Women of Country - The Internet's #1 Guide to Female Country Music

Album Review

The Wilkinsons - Nothing But Love
Giant Records

It's funny how a big promotional campaign can effect people. The Wilkinsons were the subject of an impressive bidding war and in the months prior to their album release it was almost impossible to discuss country music without their name being mentioned. When the album finally arrived I was interested in seeing the final material. I threw the disc into my stereo and sat back for a listen. Much to my surprise Nothing But Love turned out to be one of 1998s poorest releases.

I was expecting a bunch of tracks that rivaled the quality of the debut single "26 Cents." Well, there just simply aren't a whole lot of them to be found. Instead we are presented with a 14 year old struggling with his changing voice, a father who's one appearance at lead is nothing short of boring, and a 16 year old daughter with a powerful set of pipes and a styling problem. The best move that The Wilkinsons made was keeping Amanda in lead for most of the album. Amanda can hammer a delivery with the best in the industry, the problem is she can't seem to keep a consistent sound. Each song sports a different sound (sometimes slight, sometimes drastic) and it gets a little grating on some of the cuts. Not to mention her brother and father just aren't in her league vocally. This combined with some really annoying harmony arrangements make this a hard album to enjoy.

The second single "Fly," is nothing special. It's your average run of the mill pop flavored balled but it's good enough for some air play. "Boy, Oh Boy" is one of the albums few really solid tracks. Amanda sings about falling in love with a freshness that only someone waiting for the experience themselves can deliver. The cover of Skip Ewing's "Yodelin' Blues," gives Amanda a chance to demonstrate her yodeling abilities (LeAnn could learn from this). "Back On Your Feet," rounds off the albums worthwhile tracks. The banjo driven tune begs to be played over and over again.

The rest of the album feels like cover material. "One Faithful Heart," is solid writing but is destroyed by Steve Wilkinson's boring vocal delivery. His son doesn't do much better on tracks like "Don't I Have A Heart," "The Word," and "Then There's You." Amanda has a couple of poor tracks with "Nothing But Love (Standing In The Way) and "Williamstown."

The Wilkinsons have talent but it just isn't fully realized here. It's hard to recommend an album with where not even half of it is up to standards. This is probably one to pass up.

Album Review by Jeff Krasky

The WOC Rating Scale

The album stands above the rest. This is a record that every country music fan needs to have in their collection.

This album is better than the average release. A strong record with some flaws that keep it from reaching that 5 star level.

This album is an average country release. Doesn't posses qualities that make it stand out among all the other albums out there.

A weak record that lacks solid songs or good vocal performances. Sample before you buy.

This record is a bargin-bin reject that just isn't worth the time or the money. Completely misses the mark.