Darryl Worley Albums (6)
'Sounds Like Life'
Release Date 6/9/2009
Tracks 11
Label Stroudavarious
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What The Critics Say
Sounds Like Life, Darryl Worley's sixth album, is his first for Stroudavarious Records, the label founded by James Stroud, the man who signed Darryl to his first record contract. In that sense, it's a bit tempting to see the album as a bit of a back to basics move, or at least an opportunity to hit the reset button on a career that never quite seemed to deliver upon the commercial promise of his huge 2003 hit "Have You Forgotten," but Sounds Like Life is really just a continuation of the work Worley started on 2006's Here and Now, the album where he attempted to reinvent himself as a brawny country-rocker. Sounds Like Life has its fair share of party songs -- including the rather riotous "Don't Show Up (If You Can't Get Down)," a sports bar anthem featuring improbable cameos from Bill Anderson, John Anderson, and Smash Mouth -- but the record has a sentimental streak a mile wide, with Worley "slow dancin' with a memory as he sips a tequila on ice," realizing that you never know what's around the corner and that just sounds like life to him. Such slow, soft sounds fit Darryl better than the blustering boasts that sometimes weighed down Here and Now, and even if they're cluttered with clichés, they're executed well, emphasizing Worley's low-key charms, something that often got glossed over on his buffed-up, highly polished major-label albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
"I got drunk in Raleigh and I played too long/Word got back to Nashville before I got back home/The record label said, 'Boy, you better straighten up your act'/The lawyers told me, 'Son, that's what the contracts say'/So I got good and sober and I stayed that way/Still you couldn't find a Worley record on the rack/I did everything they asked me to do/And still they went and cut me loose" -- that's how Darryl Worley begins Here and Now, his fourth album and the follow-up to his huge debut, Have You Forgotten?, whose post-9/11 anthem made Worley a brief sensation in the early days of the Iraqi War. "Do You Remember" made Worley omnipresent for a while there -- the song was on the radio, scorned by liberals, and embraced by Republicans -- which would seem to be enough to guarantee Worley another shot at a major label, but if the story he lays out on "Jumpin' off the Wagon" is even a quarter true, he wasn't ready to play by the rules -- which isn't necessarily the same thing as being a bona fide outlaw. Worley pretty much plays by the rebel handbook, swaggering to a blueprint as he rocks his country just enough to not be pop but not enough to truly surprise. Frankly, he's just a bit too well groomed -- not just in image but in sound -- to have this outsized outlaw persona fit, as his voice isn't muscled enough, all the guitars are bit too well scrubbed, and the rhythms are just a bit too clean and tight. That said, Here and Now is a significant step forward for Worley, because even he doesn't feel as gritty as he'd like to be -- it's not quite the "country music with a nasty groove" that he sings about on "Party Song" (which is itself a dead ringer for the Faces' immortal end-of-the-party anthem "Had Me a Real Good Time" -- he's not only more fun in this incarnation, but his songs are generally stronger too, particularly that statement of purpose "Jumpin' off the Wagon," which provides him with a mission statement that he valiantly tries to fulfill here. If he doesn't quite do it, at least he's headed in the right direction. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This self-titled effort is album number three and a half for Darryl Worley, if you count his last release, 2003's Have You Forgotten?, largely cobbled together from his first two albums to cash in on the jingoistic single of the same name (which in turn was made to cash in on the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq) and featuring only six new songs, as half an album. Actually, Worley might have been better advised to wait a little longer before putting out a new disc, but then he and his advisors may have wanted to reposition him quickly from his flag-waving persona of 2003; the press release for this album claims it "completely reinvents him as an artist." If so, it reinvents him as a man somewhat humbled by world events, but still interested in them. In "Awful Beautiful Life," the single released long in advance of the album, he mentions in the song's bridge a cousin serving in Iraq (mispronounced "EYE-rack," of course), adding "We're all aware that he may never make it back." "Wake Up America" (the title should have a comma after "Up") sounds like it's going to be a political diatribe from the title, but it turns out to be a lament about drug addiction, an interesting cause for a singer whose songs are sopping with alcohol. More like it is the character of Earl, the protagonist of "I Love Her, She Hates Me," whose reply to every question, whether about Wall Street or football, is, "I love her, she hates me, I drink." Worley and his 18 fellow songwriters are steeped in standard country music subject matter: drinking, cheating, drinking, redemption, drinking, murder, drinking, being Southern, and drinking. They describe these subjects in lyrics that are filled with near and not-so-near rhymes (in one song, the word "drink" is rhymed with "tank," "gain," "game," "thing," and "lane") and littered with clichés, and Worley's backup musicians play typical country music with rock rhythms, a fiddle and a steel guitar never out of the mix for long. Worley has a serviceable but basically anonymous low tenor. This is nearly generic Nashville product, but Worley performs it with conviction, and that earns him his moment in the sun. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Have You Forgotten?'
Release Date 4/15/2003
Tracks 16
Label DreamWorks
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What The Critics Say
Darryl Worley started to gain a larger audience in 2002 when his second album, I Miss My Friend, brought him to the top of the country charts, so he was on a career upswing prior to the release of Have You Forgotten? in 2003. Have You Forgotten? contains 16 songs, with six songs apiece from Worley's first two albums, 2000's A Hard Rain Don't Last and the aforementioned I Miss My Friend, which constitute half of each record. Of the four new songs here, three are war-related and the fourth finds the singer stating "I Need a Breather," wishing he was wasting away in a Margaritaville, since he needs a break from "this angry boss man." Worley goes out of his way to align himself with the red, the white, and the blue, standing in front of the stars and stripes on the front cover and posing with troops on the back. Then, of course, there's the flag-waving fervor of "Have You Forgotten?" itself, in which Worley attempts to fuse the anger of Toby Keith with the tear-jerking Alan Jackson. The results feel more calculated than heartfelt, overshadowing the material from his first two albums, material that nonetheless suggests Worley could be a neo-traditional country singer with some real promise. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This Merle Haggard/Randy Travis sound-alike oozes natural talent. Worley is a standout in a sea of country-pop wannabes. Words like "good ol' boy," "honky tonk," and "down home" can be used to describe this straight-shooting album. The buoyant "Tennessee River Run," the first cut, sets the tone, letting listeners know that for the next 41 minutes they would be in for a hootin' and hollerin' ride. And they are, with songs like "Callin' Caroline" and "Spread a Little Love Around." Notables include the bluesy "Family Tree" and the jazz-infused "Opportunity of a Lifetime." Worley's skill as a songwriter is not to be overlooked, either. I Miss My Friend is a gratifying listen. ~ Maria Konicki Dinoia, All Music Guide
'Hard Rain Don't Last'
Release Date 7/18/2000
Tracks 12
Label DreamWorks
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What The Critics Say
Darryl Worley was born and raised in Tennessee. He has mentioned being influenced by country greats like Hank Williams, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard. Hints of those influences show through in Worley's own music, but without taking over. Hard Rain Don't Last is his debut full-length offering. He co-wrote many of the tunes on this first album, including "When You Need My Love," "Feels Like Work," "If I Could Just Be Me," "A Good Day to Run," and "Too Many Pockets," as well as the impressive title track. A number of the tunes made their way onto the Top 20 charts. The songs on Hard Rain Don't Last move from slow and soft ballads to toe-tapping Western swing filled with the sound of the expected steel guitar and fiddle, and are all enjoyable. Though a lot of country music seems caught somewhere closer to pop or rock than country, this recording proves that traditional doesn't have to be outdated. ~ Charlotte Dillon, All Music Guide
