Album Review: Linda Davis – ‘Shoot For The Moon’

Linda Davis released her third album Shoot To The Moon in the wake of the massive success of “Does He Love You.” It was her first of two releases for Arista Nashville.

The album employed the technique of maximizing exposure from a superstar collaboration, a ploy that honestly never works (just ask Ashley Monroe and Cassidee Pope). The album was a modest hit for Davis, though, peaking at #28.

I’ll be honest and say I only had access to have the album’s tracks courtesy of YouTube, which I’ll be using to assess the project. I dislike making that admission, but the record has yet to be made available digitally.

Lead single “Company Time” is an enjoyable uptempo number written and previously recorded by Mac McAnally. The song tells the story of an employee facing a reprimand by her boss. It’s good, but lacks punch and feels weak for a track so upbeat. t unsurprisingly stalled at #46.

The second and final single “Love Didn’t Do It” is a much stronger song and far more inviting than its predecessor. Going back and watching the video, it’s hilarious how much Arista was attempting to morph Davis into Reba McEntire, with the hair ‘jacked to Jesus’ performing to an arena crowd with one of those microphones on her head. The “live” video is entertaining but a bit presumptuous. The track stalled at #48.

Speaking of McEntire, Shoot for the Moon includes a cover of “He’s In Dallas,” which comes from For My Broken Heart. I’ve always loved Davis’ natural twang and she shines here perfectly.

“When You Took Your Love Away” is a nice rootsy surprise that breaks up the somewhat AC-leaning aspects of the album. I love the heavy dose of mandolin and dobro.

The final of the five songs, “In Pictures,” is best known as the title cut from Alabama’s 1995 release. They released as a pretty successful single. I’m not sure how many people know Davis’ version of it, but it was included as one of the seven previously released songs on her 1998 I’m Yours album, which is how I got to know it.

The track tells the story of a father estranged from the mother of his child. He does his best to support them from afar and as a reward has to watch his child grow up through photographs and thus miss all the important milestones:

He missed her first steps

Her first words

And “I love you daddy” is something he seldom heard.

Oh, it hurts him so…

To watch his girl grow…

Up in Pictures

Davis’ vocal on the song is a revelation. You can hear the ache in her throat as she sings the tune, especially the final verse. It’s a record for the ages.

From what I heard of Shoot On The Moon, this is a fabulous album. I can see why it didn’t make her a star — the songs just didn’t have that extra radio friendly punch Davis’ needed to push her over the top. But she always had the goods, that much is true.

Grade: A-