The idea of
Lionel Richie doing a country album might confused the average music listener,
but if you were more attentive you would see that his songs like “Stuck On You”
and “Deep River Woman” are pure Country, not to mention the mega hit “Lady”
which he penned for Kenny Rogers. For this project Lionel got some of country’s
best singers and musicians to duet with him. When I first heard snippets of the
album I was a bit disappointed but after hearing the full LP I love it. R&B staples like my favourite “You Are”
with Blake Sheldon are just as good if not better, this guitar flavoured
version only adds to the song without taking away any of the original magic. “My
Love” with Kenny Chesney, “Sail On” with Tim Mcgraw and “Stuck On You” with
Daruis Rucker are perfect. “Deep River Woman” with Little Big Town, in my
opinion rivals the original sung with Alabama
I only wish
it was less of a Greatest Hits list, “Dancing On The Ceiling” and “All Night
Long” do not translate into country, Lionel what were you thinking? Even Rascal
Flatts couldn’t country-fi “Ceiling”. “All Night Long” gets saved by going more
island flavoured then country with the help of Jimmy Buffet and some cool
Hawaiian like steel drums. “Say You Say Me” with Jason Aldean is another oddity
that doesn’t translate well. I read all
about the lengths Lionel went through to get Shania Twain to re-record “Endless
Love”, but I don’t think their vocals match well plus did we really need
another version? I never liked the Mariah Carey Luther Vandross one, nothing
compares to the original with Diana Ross. Speaking of vocals, despite the guest
list nobody sounds as good as Lionel singing his own songs, his voice still
sounds great, unlike Kenny Rogers who’s losing it, I would have preferred a
solo version of “Lady” instead.
