Every Road Leads Back to You is a live album and concert video by country pop singer Juice Newton. It was released as both a DVD and two-disc CD by Image Entertainment in 2002. The concert consists of Newton and her band performing many of her hits along with new songs. As a bonus four new studio recordings are included on the second disc of the CD release. The DVD contains these songs as audio-only tracks and also includes some interviews with Newton and her band members.
Newton returned to recording in 1997 with The Trouble With Angels, an album made up largely of re-recordings of her earlier hits.[3] She followed two years later with American Girl, which consisted of new material. Of the latter music critic Charlotte Dillon stated "Newton's husky voice puts an original touch to each tune, sure to please both new and old fans. An album worth having."[4]
The concert also presented four new songs previously unrecorded by Newton. "Your Heart Is Showing" was presented as the opening number while the title track, "Every Road Leads Back to You", and "Love Is Still Alive and Well" were presented in the concert and also as a bonus studio tracks. The concert's closing track "It's Late" was performed as an a cappellaencore.[9]
The DVD
The DVD of Every Road Leads Back to You was released by Image Entertainment in 2002. The concert is presented in 18 tracks with the first listed as "Opening" and the last as "End Credits". The 16 tracks in between form the body of the concert. The bonus material included in the DVD consists of four interview segments ("Growing Up", "On the Road", "Song Writing", and "Influences and Excitement") and four audio only studio tracks ("Love Is Still Alive and Well", "If I Could I Would", "Every Road Leads Back To You", and "Your Heart Is Showing"). "Love Is Still Alive and Well" is also presented in video form as a concert outtake.[9]
Critical reception
In his review of the CD release of the album music critic Gregory McIntosh stated:
Every Road Leads Back to You marks another yet another collection wrapped around the '80s hits of Juice Newton, but these versions are re-recorded and a few of her biggest hits are presented here as sections of a pair of medleys instead of being self-contained. This makes Every Road Leads Back to You an interesting study for those who already have the original hit recordings, but not a necessity since the performances lack any sort of convincing deviation from the originals nor are they quite as spirited. Many other collections have been offered up of higher quality, most notably Juice Newton's Greatest Hits (And More) issued by Capitol, which has been the benchmark of Newton anthologies for several years running.[10]
However the reviewer for DVDnet was more positive about the album and DVD by stating:
Juice Newton – Every Road Leads Back To You is a concert performance by a very talented artist in her prime. Covering an array of songs from her many albums and featuring a selection from her new release of the same name as this disc, she ably demonstrates her obvious talent as a singer. Like most people unfamiliar with the music of Juice Newton, I was fully expecting a non-stop show of country and western tracks. Yes, there are a number of country tunes, but there are also songs that show her obvious influences from folk and rhythm and blues music.[11]
