CABARET VILLE MAGAZINE. P192.

CDs REVIEWS

All Jacked Up
Gretchen Wilson (Epic)

Fans of Gretchen Wilson's chart-topping 2004 debut album, Here for the Party, might have braced for a letdown with her latest, All Jacked Up. Feel free to unbrace. This album's even better than the first. The pride of Pocahontas, Ill., pulls no punches (again) and nearly every song sounds like a dare for someone to tell the country sensation she's all bluster -- and not expect a face full o' knuckles. The title track, All Jacked Up, is a romp about keeping an eye on your drinking. Wilson knows her way around a bar, she readily admits, and she's not one to shy away from a song about knocking a few back. But there's something responsible about her don't-do-it-while-driving caveat here. One Bud Wiser is a hands down instant karaoke classic. Every country girl worth her salt will be trying to belt this one out for years to come. Wilson looks to the bottle for a little solace after a bad breakup: "When he left me he took my brand new Silverado/ I started thumbin' and I finally hitched a ride/ I just came in here to drink a beer and watch the rednecks fight/ Now I don't feel so bad about going home alone tonight," she belts out in earnest. It's all here. Politically Incorrect is the brazen flag-waver and Rebel Child is the strongly sung but cautionary tale about life in the fast lane that could use a little downshifting to avoid the mistakes of youth. Wilson turns tender for a moment on the waltz-paced I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today. She shows vulnerability, a rarity for a pretty girl without a smiling photo to be found on her website promo shots. Skoal Ring is the only weak link. Any song that glorifies a man halfway home to gum cancer is a dud. Sure, it's supposed to be country code for a hard working man of true grit. But it's a throwaway tune that unfortunately stayed on the album. That aside, Wilson is the real deal. If there's a better country act going, let's see it. -Reviewer: Roy Harris

Sheryl Crow
Wildflower (A&M)

Point to ponder while contemplating Sheryl Crow's new Wildflower CD: will a bad review earn a set of tread marks on my back? Time to run. Don't be deceived into thinking that big rock on Crow's finger courtesy of fiancé Lance Armstrong will result in a giddy album of love songs. Instead, this disc is downbeat and downright boring. Crow is 43 now, beyond the point where all you wanna do is have some fun. She's brooding over the big issues of life, love, loyalty and mortality, and that's more than understandable. It's just harder to make that into engaging pop-rock tunes, and that's Crow's strength, where she beat the odds to become very successful in a style that's no longer fashionable. Here, you slog through seven earnest, mid-tempo songs until there's a sign of life: Live it Up has Crow urging someone to not let life pass them by, and it has the disc's strongest hook and quickest pace. Always on Your Side is the best of the rest, a stately ballad that benefits from stripping the music down. Otherwise, the production is simultaneously busy and rather anonymous, unwisely emphasizing Crow's thin vocals. Perhaps Wildflower has a few seeds that will take time to grow. Pass the fertilizer, though.-Reviewer: David Baudders CONTINUES NEXT