Diamond Rio's best (and Nashville's best!)
Honky Dreadlocks | Somewhere else | 09/13/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is an exercise in pure joy. Every song is excellent, and Diamond Rio's totally unique, bluegrass-fused-with-honky-tonk vocal and instrumental sound makes the recordings jump out of the speakers.Love a Little Stronger is a great upbeat love song, and Finish What We Started is the sonic equivalent of distilled water--crystal clear, no impurities. You Ain't In It, Night Is Fallin' In My Heart (by quirk-master Dennis Linde), and Bubba Hyde are some of Diamond Rio's best subtly humorous songs. Wild Blue Yonder is another beautiful ballad. Down By the Riverside, Gone Out of My Mind (check out Steve Wariner's I Am Ready for another version of this one), and Appalachian Dream / Kentucky Mine are bone-chilling.Diamond Rio has never topped this album, and nothing to come out of Nashville's mainstream since its release has been better--not even anything by Alan Jackson. This is as good as it gets."
FLAWLESS DIAMOND
Jeffrey W. Vigeant | Williamsburg, VA United States | 09/10/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Love A Little Stronger" is an exceptionally fine album. The music, the lyrics, the splendid harmonies make it hard to single out any one song over another. But, I must confess to a couple of "favorites" ---- "Finish What We Started", "Down By The Riverside", "Wild Blue Yonder," the wonderful instrumental "Appalachian Dream", and "Kentucky Mine," a tribute to coal miners. All in all this is one of Diamond Rio's best efforts. Truly, a flawless diamond."