CD Review: Terry Robbins – Love Front
by Ritchie Ritchison for Country Music News International
- Love Front
- Break My Heart
- Jambalaya
- Life Without You
- Got a Love For You
- Mind on My Honey
- Though My Teardrops
- Thank You Note
- Deer in the Headlights
- Legends
- Barbecue Buzz
- Flyin’ Off The Handle
Terry Robbins album Love Front is a breath of fresh air in a world full of musical smog. Featuring healthy doses of pedal steel and fiddle through out Terry reminds us both lyrically and musically where country music comes from….without sounding retro.
The first cut Love Front hearkens to the Buck Owens vehicle of an upbeat positive country love song filled with infectious enthusiasm and a cute twist on a familiar theme.
Break My Heart is a more straight ahead country ballad delivered with conviction and believability.
Taking a decidedly Alabama slant on the Cajun Jambalaya by Hank Williams Sr and putting a southern back beat to it Terry spices up this classic and let’s the band stretch-out a little and jam on this country standard.
Life Without You, Got a Love For You, and Mind on My Honey, drag the album down a little being somewhat repetitive of the typical songs of the genre with nothing really new to offer.
Through my Teardrops bounces back with a strong offering delivering a good solid danceable track and a very good performance by Mr. Robbins and is actually my favorite track on the disc.
Thank You Note is a cute song but a little too telegraphic lyrically and once you hear the chorus the first time it is pretty much over.
Deer in the Headlights takes a good stab at a great hook but falls a little short
Legends is one of those songs lamenting “how country isn’t country anymore” and while the song doesn’t do much for me because it says nothing new. If you put together a playlist of all the artists mentioned in the song you will surely have a Country Music Hall of Fame playlist. Mr. Robbins asks for possibly the millionth time in a song “who’s gonna fill their shoes?” Well I say if Terry Robbins would stop worrying about all the “legends that are gone” and keep working on his craft he could be one of the ones filling their shoes and those of us who like traditional country wouldn’t have to “worry about the future of country music”. Country Music is not in as bad a shape as people think. It may not get played on mainstream radio but it is still alive and well and Terry Robbins bats about .500 on being one of those guys carrying the torch.
The last two songs Barbecue Buzz and Flyin’ Off The Handle are fun novelty songs closing out an album that tries to prove there is still good traditional country music being made out there and Terry Robbins hits more than he misses.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars