In May, 2011, Brad Paisley released his 9th studio ablum, "This is Country Music". Filled with light, upbeat tracks "This is Country Music" has already gone #1 on the Country Albums chart and #2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The album begins with the mid-tempo title track hit "This is Country Music", which tells a little bit about what country music is about. A fairly uneventful verse leads into a well-done in every way chorus, which shows off Brad's voice and it's abilities.
It's followed by Paisley's #1 hit "Old Alabama", the upbeat track that's been playing all over the radio over the past weeks. This track describes the singers girlfriend, a southern girl who likes listening to "Old Alabama". In the middle of the track, the band "Alabama" makes a cameo and sings along for the rest of the song. Overall a good track, as the charts have already proved.
"A Man Don't Have To Die" is about a man describing his living hell life, and how "A Man Don't Have to Die to go to Hell". The words of this track are average, with nothing wrong but nothing amazing. The tune and harmonies are very good in this track. "Camoflauge" is upbeat and fun, with a cool tune all the way through. The lyrics are below average, and have no substance in them - completely about a vehicle being painted "Camoflauge".
"Working on a Tan", like "Camoflauge", lacks any substance in the lyrics - all about a girl Working on a Tan, and not "giv[ing] a damn" anything else. But if there's one thing Paisley always gets right, it's chord progressions and tunes - both are great in this track, and his voice shines on the chorus of this track.
"One of those Lives" is an obvious highlight of this album. A great beat starts the song off, with a equally great chord progression entering to accompany Paisley's voice. The lyrics tell of a guy who thinks his day has gone badly, but then finds that a child of a family friend has cancer.
The rest of the album (15 tracks in all) has some good tracks and several collab's with other country artists like Black Shelton and Sheryl Crow. This album shows off Brad's voice and skills when it comes to tune writing and chord progressions - but leave something to be desired with some of the lyris. Overall a great album - and worth any country fan's time!
