Following the success of Blue, the album Unchained Melody: The Early Years, a collection of recordings made prior to her breakthrough, was issued.
Considering LeAnn Rimes was only 13 when "Blue" became a hit makes the whole notion of "early years" a tad bizarre, but, in fact, they were recorded when the gal was in her preteen post-moppet stage.
The recordings on this collection, which range from a note-for-note remake of the Whitney Houston version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" to Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" to the Beatles' "Yesterday" and a countrified version of the title track, cover a wide of array of styles, and are all covers, save for the 1980s-sounding "Share My Love." This album is essentially a LeAnn Rimes vocal showcase, as though the young lass had been set loose in a karaoke booth, which results in a record without any sort of real emotion or depth.
Still, it works as something of an oddity, and the vocal chops, considering the source, are nothing less than astounding.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cowboy's SweetheartPatsy Montana | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 02:34 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 2 | I Will Always Love YouDolly Parton | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Blue Moon of KentuckyBill Monroe | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | River of LoveBuddy Blackmon, Vip Vipperman | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 5 | The Rest Is HistoryClay Blaker, Karen Staley | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 6 | Broken Wing | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | YesterdayJohn Lennon, Paul McCartney | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 8 | Sure Thing | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 02:43 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 9 | Share My LoveLeAnn Rimes, Blake Vickers | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 10 | Unchained MelodyAlex North, Hy Zaret | LeAnn Rimes | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 32 mins | 75 MB | |||||
| 32 mins | 198 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Billingsley | Drums |
| 2 | Buddy Blackmon | Composer |
| 3 | Clay Blaker | Composer |
| 4 | Ray Carl | Harmonica |
| 5 | Crista Carnes | Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Perry Coleman | Vocals (Background) |
| 7 | Lisa Criss | Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Milo Deering | Guitar (Steel) |
| 9 | Paul Gaod | Bass, Keyboards |
| 10 | Fred Gleber | Drums |
| 11 | Kelly Glenn | Keyboards |
| 12 | Greg Hunt | Engineer, Mixing |
| 13 | Jimmy Kelly | Keyboards |
| 14 | Gary Leach | Assistant Engineer, Mixing |
| 15 | John Lennon | Composer |
| 16 | Jerry Matheny | Guitar (Electric) |
| 17 | Paul McCartney | Composer |
| 18 | Joy McKay | Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | Mike McLain | Engineer, Keyboards |
| 20 | Glenn Meadows | Mastering |
| 21 | Bill Monroe | Composer |
| 22 | Patsy Montana | Composer |
| 23 | Johnny Mulhair | Assistant Producer, Engineer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Mixing |
| 24 | Whitney Mulhair | Flute |
| 25 | Alex North | Composer |
| 26 | Dolly Parton | Composer |
| 27 | Kayla Powell | Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Curtis Randall | Bass |
| 29 | LeAnn Rimes | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 30 | Wilbur C. Rimes | Mixing, Producer |
| 31 | Chuck Rippey | Fiddle |
| 32 | Bob Smith | Bass |
| 33 | Karen Staley | Composer |
| 34 | Blake Vickers | Composer |
| 35 | Vip Vipperman | Composer |
| 36 | Greg Walker | Assistant Engineer, Assistant Producer, Mixing |
| 37 | Hy Zaret | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |