Curb Records
2000
Burn
About This Album
Co-producers Tim McGraw and Byron Gallimore struck gold on Burn, Jo Dee Messina's third offering for Curb, and her last for five solid years. The formula on her first two offerings, her self-titled debut (1996) and I'm Alright (1998), seemed to work, and the pair didn't tinker with it all that much, except for the fact that the pair could see the bend in the road where the fork between contemporary country and slick adult pop came together and they met it head on. Given the monster set of contralto pipes that Messina possesses, it didn't matter; she crossed over into the pop mainstream anyway. The hits here include the awesome "These Are the Days," written by Holly Lamar and Stephanie Bentley, which wound layers of acoustic guitars, pedal steel, and a soaring harmonica that filled the center as fiddles and mandolins colored the backdrop. Messina expressed the "never say die" philosophy in the song with hunger and verve, putting it across with conviction and even a little mischievous delight. The title track is a love song like no other she'd recorded before. Its ringing guitars and nearly urban R&B bassline carried the monochromatic melody line into deep emotional territory, and once more Messina put the song across as if she'd lived it all, asking the question "Do you want to be a soldier, for love?" with all the authority necessary to communicate it to fans.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8)

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