Gary Allan
Greatest Hits
I never look back, Gary Allan sings on “As the Crow
Flies,” one of two new tracks included on his first greatest-hits
album. True enough. As the singles collected here
demonstrate, Gary has spent the last decade crafting an
endlessly intriguing persona: The driven, restless,
charismatic drifter, a man haunted by the memory of lost
love, yet determinedly unsentimental and prone to disappear
like “Smoke Rings in the Dark.”
Given how consistent that point of view remains throughout
these 15 tracks, and how well they hold together as a coherent
body of work, it’s surprising to note that Gary wrote not one
of his hits—a fact that testifies to the way humanity and soul
exude from his burnt-sienna voice. The sappy “Tough Little
Boys” is the exception that proves the rule—it sticks out like a
sore thumb among these songs because, well, it’s just not very
Gary. It’s the only track here that practically any of his contemporaries
could have delivered as convincingly.
Greatest Hits scoops up each of Gary’s Top 40 hits—a generous
act in itself, but one that puts a drag on the pacing.
(Who knew he had released so many ballads?) The new
tracks pick up that slack somewhat, especially the galloping
hit “A Feelin’ Like That.” The strength of the new songs suggests
that, even as he surveys his past, Gary
is ready for the future.
- April 10, 2007
- by Chris Neal
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