Tough All Over

1	Tough All Over 3:21
2	Best I Ever Had 4:11
3	I Just Got Back from Hell 4:03
4	Ring 3:47
5	Promise Broken 3:11
6	Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption) 4:15
7	Life Ain't Always Beautiful 3:44
8	He Can't Quit Her 3:32
9	What Kind of Fool 3:57
10	Puttin' Memories Away 3:21
11	No Damn Good 3:44
12	Putting My Misery on Display 6:07

Barnes & Noble

Stand back, because on Tough All Over, Gary Allan sounds a wee bit ticked off, mostly over some unfortunate mishaps in love that have left him ready to settle scores. That much is evident from the first notes of the title track, which snarl (guitar), scream (fiddle), and wail (harmonica) as Allan bites off a sarcastic lyric aimed at an old lover trying to patch things up. Easing into a heart-tugging, lost-love ballad, "Best I Ever Had," his plaintive emoting starts at a croon and builds to an anguished cry, augmented by a plush, Beatles-like string quartet arrangement and backup vocals. As that song glides to a close, Allan barely takes a breath before crying out, "I just got back from Hell" -- on a track of the same name -- spitting out a report from heartbreak's far shore, whence he's returning "mad at God and you," atop an eerie, echo-laden arrangement that sounds like Ennio Morricone gone Baroque. Kostas' bright, pop-tinged "Ring" is all twangy guitar, peppy pedal steel flights, and buoyant spirits, until Allan croons a clever lyric describing the utter meaninglessness of the gold band in his life now. "Promise Broken," "Puttin' Memories Away," "Putting My Misery on Display" -- these titles and the accompanying hard-edged music and sentiments indicate that surfer dude Allan is riding a pipeline of revenge and retribution, unmercifully torching feckless lovers and luxuriating in his survival instincts. The silver lining is the beautiful piano-fiddle showcase "Life Ain't Always Beautiful," in which he admits to believing good things will come to pass in time. We'll take him at his word. David McGee

All Music Guide

Gary Allan has been all over the country map since he began recording in 1996. He's made slick Nash Vegas records, hard honky tonk records, and ballad records. With Tough All Over, he's made enough of a mark that he gets to release the album he's wanted to make all along. Evidence is in the title cut, which opens the set. Written by Odie Blackmon and Jim Lauderdale, it's a hard roots rocker in the vein of the Blasters' more adventurous moments, with edgy electric guitars, hard, clipped snare drums, a harmonica, and even a Hammond B-3. Yeah, there's a fiddle here, but it's hardly of consequence. This is rock & roll complete with shaking tambourines. "Just Got Back from Hell," driven simply by a National Steel before the guitars start to roar and the pedal steel and B-3 start to whine and whinny, is a gorgeous country song that keeps its focus on tradition while looking toward the future. The shape-shifting early-'60s rock at the heart of "Ring" (written by Kostas) wouldn't be out of place on an Everly Brothers or Del Shannon record had they used a pedal steel to carry the backdrop of the tune. The Fender Telecaster is trebly and raw and stands in sharp contrast to the slick on-the-spot vocals. But that's not to say that Allan has abandoned the ballads that have made his name; far from it. "Promises Broken," "Life Ain't Always Beautiful," and "What Kind of Fool," with its finger-plucked single banjo line, are tight, full of emotion and romantic pathos. But it's the rockers, which also include the 21st century rockabilly of "Nick Jack Caver" and the roiling, guitar-wailing, Southern rock-driven "He Can't Quit Her," that hold the most attention. The album's closer, "Putting My Misery on Display," begins simply as a ballad and becomes a rock power ballad. Whether the public will receive Allan's offering is another question, but musically and artistically, it's the most consistent -- yet slick -- record he's ever done. Thom Jurek