Let the Hard Times Roll / Day by Day [Remaster]

McGuffey Lane's four albums for Atco remained out of print and unavailable on CD until Collectors Choice Music released a pair of two-fers in 2006. The second of these, Let the Hard Times Roll/Day by Day, pairs their third and fourth albums, released in 1983 and 1984 respectively. These find the Ohio country-rock band moving further into soft rock territory; by the time of Day by Day they may have been charting higher on the country charts than they ever have, but the music was pretty firmly melodic soft rock in the Southern Californian tradition, tempered with an appealing dose of Midwestern modesty. There's not much separating these two records in terms of sheer sonics: they both were produced by Marshall Morgan, who gives the group a clean, slick sound that still has warmth and soul. Let the Hard Times Roll has a bit stronger country vibe than Day by Day -- it kicks off with the title song, where the steel guitar comes in before the vocals -- and although it fits comfortably alongside Oak Ridge Boys and Billy Sherrill productions of the early '80s, it shares more in its melodic sensibilities and outlook with early Pure Prairie League albums, or the soft rock of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band cut when they lopped off the "Nitty Gritty" from their name. Things get even smoother on Day by Day, but a casual listener hearing these two records as a CD two-fer could be forgiven for thinking that this is one long double-LP, so similar in sound and feel they are, and in quality too. Both of the records are solid through and through, from the workingman's anthem "Making a Living" to the sweet love song "Doing it Right" and the bright, jangly pop "If You Were Mine" on Let the Hard Times Roll, from the lazy, rolling "Day by Day" that kicks off Day by Day to the rock & roll tribute "The Legend" that closes it -- not to mention the light, limber love song "Lorianne" that arrives in the middle -- there's not a bad song on either of these records. It may not be the kind of thing that transcends its genre, but as far as country-tinged soft rock -- or soft rock-country-pop -- from the early '80s, these are strong albums within their genre, and fans of either style will find this two-fer easy to enjoy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine|