Trisha Yearwood "Trisha Yearwood" (MCA Records, 1991)
(Produced by Garth Fundis)
An impressive, reasonably rootsy record, evenly split between slower ballads and perky uptempo "young country" honkytonkers. Although I like the peppy tunes best, I have to admit, I can see the appeal of the slower stuff... It's kinda Linda Ronstadt-ish and Rosanne Cash-y, but has a little more depth than the bouncy numbers. At any rate, this is a nice debut... Listening back, you can see what the fuss was about; she does the Mary Chapin Carpenter thing without sounding quite so goopy -- nice trick to pull off!
Trisha Yearwood "Hearts In Armor" (MCA Records, 1992)
(Produced by Garth Fundis)
This star-studded album reveals a quantum leap production-wise, and in terms of her artistic focus. The songs are strongly framed and effective; even the goopy stuff works for me. Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Raul Malo, Don Henley and Emmylou Harris all pitch in either on harmony vocals or in full-on duets... Sounds nice! Again, a major Rosanne Cash debt is obvious, but hey -- is that such a bad thing? Worth checking out.
Trisha Yearwood "The Song Remembers When" (MCA Records, 1993)
(Produced by Garth Fundis)
The title track is super-goopy but well-produced -- and it was the album's big hit, of course. There's better stuff on here, though, generally soulful ballads that have a rich, Rosanne Cash-like smokiness to them. This is a syrupy album, to be sure, but it is well crafted, and Yearwood really seems to be pouring her heart into the songs, so it connects emotionally. A couple of songs simply aren't up to snuff -- like "Mr. Radio," for example -- but for the most part, this album delivers. It's not really my kinda country (I already have all the Rosanne albums; that sorta covers it for me...) but it's very good for the style. Worth checking out if you like the sappy modern stuff: she really seems to mean it, and there's a lot to be said for sincerity. Hidden gem: a nice little ballad called "One In A Row," with its unusual, bumpy melody. Recommended.
Trisha Yearwood "The Sweetest Gift" (MCA Records, 1994)
(Produced by Garth Fundis)
This holiday album alternates, predictably, between soooper-saccharine, soooper-drippy, soooper-cheesy ballads and more rootsy, uptempo stuff. Even some of the non-sticky stuff falls flat: the funky, bluesy "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" is an utter embarrassment, though the '50s rock-tinged "Reindeer Boogie" is kinda fun. The title track, an oldie from the '40s, is nice and understated, and has a real country feel. The Xmas standards are evenly divided as well: "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!" works fine; her slushy version of "The Christmas Song," though, just drags on and on, and may be a surefire cure for insomnia. For fans of the cheesier brand of Christmas album, this is probably fine; anyone looking for something a little livelier will probably not be won over. (By the way, if you're into holiday music, you might also want to check out my Hillbilly Holiday pages as well...)
Trisha Yearwood "Thinkin' About You" (MCA Records, 1995)
(Produced by Garth Fundis & Harry Stinson)
More okay than not, this album finds her slipping into moments of excess, but still mostly keeping it real. She's consciously stretching herself and trying on the mantle of a "serious" singer, with distinctly torchy overtones. This is more slick than I like, and the upbeat numbers are sort of ho-hum, but it's still not as excessive as her later work would become.
Trisha Yearwood "Everybody Knows" (MCA Records, 1996)
(Produced by Garth Fundis)
The opening songs are pretty straightforward and country-ish, and she seems more comfortable than on her last album... Then she slides into a more sedate, pop-ballad-y mode, though she still peppers the back end of the album with songs like the acoustic-based, "Hello I'm Gone," which is particularly nice. All in all, this is a nice album, with the pendulum swinging back towards her roots... Worth checking out!
Trisha Yearwood "Where Your Road Leads" (MCA Records, 1998)
(Produced by Tony Brown, Allen Reynolds & Trisha Yearwood)
Poppy stuff, with soul diva undertones, ala Rosanne Cash or Mary Chapin Carpenter. I guess for the territory, this ain't bad, but it has precious little twang, and is way too syrupy to be of much interest to me. A little, teeny bit of pedal steel just isn't enough to keep my interest, and none of these songs are particularly catchy or memorable (though Allison Moorer's "Bring Me All Your Lovin' " comes close). I'll pass.
Trisha Yearwood "Real Live Woman" (MCA Records, 2000)
(Produced by Garth Fundis & Trisha Yearwood)
This album may have been too "pop" even for today's top country fans (it did pretty poorly on our stations)... Still, it's very well-produced, and if you like those milky pop ballads, this is a strong set, with a steady hand at the studio helm. Worth checking out, if the slick stuff's your style. Heck, even I liked "Sad Eyes" and "Come Back When It Ain't Rainin'." Her remake of Bonnie Raitt's "Wild For You Baby" is kind of pointless, but the album's okay, for what it's trying to accomplish...
Trisha Yearwood "Inside Out" (MCA Records, 2001)
(Produced by Mark Wright & Trisha Yearwood)
Ye gods. How overblown, bland and over the top can she get?? Very, it seems. This album is densely, floridly written and way overproduced, with endless slow piano plunks, and one rare moment of simplicity coming with a cover of Rosanne Cash's "Seven Year Ache" that's so close to the original that one is tempted to say "why bother?" (Rosanne sings harmony, though, so I guess it gets the Cash stamp of approval... But still...) At any rate, this album is way too glossy and sappy for me... And enough with the electronic music fillips, already!! Nashville: get over it! Trisha's treading water on this one.
Trisha Yearwood "Jasper County" (MCA Records, 2005)
Trisha Yearwood "Heaven, Heartache And The Power Of Love" (Big Machine Records, 2007)
Trisha Yearwood "Prizefighter: Hit After Hot" (MCA Nashville, 2014)
(Produced by Garth Fundis, Mark Miller & Allen Reynolds)
An odd, sorta-kinda best-of, pairing several new songs with ten of her old hits, re-recorded for, um... some reason.
Trisha Yearwood Garth Brooks "Christmas Together" (Gwendolyn Records, 2019)
Trisha Yearwood "Let's Be Frank" (Gwendolyn Records, 2019)
(Produced by Don Was)
A Frank Sinatra tribute album. Yeesh.
Trisha Yearwood "Every Girl" (Gwendolyn Records, 2019)
(Produced by Garth Fundis)
Best-Of & Related Records
Trisha Yearwood "Songbook: A Collection Of Hits" (MCA Records, 1997)
(Various producers)
A modest, 12-song best-of which includes two sappy new singles: "How Do I Live," which I think might have been her first collaboration with producer Tony Brown, and "In Another's Eyes," a new duet with Garth Brooks, both of which hit #2 on the charts. This tilts towards the softer songs, some of which are gems and others that are insufferably stuffy... There are more uptempo numbers that I would have included, but even so, tunes like "Perfect Love" are kinda nice. I'd go for her individual albums over this best-of, but it's still a pretty representative look at her career to date, the stylistic highs with the lows.
Trisha Yearwood "Greatest Hits" (MCA Nashville, 2007)
(Various producers)
A rock-solid best-of set that moves steadily through Yearwood's twang-ish 1991 debut through to her more soul-soaked efforts of the decade's end. As is the norm with greatest-hits collections nowadays, there are a couple of new tunes on here as well, Stephanie Davis's "Just A Cup Of Coffee" and "Nothin' To Lose," both produced by longtime collaborator Garth Fundis. "New," that is, taking in consideration that Yearwood and MCA parted ways recently, and this is actually stuff from the vaults. As a casual listener, I appreciate that this collection dwells on her older stuff, when she was more "country," and samples sparingly from the over-the-top pop-soul of later years. A worthy update of her previous MCA best-of, Songbook.
Trisha Yearwood "Love Songs" (MCA Records, 2008)
Links
Hick Music Index
Trisha Yearwood was one of country's biggest stars of the 1990s, scoring a Number one hit on her very first album, following a little nudging from '80s star Garth Brooks who had her sing on one of his albums and introduced her to some of Nashville's biggest producers. She rocketed to fame and established herself as a crossover artist by the decade's end, though her reach into the Pop charts proved limited. Over a decade after they first met, Yearwood and Brooks got married in 2005, and have been one of Nashville's power couples ever since. Here's a quick look at her work...