The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Now Hear This! (1990)

♫

"Now Hear This!" was a cassette only release by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and only sold at their concerts. Close on the heels of their
"Heart Of The Country" and "Modern History" albums, this actually doubles 6 tracks of those albums. Which leaves us with 4 tracks unknown up till that time. "Hilltop Girl", "There Ought To Be A Law", Gonna Buy Me A Car" and "Flame Of Laredo". All good stuff. This version features two bonus track: "Dreams" and "Better Days". Quality overall is pretty good. And the music is as good as ever. I had this provided to me by both Holger and Mark; thanks guys! OMD was always one of the finer bands on the Country side of Southern Rock. In my opinion. Which is one that counts here ;-) Now hear this!

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Modern History (1989)

♫

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "Modern Day" from 1989 consists mostly of songs previously released on "Heart Of The Country" from 1987. It misses "Give 'Em My Number" and "Fishin' In The Dark". Instead here we get "Love Is Calling", "True Love" and "Over Again". 11 songs instead of 10, two missing and three added. The three new songs are all very similar in style to the rest of "Heart Of The Country", so now you can combine both. Source here, however, is a CD. So no crackle here. Added bonus. All rather slick Country Rock, but well performed. No match to the older albums, still very enjoyable though. And a nice version of Russell Smith's "Lonely Knight". But I do wish they would heatin' up...

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Heart Of The Country (1987)

♫

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were always slightly more on the Country Rock side of Southern. And maybe therefore being dismissed as lightweight, not worth investigating. But the OMD made some pretty exciting albums in the 70's. And then came the 80's. Like any other Southern Rock band around that time, time came for a change (for the worse, if you ask me). And The Ozark Mountain Daredevils also embraced that clean, lifeless musical approach. This album sounds at time like Jackson Browne's "Lives In The Balance", productionwise that is. "Heart Of The Country" has some good songs. But there are also a couple of embarrassing tracks featured here, which is mostly because of the sterile 80's production. Which is making the record sound terribly dated, and not aging well... Not my favorite OMD record (which is "The Car Over The Lake Album" from 1975), but it's a nice addition for any OMD fan. Wilder Days?