Search - Lonestar :: Mountains

Geoff D. from CROFTON, MD
Reviewed on 1/12/2012...

I am a fan of Lonestar - I admit it, so maybe I am easily pleased, but this album (Mountains) is top notch quality. Their instrumental musical prowess and tight harmonies show through on every cut. Never too much on the production side, just Lonestar. My favorite is "Thought It Was You", a Craig Wiseman & Jim Collins composition. My second favorite, written by Jim Collins & Wendell Mobley is "Nothing to Prove". "Cowboy Girl" is fun as is "Careful Where You Kiss Me". There are no top 10 hits on this album, but every cut is a solid Lonestar number.

Lonestar's Predictable But Likeable "Mountain"

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 10/22/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: Mountains, Always in the Band, Hey God



With the surging successes of Rascal Flatts, Carolina Rain and Heartland, these four lads may no longer be the lone star of tight harmonies over adorning radio-wooing grooves. Hence, the stakes are higher as evidenced by Lonestar's less than successful predecessor disc "Coming Home." As a result, this multi-Grammy nominee has one of two options: either to give themselves a sonic makeover or to continue to charter the same course that had brought them success thus far. For album number 9, "Mountains," they have chosen the latter. Rifled with their trademark power ballads performed with a bombastic flair and thumbing country pop rockers with the occasional fiddling, "Mountains" is what fans have come to expect and love. However, as virtuous as consistency is, there's a predictability to these tracks that can come across as dull and even trite. Further, their often over-the-top polished production with jarring guitars and ear-numbing drums, courtesy of helmsman Mark Bright, pilfers from the boys' performance a tepid earnestness.



This does not mean that there are songs that deserve widespread circulation. Most ardent and performed with a transparent agony comes at the encore of the disc: "Always in the Band." Never have the boys sounded more genuine when they sing about the sacrifices they have had to make as itinerant entertainers. Also, fetching is the piano-based ballad "Hey God"--a stark theological treatise of trying to make sense of suffering in the light of God's sovereignty--these guys really know how to articulate such a profound issue within the short confines of this song in a winsome way. Similarly uplifting is the vanguard single "Mountains," an inspirational ballad about overcoming life's obstacles, performed with those patented high notes a la their hit "Amazed." Much less optimistic is "What She Had To" which deals with the struggles of an abused mother absconding with her children, a slice of life so acerbically captured in song.



However, the rest of the album in no way comes close to the abovementioned cuts. Despite the mention of cowboys, boots, rodeo, and everything western, "Cowboy Girl" is a loud 70s rocker that suffers far too much from its ear-destroying drums. Cut first by Andy Griggs, the guitar-imbued "Careful Where You Kiss Me" is only as interesting as the title suggests. Also, known for their share of empowering women type of songs, "Long Lost Smile," though noteworthy for its sentiments, is performed with an artifical sheen as if these boys are more out to please their legions of female fans than performing something that means something to them. Further, the presence of round the clock Nashville current hot shot writters such as Brett James, Bill Luther, Jason Sellers, and Tom Shapiro usually show promise. But, somehow Lonestar has been serviced with many of their leftovers or paeans written to fill up their punch cards. Perhaps, a track or two from the more seasoned writers such as Paul Overstreet, Pat Alger, Victoria Shaw or Angela Kaset might have salvaged a little some of this mess.



While their previous album "Coming Home" was a return to a more organic earthy sound, "Mountains" brings them up the slope to a heavy produced slick package. Though not all is doom, these boys still do know how to croon a power ballad to great effect, they are often let down when the tempo perks. After 9 albums of this pop-country road, if these guys want to stay on the country music scene in the long haul, perhaps a detour may be redemptive. Nevertheless, for those who are at averse to change, there's enough here to satisfy longtime fans and thus far with the title cut climbing up the charts, no mountain seems insurmountable yet."

Mountains

Maureen Cope | England | 01/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lonestar just get better and better with each album they release. I enjoyed this very much."