Cory Morrow,
Ten Years

Label: Sustain Records
Released: 2007

(2 out of 5)

Four years after foresaking Texas Tech for the Austin bar circuit, Cory Morrow finally released his first full-length album in 1997. The Cory Morrow Band marked the beginnings of a fruitful relationship with producer Lloyd Maines and helped establish the young singer/songwriter as one of the most popular figures on the burgeoning Texas country scene. Seven albums and many thousands of fans later, Morrow celebrates a decade as a recording artist by releasing new studio versions of some fan favorites, including "Big City Stripper," "21 Days," and "Always and Forever" (previously available only as a live track), plus two new songs in "Spinning Around the Moon" and "I Don't Want to Get Up." This is of course a formula we've seen before, and as usual the results are so-so at best (for an exception, see Honeybrowne's excellent self-titled release from 2004). With Keith Gattis now Morrow's producer, it may make artistic sense to refresh dated tracks to better reflect today's sound. But what justification could there possibly be for remaking "Beat of Your Heart," their hit collaboration from just 20 months ago? Instead of resounding as an artistically challenging re-interpretation, Ten Years instead comes off as a just-passable rehash that is irrelevant for anyone except hard-core fans and newcomers.

Listen: "21 Days," "Always and Forever," "Spinning Around the Moon," "I Don't Want to Get Up"

Buy: Lone Star Music, Amazon, iTunes

April 27, 2007