Have You Forgotten?

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineDarryl Worley started to gain a larger audience in 2002 when his second album, I Miss My Friend, brought him to the top of the country charts. So, even if he was on a career upswing prior to the release of Have You Forgotten? in 2003, it doesn't make this album and its title song feel any less than an opportunistic stab at riding war fever and patriotism toward superstardom. Consider this: Have You Forgotten? contains a seemingly generous 16 songs, but when the details are dissected, it becomes apparent that there are six songs apiece from Worley's first two albums, 2000's A Hard Rain Don't Last and 2002's I Miss My Friend, which constitute half of each record. That means that there are merely four new songs here, three of which are war-related (the other finds the singer stating "I Need a Breather," wishing he was wasting away in a Margaritaville, since he needs a break from "this angry boss man" -- he sure does "got some ways that the world don't agree with," apparently). Worley goes out of his way to align himself with the red, the white, and the blue, standing in front of the stars and stripes on the front cover and posing with troops on the back. Then, of course, there's "Have You Forgotten?," where Worley cheerfully flaunts his ignorance of international politics in a flag-waving fervor. ...