From Amazon.com
Lorrie Morgan's exquisite alto is one of country music's treasures. Rich, warm, and capable of expressing a full range of emotion, it fills in the back story of almost any lyric and whispers of secrets untold. As it's aged, Morgan's voice has taken on a nearly reedy tone, which would make it well suited to orchestral backing. Yet on her first live album--the aural companion to a
DVD and
VHS concert recording--Morgan has chosen as her symphonic accompaniment Nashville's Belmont University School of Music Orchestra. As with many such pairings of popular singers and orchestras, especially students, the musicians struggle mightily to keep pace with Morgan's odd and challenging repertoire, and dilute the spunk of such snappy signatures as "What Part of No" and "Go Away." Moving past her hits to perform 19 songs, Morgan does not always choose her outside material wisely, either with standards ("Fly Me to the Moon," "Good Morning Heartache," and "Secret Love"), or with the country archive ("Harper Valley PTA"), though her title tune is a poignant reminder of the power of love and music itself. Here's hoping Morgan tries this again in a few years, sticking to what she does best, and surrounding herself with the same.
--Alanna Nash
