Alan Jackson

High Mileage

The Don Williams influence shines through

Review Score:

(10/10)
On Alan's album of covers, Under the influence, Alan made clear that one of his influences was Don Williams. This mellow album is devoid of all the good-time rocking songs like Chattahoochee and Don't rock the jukebox, while it also lacks any real tear-jerkers like Here in the real world. That said, the album does have some sadness, like Gone crazy, but even here it seems that Alan has accepted the situation and is past the stage of being upset.

Another great song is Little man, a song about what a town used to be like in the old days - another song with a tinge of sadness but philosophical acceptance. There are happier songs here too, like Right on the money and I'll go on loving you. Alan reflects on the past and also looks to the future in What a day yesterday was, hoping that life will continue to be just as good. The tempo picks up a little on Hurting comes easy and a bit more on Another good reason, but even this track, while fast by the standards of this album, is slow compared to many of Alan's classic up-tempo songs. The closing Amarillo, like all the songs here, is an original song and should not be confused with Emmylou's song of the same title.

On this album, Alan gives the impression of being comparatively at ease with the world - nothing to get too excited about, but nothing to get too sad about either. It is exactly the kind of album that Don recorded in the seventies and eighties, albeit with a contemporary production. I like this album a lot. It does not show the full range of Alan's capability but there are times when this is just the kind of album I want to listen to.

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