DAVE'S DIARY - 2 AUGUST 2006 - HOT APPLE PIE CD REVIEW
HOT
APPLE PIE
HOT APPLE PIE (DREAMWORKS-UNIVERSAL)
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When
Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich crashed charts last year with riveting
country rock rhythms they melted a pop mould choking mainstream radio. So it's no surprise Brady Seals stormed through that hole in the slow zone layer with new quartet Hot Apple Pie. They impacted immediately with hedonistic barn love hit Hillbillies that segues into Jeffrey Steele-Al Anderson tune We're Makin' Up and California King - parody of Seals ill-fated lunge at L.A. pop pap. |
The former Little Texas singer and solo act, wrote nine of 13 songs on a disc anchored by band members and only two session serfs - pedal steel guitarists Dan Dugmore and Paul Franklin.
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Pie recipe features tempo changes in a bluegrass cut of Robbie Robertson
hit The Shape I'm In, a duet with Willie Nelson on stone country
weeper Slowin' Down The Fall and blue collar bliss in Redneck
Revolution. Teaming with famed uncle Troy and Dennis Robbins on All Together Now, Rodney Crowell on Annabelle (Arkansas Is Callin' You) and Mike Reid on Why Can't I Get To You makes commercial sense. But Seals finest moment might be I Should've Seen Her Leavin' Comin' - that's been used before but harmonies of banjo playing guitarist Mark Matejka and bassist Keith Horne ensure a radio friendly sheen throughout. |
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This pie is an organic dish that only loses spice on generic ballads Easy Does It and Everybody Wants To Dance With My Baby.