Under Western Skies

AMG Review of Under Western Skies

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

Under Western Skies is a straight western album that pairs Rex Allen with Victor Young & His Singing Strings for a dozen songs that are largely free of grit, more like Western-theme film music than traditional fare. The orchestral and choral backing on these melancholy songs creates a dreamy ambience, redolent of nighttime on the trail in a picture-perfect western setting. "Nothin' to Do" features Allen's virtuoso yodeling, as does "Sky Boss" (briefly), along with the sounds of real cattle. "I'm a Young Cowboy" is one of a few recordings Allen made of "Streets of Laredo," and he pays tribute to his western forebears on the Sons of the Pioneers' "At the Rainbow's End." Western music has always idealized and romanticized the west, but Under Western Skies raises that vision to ethereal heights.