SHeDaisy
The Best of SHeDaisy
Few acts in modern country music have been as unfairly maligned as SHeDaisy. This trio of sisters are are often villified for their pop-drenched country, but what’s overlooked is just how well-crafted it is. Their innovative production and cleverly layered harmonies aside, what has made SHeDaisy truly distinctive is excellent songwriting, anchored by one of the sisters themselves, Kristyn Osborn.
This year’s collection The Best of SHeDaisy offers a solid introduction to the underrated vocal group. Included are all but one of their hits to date, including four from their double platinum debut, The Whole SHeBang. The hits from that set remain their biggest, if not necessarily their best. They earned a Grammy nomination for their first release, “Little Good-Byes”, and also scored high on the charts with “This Woman Needs” and “I Will…But.”
But the collection gets a lot more interesting when it moves on to selections from their later albums, most notably a pair of hits from their strongest set to date, 2002’s Knock on the Sky. “Get Over Yourself” and “Mine All Mine” are the most ambitious cuts on the collection, and are a good representation of that album’s unconventional twist on pop-country.
A trio of singles from their third album, the gold-selling Sweet Right Here, helped them reclaim some of their former glory at country radio, with the self-deprecating “Don’t Worry ‘Bout a Thing” returning them to the top ten. Even better are a pair of hits from their most recent studio set, Fortuneteller’s Melody, which featured a more organic sound than their previous work. Particularly notable is “In Terms of Love”, a post-divorce reflection that is brutally, bitingly honest.
While the collection is augmented with their contribution to the Desperate Housewives soundtrack “God Bless the American Housewife” and excludes only one of their singles (“Still Holding Out For You”), the thirteen tracks go by a little to quickly. The set would have benefited from a choice selection of album cuts, or perhaps a tune or two from their stunningly good Christmas set, Brand New Year. But as is, The Best of SHeDaisy is a solid and representative introduction to a band that is far better than they’re usually given credit for.
AMEN. It’s so sad that their two best albums, Knock On The Sky and Fortuneteller’s Melody are the two albums that were ignored the most. “Mine All Mine” is such an amazing song that it’s a crime it was ignored and them shafted.
I can’t wait for their album this coming march.
Wow, a SheDaisy review on here? They’ve been unfairly maligned for being too pop country? Have people her Rascal Flatts lately? These girls are more country than some of the biggest acts in the genre right now. Of course I know they are a bit more pop, it’s really the harmonies that makes these girls some of my favorite in the genre. I don’t have this album but I heard it and yes it was a pretty good best of. I too wish they had some songs from their Christmas Album, especially the title track which is great anytime during the year.
Thanks for reviewing this one Kevin. Can’t wait till they get some new stuff since I love listening to Fortunetellers Melody.
I agree with Chris here, it was sad to see Knock On The Sky and Fortunteller’s Melody get ignored as they were their best albums… Hopefully their next one is good and gets them back on the radio I’ll bu almost anything they put out.
I agree too – Knock on the Sky is beautiful! “Mine all mine” is pure ear-candy imo. Fortuneteller’s Melody was really good too, I was shocked that none of the singles did that well on the charts.
Lub
The only album of theirs of heard is Fortuneteller’s Medley, which I really like. I’ll be sure to check out this collection.
Please…refrain from bringing anymore of the RF pop/country debate into this discussion…I’m begging! RF is JUST as country as any act out right now and if you want to call them “pop” they are right up with there with Sugarland, Kenny, Carrie, and any other act in the genre right now. Shedaisy is a very talented group, and it is a shame they don’t get more attention…
I think what has always been SHeDaisy’s undoing is their timing: Because their debut arrived just over a year after The Dixie Chicks’ Wide Open Spaces broke, they were unfairly dismissed as a mere knockoff act, and I don’t think they were ever really able to overcome that first impression.
Which is a shame, really, because they do represent one of the select handful of examples of how pop-country can be done very, very well. Sure, they skew heavily toward the “pop” half of that style, but their song structures and production show a great command of pop conventions that entirely too many of the “country” acts of the late 90s – 2000s simply lack. I don’t know how many of their singles were actually pushed to Adult Top 40 radio, but I’d argue that most of them probably should have been: They were (and presumably still are) a terrific singles act even after radio cooled on them.
I’ve always liked this group, especially their last three albums. The writing is great and often clever and their harmonies benefit from the family bond. Like Jonathan said, I think while they definitely lean toward pop sounds, they are a great example of how it should be done. I’m glad they’re still plugging along and I fully intend to continue to support their career.
Also Jonathan, they were formed before the Dixie Chicks, they had been a band since they were very young. They just had trouble getting a good record deal and getting an album out, so the Dixie Chicks technically copied them.
I also like them because their music is always clean, meaning no cussing or explicit stuff. They’re also mormon so I like them for that too. (I sill manage to dislike David Archuleta though…)
It’s a tremendous stretch to say that the Chicks copied SHeDaisy, given that they’d already put out three regional albums with a different lead singer. (Granted, the albums weren’t particularly good, but still.) The Chicks would’ve had no idea SHeDaisy even existed when they were working on Wide Open Spaces.
I know, it was more of a joke that SHeDAISY did have the idea before the Chicks were big. I should have put technically in quotation marks, my bad.
I’m startled to find that this act had enough hits to warrant a “Best Of” album.
I’ll probably pick up this album, as SheDaisy had enough going for them to make them interesting, although I do not regard them as essential listening
David Archuleta has a great voice but i do think that it is not the best voice~*`