Road Between (Hollywood, 2014)

It's fascinating to hear how much more country Lucy Hale sounds once Joe Nichols sings along with her during their duet, "Red Dress." For the most part, though, actress/singer Hale sounds like countless other mainstream female artists, which is mainstream country generic. Listening to "Road Between" makes one especially appreciate female singers like Miranda Lambert and Reba - ones that can't ever quite get the twang out of their singing voices.

Vocalists like Hale could just as well be Demi Lovato or any of the other pop divas with only slightly differing song arrangements. None of these non-descript songs either thrill or offend, whether Hale is singing a coming of age song, the way she does with "From the Backseat" or feeling conflicted, as she is for "Lie A Little Better."

However, there's a bit of cognitive dissonance emitted with "Kiss Me." On the one hand, Hale is trying to sound oh so come hither-y in order to get a guy to plant one on her, yet her voice sounds kinda angry. In other words, she doesn't sound all that kiss-able. Hey, but at least it's a track that gets your attention, albeit for all the wrong reasons. In the end, this album will reach young females and possibly bring a few more of 'em into the country music mainstream fold.