Track Listing

1. Distance Between You and Me
2. Heart That You Own
3. Takes a Lot to Rock You
4. Nothing's Changed Here
5. Sad, Sad Music
6. Since I Started Drinkin' Again
7. If There Was a Way
8. Turn It on, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose
9. It Only Hurts When I Cry
10. Send a Message to My Heart
11. I Don't Need It Done
12. You're the One
13. Dangerous Man
14. Let's Work Together

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6530 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com essential recording
Dwight Yoakam's fourth studio album was his most muscular yet. Alongside the overtly rocking cuts, his honky-tonkers also kicked harder than anywhere in his catalog; on top of all this, he gave his loosest, most assured-sounding vocal performances to date. That he cowrote one of the disc's biggest singles, "It Only Hurts When I Cry," with Roger Miller makes perfect sense; Yoakam and Miller shared an ambivalently loving attitude toward the country-music establishment. Yoakam's insistence on going his own way would lead to even more indelible long-players, but If There Was a Way remains among his most impressive. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Gateway to a New Era in Yoakam's Music
When I first bought this album, I didn't really care for it. It just didn't sound right. Still, I persisted in listening to it and I finally realized that this was one of the best albums I had ever listened to. "If There Was a Way" shows us that Dwight is paving a new trail once again. Though the honky-tonk sound is still there, this disc leans toward a more raw, hardened sound hinted at in the previous "Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room." This album isn't as dark, however. "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" is great, hands down. "It Only Hurts Me When I Cry" is too. "Dangerous Man" and "Takes A Lot To Rock You" gives us a taste of the rockier edge that Dwight Yoakam and Pete Anderson seem to be leaning to on this album. Other great songs include "The Distance Between You and Me," "You're the One" and "The Heart That You Own." This is a good album to get if you want a taste of both the younger, more rockabilly sound of Dwight and the older, more experimental sound.

A masterpiece from Dwight
One of the signs of a truly great album is that most of the tracks could be considered for single release - this is one such album. Dwight demonstrates that he can rock hard but he also includes some outstanding ballads. He wrote or co-wrote most of the songs. Although Dwight has shown a liking for recording covers as well as originals in his career, there is only one cover here.

The country hits were Turn it on turn me up turn me loose (a brilliant up-tempo song), You're the one (a nice love song), It only hurts when I cry (co-written with Roger Miller who is famous for King of the road), The heart that you own (an aching ballad) and Nothing's changed here. The first four make up the first four tracks on his greatest hits collection, Last chance for 1,000 years but Nothing's changed here is omitted.

Apart from the hits (which aren't necessarily the best songs here), some of the highlights for me are Sad sad music (another aching ballad), Since I started drinking again (with a hint of bluegrass), Send a message to my heart (a duet with Patty Loveless that I really expected to be released as a single) and Let's work together (a cover of the blues-rock classic that became a huge hit for Canned heat). And if you play this album and find that your favorite song is one I haven't mentioned, that won't surprise me at all, such is the quality of this album.

If you enjoy any of Dwight's music, you'll surely love this album.

Terrific
I have varied tastes, and I can go from opera to country music, and like them both. "Honky Tonk" country is usually not my favorite - but I love this album. If you are a fan, this is one of Dwight's best.