Entertainment Weekly (p.77) - "[T]he album comes down on the right side of chest-thumping versus heart-baring..." - Grade: B
Personnel: Tim McGraw (vocals); Darran Smith (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Bob MInner (acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin); Denny Hemingson (electric guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar, baritone guitar, dobro); Dean Brown (mandolin, fiddle); Jeff McMahon (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond b-3 organ, synthesizer); John Marcus (bass instrument); Billy Mason (drums); David Dunkley (percussion); Faith Hill, Brett Warren (background vocals).
Recording information: Allaire, Shokan, New York.
Country superstar Tim McGraw surely needs no apologists; the Louisiana-born singer, who's racked up millions of record sales and married country diva Faith Hill, is practically a force of nature. However, there is a misconception of McGraw as just a high-gloss hat act, a notion that a close listen to LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING should dispel.
For one thing, while almost all of his peers record with the same pool of Nashville studio hotshots, McGraw continues to work with his longtime band, the Dancehall Doctors. Additionally, progressive-country cult heroes Bruce Robison and Rodney Crowell are among the songwriters tapped for material here. Most importantly, at a time when most mainstream country artists are compelled to pander to their audience by maintaining a "don't worry, be happy" attitude, McGraw isn't afraid to journey into darker emotional territory, often with no clear way out--see the heartbreaking "Blank Sheet of Paper," and "Open Season on My Heart." The latter song is surely one of the most powerful pieces to be found on a circa-2004 hit country album, and even though Crowell penned it (with James T. Slater), you can thank Tim McGraw for bringing it to the light of day.
