Label, year: Arista, 1999
Producer: Byron Gallimore, Don Cook, Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn
Running Time: 47:17
Missing you is a fine song, but the first times I heard it on the radio I was a little afraid of what was to come on the new album. After all I was really quite disappointed by the latest singles released by the duo, How Long Gone and Husbands And Wives being the only exceptions. So hearing the guys covering a pop hit seemed like they might be looking too much in that direction. Luckily, that's not the case; actually this is just a whole lot more of the same stuff they have always dunn :-) with a few differences.
First of all, this comes off as almost two separate albuns on one cd. Kix and Ronnie have different producers for their tracks, Byron Gallimore working with Ronnie, while Kix sticks with Don Cook. And you can hear the difference. Not that this is a particularly bad thing, as the two have always had different styles, but you can actually hear some of their distinctive traits fading. That is definitely true on the background vocals, where we were used to hear Kix and Ronnie providing support for each other. Now you can hear the duet partner a lot less and the production is so much more closer to the standard Nashville sounds. However, Byron Gallimore's work is probably a strong point of the new release, as he somehow revitalizes Dunn's work, not so much as the vocals are concerned, since Ronnie, yet again on top form, never did disappoint anyone, but his production is probably more elaborate than Don Cook's (whose sound works better with Kix). Except for Missing you the songs recorded all have been at least co-written by the couple, but, once again, the fact that Kix has had no hand in those songs in which Ronnie takes lead vocals and vice versa really keeps the two a little bit too much apart. On the plus side, all the songs are ok, and some are excellent. One of these must be the simple opening track, Goin' Under Gettin' Over You, written by Ronnie with Terry McBride (his only songwriting partner on the album). It is a little reminiscent of the latter's Love On The Loose, Heart On The Run from a few years back, and undoubtedly has a lot of single potential, but, then again, what do I know? - Beer Thirty is probably the weakest of the Dunn numbers and was chosen as the second single. A few ballads also stand out, notably All Out Of Love although probably not in the same league as previous gems Neon Moon and She Used To Be Mine.
While as a singer Kix falls a little short of Ronnie, as a songwriter he is at least as good as his partner. Here he presents a few songs written with maestros such as Bob DiPiero, Tom Shapiro, Chris Waters, Lewis Anderson, as well as Don Cook. Apart from the awful Temptation #9 (you really have to try hard to like this song, but you eventually might, especially if you like line dancing) all the songs are good, and the closing song, Me And Norma Jean reminds me of A Few Good Rides Away and ranks up there with Kix's best, like Still In Love With You and You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone. One thing that is missing on the album is one song with a Mexican feel, something the two included more or less ever since Mexican Minutes on the Hard Workin' Man album, while some of Brooks' songs tend to lean close to an Eaglesesque sound. In the end, this CD will be no disappointment for B and D fans for sure, the thirteen tracks being a generous bunch of songs with state-of-the-art work from everybody, from the story writer (yes, it does go on) to the songwriters, from the singers to the producers and musicians, but somehow one must be allowed to expect even more from such talent.
