The World Famous Ultimate Twang: Classic Album Review-Steve Wariner "I Am Ready"

Classic Album Review-Steve Wariner “I Am Ready”

Steve Wariner is an interesting artist to look back on. His career lasted from 1980, through 2000, yet he wouldn’t really be considered a superstar, despite 48 country top forty hits, including 33 top ten hits.

He would also generally be considered more of a “singles” artist, scoring only 2 top ten albums, “Two Teardrops” and “Burnin’ The Roadhouse Down”, both of which came late in his career. Today, we look back at his 1991 release, “I Am Ready”, his debut effort for Arista, after leaving MCA. The album would only peak at 28, but contains 3 top ten singles, along with 2 more that also made the country top forty.

The disc kicks off with a good-sounding country track, titled “On My Heart Again”. You generally will not find anything groundbreaking in Steve’s work, but rather what seems to be a “tried-and-true” formula, which in most cases, works well for him, such as this track. Good, listenable track, pleasant sound.

Steve takes Bill Anderson’s “The Tips Of My Fingers” and turns a 1960’s classic into what at that time, was a contemporary sounding track, that did strike a chord with country listeners, making it a top ten hit. This was the fifth version to reach the country top twenty, following versions by Anderson, as well as Roy Clark, Eddy Arnold, and Jean Shepard.

“When Will I Let Go”, another nice, mid tempo tune that stays within that previously mentioned formula. While nothing special, it’s another what I’d call “nice” tune.

One may denote a bit of anger or attitude in the song “Leave Him Out Of This”, the building tension and anger of one whose having to compete with his lover’s memory of an old love. Steve is able to express these emotions, in a controlled, manner that makes this ballad work, perfectly. This is one of the album’s standout tracks, and understandably was a top ten hit, as well.

“Like A River To The Sea” was another country top forty hit for Steve. I’ve always thought this was one of the best singles of his career, despite it’s low chart placing. Great ballad. Very intimate, with great vocals that are not overpowered by the arrangement. And one of those songs that just sounded great, when playing on late-night radio, which I did, many times.

Side two opens with “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”. It’s another good mid tempo sound that fits into the consistency of this entire disc, to this point. It’s interesting to note, that this track has a definite 1980’s feel throughout, as the arrangement sounds more along that era’s sounds, as opposed to the 1990’s.

The album’s third top ten hit is next. “A Woman Loves”. Another great ballad that stands out on this disc.

Steve kicks the tempo up a bit, for “My, How Time Don’t Fly”. Again, another good track, that provides a nice combination of good melody and lyrics, and just the right amount of arrangement, so as to not overpower the vocals.

“Gone Out Of My Mind” is a pure country ballad. A man who is waiting to either forget an old love or lose his mind, hence the line, “…til one of us has gone out of my mind”. Not a bad track, though not particularly special.

The album wraps with “Crash Course In The Blues”, the only track on the album that really cuts loose.

Another top forty release from the album, I would actually consider this the weakest cut on the disc, though it does highlight some stellar guitar work by Steve, that reminds us that, yes, he is one of those who have indeed been highly influenced by the legendary Chet Atkins. The smoking fiddle work on the track belongs to Mark O’Connor, while Terry McMillan is behind the harmonica. While the picking is great, to me, the song itself, is at best, average.

Not currently in print, but I did spot several new CD’s for sale, online, along with numerous used CD’s, as well as a few cassettes. Having been released in 1991, it was issued on vinyl (in fact, my copy is vinyl), as well, though I did not see any used copies for sale.

Overall, it’s a good album. There are 2-3 what I would consider standout tracks, with the rest being very good. Even the album’s one weak song, “Crash Course In The Blues”, would rank higher than just “filler”, due to the great instrumental work. While I won’t say this is Steve’s best album, it certainly ranks among his top 2-3. I will rank it 4.5 out of 5. Agree?