Phil Vassar - Phil Vassar

...I love this album - Phil Vassar's self titled cd. It features at least 4 songs played on the radio a lot while I lived in the States, driving in my car, and so it has a special place in my heart. But I also think it happens to be a cracking country music album. It's mainstream and accessible without being too 'easy listening'. If you've never listened to country music before, start here.

Phil Vassar is a popular country music singer-songwriter. ...
...well-developed melodies and great song-stories. Phil Vassar is primarily a piano-player (there's a picture on the cover) and this is reflected in the prominence of piano (as well as fiddle, drums) on the songs, and in the strong melodies.

And the songs...

**Carlene
This is a song about reconnecting with an old school friend and comparing how their respective lives have gone. Naturally, the smart girl has not only ... more

How much do I love this album - Phil Vassar's self titled cd. It features at least 4 songs played on the radio a lot while I lived in the States, driving in my car, and so it has a special place in my heart. But I also think it happens to be a cracking country music album. It's mainstream and accessible without being too 'easy listening'. If you've never listened to country music before, start here.

Phil Vassar is a popular country music singer-songwriter. He's won awards for his songwriting and he wrote every darn note on this album, his first. This album was released in 2000 (by Arista Records) and he has since released two other albums: American Child and Shaken Not Stirred. Judging from the covers he seems to have had somewhat of a makeover since this first album so now he looks younger than he does on this cover.

The tracks on this album are all feel-good country singalong numbers, even when the lyrics are sad. And all the songs have well-developed melodies and great song-stories. Phil Vassar is primarily a piano-player (there's a picture on the cover) and this is reflected in the prominence of piano (as well as fiddle, drums) on the songs, and in the strong melodies.

And the songs...

**Carlene
This is a song about reconnecting with an old school friend and comparing how their respective lives have gone. Naturally, the smart girl has not only got a PhD but is 'on the cover of Vogue'. Naturally. And as in all country songs, the guy was good at sports but not one for the books, bless him.
This is a cracking song to start the album off with: after a quiet piano intro it leaps into a toe-tapping upbeat song. Right from the start, you can hear Phil Vassar's enjoyment of his singing coming through in his voice, which is infectious.

**Just Another Day in Paradise
Thankfully this is not a cover of a Phil Collins song. It's a song on the well-used country theme of utter contentment with everyday life. It's not every day you get the lines 'Take a drink of milk, but the milk's gone sour / My funny face makes you laugh / Twist the top on and I put it back'. As with the other songs, Vassar has a knack of combining lyrics with melody and rhythm very effectively that makes them easy to learn and sing along to. This song has more of a lilt to it, a gentle beat that reflects the subject matter. Excellent.

**That's When I Love You
This is a guitar-led song, with a quick rhythm. In the verses, the lyrics lists reasons why the singer loves his woman: 'When you're drivin' in your car / When you dance and sing to the radio / When you're talking on the phone' etc. repeated until the chorus: that's when I love you. I like the way the lyrics are structured. Half way through you get a key change, which adds interest, since the lyrics are a tad repetitive otherwise. It's a nice song, about loving all the little things.

**Rose bouquet
This is sad as can be but I love this song and it's the reason I bought the album. It's a gentle piano-led song with a the best story to it in terms of the lyrics. It's about the end of a relationship, and looking back on the wedding day: 'We threw it all away / Like your rose bouquet'. The verse builds to a moving chorus, particularly on the repeat when he holds the high notes. This song works because of the heartfelt singing, and again the combination of lyrics and melody.

**Joe and Rosalita
I'm not sure about this track, just because it's the most thigh-slapping honky-tonk style country (think Dukes of Hazzard). It's a good song-story about a couple who've been together and 'raisin' hell' since school. Another catchy melody but I think the chorus is weaker than some of the other songs on the album.

**Six-pack Summer
'Winter sure was cold and miserable / Cooped up, shut down, baby it was pitiful'. Trust me, after endless months of snow in North Dakota this song is like the ray of sunshine it describes. It's THE summer country song about chillin out and having summer fun. I love it. It starts with a can opening, and has a lilting rhythm, a bit like the second track, and clever lyrics. Great roadtrip song.

**Lucky As Me
This song has a similar theme to the 'Day in Paradise' song, namely whatever he hasn't got, he HAS got 'an angel over my shoulder.../ Everybody should be as lucky as me'. This song doesn't have quite the melodic uniqueness of the other songs - it sounds a bit like the first track actually. It has an upbeat feel, and good variation in instrumentation that keeps the interest in what is otherwise quite a simple song.

**Like I Never Loved Before
I hadn't heard this song before I bought the album but I love it. The lyrics are about being in love and experiencing things in a new way, so I guess I'm just an ol' romantic. 'Like I never saw the sun / Or felt the rainfall on my face'. It's a slow piano-led country ballad to be danced to.

**Didn't You Know She's Gone
Ah back to earth on this one: 'Hey man, why can't you see / She's history, she's gone and she ain't comin' back'. This song has unusual chord sequences in the verse and key changes into the chorus that kind of work but make it sound a bit disjointed. It's rhythmically quite upbeat but I just find it a bit of a downer because of the subject matter! Has an even stranger bridge with a jaunty rhythm that doesn't seem to fit. Voted song most likely to be skipped by me.

**Somewhere In Between
Another upbeat, toe-tapping song. It's about not quite getting over someone, but it's not as much of a downer as the last song. There's more of a story here and a more standard instrumentation (than the previous song). Once again, the lyrics match the rhythm and melody really well.

**Drive Away
Every self-respecting country music album has at least one road trip song about driving away to solve your problems. This is that song. It has a steady driving rhythm (sorry for the pun) with a piano and mandolin accompaniment. I'm glad the album finishes on a fairly positive note, with Vassar enjoying some improvisation on the piano during the bridge. It's a good way to round off the album.

Before I found this album on ebay, looking for Rose Bouquet, I hadn't realised all these great songs were on just one album. There's a lot of 'heart' on this album - first albums often have that quality, and the talent of Phil Vassar really comes through.

Heartily recommend it.

Availability: from 99p(!) on ebay, £11.99 from amazon.co.uk. 

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