“In a Real Love”
Phil Vassar
Written by Phil Vassar and Craig Wiseman
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
October 29 – November 5, 2004
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
November 6 – November 13, 2004
Country music didn’t fell apart at the seams right away.
It was a slow process over this decade before the bottom fell out completely, and it began with letting the seams show at all.
”In a Real Love” has some excellent craftsmanship. It’s one of Vassar’s best produced records, with perhaps the best showcase of both his signature piano licking and his lyrical specificity.
It is carefully designed to hit the same buttons as classics like “Livin’ On Love” and the more recent “The Good Stuff” without earning it through the songwriting.
Vassar sells the hell out of it with his intense performance, but because the song doesn’t actually go anywhere beyond stating some basic events – we fell in love, then you got pregnant – it all adds up to little more than, “Life! Am I right, folks?”
Of course falling in love is transformative, and so is having your first child. But we never see the transformational impact. We just get platitudes about love delivered in rapid fire succession, banking on overwhelming the listener by moving so fast you miss the lack of detail and emotional heft.
Vassar was skilled enough of an artist to make the illusion stick if you didn’t pay attention too closely. Lesser talents wouldn’t be able to keep up the facade. It’s a pleasant enough record, but also a harbinger of things to come.
“In a Real Love” gets a C.
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