Post by StevePulaski on Apr 22, 2015 10:25:51 GMT -5
Dream Walkin' (1997)
By: Toby Keith
By: Toby Keith
Rating: ★★★½
Toby Keith's Dream Walkin' was recorded and released in a transitory period of Keith's career, shifting from Mercury Records to DreamWorks and choosing to cover a couple songs for the album, an uncommon move for the country singer. Keith's album is a short dream in itself, with ballads capturing tumultuous periods in relationships, as well as momentary breaks to attend to more fast-paced covers and country ditties. There's a pleasant dreamlike quality to Dream Walkin' in style and in construction, and that's probably the highest compliment I could pay to the album.
We open with "We Were in Love," a solid opening track that has Keith reflecting on a relationship with the kind of focus on nostalgia and pleasantries that, thankfully, doesn't come off as being indulgent or self-satisfying. We follow up with the titular track, one of my favorite songs from Keith's early days, as he reflects on a mysterious woman who is a part of his dreams every night, and has such a visceral impact on him, he can't wait to go to sleep and see her. The song has a beautiful magic quality to it, and plays well for anybody who has ever had that kind of feeling when they're with someone; you're so happy and taken you're almost lucid.
"Jacky Don Trucker (Play by the Rules, Miss All the Fun)" is one of the rare Keith tracks that is breakneck in its flow, effortlessly achieving the ability to be an addicting, classic-country romp, "You Don't Anymore" is Keith's traditional "love gone sour" song, included on most of his albums, which mostly provide a great emotional effect without being too sentimental, and "Double Wide Paradise" is another tune that feels like it was taken directly from a dream, especially in its infectious chorus that is sung with a hazy melody.
The two songs that function very well with one another here are "Yet" and "Strangers Again," though they are ostensibly unrelated. "Yet" concerns two souls who have just met, yet feel like they've known each other for years, and the narrator cannot believe they haven't said "I love you" yet. "Strangers Again," on the other hand, is one of the most relatable songs I've heard in years, and should ring true to anyone who has had a friendship or relationship fall through just as soon as it began. It concerns two people who meet, hang out quite a bit, turn into lovers, but before long, they go back to being strangers. Hearing this song and listening to it play out is heartbreaking; living it is something else.
Dream Walkin' is a beautiful album, and probably the best alongside How Do You Like Me Now?! for the first leg of Keith's career. Despite finding ways to assimilate to the tastes of the masses, Keith claims an identity here, and it's an identity predicated off of the poetry and the dreamlike qualities he brings to the table with this release. This doesn't totally feel like a traditional country album, yet it doesn't rock hard enough to be rock nor pop enough to be pop.
Recommended tracks (in order): "Dream Walkin'," "Double Wide Paradise," "Jacky Don Trucker (Play by the Rules, Miss All the Fun)," "Strangers Again," and "Yet."