See If I Care (CD - 2003)

Personnel: Gary Allan (vocals); John Willis, Jake Kelly, Willie Nelson (acoustic guitar); Brent Rowan (electric guitar); Mike Henderson, Richard Bennett (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Robby Turner (steel guitar); Hank Singer (mandolin, fiddle); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Jim Hoke (harmonica, accordion); Steve Nathan (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Michael Rhodes (bass); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion).

Recorded at Sound Kitchen, Nashville, Tennessee.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Personnel: Jack Kelly , John Willis, Willie Nelson (acoustic guitar); Mike Henderson, Richard Bennett , Brent Rowan (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Robby Turner (steel guitar); Hank Singer (mandolin, fiddle); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Jim Hoke (harmonica, accordion); Steve Nathan (piano, Wurlitzer organ); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Chris Stapleton, Harry Stinson, Jamie O'Hara, Jim Lauderdale, John Wesley Ryles, Lisa Cochran, Marabeth Jordan, Bergen White (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Greg Droman.

Recording information: House Of Gain, Nashville, TN; Paragon Studios, Nashville, TN; Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN.

Editor: Ronnie Thomas.

Photographers: Tony Baker & His Orchestra; Tony Baker.

On his first couple of albums for Decca, Gary Allan's talent was somewhat submerged in assembly-line Nashville production. After a label change, his third disc, 1999's SMOKE RINGS IN THE DARK found him fulfilling his potential with a rootsy, accessible New Traditionalist sound. A few years down the line, he continues to progress, bucking the Nashville Nazis along the way.

The album opener "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey," co-written by hard-country rebel Mike Henderson, is so full of fierce electric guitar and tough singing, it might have fallen off a Steve Earle record. The terse, tortured "See If I Care" sounds like a cross between Dwight Yoakam and TUNNEL OF LOVE-era Springsteen. "Songs About Rain," penned by another country upstart, Pat McLaughlin, cleverly skewers overused song metaphors. There are no charging power ballads on SEE IF I CARE and no hokey, cheap-shot lyrics, just tasteful production, thoughtful songwriting, and solid singing--fairly novel concepts for a 21st-century country star. minimize