Dale Ann Bradley - 'Don't Turn Your Back'

Dale Ann Bradley has been voted the IBMA's favorite female vocalist a number of times, and with good reason. Her sweet soprano is honest and nuanced. She throws in a little flourish here and there but mostly sticks to the notes as written, managing to deliver considerable feeling through them. While her vocals are as outstanding as ever on Don't Turn Back, the disc doesn't soar from start to finish the way 2006's Catch Tomorrow did.

Highlights and Drawbacks

Albums like this one are difficult to review, because the vocal performances are superb, as are those of the instrumentalists. Bradley's backing band is tight and formidable. Yet, despite so many wonderful performances, there are still songs on this album which don't resonate as well as others.

"Rusty Old Halo" (purchase/download) is a rollicking, hard-hitting bluegrass story song, delivered exquisitely with its a capella vocals toward the end. "Music City Queen" (purchase/download), which precedes it, on the other hand, pales in comparison. The songs on Don't Turn Your Back which miss may only miss because they're next to other songs which hit so hard. If we didn't know what Dale Ann and her band were capable of, this whole record may just hit harder. Alas, some of it is great and some of it is just good.

The Best Songs

The best tune on this disc, by quite a margin, is the title track (purchase/download) - a series of life lessons and friendly advice. The instrumentation feels stripped down and like a more personable "front porch"-style performance rather than something slickly delivered and over-produced in a studio. It's this accessibility with which Bradley works best. The tune is a little more contemporary country than straight-up bluegrass, but manages to stand up against more lightning-fast bluegrass tunes like "Ghost Bound Train" (purchase/download) (which is, incidentally, another one of the disc's finer moments).

The inclusion of a bluegrass version of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (purchase/download) is an interesting choice. Bradley's performance makes the song sound like it was intended for its bluegrass arrangement, retaining enough of the original tune to make a respectable nod at Petty while still stretching it in new directions.

The Bottom Line

As stated above, this record is full of really great songs and a few that are just good. Because the great ones are so great, the good tunes start to feel like they're holding the whole disc back from being one of Bradley's finest efforts.