Just as legions of Alabama fans
flock to Fort Payne, Alabama every summer for June Jam, so do they flock to music stores for every new
Alabama album, regardless of its content or quality.
Thankfully, Alabama has never put out a product that was low on
quality, and the boys to not disappoint with the release of their
17th album, In Pictures.
In Pictures, like every Alabama album, delivers a sound that
is both unique and new, yet built on the same solid foundation of
vocal harmonies and lyrics that reflect good, old-fashioned, down-home
country values.
Probably the most notable departure on this album is the absence
of Owens, Gentry and Herndon from the songwriting credits. Only Jeff
Cook contributes a tune, with the Cook/Phillip Wolfe co-penned final
cut, "Heartbreak Express."
"She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl" hit the airwaves in late June and
sped up the charts over the summer. "Sunday Drive," the first cut,
is a fast-paced number with a driving bass lick reminiscent of Commander
Cody's 1972 classic, "Hot Rod Lincoln."
Randy Owens' rich, distinctive voice gives "I've Loved A Lot More
Than I've Hurt" such a natural honky-tonk flavor that you can almost
smell the beer and cigarette smoke under the slide guitar licks.
Writer Ronnie Rogers makes his mark on In Pictures with three
slow songs, including the Rogers/Mark Wright collaboration "The Maker
Said Taker Her," which should be every man's attitude toward love
and the woman in his life.
Clearly, however, the title cut walks away with the prize for a
tune that will reduce the most stoic of men to a sobbing mess. The
Joe Doyle/Bobby Boyd tearjerker introduces a man who has not been
around to enjoy the small, precious moments of his daughter's life,
missing "her first steps, her first words and 'I Love You Daddy'"
while he watches her 'grow up in pictures."
Overall, In Pictures is distinctively Alabama and Alabama
is at their best here.
- Charlton Wiggins
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