Worley's self-titled effort begins optimistically enough with "Awful Beautiful Life," a microcosm of life's joys, frustrations, and sorrows that he co-wrote with Harley Allen. It and the throwaway "Was It Good for You" cover the upbeat side. Otherwise, this is a dour, dark collection fraught with shattered relationships, occasional violence, death, and alcohol-soaked pessimism. The album's war song, "If Something Should Happen," personalizes overseas troops' anxiety about family at home. Clever arrangements mesh with Worley's flawless performances, particularly the sparse New Orleans-flavored "Work and Worry," a clever cautionary about laboring oneself into the grave. "If It Hadn't Been For Love," the lament of a stalker who went too far, is both lyrically and musically foreboding. Worley clearly doesn't see patriotism merely in terms of flag-waving. He co-wrote "Wake Up America," which graphically laments small-town America's raging hard-drug epidemic. Given radio's continuing obsession with upbeat, flippant fluff, it's to his credit he eschewed rose-colored glasses to focus on what Porter Wagoner once called "The Cold Hard Facts of Life." --Rich Kienzle

In December 2002, country singer Darryl Worley traveled with the USO to Afghanistan, arriving home on Christmas Eve. Two days later, he collaborated with songwriter Wynn Varble on "Have You Forgotten?," a 9/11-themed call to battle that emotionally evokes the falling Twin Towers, the ruined Pentagon, and the heroes in a Pennsylvania field, even as it takes a giant leap in equating Bin Laden with Saddam Hussein. The single became an instant hit on radio, which meant Worley needed an album to go with it. The problem was, he had only a couple of new songs, including "I Will Hold My Ground." And so DreamWorks reprised six songs from Worley’s 2000 debut album, Hard Rain Don’t Last, and another half-dozen from his 2002 CD, I Miss My Friend, to form this collection. As with new songs "Shiloh" and "I Will Hold My Ground," most of the recycled songs ("POW 369," "Those Less Fortunate Than I") fit the pro-war mood or take on new interpretations in light of world events. No matter what your political bent, this compilation showcases the twangy West Tennessean as a honky-tonk master very much in the vein of Merle Haggard--even if he lacks the Hag’s irony and understatement in matters of war. --Alanna Nash

HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? - DVD Movie

In December 2002, country singer Darryl Worley traveled with the USO to Afghanistan, arriving home on Christmas Eve. Two days later, he collaborated with songwriter Wynn Varble on "Have You Forgotten?," a 9/11-themed call to battle that emotionally evokes the falling Twin Towers, the ruined Pentagon, and the heroes in a Pennsylvania field, even as it takes a giant leap in equating Bin Laden with Saddam Hussein. The single became an instant hit on radio, which meant Worley needed an album to go with it. The problem was, he had only a couple of new songs, including "I Will Hold My Ground." And so DreamWorks reprised six songs from Worley’s 2000 debut album, Hard Rain Don’t Last, and another half-dozen from his 2002 CD, I Miss My Friend, to form this collection. As with new songs "Shiloh" and "I Will Hold My Ground," most of the recycled songs ("POW 369," "Those Less Fortunate Than I") fit the pro-war mood or take on new interpretations in light of world events. No matter what your political bent, this compilation showcases the twangy West Tennessean as a honky-tonk master very much in the vein of Merle Haggard--even if he lacks the Hag’s irony and understatement in matters of war. --Alanna Nash