Russ Taff

Item: Winds of Change
Author: Paul Hughes

Winds of Change

(1995)

Reviewed by Paul Hughes

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Label Reunion RecordsThe LighthouseMay 1995

ccm country

Russ Taff's gone country, which means one very important thing: the fellow that Christians of good musical taste have been listening to will be introduced to the world in general. And yet this album is erratic--a bit uneven. Like hiking in the Yorkshires: highs and lows and a bog or two. Still, God laid north-central England down like carpet over a network of caves, and if you take the time to explore them, you may find treasures untold.

And so it is with this record.

As the saying goes, "'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." Taff might agree with that as far as it goes, but if these songs are any indication, he'll have none of it as a philosophy of life--or even of music, which seems close to the same thing for him. Most of the songs on this offering are about love--about Christians being created to love, and never losing it or letting it be lost.

This is what he says in these songs, from the hopeful "One and Only Love," where the departed husband realizes and corrects his mistake to "Love is Not a Thing," where the singer hasn't made the mistake at all, and doesn't plan to anytime soon.

Ah yes, the lows. They're not real low, which is nice. I didn't understand why he re-recorded two songs, "I Cry," and "Winds of Change," which appeared on his 1989 album The Way Home. Good songs, though. "Bein' Happy," struck me as off a bit, as well, especially the ending. Almost like he wasn't sure it should end there.

In the end--and the beginning for that matter--Taff comes down squarely on the side of a sustained, committed, worked-at love on four of the cuts: "I'd Fall in Love Tonight," "Heart Like Yours," "Once in a Lifetime," and "Home to You." That last one even succeeds at being a gritty love song. Grit and Taff go together; I felt like brushing my teeth after a couple of these numbers.

Roughly 20% of radio stations nationwide have a country format--more than any other single musical genre. Good news for people who can't get enough of songs about dogs, honky-tonks, trains, and love.

And even better news for people who can't get enough of Russ Taff.