Jamie O'Neal - "Sometimes"

[.indulgecountry]

Jamie O'Neal's new album, featuring original songs + duet remakes of her biggest hits:

[schnetzka]

I don't understand artists who take years (6 in this case) to release a new album and only have 8 new songs. Also, Martina's voice change still shocks me. It's like a different person.

I hope Jamie releases another album within the next two years.

[bboat11]

Oct 16, 2020 14:16:28 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

I don't understand artists who take years (6 in this case) to release a new album and only have 8 new songs. Also, Martina's voice change still shocks me. It's like a different person.

I hope Jamie releases another album within the next two years.

See, I was just jamming out to this thinking that this is the most like her old self that Martina has sounded in years. She absolutely nails it! I mean, for example, that is Martina seemingly effortlessly doing those belted E5s in the high harmonies at the end of the song!

Edit: Of course studio recordings can be cleaned up and doctored. But tbh, not even studio magic would have been able to help her hit that note just a couple of years ago 😂

[.indulgecountry]

I've been jamming to this record all weekend and must say it is fantastic!

Some of my thoughts:

1. The remakes, particularly "Arizona" and "Atlantis," are incredibly well done. The trade-off between vocal acrobatics between Jamie and Lauren Alaina on the former is EPIC. They both killed it vocally. Sara Evans sound absolutely fantastic (no surprise there, really) on the latter -- the song feels very "her" (reminds me a bit of some of her own songs, like "Revival") and I think she was a perfect choice for that one. Martina McBride turned in a solid vocal on "Angels," though that song has always felt a bit campy and some of the lyrics just seem ridiculous to me, so it's not one of my faves. Aliyah Good, who I've never heard of before, did an alright job with "Somebody's Hero," but Jamie really shines on that one -- it's one of the most obvious tracks on the album where it really feels like she hasn't aged a day vocally, which brings me to...
2. How does Jamie O'Neal still sound EXACTLY the same as she did 15-20 years ago when she was starting out? Like it's impressive how on all these remakes it almost sounds like the vocals could've just been lifted from the original recordings. There is no sign of aging or wear and tear at all on her voice, or any noticeable change in the deepness or anything. Marvelous
3. The production of this album is totally spot-on! The way many of these tracks are produced sounds unexpectedly modern and fresh beyond what I expected, coming from both the remakes and the new solo content she recorded. If she wasn't like a 50 year old woman and someone who's radio career died over a decade ago, I could easily see at least 3-4 viable hit singles coming from this project. "Closer to Closure" is the most obvious of those -- what an incredible jam that could be a hit on the radio right now! I could see someone like Kelsea Ballerini turning that into a smash.
4. "The World Goes On" is one of, if not the, weakest track on the record, so I'm glad to see the album far exceed the expectations set by that being the first song from the record she gave us.
5. "Prettiest Wreck" is the most Jo Dee Messina song I've ever heard by someone not named Jo Dee Messina. She's all I can hear in the lyrics and delivery of that song, lol.

[someguy]

Good to know. I was on the fence, but I should probably get this album.

[castleoblivion26]

for anyone who doesn't know Aliyah Good is Jamie O'Neal's daughter! Saw her talk about doing "Somebody's Hero" with her daughter during the Michael Ray livestream she did with him.

I've listened to the covers and I like them all, though I'd prefer to listen to the originals instead tbh. She sounds great on everything I've heard so far. I am really loving "Closer to Closure" at the moment!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGYpkUOgjGw

[.indulgecountry]

castleoblivion26 oop, yeah, I had no idea! I think I looked her up the other day, but I never saw anything that immediately gave away that she was Jamie O'Neal's daughter. That makes much more sense now, because I was initially left a bit perplexed seeing as she got big names for the other 3 duets and I wondered who Aliyah Good was and how she landed a spot there.

ETA: And wow I didn't know the record was produced by her dad/Jamie's other half too. Learning all kinds of stuff this morning.

[bigfan101]

Agreed with .indulgecountry on all of his points. Jamie sounds SO good.

Closer to Closure would be a hit for Maren, Kelsea, etc. It's very radio ready.

There's No Arizona is probably my remake. Lauren's vocals sound so natural on it.

[schnetzka]

Does anyone know why Jamie releases so infrequently? She's been in the business for over 20 years and she's only on her fourth album.

[bboat11]

Oct 19, 2020 11:10:49 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

Does anyone know why Jamie releases so infrequently? She's been in the business for over 20 years and she's only on her fourth album.

I'm pretty sure she and her husband have kinda been devoting themselves to building up other peoples' careers behind the scenes. Lots of producing, songwriting, etc. She's been writing songs for this album for several years, but they haven't had time to really focus on her, until the pandemic hit and all their work for everyone else slowed way down. At least that's the impression I got from listening to her on Michael Ray's Youtube show.