All of This Love

by

Pam Tillis

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Over three years after it's release, ALL OF THIS LOVE remains Tillis' most subtle, understated work. Rather than becoming overconfident by her Female Vocalist win less than a year before recording this album, the victory made Pam more contemplative. The result is an album that passes on big hooks and radio-ready ditties in favor of quiet production and atmospheric lyrical imagery. The opening track, "Deep Down," is a duet of sorts between Pam and her studio musicians, her voice playing off the fiddle and guitar in the verses and soaring above them in the heart-stopping bridge. Her take on Bruce Hornsby's "Mandolin Rain" strips the song down to it's barest bones, omitting the unnecessary third verse and revealing a tenderness and introspection in the lyrics that was drowned in the heavy production of the Hornsby original. "The River And The Highway" and the title track contain some of the most beautiful country metaphors ever recorded. Through it all, Pam shines with stunning vocals and shows her skill as a producer by avoiding cheap tricks and letting the substance shine through. Even "Betty's Got A Bass Boat" is given shades of irony by Pam's slightly mocking vocal performance. ALL OF THIS LOVE suggests what her 1998 opus EVERY TIME would later confirm: Pam Tillis is the most significant country voice of her generation.

After releasing three consecutive first-rate albums(including the career-defining SWEETHEART'S DANCE), Pam Tillis released the first of what would be three consecutive good but not great albums. It's hard to say where ALL OF THIS LOVE goes wrong--again her choice of singles is impeccable('Deep Down', 'It's Lonely Out There')and she includes another tongue-in-cheek novelty in the vein of 'Cleopatra,Queen Of Denial'('Betty's Got A Bassboat') that isn't half bad. But none of the ballads here match her previous bests('Spilled Perfume', 'In Between Dances'), and though her take on Bruce Hornsby's 'Mandolin Rain' is literally inspired, the rest of the set,like much of her recent work, is just the opposite--pretty, but uninspired.