Rolling Stone (1/22/04, p.72) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...A gifted, versatile singer...a rare find..."
Personnel: Gary Allan (vocals); John Willis, Jake Kelly, Willie Nelson (acoustic guitar); Brent Rowan (electric guitar); Mike Henderson, Richard Bennett (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Robby Turner (steel guitar); Hank Singer (mandolin, fiddle); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Jim Hoke (harmonica, accordion); Steve Nathan (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Michael Rhodes (bass); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion).
Recorded at Sound Kitchen, Nashville, Tennessee.
On his first couple of albums for Decca, Gary Allan's talent was somewhat submerged in assembly-line Nashville production. After a label change, his third disc, 1999's SMOKE RINGS IN THE DARK found him fulfilling his potential with a rootsy, accessible New Traditionalist sound. A few years down the line, he continues to progress, bucking the Nashville Nazis along the way.
The album opener "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey," co-written by hard-country rebel Mike Henderson, is so full of fierce electric guitar and tough singing, it might have fallen off a Steve Earle record. The terse, tortured "See If I Care" sounds like a cross between Dwight Yoakam and TUNNEL OF LOVE-era Springsteen. "Songs About Rain," penned by another country upstart, Pat McLaughlin, cleverly skewers overused song metaphors. There are no charging power ballads on SEE IF I CARE and no hokey, cheap-shot lyrics, just tasteful production, thoughtful songwriting, and solid singing--fairly novel concepts for a 21st-century country star.