Post by StevePulaski on Feb 21, 2015 15:07:01 GMT -5
Blue Moon (1996)
By: Toby Keith
By: Toby Keith
Rating: ★★★
As I stated in my reviews of Toby Keith's first two albums, Toby Keith and Boomtown, respectively, anyone who revisits his first four albums will be surprised to discover, or even recall, that Toby Keith was more about being a low-key, country crooner, catering to the common country style of the 1990's, rather than the hard-partying, hard-drinking rabble-rouser he's known as today. Blue Moon, his third album, may indeed be his most sensitive and his most low-key, only bearing one song with his known rock and roll country tendencies and catering to a softer, humbler appearance of the mulleted-man in a cowboy hat.
The album is known for its lead single "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You?," a tender tune about a man questioning whether or not his old lover recalls him with the fondness and memories that he does her, and, admittedly, not much else in a contemporary setting. "The Lonely" is another song that replicates what one could infer is Keith in a more somber mood, concerning a club made up of lonely patrons that are, in turn, the audience and the main attraction of the bar that particular night, and "A Woman's Touch," a slightly more-elevated tune in sound and tempo about a man who hungers for a woman's soft touch to smooth out his rough edges.
"Hello" is the only song that bears Keith's trademark rowdiness, and for me, that's not necessarily a bad thing. This deeper, more sensitive side of Keith evokes a great deal of empathy in its heartbreak and sadness, for me, and I presume a great deal of other listeners. The album, like the previous two, is concise at only ten tracks clocking in at under forty minutes, making for a pleasant diversion and a soulful stroll through Keith's discography at its more tender.
Recommended tracks (in order): "A Woman's Touch," "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You?," and "The Lonely."