13 January 2021

One of our ‘Artists to Watch’ for 2020, Morgan Wallen has now released a double album titled ‘Dangerous’, which is 30 songs in length MORGAN WALLEN DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Republic Records 9/10 A very bold step, but one that very much works for Wallen Double albums are always very contentious subjects. For every ‘Physical Graffiti’ by Led Zeppelin, there are countless others that didn’t work. Albums that should’ve stayed as one side and suffered as a result. It is very possible to have too much of a good thing and it’s very easy for what would be decent album cuts to be completely buried by other songs of a similar standard. Therefore, getting the balance right is crucial. The only thing is, there’s no real exact science or art to that. However, it would appear that Morgan Wallen has largely found a way with his most daring step to date – a 30 song behemoth in ‘Dangerous: The Double Album’ – to the point where the quality just shines through. Some will say it’s easy for quality to shine through when you have supremely gifted special guests – and indeed, Outlaw ft. Ben Burgess and Only Thing That’s Gone ft Chris Stapleton do shine – but they are the only two features on the record. What we do get though is an expertly crafted album, that flows perfectly – it is a listening expedition to get through 30 songs in one sitting, but you’re rewarded for doing so. Wallen spoke before the album was released that there are no songs on here that he would like to skip and its very easy to see what he means by that – Somebody’s Problem, Warning, Your Bartender, Blame It On Me…it’s just good song after good song after good song, with enough variety to keep it spread enough to individually identify the standout songs. There is absolutely no doubting Wallen’s talent and the Whiskey Glasses star was always bound for huge things, but getting to grips with something like this may be his finest achievement for a fair while, purely because of the complexity of it. Nashville’s current king is Luke Combs – with a record like this from Wallen though, he’ll be looking over his shoulder.  Rob Ramsey www.morganwallen.com

Looking back at one of our summer issues from 2020, here is a review of ‘Martha’ by Dougie Burns, which featured in the May/June edition DOUGIE BURNS MARTHA Self-released 7/10 Journalist turned musician delivers with aplomb  It’s likely that no-one could win an argument with Dougie Burns in a way – if he were to ever critique someone’s work and they didn’t like what he said, to the point they went, ‘well why don’t you try?’, he can point at this! For the last 15 years, Burns has been touring around and playing his songs, supporting the likes of Seasick Steve, while he also puts on a monthly exhibition for singer/songwriters from the Velocity Café in Inverness, Scotland. To say music runs through him would be an understatement and that is hugely evident on his latest record ‘Martha’, which is dedicated to his mother. The Americana infused collection has a number of top tunes on, such as Keep Your Mad Hat On, Silver Dollar and Shrine, with Burns merging in classic honky tonk, elements of classic country and of course, that Americana influence as well. All things taken into consideration here, Burns has released a very, very good album that further magnifies the talent that is at his disposal. Not everyone can do it, of course, but Burns has found a way to do it and sound very good in the process. Fred Underhill www.dougieburns.com