Tough All Over

Music Review! I have had the new cd by Gary Allen "Tough All Over" for about two weeks now. It is an incredible cd with substantive songs.
Now, for the record, this is the first cd by Gary that I have ever bought. I usually don't buy something unless I hear a song on the radio that I can't get enough of. Then I go and buy the cd. The first single from the cd is "Best I Ever Had." I've been hearing it for the past few months and couldn't get enough of it. So when I had some spare cash, I went out and bought the cd. You should too. I went looking around for some background on the cd and found out that over the past year Gary has been dealing with his wifes suicide. Writing and recording helped him to deal with his own emotions and pull him through the healing process.
No where is this more evident than in "I Just Got Back From Hell." Gary wrote it and knowing the background of the cd you can hear his pain and also struggle to recover. By far my favorite cut from the cd. His pain is echoed in the last song on the album "Putting My Misery On Display."
"Ring" tells the story of a break up from the wedding rings perspective. In "Promise Broken" you hear the broken promise weave it's tale of woe. "He Can't Quit Her" is another sad tale about a man who falls in love with a woman for sale. When his love isn't returned... Well, let's just say things don't end well.
A darker cd than you might typically expect on contemporary country playlists, but few other cd's out there have the substance that "Tough All Over" has. The music itself pulls strongly from traditional country music. It is well produced and sounds fantastic. When Brad Paisley was hitting the charts many wondered why a strong singer wasn't selling as many albums as would be expected. I personally think Gary is a stronger singer than Brad and the songs that he chooses to record are better lyrically. While Gary has undoubtedly had commercial success, he is in my opinion one of the most underrated country performers and one of the strongest out there.
GaryAllan.com
From the back cover:
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call 1-800-SUICIDE or go to the National Mental Health Association at www.nmha.org for more information.