I guess it’s a pretty good sign that you’ll have a successful country music career if your debut album makes it to the number one spot on the country charts.
Just goes to show you that Randy Travis was destined for greatness from the very start, and he certainly announced himself to the world with Storms of Life, which was released in June of 1986, and then was number one on the U.S. Top Country albums 37 years ago to the day. At the end of 1987, the project was actually at the top spot on the year-end country charts.
If you call yourself a Randy Travis fan, you’ll certainly recognize some of the tracks from the album. Songs like “On the Other Hand,” “Diggin’ Up Bones,” and “No Place Like Home” lead the way for the Storms of Life on the Hot Country Songs charts, and of course are now considered Randy Travis classics.
“On the Other Hand” reached the number one spot upon its re-release, as did one of my favorite Randy Travis tunes “Diggin’ Up Bones.” The more emotional and slowed down rhythm of “No Place Like” also resonated with country music fans, and reached as high as number two on the charts.
The album also includes “There’ll Always Be a Honky Tonk Somewhere,” which is honestly just a great anthem to live by. Instead of asking Siri “where is live country music near me,” you can just throw this song on and drive around aimlessly until you see a big neon sign with an arrow that says “Honky Tonk.”
And as crazy as it may sound, the album has been around long enough for a remastered version to be released. For Storms of Life‘s 35th anniversary, Travis put out the touched up versions of the original track list in 2021, and then also included three previously unreleased songs (“Ain’t No Use,” Carryin’ Fire,” and “The Wall”).
So on this beautiful Labor Day weekend, go ahead and fire up the songs below.
Hopefully you are soaking in the remaining days of summer doing something outside, and this album happens to pair perfectly with an ice-cold beer (or drink of your choice).
“On The Other Hand”
“Diggin’ Up Bones”
“No Place Like Home”
