Product Description

While her colleagues either dip their toes in pop music or embrace it wholeheartedly, Lee Ann Womack keeps it country. Womack's third release, I HOPE YOU DANCE, finds her looking back to country's past, while keeping both feet firmly in the present.
Womack's nod to those who came before includesterrific cover versions of two modern classics: Rodney Crowell's "Ashes By Now" and Don Williams' "Lord I Hope This DayIs Good", as well as guest harmonies by New Traditionalist Ricky Skaggs (on "The Healing Kind"). More subtly, her respect is obvious in the Bakersfield twang of "I Feel Like I'm Forgetting Something", the Appalachian harmonies of "Does My Ring Burn Your Finger", and the album's rootsy instrumentation. But Womack places herself squarely in modern-day countrywith the lovely, poetic title track, a country take on Bob Dylan's "Forever Young", with guest vocals by Sons Of The Desert. Another standout is "Stronger Than I Am", a beautifully crafted song about a divorcee who realises her daughter has survived the ordeal much better than she has. The tastefulproduction highlights Womack's delicate voice which, unlikethose of her colleagues, dispenses with histrionics in favour of real emotion. In a sea of country/pop fluff, I HOPE YOU DANCE is a true gem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37032 in Music
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lee Ann Womack may well have the most hard-country female voice in Nashville; while her first two albums showed much promise, they didn't boost her past the middle of the pack. So what's the Nashville solution? Instead of playing to her strengths, make her soprano sound smaller and more compact (think Dolly, not Tammy), de-twang it so she sounds more creamy and dreamy. In other words, try to make her sound more like everyone else. Most of the songs on I Hope You Dance are slow or mid-tempo, building ever so predictably, and with arrangements paying little more than lip service to roots. Womack sounds better with less accompaniment ("I Know Why The River Runs", "Thinkin' With My Heart Again") and best when her drawl prevails ("Does My Ring Burn Your Finger"). And she sounds unbeatable when she's totally involved, as on the best song, "I Feel Like I'm Forgetting Something". And who co-wrote that? Why, Lee Ann did. It's the only such song here, but somebody should take a hint. --John Morthland

Customer Reviews

Addictive stuff!
I bought this album not long after it came out, after repeatedly hearing the title track on the radio. It was so good that within two weeks I'd also bought her first two albums as well! While possibly not as good as her previous album "Some Things I Know" (there's no real equivalent to the wonderful song "I'd Rather Have What We Had" to be found here), nevertheless this is an album to appeal to everyone. Lee Ann's previous two albums were really for dedicated country fans, this album is for everyone. The title track is a musical masterpiece, in spite of being cheapened by the appalling remix that gets played on the radio (which thankfully is nowhere to be found here, only the original in all its glory). If you don't have this - why not? And if you do - go buy Lee Ann's first two albums if you don't already own them.

Easy listening country
When Lee Ann released her debut album, she was acclaimed as the new standard bearer for traditional country music. Her second album reinforced that status but this third album finds Lee Ann moving towards an easy-listening style although this is still essentially a country album. Following this album, Lee Ann made a significant step away from country with her next two albums (one of which was a Christmas album) but then returned to her roots with a much more traditional country album. Thus, Lee Ann has tried various styles but her wonderful voice always sounds great.

The big hit here is, of course, I hope you dance, which crossed over to the American pop charts and even became a minor UK hit - no mean achievement in an era when country singles rarely become big pop hits. Apart from I hope you dance, there are many other great songs here including I feel like I'm forgetting something (a great up-tempo song to get those toes tapping), Lonely too (an excellent ballad written by Bruce Robison, a brilliant singer-songwriter), Lord I hope this day is good (a cover of a Don Williams classic), Does my ring burn your finger (written by Buddy and Judy Miller, an under-rated folk-country duo), Ashes by now (a cover of Rodney Rowell song) and Why they call it falling (a brilliant ballad).

This high-quality album should still please most traditional country fans, if not quite as much as Lee Ann's first two albums, while also pleasing fans of contemporary country.

Brilliant from start to finish
What a great CD. Lee Ann has excelled herself, sometimes sounding like Dolly Parton, sometimes like Alison Krauss, but more usually like herself. There is a really good mixture of songs on this album ranging from the title track which has both superb melody and outstanding lyrics to the simple but extremely catchy 'Why they call it Fallin?' A first class album which I can recommend without hesitation