Tag Archives: one hit wonder

Black Gold: The Best Of Soul Asylum

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"Black Gold" Was Soul Asylum's First Career Retrospective. It Was Released In The Year 2000 By Legacy, And It Also Covered The Band's Independent Years.

"Black Gold" Was Soul Asylum's First Career Retrospective. It Was Released In The Year 2000 By Legacy, And It Covered The Band's Independent Years As Well As Their Acclaimed Tenure At Columbia.

Small town mentalities are the same everywhere. That was the one thing I immediately thought the first time I played this excellent compilation. Having lived in a small city all my life, the music of Soul Asylum speaks in terms which are absolutely unequivocal to me. People who is willing to do whatever it takes to be closer to the stars, people who know all too well how it feels to be just like anyone, mothers incessantly talking on the phone about these things they are afraid to discuss on public… it is the same here and everywhere. And the fact that my city (Montevideo) has a twin town in Minnesota is too good a point to miss.

In general terms, the band is remembered for the mega-successful “Runaway Train”, their one and only certified hit. Since it was the only time they really took the charts by storm, they have been relegated to the category of one hit wonders in the pages of history. They did have another Top 20 success with the song “Misery”, though. Continue reading →

Some Gave All (Billy Ray Cyrus) – Album Review

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Billy Ray Cyrus' Debut Is Titled After The Words Of A Vietnam Veteran Named Randy Kane

Billy Ray Cyrus' Debut Is Titled After The Words Of A Vietnam Veteran Named Sandy Kane

Billy Ray Cyrus’s debut was first issued in 1992, and more than 15 years later it still retains a couple of significant records such as being the top-ranking album by a country male performer, and (most notably) the best selling debut album from a male artist – more than 20,000,000 copies have been sold worldwide. Of course, it is the album that has “Achy Breaky Heart” – for my take on the song and the impact it had on Billy’s career I direct you to the general introduction I posted yesterday. Three more singles were drawn from “Some Gave All”, and they all did pretty well on the charts – “Could’ve Been Me” hit number 2, actually. The other two singles were “She’s Not Cryin’ Anymore” and “Wher’m I Gonna Live” (they charted at #6 and #23 respectively).

Before being signed up, the consensus was that Billy was too much of a rocker for Nashville and too much of a country performer for LA. Leaving aside the monster hit of the record, that is something which comes across when you listen to the album. The songs are either full-on country (the vast majority of compositions) or unbridled rock numbers. Personally, I feel these rock cuts are fantastic, and they are the ones that stick in my mind after listening to the CD. I am surprised that “Never Thought That I’d Fall In Love With You” was not issued as a single – Mercury probably though that issuing three harder-rocking compositions could be counterproductive. The fact is that the song has a great guitar part throughout, and a drum track that shifts from accompanying to leading in a snap, then reverts itself again. I like the song as much as the achy breaky one, and the fact it was never overplayed is just a big plus. Continue reading →

Billy Ray Cyrus – General Introduction

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Billy Ray Cyrus Performing During The "Achy Breaky Heart" Days

Billy Ray Cyrus Performing During The "Achy Breaky Heart" Days

Success is not as simple or charming as it seems. Not necessarily a phenomenal bout of early success will mean that it is going to be a smooth ride from that point onwards. And I am sure few know that as well as Billy Ray Cyrus.

To the general public, he is always going to be associated with his monster hit from 1992, “Achy Breaky Heart”. As it is (very accurately) said elsewhere, it was to be the song that would make him and break him. The song must have been one of the most played tunes of the 90s. In South America, it was still being played like the first day well into 1995. And in the States, it caused a true mania that included an “Achy Breaky Dance” – the first time such a thing had happened with a country song. Continue reading →