Brody’s Picks: Best Albums of 2006

I didn’t choose these albums based on guitar riffs or dissection of the lyrics, rythmn, and rhyme, because personally, I don’t know anything about all that stuff. I’m of the philosophy “it’s just good music, if you can feel it in your soul,” and that’s how I chose these albums as my personal favorites of 2006. It was hard enough narrowing the list down to ten albums, so I decided to not put them in any kind of order.

• Alan Jackson – Like Red on a Rose
  There aren’t many albums that I’ve heard where I like every song, but Like Red on a Rose is of that rare breed. If slow, love songs are your thing, then this album is heaven sent. Jackson originally approached Alison Krauss to help him produce a bluegrass album, but came up with this masterpiece instead. If you’re looking for a catchy tune without much substance, you’d be better of staying away from this one.

  Personal Favorites: Anywhere on Earth You Are, Like Red On a Rose, Nobody Said That It Would Be Easy, The Firefly’s Son

• Guy Clark – Workbench Songs
  Ever since I heard my first Guy Clark song I’ve been a fan, as I wrote in a previous entry. Workbench Songs only serves to strenghten that admiration. To hear Clark sing takes you back to a simpler time and place. You’d be hard pressed to find a better song writer than Clark.

  Personal Favorites: Funny Bone, Out in the Parkin’ Lot, Ramblin’ Jack & Mahan

• Randy Rogers Band – Just A Matter Of Time
  This is the band’s first major released album, and while it sounds a little different (having to appeal to a broader audience), they still pull it off and make a solid album that they can be proud of.

  Personal Favorites: Kiss Me In The Dark, Just a Matter of Time, You Don’t Know Me

• Kris Kristofferson – This Old Road
  Kristofferson is another exquisite song writer, cut from the same cloth as Clark. It’s nice to see that he hasn’t lost his knack for writing after all these years of acting.

  Personal Favorites: Pilgrim’s Progress, In The News, Thank You For A Life, Final Attraction

• Johnny Cash – Personal File
  The man and his guitar giving each listener a private concert, anytime they please. Personal File is a collection of songs and stories that Cash recorded and had stored in a box at the back of his personal vault.

  Personal Favorites: I’d be better of making a list of the songs I don’t like, I love almost all of them.

• Josh Turner – Your Man
  Turner has often been compared to Randy Travis because of his deep voice, and usually those would be some big shoes to fill, but Turner is a damn good singer. He has a lot of catchy, upbeat tunes to back up his vocals that you can’t help but sing a long.

  Personal Favorites: No Rush; Your Man, Loretta Lynn’s Lincoln, Angels Fall Sometimes

• Dierks Bentley – Long Trip Alone
  Bentley opened at a George Strait concert that I saw a while back and the boy brings a lot of energy to the stage. You can tell he puts the same level of energy into his albums. Some of more popular songs have fast melodies, but make no mistake, he can sing a mean slow song.

  Personal Favorites: Long Trip Alone, Soon as You Can; Hope for Me Yet, The Heaven I’m Headed To, Prodigal Son’s Prayer

• Jason Boland & The Stragglers – The Bourbon Legend
  Texas Country/Red Dirt band with an old outlaw country sound. After listening to The Bourbon Legend you know that these boys could have hung with the likes of “Willie, Waylon, and the boys” back in the day. Simply put, Jason Boland & The Stragglers are country right down to the core.

  Personal Favorites: Lonely by Choice; Everyday Life

• Alan Jackson – Precious Memories
  Originally meant as a private Christmas gift to his mother, Precious Memories is full of hymns from Jackson’s childhood. In that aspect I can relate to Jackson since these are the same songs I grew up with and often heard my grandmother humming as she prepared home-cooked meals.

  Personal Favorites: All of them hold “Precious Memories” for me.

• Radney Foster – This World We Live In
  Songwriter, singer, producer, is there anything that Foster can’t do? He’s already established himself as one of the all-time Texas greats, so anything he does now is just added bonus for the fans.

  Personal Favorites: Half Of My Mistakes, Never Gonna Fly, Fools That Dream

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Nick’s Picks: Best Albums of 2006