Reviews of "Red Like A Rose"

[fogcitygal]

Here it is kmr! I've started a thread of some of the many "Red Like A Rose" reviews that speak as much about it's producer, Alison Krauss, as they do about Alan Jackson. Let's try to add to this thread in light of the "Alison" theme as much as possible:
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blogcritic.org Music Review: Alan Jackson - Like Red On A Rose
September 28, 2006

by Rebecca Wright

Since Alan Jackson released his first album back in 1989, he has become one of the most successful artists in country music. He has sold over forty-five million records and scored thirty-one number one records. After taking a break from country music to release a gospel album titled Precious Memories earlier this year, Jackson has returned to a somewhat more familiar style with his latest release, Like Red On A Rose.

While Like Red On A Rose has a more traditional ‘country’ sound than Precious Memories, the album definitely marks a bit of a departure from the often honky tonky, old country and western sound Alan Jackson has put forth on previous records. Produced by Grammy winner Alison Krauss, best known for her work as a bluegrass musician (Union House Branch, Restless), Like Red On A Rose is an album of romantic ballads and self affirmations. In a recent press release, Alan Jackson mentioned some songs Alison Krauss didn’t think worked for a female singer, but she remembered them for years. Others were songs she loved and wanted to remake, but “I know two songs were written especially for the album. It is an interesting collection of old, new and whatever! I kinda let Alison run with this thing; it was her baby."

This collection of “old, new and whatever” blends together well to create an album of heartfelt songs that speak to those in love, have been in love, and are searching for love. While Jackson sings of the joys of being in love, he also recognizes the difficulties of keeping a relationship going and the sadness of seeing a relationship end. The albums title track, “Like Red On A Rose,” is both a song of love and seduction. Jackson sings very emotionally about having found the perfect someone. “Good Imitation of the Blues” is a classic ballad of heartbreak, with a deep, brooding slide guitar. “Nobody Said That It Would Be Easy” has a more upbeat tempo lead by a constant drumbeat as Alan sings about the difficulties of settling down. “Don’t Change On Me” has the feel of a ballad sprinkled with gospel dust. There is a beautiful organ heard throughout and with harmony vocals from Krauss, Lee Ann Womack (I hope You Dance), and a group of talented vocalists, making “Don’t Change On Me” a standout track on the album.

The two tracks written especially for Like Red On A Rose, “The Firefly’s Song” and “Had It Not Been You,” are both well-written songs about taking stock of your life. “The Firefly’s Song” is about growing older and “Had It Not Been You” is a very thoughtful song about the realization of the importance of someone in your life.

Like Red On A Rose is Alan Jackson’s finest album to date, due in no small part to the contribution of Alison Krauss and the fine musicians that contributed to this album. Like Red On A Rose has no weak points; Jackson’s vocals are strong and full of emotion, Krauss has done a wonderful job producing, and the musicians involved are all first rate.

Blogcritics is pleased to be giving away two autographed copies of Like Red On A Rose." To enter, please send an email with your name and address to [e-mail] with the subject line of "Red On A Rose." The contest is open to all and will run until October 29, 2006. All entries must be received by no later than midnight (GMT) on Oct 29. Entrants will be chosen on the closing of the contest and will be notified in the comments section and via email.

[fogcitygal]

This isn't really a review but I thought it interesting enough to post anyway:
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Alan Jackson Says It Took A While To Know Alison
Singer admits to not having a clue
By Neil Haislop


NASHVILLE, TN Thursday Sep.28.2006 /netmusiccountdown.com/ -- While in L.A. this week for his appearance on The Tonight Show, Alan Jackson stopped by After MidNite to chat with Blair Garner. Alan told Blair that he loved working with producer, Alison Krauss, but it took a while to get to know her and where she was taking him musically,


"I didn't have a clue," Alan told Blair Garner. "She's a character. I mean, she's a real funny girl, and a little bit different, and you kind of have to get to know her, and she's so musical, and I couldn't grasp what she was hearing as far as the direction of the production and so forth. So we went in and cut two or three songs just to try it and see what it sounded like."


He says that once he figured out Alison's direction, he liked it. "It wasn't dissimilar to what I already wanted to record for my next main album. Something a little more adult, kinda moody, reflective-type album, and it just kinda fell into place that way."

[fogcitygal]

Reviews
Barnes & Noble

by David McGee

The last thing you expect to hear at the start of an Alan Jackson album is the first thing you hear at the start of Like Red on a Rose: a drum roll, a gut-string guitar, and an acoustic piano playing a slinky pop-jazz riff. Thus does Alison Krauss introduce herself as AJ's producer, by taking him to a place suggested on some of his country ballads (listen hard to "Anywhere on Earth You Are," and you might even hear a smidgen of melody from his beautiful Christmas song, "Let It Be Christmas"). But this is a full-blown dreamscape of lilting rhythm, silky background vocals, and shimmering choruses more appropriate for a saloon at dawn than a honky-tonk after midnight. Track 2, "Good Imitation of the Blues," gets alternately funky and rocky behind fuzzed-out guitar, popping bass, a quietly ascending string section, and bluesy piano, ultimately taking flight into surging rock ballad territory. This is a new kind of AJ album, referencing pop, rock, and jazz idioms more so than country, and full of dense, atmospheric arrangements in sharp contrast to Jackson's cool, collected vocals. The songs are centered on aspects of love, and Krauss smartly ropes in a writer she's long and properly championed, Robert Lee Castleman, including his elegant invocation of new love in the title song. Krauss joins the band, along with some of her Union Station mates, but the electrifying guitarist Kenny Vaughn steals the show with solos full of fire, fury, and economy of purpose. Meeting Krauss's challenge head-on, Jackson digs deep and emerges a big winner.

[akusfan14]

AHH!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

I haven't read any of these before!! Whooo...they are GREAT articles!! Ahh! I'm like so excited!!

Thank you sooo much!!

[fogcitygal]

Alan Jackson partners with Alison Krauss By JOHN GEROME, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 29, 2:54 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When Alan Jackson approached bluegrass star Alison Krauss about producing his next record, he was thinking of a rolling cascade of banjo and fiddle behind his laid-back vocals.

But Krauss had something else in mind.

The result, "Like Red on a Rose," marks a bluesy, romantic turn for the country superstar who shot to fame singing good-time anthems like "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and "Chattahoochee."

The tone is quiet and contemplative, with the 47-year-old Jackson pondering travel, home and love in his easygoing baritone.

"I'm at a point in my life where I've done a lot and lived a lot," he said. "I think that's reflected in my songwriting and song selection. When I wrote `Chattahoochee' I was quite a bit younger, and that was more of a youthful message."

Krauss set the course. A 20-time Grammy winner, she had wanted to make a record from the perspective of a man at peace with his life, someone who looks at things differently than when he was younger.

Jackson, who's been married to his high school sweetheart, Denise, since 1979 and has three daughters, seemed a good fit.

"He's a family man and his wife is always held so high," Krauss said. "This is not a record of young love, not a record of new love. This is a record of love that has stood the test.

"When picking the material out, I was thinking `What would I want a man to say to me? If he was sitting across the table from me, what would I want to hear him say.'"

Krauss brought the songs to Jackson, who broke with his usual routine of writing most of his own material. She also chose the musicians and arranged the material.

"He just came in and killed it. He sang beautifully," she said of Jackson.

Jackson has shown a soft side before. "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" was a rumination on the 911 terrorist attacks. The sentimental "Remember When" had an elderly couple reflecting on their lives together. "Drive" celebrated the bond between a father and son.

But he seems more restrained here, singing at one point, "I don't sing like I used to. Sometimes less is more."

While talking about the album, Jackson refers to it as "Alison's concept" or "Alison's project" more than once and acknowledges being a little uneasy at first.

"We cut three songs initially to see what it was going to sound like, to see if it was going to work," Jackson said. "Initially, I was a little anxious about it. I couldn't hear exactly what she wanted to do."

With the record, Jackson looks to regain his hold on country radio. While his last two releases — "What I Do" in 2004 and the "Precious Memories" gospel album earlier this year — have gone platinum, neither produced the blockbuster singles or sales of some of his previous records.

To be fair, "Precious Memories" was intended as a Christmas gift to his mother, not a commercial release. His label, Arista Nashville, didn't even spin off a single for radio, and platinum status for a gospel record is rare.

Still, after racking up six No. 1 hits between 2000 and 2004, Jackson hasn't had a chart-topper in a couple years.

"I don't think he's lost a step ... but they (radio) don't give you a free pass," said John Hart, president of Nashville-based Bullseye Marketing Research. "It's a song-by-song thing anymore. It doesn't matter who you are."

The first single and title cut from "Like Red on a Rose" captures the sound of the album, with Jackson singing over a moody backdrop of keyboard and guitar. The song was No. 20 and rising on the Billboard chart.

"It's anything but a ditty," said Ken Boesen, program director at WPOC-FM (93.1) in Baltimore. "It's so out-of-the-ordinary for Alan. It seems to be a little on the polar side. People either really like it or really don't like it."

People really like Jackson, though. He's sold 45 million records and had 31 No. 1 hits since 1990 and continues to be one of the format's biggest stars.

The Newnan, Ga., native moved to Nashville in 1985 and worked at the cable network TNN while developing his songwriting. His wife worked as a flight attendant to pay the bills and helped get his career going when she spotted Glen Campbell at an airport and slipped him a demo tape. Their chance meeting led to Jackson writing songs for Campbell's music publishing company.

Arista signed him in 1989, and along with Garth Brooks and Clint Black he was part of a wave of new stars that reinvigorated country music.

He's remained a staunch traditionalist with a knack for hitting the right tone at the right time. In 1994 he sang "Gone Country" about carpetbaggers descending on Nashville when the format jumped in popularity. In 1998 he had "Little Man," about the economy squeezing out small businessmen. In 2002 his "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" expressed the shock of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as well as any song.

Like a character in one of his new songs, Jackson seems pleased with his career and his life. He says he's matured as a husband and a man and recognizes what's important. He recently performed a small benefit to help a Tennessee family devastated by a tornado.

"I'm kind of at a place in my career where I don't worry about a lot," he said.

[fogcitygal]

Album Review

Girl power

By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
[e-mail]

Courier-Journal Critic

Like most of the recording industry, country music is a boys' club. There are plenty of high-profile female artists with the power that selling millions of records brings, but rarely do you find one in the position of artistically guiding a major male star.

Alan Jackson, who frequently breaks the Nashville mold, chose Alison Krauss to produce "Like Red on a Rose," his reflective new album. It's not that Krauss doesn't have some pull, but it's still a bold choice. Bolder still is the free rein Jackson gave her: She chose the songs and musicians and arranged the music.

"Like Red on a Rose" has a somber quality typical of Krauss' own albums, and her Union Station band handles much of the thoughtful, tasteful picking.

But it all revolves around Jackson. Krauss' vision was for an album of love songs that came from the perspective of an older man — love born of time and experience as opposed to careless youth.

Jackson, 47 and a family man, not only brings the needed perspective but sings beautifully and with great understanding.

Robert Lee Castleman is the featured songwriter and he delivers, including the title track, but one of the clear highlights is the opening song, co-written by Louisvillian Tim Krekel with Danny O'Keefe. "Anywhere on Earth You Are" sets the album's tone and is in many ways classic Krekel: deeply pretty, heartfelt and wise to the ways of a strong chorus.

It also sounds like a single, which brings us to the chief problem with "Like Red on a Rose" — the same problem Krauss has with her own records. Everything is presented meticulously, but the mood and tempo rarely shift, resulting in a pleasant steadiness that rarely surprises. Jackson's hits have frequently kicked up some tavern dust, so it'll be interesting to see how his fans react.

And if the record succeeds, it'll be interesting to see how the boys' club reacts. If it doesn't, at least Jackson and Krauss took a chance well worth repeating.

[houseghost]

foggy, Thanks so much for finding these and posting. Keep 'em coming!!

houseghost

[fogcitygal]

You're very welcome houseghost, the pleasure is all mine! :-)

[akusfan14]

Wow, thanks so much Foggy.

If you need anything, I'm a message away! Thanks, a lot, for posting these articles!

[fogcitygal]

Thanks akusfan14! It's my pleasure to post them. There are a lot more reviews but I'm limiting my posts to those that address Alison's contributions specifically.

[akusfan14]

Sounds good to me! lol!

-Kmr

[fogcitygal]

from CMT.com:

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Alan Jackson Talks About His Red Album[/size][/size][/size]

Alison Krauss Produced Country Superstar's 16th Album

Seventeen years into his career at Arista Records, Alan Jackson has been full of surprises in 2006. In February, he released his first gospel album, Precious Memories, which is now certified platinum. And although he has no plans to walk away from a successful relationship with longtime producer Keith Stegall, Jackson worked with another well-known producer -- Alison Krauss -- for his just released album, Like Red on a Rose.

During a recent interview, Jackson talked to CMT Insider's Laura Douglas about the new music and his experiences in the studio with Krauss.

You got together with Alison Krauss to record a bluegrass album, but it didn't really turn out to be bluegrass.

Jackson: I wanted to do a bluegrass album, so I asked her, and she agreed. She had the idea about doing this concept ... about a mature, reflective, moody, melancholy kind of album from a person or singer at my age in life. I didn't quiet understand what she was hearing. She's very creative, and she brought some songs out and put some little acoustic guitar demos for me to listen to. We went in to cut three sides just to see what it was going to sound like -- if it was going to work. We tried that. ... It sounded cool. The record label felt like we could do something with it, so it turned into my regular country album.

But it's definitely different. You mention it reflects a different stage in your life. What does it reflect about your life now?

Well, I don't know. I think if you listen to all the songs' content, a lot of them are from somebody who's lived a little while -- through some things good and bad and understanding where they're at now ... and looking back and being able to reflect on that and maybe affect how they think in the future and all that kind of stuff. I don't know if it's intended to be that deep or that personal -- because I didn't write any of those songs but one. And it was an old song I wrote years ago which was on another album. It's just more kind of the mood of the whole album in the way the songs kind of fit together.

What was it like working with Alison?

Aw, she's all right. (laughs) She doesn't have a big ego and I don't either. We got along together. I have so much respect for her musically. It was pretty much all her project. She brought the songs, and we got together on those and picked them out and the arrangements. She thought everything through really well, and basically, I came in and sang. I think that the hardest part for her was to put up with my singing. (laughs) ... It took a little while. She had to deal with that, but other than that, it was great.

Are you happy with the final results?

Oh, yeah. I'm very proud of the sound. I think it's just beautiful. It's exactly what I was wanting ... to have an album you could put in and listen to and with your wife with a bottle of wine. It's not as commercial sounding as it could have been. Everybody has kept saying it's so different. But when you sit down and listen to the songs, I have ballads on albums over the years that are not that different than these songs -- and even the production is similar. There is some real moody stuff I've had like "I'll Go on Loving You" and "The Blues Man" and other songs. ... Her production is a little different than what would probably done and a little different than what I've had in the past. I think it's just beautiful -- beautiful tracks and the harmonies she put together. Some all-star harmony singers on there.

What are you hearing from your fans about the title track that's your current single?

I've heard a lot of nice comments. I can tell if people hearing a song are affected by it. ... People I know from in town that aren't even in the music business just say, "Hey, I heard your new song. I really like it." If it's a mediocre song, you don't hear any comments at all. So I'm already hearing a lot of response. ... I've done this one a couple of times [in concert] and can tell the crowd's reaction. A lot of people have already heard it and are liking it, so it's a good sign.

It's one of those songs everyone can interpret for themselves.

It's just a beautiful song. Robert Lee Castleman is a really great writer -- a little different lyric and melody. The first time I heard that demo, I knew it was a great song. I immediately threw that one in the pile to record. I think the way he put that together ... you can't get more descriptive than "like red on a rose."

It includes the line, "I love you like all little children love pennies." I've never heard love described that way.

He's had a lot of interesting thoughts, and there's two or three of his songs on the album. I've recorded one on another album, and Alison has done two or three of his songs. She's a big fan of his.

"The Firefly's Song" was written specifically for this album?

Yeah, Robert Lee wrote that. I told Alison how much I liked "The Lucky One," and he wrote that. And when it came out on her album, I was waiting to see if she was going to release that as a single. I was thinking about re-recording it later. She told him that, so he wrote this "The Firefly's Song," and it has a similar feel to "The Lucky One."

As you mentioned earlier, "A Woman's Love" is a reinterpretation of a song you first recorded in 1998.

Yes. That's just a little song I wrote, and it was on High Mileage. It was never a single, but I always loved the song. Alison wanted to redo it. She had this idea of changing the arrangement up a little bit, so that's where it started. And it took me a while to get a grasp on what she was hearing on that song. She had to demo it for me ... and I wasn't even sure about it even after recording it. But now it really sounds interesting on the album. It's pretty cool, I think, the cut on that song. The piano solo on it is one of my favorites on the album.

What is your favorite track on the album?

Man, don't ask me that! I don't know. ... It's hard to pick. It's not a cop-out, but all the songs are so different. They all have different things I like about them, so it's hard to narrow down to one song. Oh, gosh. I don't know. I like "Nobody Said That It Would Be Easy." Don't ask me. I don't know. I like a lot of them.

I know you won't stop working with Keith Stegall as your producer, but would you work with Alison again?

I wouldn't work with her for a million dollars. (laughs) No, of course I would. I mean, I don't think she would want to work with me anymore. But, yeah, it depends on what the project was and if we were all interested in working together.

Would you say this is the most personal album you've done?

No, I couldn't say that. I've had albums with songs that I've written about right out of my life that probably are speaking more about me personally. So I wouldn't say so.

What do you hope fans will get out of hearing this different side of you?

Well, I don't know. I hope they like it. It's still entertainment -- no matter what style of recording it is. I hope it's something people will enjoy and find something in there to connect with or make them feel better or have fun with or whatever. You know, that's what I always try to do with an album -- with a collection of songs you can sit down and listen to without having to skip every other track because you don't like them.

I doubt anyone does that.

Well, they might. (laughs)

[akusfan14]

Haha! Aww...what a great article!!!! Thanks again Foggy!!!

[fogcitygal]

from Country Weekly:
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ALAN’S ALBUM AT NO. 1

Alan Jackson’s new CD, Like Red on a Rose, had a sweet first week as it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

Released Sept. 26, the 13-song CD, produced by Alison Krauss, has been praised by The Associated Press as “all twilight and velvet,” while The New York Times declared it one of the best [Jackson] has ever made.” Like Red on a Rose sold nearly 150,000 copies in its debut week, which placed it at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Alan talks about the hot new CD and working with Alison in the Oct. 23 issue of Country Weekly. Look for it on newsstands Monday, Oct. 9.

[akusfan14]

Ahh!!!! Yayaya!! Man!! I can't wait to grab that magazine too!!

That is SOOO NEAT!!!!

Thanks for postin Foggy!!

Guess my momma ain't gonna be to happy when I tell her next week, there are two magazines I desperatly need...hehe! Haha...no...she's okay with it!! She says she is anyways....