Chely Wright - 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection

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Free Music Notes for 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection

Free Music Review: Strong Retrospective of an underappreciated country artist
Hit: 5 Stars

This collection captures all but one of the thirteen singles she charted between 1994 and 2002 (the omitted single being her first, "He's A Good Ole Boy"). Chely's first two albums WOMAN IN THE MOON in 1994 and RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT in 1996 were for Mercury subsidiary Polydor and - as shown on the enclosed singles "Till I Was Loved By You," "Sea of Cowboy Hats" and "Listenin' To The Radio" - their music was high octane honky-tonk, with lots of fiddles and steel guitars.

While fun, none of her Polydor singles reached the country top 40. The albums also sold poorly, so she moved to MCA Records in 1997 to work with producer/label President Tony Brown. The first couple of MCA singles "Shut Up And Drive" and "I Already Do" from the LET ME IN cd cut back on the instrumentation, allowing Chely's stellar voice to shine amid the sparse settings (they also finally brought her some top 20 success at radio). The follow-up cd, 1999's SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, was Chely's true commercial breakthrough, spawning the catchy number one title track and the midtempo top-tenner "It Was."

Those gems found Chely's music going in a more pop-oriented direction, an approach that was even more pronounced on 2001's NEVER LOVE YOU ENOUGH. It's two singles - the lush yet torchy title track and the rip-roaring "Jezebel" - surrounded Chely with loads of orchestration but stalled outside the top 20. This setback was surprising, since Martina McBride has been a staple in the country top 10 with loads of power ballads like the
former and Terri Clark has been quite successful of late with footstompers like the latter.

After the chart underperformance of those two engaging singles (which conclude this set), Chely Wright and MCA parted company. As of now, she hasn't signed a new deal, but she continues to write songs for others (one of her most recent compositions being Clay Walker's single "I Can't Sleep"). These Millennium Collections usually only scratch the surface of an artist's career, but this one serves as a great retrospective of what is hopefully just the first phase of Chely's recording career.

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