- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. In The Jailhouse Now |
| 2. All I Wanted Was A Car |
| 3. Ticks |
| 4. Online |
| 5. Letter To Me |
| 6. I'm Still A Guy |
| 7. Some Mistakes |
| 8. It Did |
| 9. Mr. Policeman |
| 10. If Love Was A Plane |
| 11. Oh Love |
| 12. Better Than This |
| 13. "With You, Without You" |
| 14. Previously |
| 15. Bigger Fish To Fry |
| 16. When We All Get To Heaven |
| 17. Throttleneck |
| 18. Outtake #1 |
| 19. Outtake #2 |
Product Description
Review
Here in the UK country music has been only made occasionally hip when it comes suffused with real roots credentials (cf: Alison Krauss) or as some kind of precursor to punk attitude (alt country's roots in acts like Steve Earle or Lyle Lovett) but the real stuff, that sells in gazillions throughout its homeland can be a step too far. Brad Paisley's 6th album sums this up perfectly. It contains some of the smoothest, slickest and breath-taking playing this side of the Pecos. It's a masterclass in concise, witty and touching songwriting, but lyrically it's a microcosm of smalltown, mid-Western life that probably will leave us cold Northern European types unmoved.
It's difficult to decide as to whether this is a good thing. Or even why this should be less credible than a far more mannered approach to blue collar life as portrayed by someone like Bruce Springsteen. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that Brad Paisley and Alan Jackson actually express a love of their traditions.
For sure songs as defiantly unreconstructed as 'I'm Still A Guy ('When you sees a deer you see Bambi, and I see antlers up on the wall! hell with all of these men lining up to get neutered it's hip now to be feminised. But I don't highlight my hair I've still got a pair. Yeah honey, I'm still a guy') veer wildly onto the wrong side of sexism. On ''Ticks'' he even seems to be comparing his girlfriend to livestock of some sort. Yet it's plain that Paisley's new traditionalism is a far cry from truly redneck fare like Toby Keith. This is, then, true country music: Unashamed of being solidly American yet still suffused with enough humour and skill to lift it out of the ordinary.
Brad's way with an axe is still peerless. ''Throttleneck'' and ''Mr Policeman'' use the album's central 'concept' - cars (and what could symbolise middle America more perfectly?) to give you that Smokey And The Bandit/Dukes Of Hazzard chase scene thrill to great effect.
Elsewhere Brad just does what he does best : cracks wise and barnstorms on his telecaster. Of course there's still room for corn. ''Letter To Me'' has him giving advice to his teenage alter-ego, while ''It Did'' with its references to babies with their momma's eyes etc. will possibly prove too sickly for most of our jaded palettes.
The fact is that this is music never meant for British ears. Paisley's a stadium-filler, yet hardly ever sets foot outside of the USA. He doesn't need to. This motor's not broke, so why fix it? But if you can put your prejudices on hold for an hour you might just find yourself warming to his good natured, down home form of genius. Talent is talent after all! --Chris Jones
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
5th Gear,
By David Jones (North Wales, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 5th Gear (Audio CD)
Brad returns with another good set. There are some great tracks on here, but more than a couple of weak ones too. The opening track, "All I Wanted Was a Car" has No 1 single written all over it - and it shows the uninitiated that Country music isn't about dead dogs at all. The next track is the lead single, "Ticks" - a good melody with patchy lyrics, let down slightly by the image of Brad checking his girl for ticks in a field. "Online", the second single, is one filled with pop culture references track - and went on to be Number 1 - though it could do without the marching band finale.
Next up is "Letter to Me" - this album's "Waitin' On a Woman" - and Brad ponders what it would be like if he could send a letter to himself at seventeen ("Don't worry - these are nowhere near the best years of your life"). "I'm Still a Guy" is a typical Brad song - but nothing special, really - thought the lyrics are witty. "Some Mistakes" is another good track and "It Did" - a rare occasion with a song he didn't write or co-write - tries to squeeze your emotional sponge as hard as it can but falls short because of the simplicity of the words "it did" - but others might like it BECAUSE of it's simplicity. "Mr Policeman" is an up-tempo ditty about Brad getting chased by car and by foot by a policeman - a nice song with endearing innocence and fun. "If Love Was a Plane" however, is a different story. Maybe it's because I've got sixteen tracks to sit through, but I just didn't have time for his one. "Oh Love" features Carrie Underwood. A good track, one Brad didn't write. The verses are very short so Carrie only gets to sing for two lines at a time. "Better than This" is a great song - an up-tempo number about where Brad and his mates are camping out with a fire and a few beers, but insists that camping out is good, but if a coach full of "really good lookin' women" stopped by, or if Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard came to visit then it would be a lot better. OK, when it's summarised i doesn't sound as good but, trust me, it is. "With You, Without You" is a great emotional song where Brad tells his woman that even though she's left him, he can still be in love with her without her. He can just pretend she's out of town for a while. And then we reach the "Kung Poa Buggaroo" part. "Previously" isn't a song, by the way, it's just a few lines of chat. "Bigger Fish to Fry" as the Bugaroos playing and everything is then toned down to a more relaxing pace with the hymn/standard "When We All Get to Heaven". The instrumental, "Throtteneck", closes things. In all, a very good album, worthy of three stars, but not as good as "Mud On the Tires" or "Time Well Wasted". If you're new to Brad, check out the latter first. As of January 2009, there have been four consecutive Number 1 singles from this album, having him score ten Number 1s in ten years. If he was as continually consistent like he was on his previous work, there is no doubt Brad Paisley will go down in Country Music history as one of the greats.
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AMAZING!!,
By
This review is from: 5th Gear (Audio CD)
I love this album1!! It's so awesome! If you love good country, a bit of nice slow love songs, and a great laugh GET THIS!!!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great stuff!,
This review is from: 5th Gear (Audio CD)
The first track I ever heard of Brad's was 'Ticks' (found here) and it's combination of humour and great musicianship had me hooked. I have since picked up much of his back catalogue, but I keep coming back to 5th Gear. For me, 'Ticks', 'Online' and 'I'm still a guy' stand out, but, although it is an oft used comment, there really is no filler here. To paraphrase Ralph Maccio in 'Crossroads' (the proper one) 'that boy can play'!
Excellent.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
