Search - Stella Parton :: Blue Heart

Quality country does Parton name proud

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 08/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is a pity that Stella decided to drop the Parton name from her last two albums, which are both excellent. If Dolly had been singing instead of Stella, they would sell in vast quantities. Stella has a voice which is distinct from Dolly's, though there are similarities.Stella, who wrote all except two songs by herself (and co-wrote those two), apparently wanted this album to be a scene by scene journey through a romance from beginning to end, just like a movie. Thus the first song, Smooth talker, is about how the couple fell in love, while the final song, Truth of the matter ... you'll have to buy the CD to find out exactly what this is about, but the album concept and the song title will give you a fair idea. In between, the songs deal with various aspects of the romance, and are mostly soft and reflective.Stella is in fine voice throughout, with tasteful backings, and I await her next album eagerly. Are you a Dolly fan who ignores Stella's music? If so, you should be ashamed of yourself. This is very different from anything Dolly has done recently, but it's the kind of album Dolly could do if she wanted to."