The Rockin’ Side
Travis Tritt
Georgia-boy Travis Tritt is a self-described rebel who is well known for keeping Southern Rock’s Skynyrd-fired flame burning in contemporary country. But Tritt should also be appreciated for his versatility. He can play banjo onstage with Earl Scruggs, sing plaintive acoustic music with Loveless, growl over an amped-up live band or croon a radio-ready, Music Row ballad. He can switch sounds and styles and still retain a fundamental believability and, more important, no small measure of soul.
This new 16-track compilation album offers up-tempo, rock-infected numbers. Fiddles, steel guitars and twangy Telecasters remain, particularly on “Double Trouble” and “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin'” (duet with Marty Stuart). Other high octane numbers include “Blue Collar Man” and “Hard Times and Misery.” A great southern fried, Friday night partyin’ CD.
Grade: B
The Lovin’ Side
Travis Tritt
We just examined the hard edge of Tritt, but this boy also has a soft as a Georgia peach side. The Lovin’ Side contains such noteworthy ballads as “Between An Old Memory and Me,” “Anymore” and “Nothing Short of Dying,” all of which were released when Travis recorded for Warner Bros (he’s now on Sony).
Like it’s Rockin’ Side sibling, this album contains 16 tracks, but this time they’re love-fest tunes. There is no other modern country artist as diverse as Tritt, who is equally at ease with the scorchers and the tearjerkers.
“Drift Off To Dream,” “Help Me Hold On” and “More Than You’ll Ever Know” are a couple more of Tritt’s hits that will make your sweetie smile when you lay this one on her. But the polarity of these two discs actually robs us of a major part of Tritt’s appeal – his unpredictability.
Grade: A
Kevin Denney
Kevin Denney
Let’s be honest here – there ain’t a bad song on this whole self-titled album. Every one of eleven cuts are unique, melodic and more importantly
