Live Like You Were Dying (CD - 2004)

Personnel: Tim McGraw (vocals); Tim McGraw; Darren Smith (acoustic guitar); Charles Bisharette, Natalie Leggett, Sara Parkins, Armen Garabedian, Darius Campo, Susan Chatman, Berj Garabedian, Charlie Bisharat, Mario Diaz de Leon (violin); Evan Wilson, Bob Becker (viola); Suzie Katayama, Larry Corbett (cello); Jeff McMahon (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond b-3 organ, synthesizer); John Marcus (bass instrument); Dave Dunkley, David Dunkley (percussion); Chris Rodriguez, Gene Miller, Greg Barnhill, Robert Bailey, Jr. , Kim Carnes, Rodney Crowell, Steve McEwan, Vicki Hampton, Wes Hightower, Robert Bailey , Kim Fleming, Russell Terrell (background vocals); Darran Smith (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Bob Minner (acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin); Denny Hemingson (electric guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar, baritone guitar, dobro); Dean Brown (mandolin, fiddle); Billy Mason (drums); Faith Hill, Brett Warren (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Tim McGraw; Byron Gallimore.

Recording information: Allaire Studios, Shokan, NY; Blackbird Studio, Nashville, TN.

Author: George Washington .

Photographers: Darran Smith; Dean Brown ; Mark McKenna; Tony Duran.

There's good reason for Tim McGraw's endurance at the top of contemporary country: he's a restless visionary who's worked hard to improve as an interpretive singer. In 2002, McGraw bucked the trend and convinced his label, and producers Byron Gallimore and Darran Smith, to let him use his road band in the studio. The rough and tumble intimacy of the set put it over the top and appealed to music fans outside his circle. On Live Like You Were Dying, McGraw ups the ante. Using the same production team and his Dancehall Doctors, McGraw cut a whopping 16 tracks and helped in the mixing of the record, as well as co-producing. The song selection runs the gamut. There's the blues-rock energy of the opener, "How Bad Do You Want It," where he evokes the ghost of the Mississippi Delta as well as the hard country-rock sounds of Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Then there's the shimmering Americana of "My Old Friend" that would not be out of place performed by Pierce Pettis, and the fantastic "Old Town New," by renegade songwriters Bruce Robison and Darrell Scott. The monster single from this record, "Live Like You Were Dying," by Craig Wiseman and Tim Nichols, is the very best kind of modern country song; the emotion in McGraw's delivery is honest, not saccharine. In anyone else's voice, a song like "Drugs or Jesus" would be just plain bad. The tune itself is solid and beautifully constructed, a perfect marriage of melody, hook, and direct, simple lyrics. But the temptation to overperform such a song is irresistible to most of the hit factory's mainstays. Not for McGraw though: his understatement underscores the lyric's seriousness. The tenderness in Rodney Crowell and James T. Slater's "Open Season on My Heart" is vulnerable in all the right ways. The moody poignancy of "Walk Like a Man," is a fine and haunting centerpiece for this fine album. "Kill Myself" has to be experienced -- it's a miracle and a testament to McGraw's clout that this tune made it on to the record. "We Carry On" is a soulful anthem, gritty, true, and beautiful. It's a fitting close to McGraw's finest moment yet. The young hell-raiser has grown to be one of modern country's most compelling and multidimensional artists. ~ Thom Jurek

Country superstar Tim McGraw surely needs no apologists; the Louisiana-born singer, who's racked up millions of record sales and married country diva Faith Hill, is practically a force of nature. However, there is a misconception of McGraw as just a high-gloss hat act, a notion that a close listen to LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING should dispel.

For one thing, while almost all of his peers record with the same pool of Nashville studio hotshots, McGraw continues to work with his longtime band, the Dancehall Doctors. Additionally, progressive-country cult heroes Bruce Robison and Rodney Crowell are among the songwriters tapped for material here. Most importantly, at a time when most mainstream country artists are compelled to pander to their audience by maintaining a "don't worry, be happy" attitude, McGraw isn't afraid to journey into darker emotional territory, often with no clear way out--see the heartbreaking "Blank Sheet of Paper," and "Open Season on My Heart." The latter song is surely one of the most powerful pieces to be found on a circa-2004 hit country album, and even though Crowell penned it (with James T. Slater), you can thank Tim McGraw for bringing it to the light of day. minimize