LeAnn Rimes: Remixed

I have a confession to make: I like LeAnn Rimes and I once owned her album of inspirational songs, titled You Light Up My Life (I don't know how I got past the awful Southern housewife hairstyle on the album cover but I tell myself she was young and didn't know better).  It was a little too gospely for my taste but I was drawn to her powerful voice and some of the songs were indeed inspirational.  It wasn't until her cameo in the 2000 film Coyote Ugly, for which she cast off her good little country girl image (and bad hair), slapped on some eyeliner, a spaghetti top and a tight pair of pants and hopped onto a bar counter to sing Can't Fight the Moonlight,  that she made her mark in the pop world.

Over the years I kind of lost track of Ms Rimes as she disappeared from the charts but she continued to release new music.  Her most recent album, Remnants, was released in 2016.  But the album that got my attention recently was a compilation of remixes of some of her biggest hits, titled Dance Like You Don't Give A...Greatest Hits Remixes.  I'm a sucker for a good remix and the mixes on this album, including the likes of Dave Audé, Kaskade, Digital Dog and 7th Heaven, really elevate her incredible vocals to another level of dance fun.

Some of the standout tracks for me include:

Gasoline And Matches (Dave Audé Remix)
A duet with Rob Thomas (anyone remember Matchbox 20?) is the first track on the album.  You can't go wrong with a Dave Audé mix to get the party started, especially with a catchy chorus like this:
You pull my pin and you trip my wire
Yeah well you come in and set my heart on fire
You knock me out, you rock me off my axis
You and me are gasoline and matches

Crazy Women (7th Heaven Remix)
This song is the epitome of country, with a narrative involving a fed up "borderline bi-polar, bitch with PMS".  But LeAnn turns the tables on men who claim to be victims, maintaining  "crazy women are made by crazy men".

Help Me Make It Through The Night (Fear Of Tigers Remix)
This country ballad was originally written by Kris Kristofferson 1970 and made famous by country singer Sammi Smith.  LeAnn's vocals do justice to the well-known classic while the beat of the remix makes it a fresh and energetic club track.

Can't Fight The Moonlight (Alias Remix)
Several remixes of Can't Fight The Moonlight have made the song popular in clubs around the world over the years and the Alias Remix is one of them.  You can't find the urge to dance and (reminisce about the early 2000s) when you hear it.

How Do I Live (Cahill Remix)
In the US, the original song peaked at number two for five non-consecutive weeks in late 1997 and early 1998 but stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 69 weeks, setting a record at the time.  The ballad was definitely overplayed at the time but the Cahill Remix injects some much-needed life into the hit track.

Strong (Cicada Remix)
Strong was only released as a single in Germany and did not chart in any country but the Cicada Remix adds some dancefloor magic to the empowering anthem.