Jo Dee Messina "Jo Dee Messina" (Curb Records, 1996)
(Produced by Tim McGraw & Jo Dee Messina)
Jo Dee Messina's debut was pretty glossy, but all things considered, it has its true country moments. She's a relatively rough singer (which, for me, is a plus), even if she's aiming for a high-tech, super-produced sound, she's able to inject a little grit into some of the songs. It's kind of like a mix between Tanya Tucker and Sheena Easton -- of course, if she follows the established Nashville pattern of starting out rootsy and winding up pop, Messina doesn't leave herself much room to work with -- this disc is flat-out pop from start to finish. What will probably change is her level of control over the sound, and the smoothing out of the weak points in her production. This disc has a couple of highly effective pop tunes, notably "Heads Carolina, Tails California," but the production on most of these tracks is pretty rickety... Her partnership with co-producer (and fellow famous person) Tim McGraw has a growing curve to climb, that's for sure... Still, all in all, not a bad debut.
Jo Dee Messina "I'm Alright" (Curb Records, 1998)
(Produced by Tim McGraw & Jo Dee Messina)
The good news is, Messina and McGraw definitely works the kinks out of their production approach -- this is a much stronger pop album than her first release, with only a couple of clunkers, prudently packed away at the album's end. Otherwise, they've got it nailed. Yeah, this is very glossy and high-tech, but it's also very effective -- the sound is tight and compact, there are none of the blemishes and empty spaces of the first album, yet while the sonic space is filled to the brim, it doesn't feel cluttered or forced. Also, it's interesting that in crafting a tighter pop sound, they actually got more country, not less: the pedal steel is employed to smooth and complete the sound, and it's used very well on most songs. On a certain level, the co-optation of "country" instrumentation amid such a garish high-tech sound is a little insidious, but I gotta admit this disc showcases the style better than most. It's worth checking out.
Jo Dee Messina "Burn" (Curb Records, 2000)
(Produced by Tim McGraw & Jo Dee Messina)
Different pieces of the puzzle fall into place here... The brash pop production is a bit too aggressive and cluttered; this time around it's getting in the way, and it's much more difficult to make the case that this is in fact "country" music. But her vocals are much stronger and more fluid... That may be pulling her further from country roots, but ya still gotta give Messina her props as a singer. True country fans can pretty much write her off at this point, though: she's gone Pop, with a capital "P," all the way. Plus, all the TV-talk show psychobabble self-help, self-affirmation lyrics are fairly tiresome. The poppification was an artistic downward turn, as far as I'm concerned, even if it was her ticket into the big time. I will reluctantly admit, though, that the power ballad duet with Tim McGraw (who's still producing her albums) is a pretty effective pop song.
Jo Dee Messina "A Joyful Noise" (Curb Records, 2002)
A bright, glossy, strings'n'sleighbells commercial set, but at least she keeps things a little bit country, moreso than, say, Clint Black or Martina McBride on their pop-vocals Santa outings. Messina sings all the same old Christmas standards, but she really seems to throw herself into it, with a smile and a bounce in her voice that's pretty darn cheerful. Just as well that she doesn't try to add new material to the Christmas canon, since the the title track and the one other new song, "Keep The Faith," both at the end of the album, are simply dreadful... and don't seem to have a holiday-specific message. Other than that, though, this is a good album, for the style.
Jo Dee Messina "Delicious Surprise" (Curb Records, 2005)
Jo Dee Messina "Unmistakable Love" (Curb Records, 2010)
Jo Dee Messina "Me" (E-One Records, 2014)
Jo Dee Messina "Live" (Mountain Man Music, 2017)
Jo Dee Messina "Greatest Hits" (Curb Records, 2003)
Not bad! This disc covers her first three albums, with a couple of new singles added at the end, and a video track with Tim McGraw. Messina's okay, at least in relation to her contemporaries, her version of half glossy/half rootsy music ain't that bad. She pretty consistently includes pedal steel and other "country" signifiers in the mix, and a relatively rural vocal style, framed by an upbeat pop sensibility. Some of the songs are a bit wordy, and take a while to get off the ground, but she's good at carrying a chorus, and these songs are fairly catchy. She also seems to like Phil Vassar as a songwriter: three of these fifteen tracks were written or co-written by him.
Jo Dee Messina "All-Time Greatest Hits" (Curb Records, 2017)
Jo Dee Messina "Heads Carolina, Tails California: The Best Of Jo Dee Messina" (Curb Records, 2023)
Can they really make for-real country singers up in Massachusetts? Sure, why not? Jo Dee Messina hailed from Framingham, Massachusetts, where she started out playing in a local family band with some of her brothers. But the glory days of the New England country scene had definitely faded by the 1990s, so Messina eventually headed for Nashville and hustled for a few years before coming to the attention of producers Byron Gallimore and James Stroud, as well as fellow artist Tim McGraw, who was also climbing up the ladder in the mid-'Nineties and helped produce her early albums. Jo dee Messina was a bit hit straight out of the gate, though she wobbled a bit after her first album before establishing herself as a late-decade superstar. Here's a quick look at her work...
