Clint Black - D'Lectrified

The best and worst you can say about Clint Black's debut as his own producer is, it's an ambitious, often enjoyable exercise in self-indulgence. D'lectrified is a sprawling, 14-cut mishmash featuring guest appearances by everyone from Kenny Loggins and Bruce Hornsby to Eric Idle (on a clever, spaced-out rendition of Monty Python's "The Galaxy Song") and Black's wife, actress Lisa Hartman Black. Black's penchant for blues and Dixieland-style horn arrangements serves him well on remakes of gems like the Marshall Tucker Band's "Bob Away My Blues" and Leon Russell's "Dixie Lullaby" (where Hornsby gets a fine workout on the ivories). And Black does what he does best on smooth country ballads like "Been There" (a great duet with Steve Wariner) and "Where Your Love Won't Go." On the other hand, his aimless, tepid remake of Waylon Jennings's "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?" (featuring a goofy vocal cameo from Jennings) is little more than a waste of space. Not much more can be said of Black's almost unrecognizable "rethinks" of a pair of his own previous hits, "No Time to Kill" and "Burn One Down." On top of that, D'lectrified has some pointless instrumental breaks throughout that meander everywhere without really going anywhere. --Bob Allen Amazon.com

Great song on album

Bought the CD for the "When I Said I Do" song. Great song and used it for the first dance song in my wedding. This one has the right version (it's not the twangy one that is on the love songs album). October 1, 2008

NOT QUITE

I have been a Clint Black fan for years. From KILLIN' TIME to THE HARD WAY to PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES to SPEND MY TIME to DRINKIN' SONGS, the music has always been what it should be: total and pure country from one of the genre's best. As I said, a fan for quite awhile.

So, when D'LECTRIFIED was introduced I expected nothing less than what I was used to. Not quite! Perhaps it was the pressure felt by many Country performers to address a growing crossover crowd. Perhaps it was the feeling that he needed to show how versatile he could be musically. Who knows what the reason was. Whatever it was, D'LECTRIFIED falls considerably short of previous and subsequent Clint Black offerings, featuring some downright weird, jazzy presentations that, to this day, have me scratching my head. And probably the very worst tracks here are Black's bluesy remakes of his own mega hits, No Time To Kill and Burn One Down. What on earth was he thinking? That maybe he could reach a new listening segment? Totally bizarre!

Some redemption is achieved with Been There, a duet with fellow Country artist Steve Wariner, but that's about all she wrote.

I'd pass on this one and stick to the albums that I mentioned at the beginning of this review. Fortunately, Black's most recent offerings seem to show that he learned his lesson with this one and ultimately got back to his roots.

THE HORSEMAN
March 29, 2008

Another Great Clint CD

Don't let the negative reviews fool you. This is a very good body of work from Clint & friends. "Where Your Love Won't Go" is my favorite, but there are some other really nice tracks on this CD, like "Bob Away My Blues", "The Galaxy Song", "Love She Can't Live Without", etc. I even like the new version of "Burn One Down". Worst track is "Are You Sure Waylon Done It This Way". Otherwise, a very enjoyable CD that I highly recommend. December 29, 2007

Clint is like fine wine .. just keeps getting better

You can tell Clint enjoyed making this album..it has the feel of a man right at home with his craft & boy is it a great listen ...the music is eclectic in the sense that no two songs sound similar and his vocal versatility makes the difficult songs sound easy much in the same way that George Strait can achieve this...this is a great album..some of the best stuff Clint has done..it's smooth & fun and gets better with each listen...in fact having heard all of his previous albums I would have to put this at the top of the list...can't wait for another.. January 28, 2004

Solid Sound, Great Songs

I've listened to this disc a hundred times now and I still love it. It's the one I bring with me to the music store when listening to new speakers. The recording is excellent, with a wonderfully full rich sound. Hard to believe that none of the instruments are electric. I'd like to see all of Clint's future work done with this style. Clint's voice is fantanstic on this disc. Great to see him producing his own music. The songs are mix of dancible country with some dixieland and not-too-sappy love tunes. Even the Galaxy Song sounds good, I never fast-forward over it. I suppose if you like your country music exclusively to be about drinkin' and cheatin' women then you may not like this.

One other thing, it may sound strange but this disc sounds best played loud. Great for road trips as well! May 13, 2002

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