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

Album Review

Sara Evans
Restless
RCA Records

There was a point in time when Sara Evans was one of the most distinct artists in Nashville. Her first album was an outstanding dose of traditional country music. Her second album marked a move towards a more mainstream sound but still kept her traditional roots. Sara continued to move more and more mainstream with Born To Fly and while the album was strong and produced some big hits I sensed that trouble was on the horizon. Now with Restless those fears have been realized with Sara releasing an uneven album with incredible high points and a lot of bland tracks that do absolutely nothing to stand out from the crowd.

The album opens with its best track titled “Rocking Horse” which is an outstanding, mandolin drenched country romp. These are the kind of songs that Sara does so well and doesn’t get a chance to record nearly enough. The leadoff single “Backseat of a Greyhound Bus” is also strong and I was expecting it to do much better on the charts than it has done. The ballad “Niagra Falls” is stunning and should make artists like Faith Hill worry that there is new competition on the “hit ballad of the year” front. The stripped down “Tonight” allows Sara’s voice to take center stage and that elevates the average lyrics to something worth repeat listens.

The title track “Restless” on the other hand is just a horrible song. The verses are typical run of the mill country but the chorus is so bland it could make you lapse into a coma. You wonder how tracks like this make it on a record. “Perfect” ends up being nothing more than annoying.

The rest of the record isn’t bad, it’s just forgettable. Sara has an incredible voice but it needs to be put to use on better material than what’s found here. Sara ends up falling victim to something that has plagued so many country artists over the last couple of years. The music is so over produced and the writing is so plain vanilla that you end up not having any kind of emotional response to the songs. It becomes nice background music and not much else. That’s a shame.

In the end Restless is nothing more than another generic run through pop country territory. There is so much room for this style of country music to continue to do distinct things and improve. Unfortunately, it’s easier to play it safe and sound exactly like everyone else. We can only hope that Sara will wake up and recover from this album next time around.

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.