Published on Jan 20, 2001
I would love nothing more than to sit here in my office at the
Pierce Memorial Archives and declare Gene Land to be the next big
thing in country music.
After all, this is a genre which is pretty much still searching
for an all-out leader since Garth Brooks announced he’s hanging it
up – maybe. (That all depends on what day of the week it is, and if
Jupiter is in the shadow of Mars.) The problem is that no one has
come forth to be the next Brooks, and anyone who’s come close has
done so by crossing over to the pop market. Dixie Chicks? Possibly,
but they’re not there yet. Faith Hill? Some view her as a sell-out.
Same goes for Shania Twain.
Yes, I’d love to clear the confusion up and say that Land is
Brooks’s obvious successor… but I can’t. Not after listening to
Strangers & Angels and hearing a pretty much generic
collection of cookie-cutter country with more than a touch of twang
from the Plains states.
You can tell that there is a lot of indecision in regards to
this project in the first song, “Lost In A Border Town” – though
this might be the fault of guitarist/bassist/producer Kevin Jones.
Just as Land launches into his vocal, you hear a tasty guitar lick
– immediately followed by a mandolin solo. Hey, Kevin, pick one or
the other, and
commit to it. All this quick-change instrumentation does is
confuse the listener, who (at least in this stage of the disc) is
more interested in discovering who Land is. Save the fancy show-off
stuff for later, and use it in moderation.
I don’t want the reader to think that
Strangers & Angels is without merit. Two tracks do
shine, both of them in their own unique styles. “The One I Waited
For” sounds like it could be a crossover hit (though it feels too
short at 2:30), while “I Hate It When That Happens” has all the
prerequisite country twang and is a lot of fun to listen to.
If only there were more moments that made this disc fun. The
title track has its moments, to be sure, but the bulk of the tracks
are watered-down country numbers that don’t have the musical punch
or confidence to do much. Songs like “Sail Away Together,”
“Standing On The Edge Of Love” and “Tell You I Love You” don’t
connect with the listener in the way that they could have. Part of
this is that Land’s voice doesn’t always seem to be strong enough
to carry the music, though he occasionally does surprise.
Strangers & Angels is not a bad disc by any means, but
it’s not the genre’s savior that it seems to so desperately need at
this stage in the game. All Land can do is load up his saddle into
his Dodge Dakota and drive off into the sunset to try again another
day.