Ronnie Milsap - My Life
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Artist: Ronnie MilsapEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-06-27
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
- You Don't Know My Love
- It's All Coming Back To Me Now
- My Life
- If It's Gonna Rain
- Time Keeps Slipping Away
- Why Can't I
- A Day In The Life Of America
- Somewhere Dry
- Local Girls
- Every Fire
- Accept My Love
Music reviews of My Life
Music Review: A Rare Disappointment From One Of America's Greatest Singers...
Rating: 2 Stars
I will start this review by stating that I'm probably the biggest 30 year old Ronnie Milsap fan in the world as I feel my appreciation for his talent goes beyond that of many people. Even after a career that has lasted 40 years, the general public remains sadly unaware of how musically diverse this man really is because his music has been aimed primarily at the country music audience for far too long. The truth is that Ronnie Milsap is soooo much more than just a country singer. With a soaring vocal range that rivals Roy Orbison and remarkable versatility that only Linda Ronstadt can match, Milsap may be the most criminally underappreciated singer in American music! There isn't a male country singer on the charts today who can compete with Milsap's vocal skills.
Long before Garth Brooks or Shania Twain broadened the appeal of country music to young audiences in the 90's, this multi-dimensional singer/pianist with a background in classical music was crossing over onto the pop charts with smooth, soulful tunes that often sounded anything but country. If you explore Milsap's albums of the 80's and 90's, you will find pop, R&B, rock n' roll, doo wop, and even funk and disco songs that rarely got played on the radio. Prior to all of this, Ronnie Milsap was a mainstream R&B singer in the 1960's, cutting obscure singles in the vein of Ray Charles that few people ever heard. {Fans should seek out these early R&B recordings and be blown away. Ronnie's voice sounds so black you can hardly believe it's him!!}
In 1993, Milsap found himself kicked off country radio as Garth, Alan, Tim, and Kenny were hitting their stride with far less talent, but a wider assortment of cowboy hats, tight jeans, and nasal twang. Nashville's "young country" movement was in full swing by then, which saw nearly every country artist from the past two decades suddenly tossed aside by record labels and radio programmers in an effort to promote the new cowboy clones who would appeal to young music fans discovering country music for the first time. That same year, Ronnie released a strong, musically diverse album titled "True Believer" that was ignored by radio and the public upon its release.
Milsap took a break from recording in the mid-90's and spent the next ten years touring with his band, recording the occasional album, and being ignored by country radio all the while. My anticipation was high for a daring new CD that would expose today's music lovers to this extraordinary singer whose talent stretches far beyond one type of music. Instead, Ronnie signed a new contract with his former label RCA and decided to focus on a return to the uninspiring world of mainstream country music. In June 2006, Ronnie released "My Life", his first mainstream country album since 1993's True Believer.
The result is a step in the wrong direction that is hard for a fan like me to stomach. This doesn't feel or sound like a Ronnie Milsap album at all. Gone is the stunning musical diversity, R&B influences, and trademark piano playing that have marked his previous efforts. Ronnie always co-produces his albums, but now we have Alan Jackson's producer Keith Stegall taking full control of this effort. Stegall's production tries too hard to present Ronnie as another generic country artist, stripping away all signs of the great versatility that makes Milsap so impressive. What we have here is literally a Kenny Chesney or Tim McGraw CD with Ronnie Milsap on lead vocals!!
1. YOU DON'T KNOW MY LOVE-- The album begins with the second single. This is a decent tune featuring a strong Milsap vocal, but the arrangement and instrumentation is total generic country all the way. This radio-ready tune is right in line with all the other cookie-cutter songs on the charts today, but is it getting any airplay on country radio at all??? There's a very simple reason why we can't hear Ronnie Milsap on the radio anymore....Nashville would find it too unsettling to hear a 63 year old man blow away every male country star on the charts today!!
2. IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW-- A forgettable piece of cookie-cutter contemporary country that is average at best. There is nothing to distinguish this generic song from a million others you've heard elsewhere.
3. MY LIFE-- One of the strongest songs on the CD with meaningful lyrics and a nice chorus, but a bland melody in the verses keeps the song from being anything truly special.
4. IF IT'S GONNA RAIN-- A heartfelt vocal performance from Ronnie on this pure country ballad that is probably the best tune on the CD. The problem is...this is clearly a George Strait song that somehow ended up on a Ronnie Milsap CD instead of a George Strait CD. As a Milsap fan, I'm much more interested in hearing Ronnie Milsap sing a song intended for Ronnie Milsap! {I would also love to know how George Strait gets inducted into the country music hall of fame BEFORE Ronnie Milsap???? Ronnie was already a star when Strait was still in high school!!}
5. TIME KEEPS SLIPPING AWAY-- My least favorite tune on the CD. This sounds too much like the typical fluff you've heard from other male country singers. Total cookie cutter country that was obviously written for anyone else but Milsap. Notice how Ronnie tries to make the most of this average tune by wailing the final note to great effect!
6. WHY CAN'T I-- More generic contemporary country that is slightly improved by Ronnie's soaring vocals on the choruses.
7. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AMERICA-- Here is the one song on the album that dares to sound different from everything else. A great set of lyrics about the current rat race lifestyle lived by many Americans is spoiled by a weak melody. With a different arrangement and a stronger melody, this song could be a real gem.
8. SOMEWHERE DRY-- A decent ballad that ranks with "If it's Gonna Rain" as the best song here, but still not up to the quality of Milsap's classic ballads. Another solid Milsap vocal performance enhances the song.
9. LOCAL GIRLS-- The biggest mistake on the album and easily the weakest single Milsap has ever released. A corny, lightweight slice of bubblegum country that might sound appropriate on a Kenny Chesney CD, but is certainly beneath the high standards of Mr. Milsap! Ronnie has never sung a more silly set of lyrics..."NIBBLIN' ON A BANANA MOON PIE WHEN I SWORE I SAW AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN FLOATIN' BY....." Much of Ronnie's music has always had a commercial sound, but never to the point of sounding like a sell-out which this particular song certainly sounds like. When compared to great Milsap classics such as "Smoky Mountain Rain", "It was Almost like a Song", or "Stranger in my House", this silly piece of fluff is literally embarrassing.
10. EVERY FIRE-- A generic but solid country ballad that is a definite improvement over "Local Girls". The melody is decent and Ronnie handles the lyrics well as always.
11. ACCEPT MY LOVE-- I was hoping for a truly dynamic closing tune to save this set of mediocre, commercial country. Instead, Ronnie ends the CD with the most cookie-cutter song on the whole album! This is yet another piece of modern country fluff that sounds like a hundred other country songs by a hundred other country singers.
While this isn't a bad CD, it is easily the weakest album Ronnie Milsap has ever recorded. It is sad to think Ronnie sorted through ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SONGS to come up with 11 average tunes that pale in comparison to any of his 40 number one hits! Comparing these songs to anything Ronnie has recorded in the past will show you just how mediocre this CD really is. At age 63, Ronnie's voice remains as strong and vibrant as ever, but this set of contemporary cookie-cutter country does not represent anything Milsap is about except for his desperation to get back on the charts that he was unjustly kicked off of 14 years ago. This is obviously Nashville's bullsh** system that is robbing Ronnie of any creative freedom over his music.
It frustrates me to see Ronnie trying for a comeback in a current country music industry where talent and originality takes a backseat to youth, sex appeal, commercialism, and having to clone every other singer on the charts. If I was in his shoes, I would be exploring any musical avenue available outside the dreadful country music scene that has been on a steady downhill fall for over ten years. The vocal range and diversity of this man should give him the same stature as Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Billy Joel, or Paul McCartney! The only thing these artists have that Ronnie Milsap lacks is songwriting ability.
What Ronnie desperately needs now is to join forces with a great, open-minded producer who is more interested in capturing the full scope of Milsap's musical talents rather than trying to get him back on the charts. Rick Rubin remarkably revived Johnny Cash's career with albums that exposed Johnny's music to the MTV crowd without turning him into a rock star. A guy like Rubin would have the authority and ability to thrust Milsap's career into a whole new realm...without selling him out. The two of them could produce a stunning {and sorely needed} album to showcase Ronnie's remarkable mastery of rock n' roll, pop, R&B, blues, funk, jazz, and even classical music that the general public knows nothing about! Johnny Cash could never "rock out" or tackle pop and R&B sounds the way Milsap can. If the younger audience can embrace a guy like Cash, they should go crazy over a guy like Ronnie Milsap. It could be one of the greatest comeback stories in American music. But it is not to be, at least for now.
With this CD, Ronnie will most likely be looked at as some has-been country singer trying to keep up with Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and the other inferior country clones who have only half the talent Ronnie has! I cringe at the thought of this outstanding musician putting out more music in this vein while continuing to be overlooked and underappreciated by music fans everywhere. If you are a new Milsap fan, check out Ronnie's great albums from the 80's and 90's for a taste of "MILSAP MAGIC" at its best!
We will have to wait and see what the future holds for Ronnie Milsap. As his biggest admirer, I say it is about time the music world wakes up and finally realizes what Ronnie Milsap is and always has been.... a singer/pianist of the highest calibre who blows away anybody in the Top 40 today!
Description of My Life
Ronnie returned to RCA with this terrific 2006 comeback album, a nostalgic throwback to his '80s country-pop superstardom. The title song joins A Day in the Life of America; Local Girls; Somewhere Dry; Every Fire; Accept My Love , and more!Returning to the label that made him a megastar in the '70s and '80s, Ronnie Milsap--the Man Behind the Grand--remains full-voiced and energetic. He still leans more on the pop side of country than not, although disappointingly, the R&B/gospel influence that made him a Nashville trailblazer mostly slumbers here. But the main problem with this comeback, helmed by Keith Stegall, Alan Jackson's longtime producer, is that for a man with such a rich and remarkable history of songs ("Pure Love," "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends," "It Was Almost Like a Song," "Smoky Mountain Rain," "No Gettin' Over Me," "Lost in the Fifties Tonight"), Milsap turns up a paucity of memorable material. The title tune, about the necessity of living a full and authentic life, resonates melodically as well as lyrically, and Dean Dillion, Scotty Emerick, and Donny Kees service Milsap with a fine heartbreak ballad in "If It's Gonna Rain." But the bulk of the repertoire falls into the safe, bland, and predictable range, hitting a low mark with the banal, Buffett-flavored "Local Girls." Can Milsap, one of country's most venerable stars, follow oldster Kenny Rogers back on the charts? Probably. But to stay there, he's going to have to push for stronger songs, i.e., grit, gravel, or gravitas. --Alanna Nash
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