Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying (CD)

All Music Guide

There's good reason for Tim McGraw's endurance at the top of contemporary country: he's restless visionary who's worked hard to improve as an interpretive singer. In 2002, McGraw bucked the trend and convinced the label and producers Bryon Gallimore and Darran Smith to let him use his road band in the studio. The rough and tumble intimacy of the set put it over the top and appealed to music fans outside his circle. On Live Like You Were Dying, McGraw ups the ante. Using the same production team and his Dancehall Doctors, McGraw cut a whopping 16 tracks, helped in the mixing of the record as well as coproduced. The song selection iruns the gamut. There's the bluesrock energy of the opener: "How Bad Do You Want It," where he evokes the ghost of the Mississippi Delta as well as the hard country rock sounds of Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Then there's the shimmering Americana of "My Old Friend," that would not be out of place if performed by Pierce Pettis, and the fantastic "Old Tow...n New," by renegade songwriters Bruce Robison and Darrell Scott. The monster single from this record, "Live Like You Were Dying," by Craig Wiseman and Tim Nichols, is the very best kind of modern country song, the emotion in McGraw's delivery is honest, not saccharine. In anyone else's voice, a song like "Drugs Or Jesus," would be just plain bad. The tune itself is solid, a beautifully constructed, a perfect marriage of melody, hook and direct, simple lyric. But the temptation to over perform such a song is irresistible to most of the hit factory's mainstays. Not McGraw, his understament underscores the lyric's seriousness. The tenderness in Rodney Crowell's and James Slater's "Open Season On My Heart," is vulnerable in all the right ways. The moody, poignancy of "Walk Like A Man," is a fine centerpiece and a haunting centerpiece for this fine album. "Kill Myself," has to be experiencedit's a miracle and a testament to McGraw's clout that this tune made it on the record. "We Carry On" is a soulful anthem, gritty, true, and beautiful. It's a fitting close to McGraw's finest moment yet. The young hell raiser has grown to be one of modern country's most compelling and multidimensional artists. - Thom Jurek, All Music Guide Read more Less