You don’t have to know about the changes that have rocked Terri Clark’s life and career during the four years since her previous album was released to know that something’s up here. Heck, you don’t even have to pay attention to what she’s singing about at all—the way she sings it is convincing enough. From The Long Way Home’s roadhouse-rocking opener, “Gypsy Boots,” through to the closing acoustic version of same, Terri sings with a level of gutsy verve and daring we’ve never heard from her.
The songs do address the things she’s been through—her mother’s illness, her divorce, her decision to leave her label and go it alone—but in a smartly open-ended way that allows listeners to identify with the raw emotions here. The gimmicky “What Happens in Vegas (Follows You Home)” is a disappointment, but only because the songs surrounding it are so refreshingly genuine and raw. It certainly doesn’t stop The Long Way Home from being the best album of Terri Clark’s career.