Little woman large voice

The end of the 20 century and I had met the love of my life. She was into modern country and so I listened too.  Hey that's what you do when you are dating someone, you listen to what they do.  Honestly the rock scene was dead around this time and pop was dominated by the Boy Bands so I was open to something new.

Most of modern country sounded like 80's pop rock with a twang.  So I didn't hate it, in fact some of the artists were quite good. One of the artist that stood out was Martina McBride.  Martina is a powerhouse singer and most of her songs had heart and some of them an edge.  I mentioned to Sheryl, that after a few listens that she sounded like a country Pat Benatar.  My now wife didn't hear it at first, then the two of them did a crossroads on CMT. Then she agreed I was right.  I don't know who is the better singer.  I have seen Martina twice live, she brought it strongly both times.  She tore up Journey and made Steve Perry her bitch.  I haven't seen Pat live so it is hard to say who is better.

As I said earlier, modern country sounds mainly like pop rock, so when Martina released Timeless I was very curious.  Now I spent 5 years in Tallahassee Florida from about 5-10 years of age.  Any one who knows the area knows that it is more south Georgia that South Florida.  During this time I heard my share of classic country music, also Hee Haw was very popular.  So this is what I first thought of when Sheryl reintroduced me to country music. Classic Country is kind of like modern country some of it is great and some is awful.

Martina's Timeless takes the great of the classic country and proves that her voice can fit wonderfully into either era.  The curious part of this release is how modern country treated it, no air play, no videos.  But the album was the fastest seller of her career.  I really enjoyed the album. It is fun to hear her sing the songs I remember from Hee Haw.  I would have loved it if she filmed some videos of the songs on the Hee Haw sets.  The stand outs are I Can't Stop Loving You,  I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, Make The World Go Away and You Ain't Woman Enough.  Although the last one is much better when sung by Dwane The Rock  Johnson, from the movie Be Cool.

If you find yourself missing classic country please give this album a listen/ You will enjoy it.  Til next time - be good to your ears, they deserve it.