“Beautiful Mess”
Diamond Rio
Written by Sonny LeMaire, Clay Mills, and Shane Minor
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
September 27, 2002
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
September 28 and October 12, 2002
It’s remarkable to hear how veteran artists were able to use fresh production approaches to elevate stale material.
“Beautiful Mess” is a paint by numbers rewrite of Carolyn Dawn Johnson’s “I Don’t Want You to Go,” which had been a hit the previous year. The verses have lines that aren’t long enough for the melody, and that encourages Marty Roe and company to get very creative with their harmonies.
It’s the most purely pop hit the band ever had, and it is so fun to listen to that it overcomes the weakness of the material. They created organized chaos in the studio and it presented as a beautiful mess.
They’ve got another No. 1 hit on deck, which will be their final big hit on country radio. It’s up next.
“Beautiful Mess” gets a B+.
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It’s amazing how well Diamond Rio adapted to the shift back to a more pop sound in the early noughties without changing producers or ever using any side musicians at any point. Their professionalism (not to mention their harmonies!) make almost all their records highly entertaining. And I think it’s that ability to adapt that always made this one so compelling to me.