Gary Allan - Living Hard Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 10.23.2007
Country star returns with his hardest rocking set yet…
My Story
Gary Allan once said that “country music is what happens during the week and rock ‘n’ roll is about what happens on the weekend”. I love that quote. Few people carry the traditional country torch on the radio these days like Gary Allan, and most of those are firmly established acts like Alan Jackson and Toby Keith. Allan’s music manages to sound relevant to contemporary country through it’s use of Nashville production, but it also keeps the kernel of the traditional. Will he continue that sound on his latest album?
His Story
Gary Allan (ne Gary Allan Herzberg) was brought up in Whittier, California, a city just 12 miles out of Los Angeles. His family was quite musically inclined, and by the age of twelve, young Gary was playing in honky tonks and clubs with his father’s band. Allan spent several years playing clubs (in California and later Nashville) before being noticed. He didn’t sign his first record contract until he was 28 years old.
In 1996, Decca Records released Used Heart For Sale, Allan’s debut. The record would be a minor hit on the Country charts, where it reached #20 thanks to the Top 10 Country hit “Her Man”. Though further singles would fail to reach the Top 40, Used Heart For Sale did well in establishing Allan’s presence on the country scene. It Would Be You followed in 1998 and it performed similarly, reaching #21 Country thanks to the hit title track.
In 1999, Decca folded and Gary Allan was picked up by MCA Records. The label seemed to have more of a handle on Allan’s strengths (honky tonk –style trad country rather than contemporary), and his first record for them, Smoke Rings In The Dark, would become Allan’s big breakthrough. The album charted at #9 on the Country charts (and #84 on the Billboard 200) and produced three Top 20 Country hits, including the #5 “Right Where I Need To Be”, which just missed the Hot 100’s Top 40. As a result, Smoke Rings In The Dark was certified gold in late 2000, then platinum a year later.
Alright Guy followed in 2001, debuting at #4 on the Country charts and producing three more Top 20 Country hits (two of which did enter the Hot 100 Top 40). Alright Guy would be a landmark album for Allan, as it produced his first #1 Country hit, “Man To Man”. The record was certified gold in the summer of 2002. The next year, Allan was nominated for the CMA’s Horizon Award, seven years after his debut album.
With each album topping the last, it was no surprise when 2003’s See If I Care reached #2 on the Country charts and #17 on the Billboard 200. The next year would be Allan’s biggest yet. Not only was See If I Care certified gold (as was his debut album), but the album produced two more #1 singles in “Tough Little Boys” and “Nothing On But The Radio”, both of which reached #32 on the Hot 100.
Unfortunately, with triumph also came tragedy. That year, Allan’s third wife committed suicide in their Nashville home. As Alright Guy was being certified platinum, Allan was contemplating leaving the music business for good. Ultimately, Allan took solace in songwriting and recording, resulting in 2005’s Tough All Over. The set of self-described “heart wrenchingly personal songs” became Allan’s first #1 Country album and first Top 10 on the overall charts (#3). It produced two Top 10 Country singles, including a cover of Vertical Horizon’s “Best I Ever Had”, which was certified gold along with Tough All Over in 2006. Later that year, See If I Care was certified platinum.
With six gold and platinum albums under his belt, MCA released Allan’s Greatest Hits in early 2007. The set debuted at #5 on the Billboard charts. Later that year, Allan returned to the studio to work on his follow-up to Tough All Over. The lead single, “Watching Airplanes”, is #22 on the Country charts.
The Album
On October 23, 2007, MCA Nashville released Living Hard, the eighth studio album by Gary Allan and the follow-up to 2005’s Tough All Over.
The Band: 8.5
Gary Allan: vocals
There’s a country singer that I love named Chris Knight whose biggest claim to fame at present is writing the Montgomery Gentry hit “She Couldn’t Change Me”. Gary Allan doesn’t have the songwriting chops that Knight possesses, but his singing is the commercial approximation of Knight’s: an honest, hardcore country sound that’s not afraid to rock. That rocking thing is important, because Living Hard rocks harder than any of Allan’s previous efforts. He just does it on his own terms. On “Like It’s A Bad Thing”, Allan sings “So what if I don’t do it like everybody else does”. It’s the theme of this album and Allan’s career in general, as he’s risen to the top of the charts while rebelling against the sound that Nashville tends to pigeonhole its young stars in.
Sure, there’s plenty of glossy production, but it does a lot to elevate these hard rocking songs, with all their big keys, electric guitars and, at its core, Allan’s gritty and determined vocals. And when the ballads hit, their punched up in a way that only spotlights the emotion instead of manufacturing it. It’s a fine line that Allan and producer Mark Wright (Mark Chesnutt, Brooks & Dunn, Josh Turner) have mastered walking.
To put it simply, Living Hard is the country album you don’t have to hide from your friends. It’s the rough side of Nashville and the real side of L.A. The rare contemporary country moment of honesty. If you like the honesty of country in any form, you’ll like the way this album sounds.
The Songs: 8.0
1. Watching Airplanes
2. We Touched The Sun
3. She’s So California
4. Like It’s A Bad Thing
5. Learning How To Bend
6. As Long As You’re Looking Back
7. Wrecking Ball
8. Yesterday’s Rain
9. Trying To Matter
10. Half Of My Mistakes
11. Living Hard
When I heard the lead single (and lead track) for this album, “Watching Airplanes”, I wasn’t entirely sure how to take it. The imagery seemed strange for a country song, though the tale of lost love was purely in the country vain. Turns out, this is the story of Living Hard, and once you’re along for the ride, you’ll be enjoying it immensely.
The ballad “We Touched The Sun” is perhaps the biggest thing Allan’s ever done, a giant country ballad that will punch you right in the gut. No doubt, this is Allan’s next #1 hit. That’s followed by a rare country tune about California that works incredibly well in “She’s So California”. This tune will take you back to the jangly pop rock of the late 80’s, an unlikely bit of hidden nostalgia.
Though the love songs seem to be Allan’s bread and butter, the rockers here are the biggest draw. “Like It’s A Bad Thing” is 2007’s country rebel anthem, while the album closer “Living Hard” is like a bleary eyed tour bus party that pulls no punches in its bad boy image. Sort of like country going Bon Jovi, rather than Bon Jovi going country, which also happened this year and didn’t work near as well.
In the end, Living Hard isn’t the perfect country album, but it’s definitely the best amalgamation of traditional country, contemporary country and rock that you’ll ever hear.
The 411: On his eighth studio album, Gary Allan is confident enough to spread his wings and try things a little different. Living Hard is some of the hardest rocking pure country that has come along on the radio in years. There are big love ballads, jangly pop rock, heartbroken honky tonk jukebox numbers and, most importantly, ass-kicking country rockers. If you can’t find something to like on this album, you’re never going to like country music.
