When it comes to music, I am a true believer that an album is not worth buying unless I can listen to the album in its entirety without skipping a single track. I am a stickler, music has to make me feel something and it is rare to find an album where each track speaks. On April 4, 2011 while watching the Academy of Country Music’s Girls ‘ Night out: Superstar Women of Country, the Pistol Annie’s made its country music debut, and ultimately changing country music and bringing “girl power” back full swing.
The Pistol Annie’s are composed of three very different, but eerily similar vocal talents consisting of country superstar Miranda Lambert (Lone Star Annie), Ashley Monroe (Hippie Annie), and Angaleena Presley (Holler Annie). The day the Annie’s took the stage on ACM’s Girl’s Night Out, is the day I knew I had to have their album. On August 23, 2011 the Pistol Annie’s debut album Hell on Heels made its way into country music.
The title track, Hell on Heels is the very track that drew me and thousands of others in to the world of the Pistol Annie’s. Women scorned and taking revenge, Hell on Heels takes us on a journey of three women who take revenge and “stick it to them” attitude. This has to be my favorite track from the album. Bringing me to remember, sometimes it takes the bad to get to the good is the next track on the album, Lemon Drop. I love this little quick song, I find myself singing it to myself when I am having a not so great day….remembering that the bad may be the outer layer of something a bit better. Another very memorable track is Bad Example. The rhythm of Bad Example reminds me of early country western “follies” type shows with perfect harmonies reminding us that it doesn’t matter what you do, there is always someone who is going to disapprove and you just have to like what you for what you do and who you are. Rounding out the list of a few of my favorite tracks from the Pistol Annie’s debut album is The Hunter’s Wife. Each year for three months, I am what is called a “hunting season widow”. My husband sights in the gun, puts on the Mossy Oak and heads to the woods. The Hunter’s Wife is an anthem to “hunting season widows” everywhere, spelling out how it is for those three to four months of the year when our men head to the woods to shoot at just about anything they can fry up or put in a stew.
As of this moment, Pistol Annie’s debut album Hell on Heels is sitting at number eight on the Billboard chart and as popular as this group is becoming, they will be number one in no time. This is absolutely my most favorite album of 2011 and I have not ONCE skipped a single track. Listen to it and you will see why.