Country legend Willie Nelson seemed searching the early years of the new millennium. He took part in several remarkable collaborative projects - from reggae group the Maytals to hard rockers Bon Jovi - but his own career was in danger of stagnating. "With every new song I write, I feel like I've written it before," Nelson said in an interview. This album therefore contains only three songs written
… by himself, of which the title track in particular is a nice song. For the rest of the album, he drew on material from others. Since Willie Nelson is a skilful interpreter of other people's songs, that is no problem at all. On the contrary, It Always Will Be is a pleasant, high-quality listening record, with a single uptempo foray into rockabilly (Big Booty) and boogie woogie (I Didn't Come Here), keeping attention everywhere. In places where Nelson's somewhat limited voice threatens to get boring, there are duets with his daughter Paula Nelson, Norah Jones and Lucinda Williams. With the hard rocking Midnight Rider, all the stops open at the last minute. (MS)more
