"Feels So Right" by Alabama (1981)

View the Premise & Ground Rules for Revisiting Vinyl

"That old flame might not be stronger, but it's been burning longer than any spark I might have started in your eyes."

Key Tracks:
Love in the First Degree, Hollywood, Old Flame, Woman Back Home

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:
Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

My parents love to tell the following story... When I was three, I went to church for the first time.  The Sunday school teacher asked the class if anyone had a verse or a song they would like to share.  At which point, I raised my hand and delivered a rousing chorus of Nick Glider's Hot Child in the City.

I don't remember that.

My earliest musical memories don't kick in until a few years later.  I was five when Love in the First Degree and Old Flame came out.  Those are among the first songs I can remember hearing on the radio when they were new - experiencing them for the first time at the same time as my parents.  I remember those songs specifically because of how much I liked them.

Obviously, I had no clue what they were about (love being compared to capital crime and the politics of exes), I just knew that I liked the way they made me feel and they were fun to sing along with.  Two decades later, I find myself returning to those simplistic criteria.

But what about the nostalgia filter?  How do those songs hold up when heard by much more sophisticated ears?  Well, they're still a lot of fun to sing along with.  And, to borrow a line from an Alabama song, that's close enough to perfect for me.

So, is it an album?  Yes.  This time they strike a perfect balance between pop and country.

Up next, we spin an LP I mentioned in my first ever entry for this blog.  Break out the face paint, it's "Alive!" by Kiss.