Commercial country music has become so slick and predictable that when an artist emerges who conveys even the slightest bit of mold-breaking potential, they're name rolls off of the lips of critics like an answered prayer. Missouri-raised siren Sara Evans has that potential, and uses it sparingly on Restless, her fourth record for RCA. The spirited opener, "Rockin' Horse," features fellow crooner Vince Gill on harmony, and impeccable playing from Nashville's finest. "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus" is a lush tale of redemption that sounds like the musical sister to Train's 2001 smash, "Drops of Jupiter." The Celtic-flavored "Restless," the obvious single, is tailor-made to fit in between the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain on any FM station. After these three songs, Evans goes on autopilot, exploring the generic world of crossover country like a Shakespeare scholar in remedial English. She sounds bored. Time crawls from ballad to boogie, until finally reaching the tune "Big Cry." This is an outstanding country-soul hybrid recalling early k.d. lang and a direction that Evans would do well to inspect further. Like fellow producer Mutt Lange, Paul Worley knows how to work the machine, and Restless plays like a Nashville tutorial on the polished, hit-song assembly line. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Astrid Herbold May (Art Direction), Erik Hellerman (Engineer), Matt Chamberlain (Drums), Jim Horn (Horn), David Lyndon Huff (Drum Programming), David Lyndon Huff (Percussion), Wes Hightower (Vocals (Background)), Bob Bailey (Vocals (Background)), Steve Nathan (Keyboards), Eric Darken (Drum Programming), David Lyndon Huff (Shaker), Eric Darken (Percussion), Kim Fleming (Vocals (Background)), John Mayfield (Mastering), Chris McDonald (String Arrangements), Vince Gill (Vocals (Background)), Paige Conners (Production Coordination), Nashville String Machine (Strings), Gary Morse (Guitar (Steel)), Sara Evans (Vocals (Background)), Richard Hanson (Assistant), John Mock (Penny Whistle), Marcus Hummon (Guitar (Acoustic)), Adie Grey (Vocals (Background)), Paul Worley (Guitar (Electric)), Ruby Weiser (Hair Stylist), Bryan Sutton (Banjo), Jonathan Yudkin (Celtic Harp), John Hobbs (Organ (Hammond)), Ashley Evans Simpson (Vocals (Background)), Jerry McPherson (Guitar (Electric)), Sara Evans (Producer), Vanessa Scali (Make-Up), James Darrell Scott (Dobro), Glen Caruba (Percussion), Gary Morse (Dobro), Paul Worley (Guitar (Acoustic)), Barry Green (Horn), Chris McDonald (String Conductor), Clarke Schleicher (Mixing), Erik Hellerman (Digital Editing), Troy Lancaster (Guitar (Electric)), Vicki Hampton (Vocals (Background)), Ashlie Tucker (Vocals (Background)), Mike Poole (Engineer), Astrid Herbold May (Design), James Darrell Scott (Mandolin), Jonathan Yudkin (Cello), John Mock (Concertina), Glenn Worf (Bass), Tom Roady (Percussion), Steve Nathan (Piano), Paul Worley (Producer), Biff Watson (Guitar (Acoustic)), Mike Haynes (Horn), James Darrell Scott (Guitar (Acoustic)), Bryan Sutton (Mandolin), Clarke Schleicher (Engineer), Michael Rhodes (Bass), James Darrell Scott (Bouzouki), Marcus Hummon (Mandolin), Claudia Fowler (Stylist), Aubrey Haynie (Fiddle), J.T. Corenflos (Guitar (Electric)), John Hobbs (Keyboards), Troy Johnson (Vocals (Background)), Erik Hellerman (Assistant)
The lead single "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus" reached number sixteen on the country chart. Despite the rather low chart performance of the lead single the album debuted quite well. It reached number three on the country chart and number twenty on the pop chart selling 44,283 copies in its first week. The follow-up single, "Perfect", fared better and reached number two. "Suds in the Bucket" eventually reached number one on the country charts, making Restless her third consecutive album to contain a number one single. A final single was released, "Tonight", but charted just outside the country top 40.
Track listing
"Rockin' Horse" (Sara Evans, Matt Evans, Marcus Hummon) – 3:58
