Style: Country Approach: Mainstream Released: 03/11/1997
Floyd Collin Wray aka Colin Raye, is an American country singer from Arkansas. He released his first album called "All I Can Be" back in 1991.
After five prior album releases, Colin gives us his first greatest hits album. The album "Direct Hits" contains four previously unreleased tracks as well as eleven top five country hits, three of these reaching number one, with fourteen tracks on the album altogether.
Song Listing
1. "Little Rock" #2 2. "I Think About You" #3 3. "Not That Different" #3 4. "That's My Story" #6 5."If I Were You" #4 6."One Boy, One Girl" #2 7."In This Life" #1 8. "My Kind of Girl" #1 9. "That Was a River" #4 10. "What the Heart Wants" #2 11. "The Gift" 12. "Open Arms" 13. "Little Red Rodeo" #3 14. "Love, Me" #1
* Tracks 10, 11, 12, 13 are all previously unreleased tracks # Notes chart success to give indication of popularity to help you the reader gauge if you may like him
1. Little Rock: There are two favourites on this album one of which is Little Rock. Little Rock is a country ballad in a new country style. The track starts with some lovely piano and then is accompanied by Colin's voice coming in. The song also uses very gentle violin in places and sounds beautiful. The song plays on an even keel pretty much for the duration with one very small bridge with Colin putting an emphasising piece of passion. The song is about a man attempting to convince his lost love that he is worth believing in and giving another chance to.
2. I Think About You: Picks up the pace a little and is more at the level that could be danced to. This track is blatantly country but smacks of a pop element to it also to enhance that more upbeat flair to it. This happy bubbly track is all about loving someone so much that you practically see their face everywhere you go and in everything you do.
3. Not That Different: Brings the album back down to the pace and style where Colin seems most comfortable and this track is a very heartfelt ballad. What the track is about is a man loving a woman who tells him that they have nothing in common so that she can have fun and frolics with other men, but the man desperately tries to convince her different by saying "I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I feel, I cry, so were really not that different me and you" The annoying thing about the lyrics is after some bad choices the woman crawls back to him reciting the words back to him that he said to her. I would kick her to the kerb like the skank she is.
4. That's My Story: For me the real weak track on the album with Colin trying to push himself up another level well beyond his comfort zone and is almost trying to be in the realm of Garth Brooks style of music. The song for me just doesn't work, Colin leave it alone!
5. If I Were You: As soon as the song starts you breathe a sigh of relief as the more familiar ballad type kicks in. "If I Were You" has a very catchy chorus that you find difficult to not sing along to. It is an interesting song where a man is wittily telling his beloved hoe he would get through life's hardships etc but emphasising at the end "If I were you, I'd fall in love with me"
6. One Boy, One Girl: Is a truly magical song that can catch you unawares with its emotion and lyrics. Sung as a ballad but more upbeat and happy the song is a real feel good number. The song charts the destinies of one boy and one girl from the night of their first date. The song continues to tell of their marriage and eventually leads to the birth of their child.....children....twins...One Boy and One Girl.
One boy, one girl Two hearts beating wildly To put it mildly it was love at first sight He smiled, she smiled They knew right away This was the day they'd waited for all their lives And for a moment the whole world revolved around One boy and one girl
I have never known anyone to listen to this song and not have a big smile on their face afterwards.
7. In This Life: When I listen to this track I find it hard not to feel a Billy Ray Cyrus influence it sounds so similar to his ballads and I suppose you would have to consider when in Colin's career this was released and who his influences are. It is a nice track about a man feeling lucky since in his life he had the love of his partner. Very pleasant but not ground breaking, It just is.
8. My Kind Of Girl: Oh boy this track is very much in the vein of artists like Garth Brooks and Billy Joel. Colin really spices it up on this track and pulls it off a treat. It is very much a louder and prouder style country song pushing well away from the love songs. This is a very creative song that gets you going.
9.That Was A River Back into the soft love music again about reassuring his woman by using an analogy. When talking about former relationships that was a river, you are the ocean, nothing compares to this deep emotion"
10. What The Heart Wants: Oh yes a very good song. This is a very catchy country song that is sort of on the middle of the line being more than a ballad but less than a rebel type song. It is pop/rock style country track that again pulls the album occasionally from the ballads and mixes it up.
11. The Gift is a beautiful track and is he sort of song that a man could dedicate to his partner and get her feeling all mushy and loved up. The interesting thing is that the song as a woman with a good voice singing on it also but there is no recognition of her on the album but it feels in some regards a duet.
12. Open Arms: is my second favourite song on the album. Some of you may know of this song in another way since it was also sung by the band Journey, but I prefer this version since its way more powerful and Colin's voice kicks the ass of the singer from Journey. The song is a love song with something a bit special since it is quite brilliant, truly.
13. Little Red Rodeo: is a bit of a corker and quite amusing. It is no way near a ballad being very up-tempo and his about a car chase with a man chasing his love all over the states with her leaving messages for him along the way. It really is a happy song that gets the feet going.
14. Love Me: is a lovely song sung mainly to acoustic guitar but has some sad lyrics. It is a song about an old man who received a note from his wife not long after they met. In the song he shows the letter to his grandson right after his grandmother passes away. It is a very sweet song but is very sad also.
Overall
The album is great and offers many lovely country ballads in a modern touched up style. There are just enough faster tracks on the album to break it up but it is Colin Country and as such chock full of love songs but I don't care, I have Garth Brooks albums to dance around the house too and besides they are lovely, catchy songs that tug on the heart. I would give the album 9 out of 10.
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