Under Western Skies is a straight western album that pairs
Rex Allen with Victor Young & His Singing Strings for a dozen songs that are largely free of grit, more like Western-theme film music than traditional fare. The orchestral and choral backing on these melancholy songs creates a dreamy ambience, redolent of nighttime on the trail in a picture-perfect western setting. "Nothin' to Do" features
Allen's virtuoso yodeling, as does "Sky Boss" (briefly), along with the sounds of real cattle. "I'm a Young Cowboy" is one of a few recordings
Allen made of "Streets of Laredo," and he pays tribute to his western forebears on
the Sons of the Pioneers' "At the Rainbow's End." Western music has always idealized and romanticized the west, but
Under Western Skies raises that vision to ethereal heights. ~ Greg Adams