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17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Dolly's done it again Aug 14, 2002
Dolly Parton has had a slew of creative success behind her past few albums, so its no surprise once again she's turned in a commanding performance on HALOS AND HORNS her newest offering. The album opens with the title track, which has excellent harmony vocals. The album has interesting concepts, for one she covers two well known songs: Bread's "If" and Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven". As well two of her own past hits get retreatment, "What a Heartache" and "Shattered Image". The remaining 10 songs are all brand new, and some of her most inspired. "Hello God" recalls 9/11 and offers peace, "These Old Bones" has Dolly role playing, "I'm Gone" is a fun quirky leave-your-man kind of song. The album's first single and video is "Dagger Through the Heart", and Dolly does heartbreak well. Overall HALOS AND HORNS is another winner, so be sure to add it to your collection.
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Dolly at her best Jul 15, 2002
By James
I must say this album blew me away. I listened to the first track "Halos and Horns" and had to play it again. I did that on every song, and thought I'm never going to get to the end of this album cause it's all so good. I think I played "Hello God" three times. When I finally finished the cd I was amazed at it's depth. It made me laugh on "These Old Bones" and "I'm Gone". I nearly cried on "Hello God" and "Not for Me". I got chills on "Raven Dove" and "Stairway to Heaven," which is a standout as "Shine" was on the awesome Little Sparrow released last year. If this project doesn't award her another grammy I will be shocked. Halos and Horns incorporates the splendor of Hungry Again, Heartsongs, The Grass is Blue and Little Sparrow all into one disc. Dolly's vocals are breathtaking as she soars over the bluegrass, gospel and traditional country numbers with ease. "Dagger Through the Heart" is Dolly at her vocal best. This disc far surpasses Oh Brother Where Art Thou and also tops her last two masterpieces. I've lisened to this cd so much in the last six days, and I love it even more now. This is the best country or bluegrass cd in a long time. I rank it as her best work and that is saying a lot as I have loved her since the early 80's.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent album Oct 13, 2002
By The Pete
"Haloes and Horns" continues where "Little Sparrow" left off. However, to Parton's credit, she doesn't retread the last CD. There's a bit more production going on here, and the tone is less spare than "Little Sparrow". Also, she successfully experiments with gospel flavors on several tracks, notably "Dear God", which sounds like it might have been written in response to 9/11. As for the cover of "Stairway to Heaven", when I heard she'd done one I thought she must've flipped her lid. Didn't she learn anything from Madonna doing "American Pie"? Boy, was I wrong! Besides really claiming the song for bluegrass, she alters the lyrics a bit - as if just covering this classic weren't tempting fate enough - and 'makes you wonder' why you ever doubted her ability to make the song her own. What she holds over from the last CD is her ability to cover the total emotional spectrum, from the depths of sorrow ("Not For Me") to take-this-relationship-and-shove-it bravado ("I'm Gone"). This is especially impressive this time out because Parton writes almost every song on this album and produces it all as well. She's obviously been riding a creative high for a few years now and pumping out a top notch effort every year. If "Haloes and Horns" is any indication, she shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Thank God For Dolly Jul 10, 2002
By J. M. Zuurbier
Dolly Parton will always remain my favorite singer. I think she possesses unique qualities, her voice is so poignant and beautiful, and her style of songwriting is so endearing and beautiful. I was really impressed with HALOS AND HORNS. It's useless to compare this to LITTLE SPARROW or THE GRASS IS BLUE, this one stands on its own as they both also do. This is the first album that Dolly produced on the own. She wrote all the tracks, except the two tracks that she covered. This time she took the liberty of covering Bread's "If" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". I think she offers a unique twist on these classics. As well she gives two of her past songs a new twist, "What A Heartache" and "Shattered Image" both get a revamped sound, very nice. Then we have 10 brand new tracks, or at least the first we've heard of them. The terribly sad "Not For Me" was actually written by Dolly about 35 years ago when she first arrived in Nashville, its a heart wrenching song, a definite highlight. "If Only" was originally going to be used for the Mae West movie she was going to star in, but they didn't want it, so she used it here, great track. The slated first single and video is planned to be "I'm Gone", a tongue in cheek song about a woman leaving her man. "John Daniel" and "These Old Bones" are classic country, done Dolly style. "These Old Bones" has Dolly singing in her mother's voice. Interesting twist. "Hello God" was a song written after 9/11, a beautiful song, one of the best on the CD. "Sugar Hill" was a song Dolly wrote after thinking of her record label's name. The musicians on this album come from Dolly's new road band. Overall HALOS AND HORNS is a great CD, classic Dolly all around. This is one CD to look out for this year, once again Dolly does not disapoint.
13 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Good Golly Miss Dolly! Jul 11, 2002
By Bryan Emler
After 35 years in the business and over 50 albums to her credit, Dolly Parton comes up with one of the best albums of her career with her latest release, "HALOS AND HORNS". Not being a huge fan of bluegrass, I was totally blown away by this record. The haunting vocals, superior songwriting, and outstanding musical arrangements on this CD, combine to create on wicked CD! As the CD plays on, you totally forget that you are listening to bluegrass! Few artists are able to accomplish this feat. Dolly really shows off her songwriting and vocal ability on the stand-out track "These Old Bones". What begins as a humorous novelty song, soon takes a tragic turn and Dolly delivers a powerhouse performance with some purpose. This story song is very reminicent of her earlier works like "Me And Little Andy", "Joshua", and "The Coat Of Many Colors". Dolly also proves that she is not afraid to cover some of the most popular songs in pop culture, by tackling Led Zepplin's "Stairway To Heaven" and Bread's "If". Not only is Dolly fearless with these two tracks, she delivers versions that I find superior to the originals. It doesn't take long for Dolly to show her horns and sense of humor on this particular CD. With the tracks "Sugar Hill" and "I'm Gone", you get vintage Dolly Parton, performing songs that will surely put a smile on your face! Never failing to show her spiritual side, Ms. Parton rounds out this collection with the musically sound and lyricly beautiful tracks "Hello God" and "Raven Dove". If you've ever liked Dolly Parton and purchased one of her records, now is the time to re-discover her all over again. You will NOT be disappointed.
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