Tough All Over (CD - 2005)

Personnel: Gary Allan (vocals); Kenny Greenberg (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Jake Kelly, Jake Kelly (acoustic guitar); Hank Singer (fiddle); Nashville String Machine (strings); Jelly Roll Johnson (harmonica); Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, synthesizer); Michael Rhodes (bass instrument); John Wesley Ryles, Wes Hightower, Russell Terrell, Perry Coleman (background vocals); John Willis (acoustic guitar); Brent Rowan (electric guitar); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Greg Droman.

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

Photographer: Tony Baker & His Orchestra.

Gary Allan has been all over the country map since he began recording in 1996. He's made slick Nash Vegas records, hard honky tonk records, and ballad records. With Tough All Over, he's made enough of a mark that he gets to release the album he's wanted to make all along. Evidence is in the title cut, which opens the set. Written by Odie Blackmon and Jim Lauderdale, it's a hard roots rocker in the vein of the Blasters' more adventurous moments, with edgy electric guitars, hard, clipped snare drums, a harmonica, and even a Hammond B-3. Yeah, there's a fiddle here, but it's hardly of consequence. This is rock & roll complete with shaking tambourines. "Just Got Back from Hell," driven simply by a National Steel before the guitars start to roar and the pedal steel and B-3 start to whine and whinny, is a gorgeous country song that keeps its focus on tradition while looking toward the future. The shape-shifting early-'60s rock at the heart of "Ring" (written by Kostas) wouldn't be out of place on an Everly Brothers or Del Shannon record had they used a pedal steel to carry the backdrop of the tune. The Fender Telecaster is trebly and raw and stands in sharp contrast to the slick on-the-spot vocals. But that's not to say that Allan has abandoned the ballads that have made his name; far from it. "Promises Broken," "Life Ain't Always Beautiful," and "What Kind of Fool," with its finger-plucked single banjo line, are tight, full of emotion and romantic pathos. But it's the rockers, which also include the 21st century rockabilly of "Nick Jack Caver" and the roiling, guitar-wailing, Southern rock-driven "He Can't Quit Her," that hold the most attention. The album's closer, "Putting My Misery on Display," begins simply as a ballad and becomes a rock power ballad. Whether the public will receive Allan's offering is another question, but musically and artistically, it's the most consistent -- yet slick -- record he's ever done. ~ Thom Jurek

In following up his exceptionally strong 2003 release, SEE IF I CARE, country singer Gary Allan opted to stick to his New Traditionalist guns, resulting in another compelling set of songs. TOUGH ALL OVER opens boldly with the rock-tinged title track (penned in part by Jim Lauderdale), and proceeds to mix sensitive ballads ("Best I Ever Had" and "Life Ain't Always Beautiful") with twangy mid-tempo tunes ("I Just Got Back from Hell"). The standout song, however, is "Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption)," an intriguing narrative about the Man in Black's darkest days that hints at Cash's signature sound without attempting to duplicate it. minimize