Country Again kicks off with ballad “Better Word For Love” and instantly shows that the 68 year-old Milsap still has a fantastic voice, rich with texture and a tone matched by few artists. This melodic tune may not exactly be the kind of song most modern country albums start off with but it’s immediately evident that the tune is country to the core and serves as a great intro to the rest of this disc.
The title track, “Country Again” has verses that are done in recitation style (some would call it rap or a talkin’ song) and the verses are stone country in vocal delivery, melody and style. The story is an interesting song about a guy who has a classic hot rod that transports him into the future. The song says that inspite of all of the modern advances, the music was ‘country again and that they’re still holdin’ on to the down home tradition.’
“Cry, Cry, Darlin’” is a remake of the classic Jimmie C. Newman song and it starts off what this record is, a collection of great songs sung by a great vocalist, some of ‘em just happen to be covers. Ronnie’s country soul comes through on his country soul take on Bobby Darin’s “You’re The Reason I’m Living.”
“Oh, Linda” is a new tune and if given a chance I could see this funky country soul track – with plenty of places for Ronnie’s piano to fill – doing quite well at country radio. “Even Fools Get Lucky” is a steel-drenched traditional country ballad from one of writers (Curtis Wright) behind “A Woman In Love,” One of Ronnie’s biggest hits.
The Johnny Paycheck classic “For A Minute There” gets revived by Ronnie and yes, it still is a great – and sad – country ballad while “Fireworks” has a rollicking good time vibe that recalls classic hits from Ronnie like “Smokey Mountain Rain.”
The album’s lead single “If You Don’t Want Me To (The Freeze)” recalls the country pop era of the 1980s in all the right ways and it closes out this disc with both the regular horn and string-laden version and a completely different sounding dance remix that might get get more air play for Ronnie on the Billboard dance chart than the original version of the song will.
Country Again may not be a collection of all-new material but that doesn’t mean that it will not hit the sweet spot for fans of traditional country music and fans of Ronnie Milsap’s music. It is exactly the kind of country album Ronnie’s fans have wanted to hear from him and he more than capably serves up a collection that’s both familiar and new sounding at the same time.
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