LONESTAR
''LIFE AS WE KNOW IT''
JUNE 4 2013
42:58
1/The Countdown
Jaren Johnston / Ryder Lee / Manny Medina/3:35
2/Maybe Someday
Richie McDonald / Billy Montana / Frank Myers / Dean Sams/4:14
3/How Can She Be Everywhere?
Richie McDonald / Tim Nichols / Dean Sams/3:19
4/Pretty Good Day
Marv Green / Tommy Lee James / Richie McDonald/3:06
5/With My Eyes Open
Cory Batten / Don Mescall/3:26
6/Party All Day
Michael Britt / Richie McDonald / Frank Myers / Jerry Williams/3:28
7/Life as We Know It
Michael Britt / Tim Nichols / Dean Sams/3:25
8/If It Wasn't for You
Marv Green / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams/3:35
9/I Miss When
Jim Beavers / Jonathan Singleton/3:32
10/I Did It for the Girl
Marty Dodson / Clay Mills / Dean Sams/3:11
11/Just the Rain
Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald/4:07
12/Oh Yeah
Michael Britt / Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams/4:00
Michael Britt/Guitar (Electric)
Perry Coleman/Vocals (Background)
Eric Darken/Percussion
Troy Lancaster/Guitar (Electric)
Tony Lucido/Guitar (Bass)
Richie McDonald/Vocals
Par McGrath/Guitar (Acoustic)
Russ Pahl/Guitar (Steel)
Keech Rainwater/Drums
Dean Sams/Guitar (Acoustic), Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Adam Shoenfeld/Guitar (Electric)
Jonathan Yudkin/Strings
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Richie McDonald left Lonestar in 2007 with the intent of pursuing a career in Christian music. As he worked on his 2008 debut, I Turn to You, the band hired Cody Collins and soldiered through Party Heard Around the World in 2010, but with their 20th Anniversary arriving in 2013, the group and McDonald decided it was time for a reconciliation, so they reunited for Life as We Know It, an album that hews much closer to what Lonestar did during their time away from McDonald than it does to the singer's sojourn in inspirational music. Life as We Know It is a secular album through and through, celebrating good times with good friends, indulging the notion that it's just fine to "Party All Day" and enjoy "Life as We Know It." If the album is to be trusted, that life is filled with bright, shiny songs about romance (sometimes lost but more often won), infused with a genial fondness for everything that comes their way, as it all winds up as a "Pretty Good Day." All this sounds sweet enough in theory, but in execution, the calculation is a bit too apparent, particularly on the party songs, like the reference-laden "How Can She Be Everywhere?," a particularly embarrassing trifle with references to Disneyworld and Ashton Kutcher which seems just a little bit too eager to become a viral novelty. Elsewhere, the digital gloss is merely amiable -- the kind of music that could be heard piping through any store in a mall -- not quite holding true to the band's pop-country roots but certainly finding space within the confines of modern crossover country.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Though their name might lead you to believe that Lonestar was formed in Texas, the quintet actually hails from Tennessee. Originally called Texassee, the band features Richie McDonald (lead vocals, guitar), John Rich (lead vocals, bass), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboard, background vocals), and Keech Rainwater (drums). All the members are in fact Texas natives -- they just formed in Tennessee in 1992.
Crazy Nights
In 1993, Lonestar played their first concert at Backstage Pass in Nashville in January of 1993. A booking agent happened to hear the show. Impressed, he added the group to his roster, and the group headed out on the road. Over the next two years, they played nearly 500 shows. In 1994, the group landed a record contract with BNA Records. The following year they released their eponymous debut, which spawned the Top Ten hit "Tequila Talkin'." Crazy Nights followed in 1997, and two years later Lonestar returned with Lonely Grill, which featured the hit "Amazed." Their seasonal effort This Christmas Time followed in fall 2000, and I'm Already There appeared the next spring. They released three more records after their 2003 greatest-hits compilation From There to Here: 2004's Let's Be Us Again, 2005's Coming Home, and 2006's Mountains. In late 2007, the band announced that Cody Collins had replaced Richie McDonald as lead singer, and that their next album, My Christmas List, would be distributed by Cracker Barrel restaurants.
DoWnLoAd
''LIFE AS WE KNOW IT''
JUNE 4 2013
42:58
1/The Countdown
Jaren Johnston / Ryder Lee / Manny Medina/3:35
2/Maybe Someday
Richie McDonald / Billy Montana / Frank Myers / Dean Sams/4:14
3/How Can She Be Everywhere?
Richie McDonald / Tim Nichols / Dean Sams/3:19
4/Pretty Good Day
Marv Green / Tommy Lee James / Richie McDonald/3:06
5/With My Eyes Open
Cory Batten / Don Mescall/3:26
6/Party All Day
Michael Britt / Richie McDonald / Frank Myers / Jerry Williams/3:28
7/Life as We Know It
Michael Britt / Tim Nichols / Dean Sams/3:25
8/If It Wasn't for You
Marv Green / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams/3:35
9/I Miss When
Jim Beavers / Jonathan Singleton/3:32
10/I Did It for the Girl
Marty Dodson / Clay Mills / Dean Sams/3:11
11/Just the Rain
Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald/4:07
12/Oh Yeah
Michael Britt / Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams/4:00
Michael Britt/Guitar (Electric)
Perry Coleman/Vocals (Background)
Eric Darken/Percussion
Troy Lancaster/Guitar (Electric)
Tony Lucido/Guitar (Bass)
Richie McDonald/Vocals
Par McGrath/Guitar (Acoustic)
Russ Pahl/Guitar (Steel)
Keech Rainwater/Drums
Dean Sams/Guitar (Acoustic), Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Adam Shoenfeld/Guitar (Electric)
Jonathan Yudkin/Strings
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Richie McDonald left Lonestar in 2007 with the intent of pursuing a career in Christian music. As he worked on his 2008 debut, I Turn to You, the band hired Cody Collins and soldiered through Party Heard Around the World in 2010, but with their 20th Anniversary arriving in 2013, the group and McDonald decided it was time for a reconciliation, so they reunited for Life as We Know It, an album that hews much closer to what Lonestar did during their time away from McDonald than it does to the singer's sojourn in inspirational music. Life as We Know It is a secular album through and through, celebrating good times with good friends, indulging the notion that it's just fine to "Party All Day" and enjoy "Life as We Know It." If the album is to be trusted, that life is filled with bright, shiny songs about romance (sometimes lost but more often won), infused with a genial fondness for everything that comes their way, as it all winds up as a "Pretty Good Day." All this sounds sweet enough in theory, but in execution, the calculation is a bit too apparent, particularly on the party songs, like the reference-laden "How Can She Be Everywhere?," a particularly embarrassing trifle with references to Disneyworld and Ashton Kutcher which seems just a little bit too eager to become a viral novelty. Elsewhere, the digital gloss is merely amiable -- the kind of music that could be heard piping through any store in a mall -- not quite holding true to the band's pop-country roots but certainly finding space within the confines of modern crossover country.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Though their name might lead you to believe that Lonestar was formed in Texas, the quintet actually hails from Tennessee. Originally called Texassee, the band features Richie McDonald (lead vocals, guitar), John Rich (lead vocals, bass), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboard, background vocals), and Keech Rainwater (drums). All the members are in fact Texas natives -- they just formed in Tennessee in 1992.
Crazy Nights
In 1993, Lonestar played their first concert at Backstage Pass in Nashville in January of 1993. A booking agent happened to hear the show. Impressed, he added the group to his roster, and the group headed out on the road. Over the next two years, they played nearly 500 shows. In 1994, the group landed a record contract with BNA Records. The following year they released their eponymous debut, which spawned the Top Ten hit "Tequila Talkin'." Crazy Nights followed in 1997, and two years later Lonestar returned with Lonely Grill, which featured the hit "Amazed." Their seasonal effort This Christmas Time followed in fall 2000, and I'm Already There appeared the next spring. They released three more records after their 2003 greatest-hits compilation From There to Here: 2004's Let's Be Us Again, 2005's Coming Home, and 2006's Mountains. In late 2007, the band announced that Cody Collins had replaced Richie McDonald as lead singer, and that their next album, My Christmas List, would be distributed by Cracker Barrel restaurants.
DoWnLoAd
