I feel very fortunate to have discovered Sara Evans. I'm not really a modern country music fan. I like the great old singers of country music like Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, George Jones, but -- except for Shania Twain -- I don't go in for "new country."

I guess some people think this album is more pop than country, but all that matters to me is that I love this album. From what I read, Sara Evans also offers a traditional country sound in her earlier albums, so I will definitely be checking those out. I've never really heard this singer before. I saw her on a commercial for Country Music Television, heard just the one line "How do you wait for Heaven?" and was basically hooked. It is very rare for me to really like a song when I first hear it, and it is especially rare for me to like a song when I only hear six words of it. Once I found out the name of this artist, I checked out the clips on Amazon's website and knew I had to buy this album.

"Born to Fly" is just one of those rare songs that really grabs me for some reason. Having never heard the entire song until I bought the CD, I was happy to see that it was over 5.5 minutes long -- unfortunately, the second half of the song is just music (I want to hear singing, not music). That's about the only disappointing thing about this CD, though. There are no bad songs here; in fact, all of them just get better and better the more I listen to them. "Saints & Angels" is a wonderful song that really seems to fit nicely after "Born to Fly." "I Could Not Ask for More" and "Why Should I Care" are incredible and really exemplify the honesty and emotion Sara's voice conveys. The faster-paced "I Keep Looking" and "You Don't" are just as powerful and moving as the slower songs on the album. Any of these six could be my favorite song; they are all that good.

Sara Evans has one of the freshest, clearest, most beautiful voices I have heard in a long time. You don't just put this CD in and go about your business; you almost have to sit down, close your eyes, listen and experience the magic of this incredible singer.

- Rambles
written by Daniel Jolley
published 27 August 2005