Search - Allison Moorer :: Getting Somewhere

NOW, will you listen??!

John C. Bergeron | Saint Paul, MN United States | 06/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Love, loss, courage and survival. These have been recurring themes in Allison Moorer's music ever since '98's Alabama Song, and with this Steve Earle-produced release, she deals with them again, taking a straighter if harder road than ever before on her journey toward peace of mind, redemption and--dare I say it?--happiness. While I would've loved to have discovered more tender ballads here (there are really only a couple and no one writes or performs them better), I can't deny that any more may have taken this album off-course. Clearly, Allison knows just what she wants to express, and she has never sounded stronger or more resolute in doing so. On first listen, I even sensed a kind of urgency, almost as if she's making up for time lost. This may explain the brevity of the songs (six of the ten are under three minutes in length); but they're exactly as long as they need to be and she doesn't waste a single second. It's obvious that the timing and nature of this release has a lot to do with recent, significant changes in Allison's personal life, but never mind that, there's plenty of our own lives in these songs as well. And while I treasure, and always will, beautiful songs such as "Steal the Sun" from her back-catalog, I can't help but recognize and appreciate the growth and open-heartedness of this wonderful artist. I hope this release finally gains Allison Moorer the attention and respect she's always deserved, for I have found her marginal commercial success up to now utterly inexplicable, especially when I hear some of the stuff out there that has "made it." Keep on going, Allison, and keep on growing!!"

What a Shame

Harold Billings | Austin, TX USA | 06/20/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Alison has such a lovely voice that it is a shame that it gets so covered up by Steve's production. A rather muddy sound to this -- which may fit Steve's style in some cases, but not in what Allison does best ... which is to let her lyrics work their magic while that beautiful voice is clear and up front. The lyrics are even less clear on this album than has been the case on several of her recent songs.



It takes a lot of listening to get what Allison has to say, and she is an excellent lyricist with some of the most powerful songs in today's country-Americana field. But as one commentator says, she is allowing herself to drift too much towards pop. And that is just not her best metier. Compare the placement of her voice on this album with that of Brandi Carlile on her recent CD. What a shame that Steve did so badly by this wonderful talent."

More than meets the eye

Bert Echo | Fort Worth, TX | 10/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At first listen, 'Getting Somewhere' plays like an Allison Moorer foray into traditional singer-songwriter pop. However, after a few spins, Moorer's personal lyrics begin to come to the surface. 'Work To Do' and 'Fairweather' are tight pop songs that deal with moving on after the end of a bad relationship and the resulting promise of a clean slate. While the protagonist of 'The Duel' from Moorer's previous album of the same name was "a newborn atheist", the main character on 'Hallelujah' wearily professes that "faith is hard to find, thank God I found mine in time". Moorer's double-tracked vocals on 'Where You Are' are simply sublime in a touching chamber-pop tune reportedly written for her sister, Shelby Lynne. Moorer's powerful voice is in fine form throughout the album and she is backed by a top-notch band that never overplays its hand. There is not a wasted note or lyric on this album that clocks in at a bit over 30 minutes. Moorer has never been better as a lyricist and this is exemplified by the timely closing song 'Getting Somewhere', with it's eerie slide and electric guitar and lyrics that allude to Hurricane Katrina "broken and banished left there to sink, knee deep in water not one drop to drink" and the Iraq War "motherless babies and husbandless brides, stranded with nothing but tears in their eyes, no home to go to their world ripped apart, look to the sky and they open their hearts"."