Daryle Singletary - "Ain't It the Truth"

[StevePulaski]

Ain't It the Truth (1998)
By: Daryle Singletary

Rating: ★★★

Daryle Singletary's third album Ain't It the Truth is the final catalog title Singletary released before being dropped from Giant Records' roster of country artists, after what looked to be a promising sign by Randy Travis. Travis helped Singletary get a contract under Giant Records after turning one of his demos into a song, however, despite numerous singles charting and achieving notable airplay, Singletary's albums were never backed by the sales one would've predicted. With Ain't It the Truth, his final Giant-release before label-hopping, trying to find a comfortable new home for his music, he delivers another plentiful, if lacking, album of honky-tonk ballads that continue to enrich his discography if running it repetitive in some aspects.

Singletary's opening track is "The Note," an okay country weeper, which serves as the album's most successful single, achieving modest numbers on the Billboards. The past two Singletary releases, Daryle Singletary and All Because of You, kicked off the albums in a more lively fashion, with "Too Much Fun" and "The Used to Be's," respectively providing some introductory energy. The former was a song questioning the validity of the phrase "having too much fun" and the latter was an upbeat song about a man's progression of feelings with his significant other, personifying stages of grief and acceptance as visible symptoms. With "The Note" it's a solid, yet questionable choice to lead off the album in terms of getting us excited for another incredible effort.

The remainder of the album, comprised mostly of ballads and somber country tunes, consists of songs like "Love or Lack Thereof," a more uptempo song, again, personifying love and the tumultuous behaviors of relationships as if they're the financial aspect of a business, treading familiar ground to George Jones' superb "The Race is On" in the best possible way, and "A Thing Called Love," the Jerry Reed tune that shows just how weak and strong the power of love really is. That about concludes the album for songs that are more spry and alive, with ballads like "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet," tragically describing the emptiness and the deafening silence one experiences when a significant other walks out and "Ain't It the Truth," detailing heartbreak in a manner in which only country music could, taking over for the majority of the album.

Ain't It the Truth's ballads are well-sung, but they are starting to feel a tad repetitive, especially on an album where the uptempo songs are greatly limited in favor of more glacially-paced tunes. One fast-paced song I neglected to mention, "My Baby's Lovin'," doesn't channel All Because of You's disruptive tune "Redneckin'" in how annoying it can be, but still provides for a redundant listening experience, and considering it's one of the few tunes that doesn't bring weighty, somber subject matter to the table, it's a tad disappointing. Nonetheless, Singletary remains a hugely likable and commendable talent, and after two shockingly strong pieces of country music, some slippage in quality should've been expected.

Recommended tracks (in order): "Love or Lack Thereof," "A Thing Called Love," "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet," and "The Real Deal."