Review of "This Is Country Music" by Brad Paisley

I'm going to review all CD's I purchase. I have a collection of well over 300 CD's, mainly rock & country. I'll review anything anyone gives me to review. I'll follow a simple format on all my reviews that you'll see below in this first one. I bought "This Is Country Music" by Brad Paisley last week, so I figured this was s good as any CD to start my review on.


Synopsis: I feel like I'm being different just to be different on this album. If you look online for a review of the latest offering by Brad Paisley, you'll be hard pressed to find a negative word written about it. USA Today gave it 4 stars out of 4, and follow that up with this quote. "If you're going to call an album This Is Country Music, you not only set a high standard for yourself, but you better not give anybody a reason to disagree. Paisley delivers with an album that's both steeped in the past and looking for ways to grow." Now I could not agree more with the opening statement. If you feel this is the title you want for your CD, you better have delivered the goods. There are few acts in Country Music today that could get away with titling their album as such. Brad Paisley IS one of them. However, I think he fell short of the expectations that come with a title such as this one. Brad Paisley knows country music, Brad Paisley is country music, but this album is NOT. This is not his best offering by a long shot. If you want his best, pick up his album entitled "Time Well Wasted". There are some typically great songs on this album, as to be expected. But for the most part, it just left me wanting a little bit more from him. The only thing that left me impressed about this album is the collaborations you'll hear on it. Don Henley, Blake Shelton, & Carrie Underwood all make great appearances throughout it. 


Song You Should Download: "Remind Me" w/Carrie Underwood. I'm not the biggest fan of Carrie's work, but this is the 2nd duet she's done with Brad and both have been outstanding. (The other is "Oh, Love" off his 5th Gear album) Honorable Mention: "One of Those Lives" is a song that anyone can relate to. It's a great message to people who stress too much about the small things to realize how blessed they truly are.


Song you should press "Next" on: "Working On a Tan" is a song I could see Kenny Chesney doing. Possibly even Billy Currington. It does not fit Brad Paisley at all though. 


Grade (Out of 5 Stars): I give this album 3 stars out of 5. There's too much hit and miss on this album. There's no real stretch of great songs in a row and I think that really takes away from the overall grade.