I Wish I Was Big
Al Anderson
After Hours
(Legacy/)
Normally four solo albums in 48 years would not a career make, unless what you do in the meantime adds up.
“Big Al” Anderson spent two decades in NRBQ and has had songs covered by Vince Gill, Tim McGraw, and any number of country stars. But by almost habitually avoiding the spotlight — nearly true to the album/years ratio, After Hours is his first since ’96 — he’s only slightly better known than that guy in Dwight Yoakam’s early bands. Of course, conspiring to obscure After Hours is a preference for middling arrangements. In the right hands, “Better Word For Love” and the toe-tapping shuffle of “In My Dreams” could be sizable hits. But Anderson has no flair for it, insisting on playing straight through to the next. Ain’t no harm in it, but ain’t no glory, neither.
— Steve Forstneger
