Brandon Rhyder Live Is Recommended Listening
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 |
Brandon Rhyder Live is set to be released August 31. The album is produced by Texas legend Radney Foster and released on APEX records. The album, which includes live versions of previous releases such as Back Roads, Freeze Frame Time, and Man of Conviction, also includes some new material. Among those is a studio version of Home Again, the albums first release to radio. The album was recorded live at Banita Creek Hall in Nacogdoches and the Midnight Rodeo in College Station. Man of Conviction kicks off this live album. The song is about going through rough times, which nobody likes to do, but it’s the reality of it. The line “Don’t |
| you cry for me I made this bed” is a very powerful and truthful line in this song. The live crowd adds to what was already a great song. One Step Closer is a song previously released by friend and co-writer Wade Bowen. I love the opening line to this song: “My windshield’s cracked, just like my heart. My tires are all flat, just like my brain. My engine’s running rough, just like my soul. I don’t know how much further we can go burning this much oil.” While Bowen’s version is little more polished, Rhyder’s version is more believable as he just sounds completely rundown. Let The Good Times Roll is about a man who is trying to impress a woman and doesn’t want the night to end. |
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No One Stays In Love Alone is probably my least favorite song on this album. I think because I liked the title so much, the song itself was a bit of a letdown. The title lends itself to the premise of a great country song, but it’s not. This is followed by a couple of poignant songs. My Son is about a man and his new son - any new father can appreciate this song. I Can’t Hang On first appeared on the 2005 Conviction album. This is song about a woman’s relationship that is dead, but she can’t get over him and what he said. Black Cat, from the 2003 Behind the Pine Curtain album, has never been a favorite of mine. If Rhyder felt he needed to include another song from this album, I think Questions would have been a better choice. But Black Cat isn’t awful by any means and doesn’t take away from how good this album is. One of the new songs on this album is Do You Remember. I love the beat of this song, and it even sounds a little bit like one my favorite bands, The Ely Young Band. This song is also well-written as well as pleasant to listen to.
If you fancy yourself as a songwriter, every once in awhile you hear a line from a song and think “where in the hell did he come up with that.” That’s where I found myself the first time I heard the first line of Back Roads. “The back roads of this county are crossed like the laces on my cowboy boots.” I was already hooked by the time I heard the second line. That is greatness in songwriting. It’s even better on the live version, which is one of the tracks recorded at Banita Creek Hall. The song is well-written, singing about life in a small town. Another song from Rhyder’s early years on this album is Have I Waited Too Long (2001 Because She Loves Me album) shows just how far he has come in 6 years. Again, it’s not that it’s really bad, it’s just not nearly the quality of work he has produced on Conviction and this Live album.
Freeze Frame Time, which was released on the 2005 Conviction album, is one of the most beautifully written songs in the last 10 years. Just the opening line of the song sets the stage for what the listener is about to hear. “It’s a beautiful morning to see the sun rise. It’s moments like this wish I could freeze frame time.” This is a refreshing song about a man who has everything in his life going perfectly for him. Rhyder includes two studio songs at the end of this album. The first of these is Before I Knew Your Name. This is a song about a man who wishes to go back in time before he met the woman that wrecked his heart and pride. The album closes with perhaps Rhyder’s best work, Home Again. The song has a nice upbeat rhythm to it and again sings about growing up in a small town. Anybody that has grown up in a small town and left home can relate to the sentiments of this song. Especially for those who grew up in small town East Texas.
When you listen to Brandon Rhyder Live, you feel almost as if you were there for the recording of this album. That’s probably the Radney Foster influence on this album. But the music is unmistakably Brandon Rhyder. He sounds a lot like Foster, but at the same time has his own distinctive sound. As his career has progressed, he continues to get better. And the new tracks on this album very much compliment that. Even some of the previously recorded songs are better the second time around. I think Rhyder would have been better served to focus on songs from the Convictions album and the newer material, but perhaps he felt the need to get some of his work from his previous albums out for the public. Unfornately, they weren’t much appreciated then, and probably won’t be now either. But that doesn’t nothing to lessen this fine work. This is a highly recommended album and I would also suggest catching Brandon Rhyder in person when he comes to your town. That’s exactly what I plan to do at the Firewater Bar & Grill in Dallas for his CD release party this Thursday.
