Search - George Strait :: Blue Clear Sky

Jen T. from CHERRY VALLEY, AR
Reviewed on 1/13/2007...

another great cd

Dawn T. from MCCORDSVILLE, IN
Reviewed on 10/28/2006...

This CD started me being a George Strait fan.

Ballads 7, honky tonks 3; but not as bad as you may think

29-year old wallflower | West Lafayette, IN | 02/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In country music, an artist can have hits out the wazoo. Why, George Jones has had about 140 country top 40 hits, no surprise for one of the greatest vocalists country music has ever had. Even in the way of #1 hits, an artist can outdo anything the Beatles ever accomplished (Conway Twitty & Ronnie Milsap's run of #1s is around 40 or so).



George Strait is another one of those consistently successful country singers who even now shows no signs of coming off his run. By 1995, he had had so many hits, that instead of just an ordinary greatest-hits album, a box set STRAIT OUT OF THE BOX was created to hold them all. Even the new song "Check Yes Or No" was another #1 added to that never-ending list. Showing no signs of resting on his duff, George followed the box set & began a new stage of his career with 1996's BLUE CLEAR SKY.



Before this, Western swing had been George's stock in trade, with just as many rave-ups as ballads. But I guess with George now well into his 40s, he maybe thought the time had come to settle down a bit. That explains why BLUE CLEAR SKY is a little heavy on ballads, but it shows George can easily pull off such a change in mood with ease.



"Rockin' In The Arms Of Your Memory", "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" & "She Knows When You're On My Mind" are great love songs that also tell an actual story in the usual country music tradition. These songs prove that while a majority of George's albums may seem to sound alike as a whole, he still knows quality when he hears it. Other great ballads include "Carried Away", "King Of The Mountain" & "I'd Just As Soon Go". The closing "Need I Say More" is truly an eye-opener with a more jazz-based tune & a song that truly is romantic. This proves that what Frank Sinatra is to pop music, George Strait may very well be to country music.



But don't think that George has totally left behind his honky tonk days. BLUE CLEAR SKY shows that he might still be young at heart. The anthemic title track, the Bob Wills-influenced "I Ain't Never Seen No One Like You" & "Do The Right Thing" come at exactly the right times on the album to break up what is really a ballad-heavy affair.



After only 15 years in country music, George Strait was already a legend with enough hits to stretch to the moon twice. The fact that he came up with BLUE CLEAR SKY a short time after his STRAIT OUT OF THE BOX shows that either George hasn't gotten enough success yet or he just loves what he's doing so much he doesn't know when to quit. Maybe the second reason is more likely, but I believe George has finally learned how to make a consistently good album from beginning to end, not just having a few good single-worthy tracks along with some space-fillers. BLUE CLEAR SKY truly was George Strait's first fully-realized album & would remain as such until his most recent, THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, which would prove there was even more of George's talent than met the eye."

All Hail King of Country

Matt Brooks | Minneapolis | 01/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blue Clear Sky is one of Georges best records in the 90's...Great classics like Blue Clear Sky. Carried Away, King Of the Mountain, Still Make, make your feet stopping and you mouth a singing. Great country artist, albam, and songs...Worth the bucks to get...Trust Me"