the local branch of "America's largest retailer" (Guess who?), I came upon Milsap's latest, "My Life." Having long been a fan of the singer, I was excited that he had released a new album, having been totally blown away by the little heard and commercially disappointing "True Believer" from 1993. The latter was a tour de force and should've returned Milsap to his place at the top of the country/pop music charts. However, that was not to be. And "My Life" tries to return Milsap to the forefront.



Unfortunately, though Milsap is in fine vocal form, the songs lack the lyrics or arrangements of earlier Milsap recordings, leaving the singer to "fend for himself" on the smoothness of his voice alone. A third of the songs are worthy ("You Don't Know My Love," "Why Can't I," "A Day in the Life of America," "Somewhere Dry," and the bouncing "Local Girls), but the rest seem interchangeable "fluff" from a singer of incredible depth and soul.



But, because it is Milsap, I can't give him less than four stars."

Milsap's Picturesque and Inriguing "Life"

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 06/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: If It's Gonna Rain, Every Fire, Why Can't I



It takes more than just pure luck for a 62 year-old visually impaired veteran to still be releasing a major label offing in today's musical culture with its penchant for glamour, youth and looks. Rather, such tenacity is due to the legendary vocal prowess of this multi-Grammy award winner. Vocally, Milsap's is in tip top position: when he dips into his lower registers, there's a haunting swampy blues feel that would make B. B. King proud. And his upper registers rips with operatic ruptures that few country artists are capable of emulating. This may explain why there may be many Haggard and Jones clones, but when it comes to Milsap, he's just peerless. Unlike many fossils of yesteryear who have become contented to revel in past glories, Milsap has enlisted the best of today's songwriters (e.g., Donny Kees, Dean Dillon, Rivers Rutherford, Marc Beeson, Bob Dipero among others) to provide the vehicle that ought to tidal him back into the charts. Produced by Alan Jackson's helmsman Keith Stegall, the backing is fresh and tight, but still bearing Milsap's patented blues-pop sensibilities.



When it comes to the songs, there's a paucity of bad tunes, meaning that each of these 11 entries are potential stand alone singles themselves. Best of which is the Dean Dillon, Scotty Emerick and Donny Kees, "If It's Gonna Rain," a George-Strait type of a ballad that has Milsap's perfectly capturing the angst of heartbreak elucidated graphically via the rain motif. "Every Fire," first cut by Restless Heart, continues with the theme of romance at its tail end over an understated yet gorgeous acoustic melody. "Why Can't I," a Bob DiPiero and Karyn Rochelle co-write, finds a frustrated Milsap trying to escape the maze of heartbreak over a wailing wall of fiddles and the lonely missteps of calypso beats.



But on the more sanguine cuts, "You Don't Know My Love" bristles with vitality as an enthused Melodie Crittendon adds her beautiful harmonies to Milsap's vocals on this sizzler. While Jeff Silbar and Glen Clark's "Accepts My Love," a self confessing romantic number, is a melodic piece of art at every twist and turn. The infectious lead single "Local Girls" finds Milsap in Kenny-Chesney territory with its Caribbean feel, the perfect scorcher for an all-time summer fun. Yet not all is frivolous, shafts of insights are presented on the propulsive "A Day in the Life of America," a searching satire on the superficiality of Western culture. While Milsap gets as crusty as the deltas in mid-July on the swampy blues of "Somewhere Dry," a flashback to Milsap's previous top 5 bluesy rendition of "Since I Don't Have You."



While many artists are monolithic such that they are either a blues singer or straight ahead honky tonker, Milsap's the package deal. Never one to resigned to monotony, there's a bit of everything in "My Life:" rustic cry-your-beer ballads of those Texas honky tonks, rockish pop-country that could give Rascal Flatts a run for their money, and blues-country that not the floods of New Orleans could drown. Every song here has a life of its own and they have been made even richer by Milsap's unmistakable vocals. Even after all these years, Milsap's "My Life" is still picturesque, intriguing and alluring."

A welcome return

A. Gammill | West Point, MS United States | 01/15/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While it's true that only two or three of the songs in this collection really seem like modern classics, it's still a very enjoyable album overall. In fact, it's one of those rare CD's where I can listen straight through without being tempted to skip a track here and there.



For over 30 years, Milsap has been one of country music's purest voices. The real charm of MY LIFE is that he's never sounded better.



"