CD REVIEW OF
Mindy McCready's
"Ten Thousands Angels"
(BNA Records, 1996)
By Sandra L. Toney
Shania Twain. Terri Clark. Deana Carter. And now there's Mindy
McCready. It's a new breed of country music women. A more daring,
even sexier breed of country. Mindy McCready is the perfect example
of daring and sexy country music. Her debut album, TEN THOUSAND
ANGELS, is one of the best "first" albums I've heard
in some time.
If McCready can stay true to her unique style and voice, she will
definitely be a name to be reckoned with in the field of country
music. Whether she's crooning a slow, sad song or giving it her
all with an attitude song, she's great in any tempo. McCready
zoomed into the spotlight, much like Shania Twain did, with a
song targeted at the female listeners. Twain did it with "Any
Man of Mine," and Mindy McCready gained national recognition
with her hit, "Guys Do It All The Time." If you're a
woman, you can't help but love this song.
Consider the opening verse, "Got in this morning at 4:00
a.m./You're as mad as you can be/I was drinkin' and talkin' and
you know how that goes/Time just slipped away from me/By the time
I knew what time it was/It was too late to call home/Stop carryin'
on actin' like a child/I wasn't doin' anything wrong/Guys do it
all the time . . ."
The song goes on to remind the men in our lives that when the
shoe is on the other foot, it isn't very fun. Hopefully guys will
have a new understanding for a word called "courtesy."
McCready also jams on the sure-to-be-a-hit single, "A Girl's
Gotta Do (What A Girl's Gotta Do)" and "It Ain't A Party."
The title song, "Ten Thousand Angels," that's already
hit the country charts, tells the story of a girl trying to resist
the charms of a certain someone as she belts out the song's chorus,
"Lead me not into temptation/Heaven help me to be strong/I
can fight all that I'm feelin'/But I can't do it alone/Help me
break this spell that I'm under/Grab my feet and hold me tight/I
need ten thousand angels watching over me tonight."
If her guy's that much of a problem, she might need a little more
than the help of ten thousand guardian angels. The very best song
on this album, which is currently climbing the charts and hopefully
will peak at its rightful position as number one, is the touching
duet with Lonestar's Richie McDonald, "Maybe He'll Notice
Her Now."
After seeing the fantastic accompanying music video, a vivid picture
comes to mind whenever hearing the heartfelt single. The story
is an all-to-common one of a woman being neglected, perhaps not
intentionally, by her man. She finally does the only thing she
can do, "She wrote, 'I feel just like that painting, collectin'
dust on the wall/And every day you walk right by me/You don't
know I'm there at all/And I can't think of one single reason/Why
I should be hangin' around'/She signed it, 'I hope that you'll
me me'/And she drove herself out of town." Her chorus then
focuses on the title of the song, that maybe he'll notice her
now. Unfortunately, as McCready tells so accurately, sometimes
leaving is the only way to get results.
The song ends on an upbeat note, however, as the emptiness drives
him to realize that life isn't worth much when you're alone. Hopefully,
this song will open the eyes of all the men (and women) out there
who are presently taking their significant other for granted.
And isn't that an artist's greatest wish? To make a difference
in perhaps just one life.
Mindy McCready's entire album is doing just that and more.
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