review

Luke Bryan: ‘Tailgates & Tanlines’

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Luke Bryan has been going full steam ahead since he burst onto the country music scene in 2007 with his debut hit “All My Friends Say.” With six Top 10 hits (three of which were No. 1 singles), and two hit albums under his belt, Bryan delivers his third album Tailgates & Tanlines, which solidifies his place among the best of today’s country male vocalists.

Bryan co-wrote eight of the thirteen new tracks with some of Nashville’s most celebrated heavy-hitters (Rhett Akins, Josh Kear, Dallas Davidson), including the hit “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” which has saturated airwaves, becoming Bryan’s fastest-rising single to date. The lead-off track, which surely everyone has heard by now, has prompted country girls to shake it collectively over the long, hot summer.

Bryan’s voice is in peak form and has never sounded better than on the mid-tempo “I Know You’re Gonna Be There,” which is about plucking up the courage to face an ex-lover. “I’m gonna put on my new shirt, shine up these old boots/Take a deep breath, try to keep my cool,” the Georgia native confesses in his endearing and distinctive southern drawl.

“All we do right is make love/And we both know now that ain’t enough,” Bryan sings on the upbeat “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” Written by Bryan with Shane McAnally and album producer Jeff Stevens, this country rocker is a real knockout that sounds ready to burst onto the airwaves and race up the charts.

Tailgates & Tanlines is, for the most part, exactly what the title implies: a soundtrack for fun and sun, along with an instantaneous cure for the summertime blues. However, it’s the moments when Bryan digs deeper, such as on Radney Foster’s emotionally-charged “I Knew You That Way” and the somber “You Don’t Know Jack,” warning against the dangers of alcohol abuse, when he really shines. These brief instants trump the fluffier material and hint at the kind of greatness Bryan is capable of delivering on future albums.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Brad Paisley: ‘This Is Country Music’

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Brad Paisley’s ninth studio album, This Is Country Music, is the most consistent offering from start to finish of his 12-year career. Despite numerous guest appearances (including Don Henley, Alabama, Clint Eastwood, and features duets with Carrie Underwood and Blake Shelton), the fact that Paisley is the star of the show is a true testament to his distinctive musical identity.

Starting off with the first two singles “This Is Country Music” (the previous number two hit), and “Old Alabama” (his Alabama homage and seventeenth number one single), the album immediately lives up to its name. The latter song includes snippets of some of country group Alabama’s best known hits, as well as guest vocals by band members Randy Owen, Jeff Cook and Teddy Gentry, while the title track includes such lyrics as “You’re not supposed to say the word cancer in a song/And telling folks that Jesus is the answer can rub ‘em wrong/But this is country music and we do/So turn it on and turn it up and sing along.”

The album’s tone is set by the two aforementioned hits and continues throughout, as evidenced in the Rivers Rutherford penned “A Man Don’t Have to Die,” where Paisley sings “It’s payments that you can’t make on a house that you can’t sell/See, a man don’t have to die to go to hell,” which is one of only three tracks among the 15 selections not co-written by Paisley.

One noticeable difference between this and previous Paisley albums is a seemingly conscious decision to dial down the gimmicky novelty songs he’s typically associated with, although they do make an appearance on the humorous “Tan,” the witty toe tapper “Toothbrush,” and the tongue-in-cheek duet with Blake Shelton “Don’t Drink the Water.” However, with that being said, the brief comic relief is a welcome and needed element to keep the album’s more serious themes (cancer, foreclosure, and death) in musical balance. Country music doesn’t always have to be a downer, it can also be about fun and having a good time. After all, Paisley has built a career around feel good country anthems, as well as brilliant instrumentals such as the western tribute “Eastwood,” which contains a spoken intro by Clint Eastwood himself. Longtime Paisley producer Frank Rogers helms production duties here, as he does on all of Paisley’s previous musical output; the two make a winning team without becoming predictably formulaic.

This Is Country Music wraps with the southern gospel hymn “Life’s Railway to Heaven” (previously recorded by the Carter Family, Merle Haggard, and Patsy Cline), and features exuberant background vocal harmonies provided by Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow, and Carl Jackson, which brings the album to its close with Paisley repeating the line from the title song’s chorus, “So turn it on and turn it up and sing along.” Paisley’s latest is not just good country music, but an impressive example of today’s country at its finest.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Ronnie Dunn Releases Solo Album

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After ending his successful two decade run as part of country music duo Brooks & Dunn, Ronnie Dunn has released his eagerly awaited solo album, and the result was well worth the 20-year wait. Dunn has dug deeper into his formidable songwriting skills and created an album markedly different than anything found in previous Brooks & Dunn fare.

Helming production duties himself, Dunn also wrote or co-wrote nine of the highly anticipated album’s ten tracks with some of Nashville’s heavyweight writers (Craig Wiseman, David Lee Murphy, and Terry McBride) and Dunn himself has called the album “the most important record of my life.”

Ronnie Dunn kicks off with the upbeat fist-pumper “Singer In A Cowboy Band,” and contains top 10 hit “Bleed Red,” as well as the just released follow-up “Cost of Livin’.” Although his recent contribution to the Country Strong soundtrack “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” is unfortunately absent, the 12 tracks included are strong enough to make up for that omission. “Sang in every dive and joint in Oklahoma/Been in every hole-in-the-wall from Memphis to Maine/Mama don’t get it, preacher don’t understand/Why I’m a singer in a cowboy band,” Dunn confesses in the album’s opener, which is followed by two superb heartbreak ballads “I Don’t Dance” and “Your Kind of Love.”

The fast-paced “How Far to Waco” is one of many standouts, and includes a dynamic dose of mariachi style horns featured throughout the track as Dunn sings about closing the distance between himself and his beloved. “Only thing on my mind is getting’ back to my baby again/Highway miles they go so slow/She’s waitin’ down the road from El Paso.”

The notable “Once” is an upbeat track about finding that once in a lifetime kind of love, which is the type of song that Dunn does best, and seems destined to become one of the album’s future radio hits. The album’s only low point is the lackluster, run-of-the-mill sounding “Let the Cowboy Rock,” which ironically sounds like it was an outtake from the last Brooks & Dunn album.

Ronnie Dunn is an admirable solo effort and is as rock-solid as any Brooks & Dunn album, which should appease old and new fans alike. Longtime fans of Dunn will undoubtedly deem it worthwhile to seek out the two exclusive iTunes bonus tracks “Boots & Diamonds” and “King of All Things Lonesome.”

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Go-Go’s: ‘Beauty and the Beat’ (30th Anniversary Edition)

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It was during the days of big hair, John Hughes movies, and hanging out at the mall when five feisty beauties called the Go-Go’s became America’s sweethearts. Fronted by lead singer Belinda Carlisle and anchored by key songwriters Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey, their debut album was an important breakthrough for women in music. The multi-platinum Beauty and the Beat was the first number one album written and performed by an all-female group. It’s now been remastered and expanded into a 2-disc set (and pink vinyl) to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Beauty and the Beat, one of the 1980s cornerstone albums of American new wave, was both groundbreaking and inspired. Yielding the hits “Our Lips Are Sealed’ and “We Got The Beat,” this seminal recording has never sounded better than here on this new remaster, which manages to breathe new life into these songs no matter how many times you’ve listened to them.

“Can you hear them/They talk about us/Telling lies, well that’s no surprise,” sang Carlisle in “Our Lips Are Sealed,” which could be heard blasting from every car stereo during the summer of 1981. That breakthrough hit was soon followed up by “We Got The Beat,” which became the group’s most successful song and spent three weeks at number two on the U.S. hot 100. The classic 80s anthem’s lyrics “See the kids just getting out of school/They can’t wait to hang out and be cool,” left an indelible impression on pop culture.

The Go-Go’s magic relied on the masterful blending of upbeat melodies, catchy hooks, and background harmonies layered upon sad lyrics, while delivered with undeniable attitude. “Get dressed up and messed up/Blow our cares away/We rule the streets tonite/Until the morning light,” declares Carlisle with energetic angst during the frenetic “Tonite.” Carlisle gets right into your face as she sings “Change the lines that were said before/We’re all dreamers, we’re all whores/This town is our town, it is so glamorous/Bet you’d live here if you could and be one of us,” with an undeniable aggressiveness during the Hollywood ode “This Town.”

This newly released 2-disc set gives fans a chance to hear both sides of the group: the raw energy and post-punk edginess of their live performances never captured on their studio recordings, as well as the smoothed out pop-gloss sound most associated with the band. Disc one is comprised of the full remastered album, while the second disc contains a previously unreleased live concert from 1981. The live disc includes songs that have never appeared on any Go-Go’s album, in addition to an early version of the hit single “Vacation,” complete with alternate lyrics that differ greatly from the well-known recorded version.

The anniversary edition of Beauty and the Beat shows this album still holds up surprisingly well thirty years later, which is a testament to the energetic spirit captured in this musical zeitgeist of the 80s. Unfortunately, it also serves as a reminder that the Go-Go’s were never able to equal or surpass the success of this landmark debut with the band’s subsequent releases. Their beauty may have faded over the years, but their beat still sounds almost as timeless today on this seminal 80s album as it did thirty years ago.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Augustana: ‘Augustana’

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After a three-year absence, Dan Layus and company return with their third Epic full-length, simply titled Augustana. The album begins with Layus declaring “I’m gonna steal your heart away,” on lead-off single “Steal Your Heart,” which was co-written and produced by former Phantom Planet member Sam Farrar.

The San Diego rock band broke through in 2005 with their major label debut All the Stars and Boulevards, which was produced by Brendan O’Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Train), and included the hit “Boston.” After gaining some musical prominence, Augustana seemed to lose their musical identity, but fortunately found it again and triumphantly return with new focus and clarity on this latest offering.

After the slight misstep of their overlooked Can’t Love Can’t Hurt, the band has reclaimed their musical footing and recaptured the spirit evident during their live performances. The majority of Augustana’s production duties were helmed by Jacquire King (Kings of Leon), and the collaboration is obviously the inspiration needed for the band to create this addictive and compelling record.

Layus’ vocal and songwriting skills continue to evolve and grow stronger. In the Tom Petty-esque tale of lost love “Wrong Side of Love,” he manages to rock and rip out your heart synchronously. “I’m hanging on, I’m hurting/I’m backing down, you’re starting over/You and I we’ve had enough,” Layus cries in a highly corybantic vocal performance that drips with heartbreaking emotion.

The moody and dark “On the Other Side,” is not only a highpoint, but could easily be the breakout track. “I don’t know where the ocean meets the sky/I don’t why the world keeps spinning by/Don’t know why the hours move so slow/But when I’m with you, I don’t wanna know,” ponders Layus during this mid-tempo ballad. “Counting Stars” follows up with its infectious piano and string intro and chorus, which will instantly strike a chord with Augustana fans, as it sounds like an amalgamation of previous favorites, “Boston” and “Sweet and Low.” This standout tune has potential hit written all over it when Layus sings, “Like a rolling hurricane/Nothing’s standing in our way/Full of life, full of grace, in a perfect place.”

Although Augustana may not be the year’s most cutting-edged release, it is full of strong, if not extraordinary material, which is sure to leave an indelible impression on admirers of pop/rock. The album is inundated with enough gorgeous melodies, strong hooks, and infectious choruses to satisfy devoted followers, as well as delight new ones.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Panic! At The Disco: ‘Vices & Virtues’

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Vices & Virtues is the eagerly anticipated third album from avant-garde alt-rockers Panic! at the Disco. It’s the follow-up to their 2008 sophomore effort Pretty.Odd, and their first since the departure of former chief lyricist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, leaving lead vocalist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith to fend for themselves. After many had written the band off, curious eyes and ears have been eagerly awaiting the band’s next career move.

As it turns out, the former band members’ departure wasn’t as detrimental as fans may have feared. Vices & Virtues combines the best and most memorable elements of Panic! at the Disco’s previous two full-length releases, and the end result is their catchiest and most accessible effort to date. The album’s theme revolves around good versus bad, while each of the 10 tracks contain at least one of multiple vices (including lust, greed, and anger), and explores the contrast between darkness and light throughout its duration.

Produced by Butch Walker, (All-American Rejects, The Academy Is, Weezer), and John Feldman, (Goldfinger, The Used, Story of the Year), Vices & Virtues is full of lush string arrangements, various musical interludes, and multiple layers of background vocals, all of which ultimately make this a very theatrical and dramatic work of musical pop art.

Front man Brendan Urie takes over lyrical duties successfully and confidently. The habitually contrived pretentiousness of Ryan Ross’ often disaffected riddle-like limericks are noticeably absent, but that doesn’t mean clever lyrics aren’t to be found here. Urie demonstrates his own knack for writing crafty phrases such as “Mona Lisa wear me out I’m pleased to please you/I’d pay to see you frown/There’s nothing wrong with just a taste of what you paid for,” which he delivers with dynamic vocal cadence in the hit lead-off single “The Ballad of Mona Lisa.” The insanely hummable chorus of the upbeat “Memories,” may be the group’s most hook-laden tune to date, and sounds as if it has the potential for crossing musical genres boundaries and introduce Panic! to new audiences. “Oh memories where’d you go/You were all I’ve ever known/How I miss yesterday and how I let it fade away,” Urie sings with an irresistible combination of remorse and buoyancy.

The second half of the program begins with the dance-like beat of “Ready To Go (Get Me Out of My Mind),” which sounds like it borrows a page from The Killers’ catalog of hits, before abruptly shifting musical gears and segueing into the acoustic ballad “Always,” which is performed in the sparsely produced style of Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah.” And of course, no Panic! album would be complete without an eclectic musical theater number, found here in “Sarah Smiles,” a song Urie wrote to impress his girlfriend. “ I was fine, just a guy living on my own/Waiting for the sky to fall/Then you called, changed it all, doll/Velvet lips, the eyes to pull me in/We both know you’d already win/Oh you’re original sin,” Urie laments in this personal love letter.

The album concludes with the hauntingly odd “Nearly Witches,” that includes the strangely memorable line “Ever since we met, I only shoot up with your perfume/It’s the only thing that makes me feel as good as you do,” complete with children’s choir. The track ultimately concludes with the repeated refrain “Mona Lisa pleased to please you,” which brings us back full circle to the set’s opener, “The Ballad of Mona Lisa.”

Vices & Virtues is a multi-faceted piece of work that is Panic! at the Disco’s most thematically cohesive and polished collection of uniquely eccentric, but meticulously crafted songs to date. It’s a multi-layered musical eargasm without a dud anywhere on its track list. Fervent fans will want to invest the time and effort required to seek out the six extra tracks found on various deluxe versions of the album.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Nicole Atkins: ‘Mondo Amore’

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After enduring personal and professional hardships (finding a new label, breaking up with her boyfriend, and the loss of her backing band) , singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins resurfaces with Mondo Amore, the follow-up to her 2007 critically-acclaimed debut, Neptune City. These challenges seem to have provided ample material for Atkins’ sophomore effort, which runs rampant with tales of romantic triumphs and tragedies. No longer harnessed by the boundaries of a major label, Atkins has proudly stated this is the album she has always wanted to make.

This new collection begins with the dark, brooding “Vultures,” which sets the stage for the complex and multi-layered assemblage of musical narratives presented here. “Careful where you walk/Remain in the light/Watch where death resides/Finds you from all sides,” Atkins warns as she seductively draws the listener inside her mysterious and ominous musical labyrinth. Then without warning, she switches gears and breaks into the highly spirited “Cry Cry Cry,” which is surprisingly upbeat despite its deceptive title. This is the first sign of the roller coaster ride the album holds in store, as this musical tug of war continues throughout its duration.

Slowing things down again is “Hotel Plaster.” This ethereal ballad’s true asset is its haunting melody, which results in an effective emotional interplay between the music and lyrics. “Think of me in a prison of hotel plaster/Far from the shelter of your side/Take me back to the rocking horse/Pray for answers/Hold on to our love,” Atkins implores. She then rips into rocker ‘You Come To Me” with raw abandon, and this could easily be considered her most rousing vocal performance to date.

The sexy, sultriness of the mid-tempo “You Were The Devil” sounds like it could be used to score a Quentin Tarantino movie, with such emotive laments as “Lay down your love he commanded/And with those words I sealed the fate that was mine,” and “I gave my breath so I could suffocate your fire/Still it’s the hate in your words I came to admire.” All of this comes to a close with the nearly six-minute cinematic “The Tower,” which provides a fitting conclusion to this moody and worthy addition to Atkins’ evolving body of work as she sings the final words, “Wish I could’ve told you goodbye.”

Mondo Amore demonstrates growth in this captivating artists’ songwriting, shifting back and forth between two distinct musical personalities. One is dark and morose, while the other is strong and aggressive. At times, Amore sounds like a modern Goth-rock romantic tragedy, full of heartbreak and despair, but the pain Atkins expresses in her lyrics ultimately results in the album’s most pleasurable moments.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

‘The JaneDear Girls’

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Music City’s new duo, The JaneDear Girls, boldly announce their arrival onto the country music scene with their euphoric self-titled debut. The female twosome’s sound is a breath of fresh air and a welcome addition to the current risk-adverse and cynical musical climate. Their unique brand of effervescent, girl-power country pop belongs somewhere in the musical landscape between Shania Twain and Taylor Swift. Hence, this most definitely will not be well received by traditional country enthusiasts.

They consist of Utah born Susie Brown and Texan Danelle Leverett, who met while independently seeking their musical destinies in Nashville. After writing songs together, the two artists decided to team up as partners, and The JaneDear Girls were born. Shortly after their formation, Muzik Mafia member John Rich took them under his wing and became the girls’ musical mentor, as well as producer of their eponymous debut.

Their album begins with lead-off hit single “Wildflower,” which was released in 2010 and has already earned them an ACM nomination in the Top New Vocal Duo or Group category. The second track “Shotgun Girl,” sounds poised and ready to become the follow up to their preceding hit. “Crank it up Waylon, Willie and Merle / I’m your shotgun girl,” they sing in the energetic tune, which seems destined to become a favorite on summertime radio playlists.

“Saturdays In September,” co-penned by mega-hit writer Jeffrey Steele, is the album’s one and only full-fledged ballad, and includes a hook-laden chorus filled with rich harmony vocals. “In those up-all-night Friday nights / phone calls and long goodbyes / reading and writing love letters,” the girls sing in unison. Other noteworthy tracks include “Pretender,” and the instantly likeable and aptly titled “Sing Along.” The disc is rife with plenty of fiddle, banjo, and cranked up electric guitar throughout the 11 tracks presented here, all of which were co-written by the duo along with some notable songsmiths including Marcus Hummon and Jason Reeves.

It’s a musical party of an album steeped in lyrics concerning affair of the heart topics such as: love, heartbreak and innocence lost, which is delivered with a youthful zest and zeal. Upon first listen it may sound like nothing more than pop fluff, but underneath the layers of production is a collection of carefully crafted gems with an endearing quality that will most likely be gobbled up and revered by its target audience.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC

Danielle Bloom: ‘Meet Me In The Middle’

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Meet Me in the Middle

Danielle Bloom provides a bounteous amount of roof-shattering vocals and ear-splitting guitars throughout the retro hard rocker’s new release, Meet Me In The Middle. Her sound is a throwback to classic rock, with a trifling sum of modern elements interspersed throughout the mix, allowing her to create a musical identity of her own. Imagine Pat Benatar backed by Stone Temple Pilots, a musical permutation that gives imaginative music fans a pretty good idea of Ms. Bloom’s sound.

This disc is loaded with plenty of raw, gritty rock, and Bloom has the vocal chops to pull it off successfully. “It’s all for you,” Bloom belts out in the album’s uninhibited opening track, “I Give Up,” which ends with a foreboding synth line.

“Tell me why you gotta lie/to get in my head/to get in my bed,” she demands in the bad-ass rocker, “Tell Me Why.” The preacher’s daughter pulls off this song flawlessly, and with great vocal skill, which Bloom makes seem almost effortless. “The thought of forever is just a dream,” she continues with ample attitude on what is easily the album’s best and most powerful track. The energy continues with the rhythmic funkiness of “You,” in which Bloom concedes, “I’m never gonna let you take away the things that I worked to get/I just hate being used.” These are just some of the lyrical examples this rock diva skillfully articulates, as she confesses to lessons learned in her songs of heartbreak and fortitude, which are recurring themes throughout Bloom’s melodic avowal.

Disappointingly, things begin to unravel after the recording’s first three powerful and adrenaline-charged tunes. The track list begins to bog down a bit with the lackluster “Believe” and “Revolution,” but the momentum returns somewhat with the title song “Meet Me In The Middle.” However, after the album’s energy has waned, it never seems to return to its full intensity. “I Don’t Care” sounds out of place and disrupts the mood and flow of the record. The power ballad, “Another Night,” hints at becoming a great song, but the melody isn’t strong enough to entirely hit the mark.

The song choices included here suggest Bloom is a better vocalist than songwriter. After such a solid and promising start, Meet Me In The Middle loses its focus throughout the second half, which ultimately results in an unsatisfying and disjointed conclusion. And while Middle may not be extraordinarily groundbreaking or epic, Danielle Bloom handles the material with great aplomb, which proposes she has the potential to blossom into an electrifying artist in the not-so-distant future.

Copyright ©2011 The Murfreesboro Pulse

Social Distortion: ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes’

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On the band’s seventh studio release and first new material since 2004’s Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll, Social Distortion burst back onto the music scene with all the ferocity of a handful of lit dynamite. Their Epitaph Records debut, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, is the culmination of four years of writing (lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mike Ness penned 10 of the 11  tracks, with the only exception being a rocked-out version of Hank  Williams’ “Alone and Forsaken”), and it was well worth the wait.

Within seconds of the opening riff of the rocking instrumental “Road Zombie,” it is more than obvious Ness’ instinct to produce the album himself was the right decision, which pays off in abundance. His straight forward, no-frills production style matches his excellent songwriting, without masking the thought-provoking lyrics found throughout this set’s 46 minutes of pure musical bliss.

“I was born babe with nothing to lose/but the black man taught me how to sing the blues/take me on down the line,” Ness proclaims in “California (Hustle and Flow).” Ness’s storytelling lyrical approach is often akin to Dylan and Springsteen, but is delivered in his own unique vocal style, which at times sounds like an amalgamation of Tom Petty and Richard Butler.

In the slow but powerful ballad “Bakersfield,” Ness’s desperately heartfelt lyrics illustrate his longing to reconnect with an absent loved one as he confesses, “I can’t seem to get you out of my head.” These lyrics are poignant and fitting for this irresistible song that is near impossible to erase from memory. Then there’s the catchy, upbeat “Far Side of Nowhere.” With its anthem-like chorus, “put the pedal to the metal/baby turn the radio on/we can run to the far side of nowhere/we can run ‘til the days are gone,” it’s destined to become a set list staple as well as an instant favorite among Social Distortion fans. The album draws to a close with “Still Alive,” in which Ness declares “remember when we were young/and you said that I was done/I can handle what comes my way/just give me another day.” Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is a well-rounded and excellent addition to the band’s body of work.

© 2011 ForASong Media, LLC