Lee Ann Womack - Greatest Hits

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Music reviews of Greatest Hits

Music Review: A LITTLE PAST NASHVILLE
Rating: 4 Stars

Others have lamented Nashville's attempts to take respectable female country artists and transform them into crossover successes. The question always remains that while reaching for the elusive brass ring of multi-catagory success do "our" stars lose their grounding in anything remotely "country"? A common example is Faith Hill's recent work (2002's Cry) where her focus on glamour and torch songs was seen as turning her back on country audiences for the wider success of American pop radio. A more extreme example is Shania Twain's "Up!!!" album in which the listener is given two CDs with the very same songs on each. The difference between the two CDs is that on one Twain's vocal track is backed up by country instrumentation and the other she is backed up by more customary "pop" instrumentation. This only underlined the suspicions of many that much of what has recently been passed off as "country music" is nothing more than "pop" songs with a steel guitar thrown in to make it sound authentic.

Lee Ann Womack began her recording career with two excellent country albums. This period is presented here as the first six cuts. This is the Lee Ann Womack I enjoy the most. "A Little Past Little Rock" and "I'll Think Of A Reason Later" are a part of country music at its best with the first expressing romantic sorrow and the second has the singer poking fun at herself.

This is followed by her more recent catalogue beginning with "I Hope You Dance". "I Hope You Dance" was wildly popular on both the country and pop charts but it marked a change. Gone was the twangy Texan for a smoother, almost "little girl" voice. We also note the presence of heavy orchestration behind Womack. Worst of all is the most "un-country" like indulgence in saccharine sweet preachiness that tries to pass itself off as "older but wiser" wisdom. "Ashes By Now" returns the old Rodney Crowell well; but again Womack's vocal doesn't seem to marry well with the music.

"Something Worth Leaving Behind" attempts another "I Hope You Dance" success but in retrospect was another reach for the proverbial pop music brass ring in which Womack only ends up falling off the horse. Much better is "Does My Ring Burn Your Finger". Here we come to a return to more solid ground as Womack confronts a philandering husband.

Womack does a very nice turn with Willie Nelson in "Mendocino County Line" and the two new songs may signal that Womack is coming back to her real strengths as a country artist. "The Wrong Girl" and "Time For Me To Go" are two little gems that I like better than most of Womack's recent releases.

In my tastes I am not so much as a "purest" as I am a "realist". By that I mean that historically all the different styles of American music borrow and steal from each other with impunity. I am not bothered by the fact that "rock" influences have been seeping into country music for years. Unlike Alan Jackson, I see nothing wrong with "rockin' the jukebox". But some things work and others do not. Country music does not need its best female stars try to emulate Celine Dion. And all signs indicate that this realization has dawned on Nashville.

This collection is a good sample of Lee Ann Womack's music. Even with misgivings about her "middle" period, Womack is one of the best female country stars we have. If you are so inclined, you might also pick up her first two albums-of which "Some Things I Know" is an absolute treasure.

Description of Greatest Hits

Country CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop