Sara Evans - No Place That Far

There have been very few artists in recent years that can make their music sound completely contemporary, yet also hint at traditional country influences. Sara Evans is one of those artists. Her first release Three Chords And The Truth was a solid disc of pure traditional country tunes. Radio turned its head on one of the best voices in the industry. Now for her second effort Sara made a smart move and made her sound a little more modern. The result is the hit single "No Place That Far," getting played heavily on the airwaves. While I am not always a fan of abandoning traditional sounds it would have been a shame for this voice to go unheard. Sara also managed to throw in some tracks that maintain the feel of her previous album. Let's take a deeper look.

The album opens with the driving "The Great Unknown." Every time this song comes on I feel like jumping into my car and flying down the freeway. The song would definitely make an excellent single. "Cryin' Game," the albums first single was pretty much ignored by country radio. A shame, considering how much fun the song is. The mid-paced tempo of "I Thought I'd See Your Face Again," serves as a perfect sound board for Sara's huge voice. Matraca Berg joins Sara for "Fool, I'm A Woman," a song they co-wrote together. It's a dose of attitude I wasn't expecting.

"Time Won't Tell," is one of the albums best slower tunes. Sara jumps all over the song and hits every note like it might be the last she ever sings. Evans covers Kris Tyler's "Love, Don't Be A Stranger," and manages to make it a better song than it was before. My biggest gripe about cover tunes is when an artist cuts the song as just destroys it. Luckily, that didn't happen here. George Jones joins Evans for the comical honky-tonk styled "Cupid."

The album isn't without flaws. The albums closing track "There's Only One," is a boring gospel flavored number. What is with cutting these songs on the last tracks of albums lately? They hardly ever work. "These Days," is another snooze. I'm not quite sure what Sara was trying to do with this song.

Sara Evans has successfully completed the difficult task of reinventing herself. My advice would be to pick up both of her albums. This girl has an amazing voice and mark my words, we'll be hearing a lot more from her.

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