Mickey Gilley
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Mickey Gilley recorded the ten songs that comprise Invitation Only in 1991, a few years after he left Epic and about ten years after his commercial peak, but the sessions stayed on the shelf until Varese's release of the album in the spring of 2003. It wasn't just that this particular album was left behind; Gilley effectively abandoned the idea of being an active recording artist during the '90s, and he didn't cut another album during the decade. So, this album, which would have followed his last proper studio album by only three years, now appears 15 years later, re-produced by Matthew Miles to make it a little more modern...but only a little, since this record is firmly within the post-urban cowboy, mature country-pop tradition; it would have sounded dated if it appeared in 1991 or 1992. All this means is that Invitation Only is ballad-heavy -- in the liner notes, Gilley recalls that "Conway Twitty once told me to find tunes the ladies love," and he takes that advice to heart -- and the production is soft and hazy, playing up Gilley's considerable abilities as a crooner. If the production is a little too clean and the song selection a little unadventurous, it's nevertheless professionally done and appealing in its own MOR way, and when the tempo is varied a little -- when he treads into mild Jerry Lee territory on "Sadly Ever After" or goes mildly tropical on "I Didn't Know Your Memory Loved Jamaica" -- it's a nice change of pace. All in all, it's a good, solid listen. Not a lost classic by any means, but after years without any new Gilley whatsoever, it's good to hear him again. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Tracks:
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