Hardest Part [Import]

Allison co-wrote all the songs with Doyle Primm (her husband) although a second co-writer, Kenny Greenberg, helped Allison and Doyle write Bring me all your loving. They had allowed Trisha Yearwood to record that song for her album, Where your road leads, two years before this album was released. Allison, Doyle and Kenny co-produced this album. The music is rooted in country although it has a bluesy edge. Most traditional country fans should appreciate this album as it has more of a country feel than much of the music emanating from Nashville around the same time. There is a steel guitar on all but two of the tracks and one of those two (the title track) features banjo, fiddle and mandolin.

The title track opens the album and it is a classic in which Allison challenges old sayings. I remember as a child being told that sticks and stones could hurt my bones but names could never hurt me. I never believed the second part of this saying even as a child. Allison clearly doesn't believe it either, nor does she believe some other sayings \(absence makes the heart grow fonder, out of sight is out of mind). On one level, this is quite an amusing song but really it is a sad song that sets the mood of the album.

Most of the songs find Allison remembering (and missing former partners, or trying to keep a relationship together even when it seems doomed - it seems that she can't live with him but she can't live without him.

The final song, Feeling that feeling again, is perhaps the saddest of all, its impact heightened by the use of a steel guitar. It is about a woman who finally leaves an unfaithful man reluctantly, but goes back to him when they meet again because she missed him so much. This song fades out and, after a brief silence, another (unlisted) song starts, which is even sadder. It is about a man who kills his former partner then kills himself. I would have preferred it to be a separate track, which would have been less confusing and would allow for CD track programming. The booklet contains lyrics for all ten main songs but omits the extra song that makes up the second half of track ten.

If you are looking for music to cheer you up, this isn't it, but if you are looking for quality songs performed by a woman who sings from the heart, this might appeal to you. Don't get too depressed - I hope and believe the experiences that Allison sings about are all behind her and that she is much happier now.