Jo Dee Messina I'm Alright CD

Personnel: Jo Dee Messina (vocals); Larry Byrum (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason, Michael Landau, Dann Huff, Pat Buchanan, Jeffrey C. King, Byron Gallimore (electric guitar); Paul Franklin, Sonny Garrish (steel guitar); Glen Duncan (fiddle, mandolin); Steven J. Nathan (piano); Mike Brignardello (bass); William (Lon) Wilson (drums); Terry McMillan (percussion); Curtis Young, Kim Parent, Chris Rodriguez, Ralph Friedrichsen (background vocals).
Recorded at Loud Recording, Nashville, Tennessee.
Personnel: Jo Dee Messina (background vocals); Larry Byrum (acoustic guitar); Dann Huff, Jeff King , Michael Landau, Pat Buchanan, Brent Mason , Byron Gallimore (electric guitar); Paul Franklin, Sonny Garrish (steel guitar); Glen Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Steve Nathan (piano); Lonnie Wilson (drums); Terry McMillan (percussion); Chris Rodriguez, Curtis Young, Deborah Allen, Camille Harrison, Robin Lee Bruce, Ralph Friedrichsen, Kim Parent (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Chris Lord-Alge.
Recording information: Loud Recording, Nashville, TN.
Photographers: Peter Nash; Tamara Reynolds.
On the follow-up to her self-titled breakout debut, Jo Dee Messina and her production team of Tim McGraw and Byron Gallimore don't mess with what's not broke. Messina took two years to get I'm Alright to the fans, quite frankly because she was so busy touring in support of her hit record. Certainly a fencepost in the foundation blueprint for contemporary country records in the 21st century, I'm Alright contains ten cuts that either walk the line between country and straight-up radio-friendly pop or fall just to the country side of that fence. Messina has an enormous voice. While she doesn't have to stretch her contralto range much, her sense of dynamics is a near trademark, learned from the very best in the business. For proof, all one needs to do is go to the ballads, such as the Kostas and John Sherrill-penned "Because You Love Me," with its sense of restraint until the key moment in the refrain when caution is tossed to the wind and the singer delivers the proof in her conviction. The other tune Sherrill contributed to the set is the poignant "Even God Must Get the Blues," co-authored with Dene Anton. Messina's real musical companion in the tune is a lost and lonely Hammond B-3 organ -- which seems to have become a standard in contemporary country just as the upright piano was to the countrypolitan sound of the '60s -- and she walks with it, strolls with it, and dances with it through this socially conscious heartbreaker. But Messina can deliver party tunes, love songs, and break-up songs as well as anyone, as evidenced by the title cut that opens the disc. Driven by banjo, mandolin, pedal steel, and acoustic guitars, this one rolls with a backwoods back-porch vibe, and all is well with the world. Certainly the record is clean, perhaps a bit too clean, but the song selection is close to impeccable. Gallimore and McGraw were still finding their way with Messina here, and they hit pay dirt with her next record, 2000's Burn, where they found the perfect balance between country, pop, and '70s soft rock to dress Messina's voice in. ~ Thom Jurek
Jo Dee Messina's sophomore album might be called I'M ALRIGHT, but its real message is "I'm Alright...without you." In song after song on this mostly upbeat album, Jo Dee plays the Strong Woman role, whether she's telling unfaithful or non-committal lovers to beat it, or insisting on a relationship that's equal in every way. In the infectious "Bye Bye," she's driving away from her loser boyfriend, declaring that she's got "the rear view mirror torn off, I ain't never lookin' back." Elsewhere, she's talking herself into leaving a nowhere relationship ("No Time For Tears"), refusing to get involved with a guy who's bad news ("I Know A Heartache") or warning a straying lover that he'll get what's coming to him one day (a cover of the late Dottie West's hit "Lesson In Leaving"). These types of songs are MessEntertainment Weekly (3/27/98, p.69) - "...[Messina] returns with an album of strong woman/survivor songs....she thrills with her earnest alto and an attitude that's equal parts spunk and spite." - Rating: B