by Bea Willis
Country music artist Jason Aldean was born in Macon, Georgia. It was his dad that first showed him guitar chords, since then he has gone on to be one of the colossal male country stars of his generation. With his longtime producer Michael Knox, Aldean has created four albums that have reached #1 and nine country, #1 singles. His appeal is more than to just Country fans though, Aldean has broken into the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 once (with 2011’s “Dirt Road Anthem”) and come close twice with “Take A Little Ride” and “Burnin’ It Down.” Aldean and Knox are set to release a full-length album entitled, Rearview Town. Consisting of fifteen new tracks, Aldean’s eighth studio album is just as electrifying as ever and his fans will not be disappointed.
Kicking the album off is “Dirt to Dust.” A hard driving rock/country selection that has a lashing guitar figure tempered with Aldean’s rich vocals. The production is high-value and the energy is contagious. This is a fun selection with a solid song form and excellent guitar work. Aldean know that leading an album off with a good country party song about drinking and flirting is always going to hit the mark with country fans. The melody is catchy, and the chorus is memorable and brings forth an emotion of cutting loose and living free. A tasty guitar solo and fills are also a plus. Nothing earth shaking, but good music to shake whatever you want to a solid modern country beat.
Aldean brings his heartfelt country swagger to the lead single, “You Make It Easy.” With a rhythmically pulsing melody the ballad is encapsulated with clean guitars and plenty of reverb. Co-written with Florida Georgia Line, this slow dance selection finds Aldean’s voice as smooth as ever and he conveys the emotions of the lyrics with a genuine country boy assuredness. With tinges of a 50’s rock ballad, Aldean will certainly pick-up more music fans from other genres with this track. Another fine guitar solo builds this otherwise striped down production that lets Aldean’s sing and the lyrics do the heavy lifting. The result in very effective.
Rearview Town will certainly keep Aldean’s momentum going and add to his more than 15 million total album sales and dozens of sold-out stadium shows. Aldean has a well-oiled machine here, and his songwriting team and production by Knox just keeps pouring out solid modern Country. The album has easily accessible songs and will keep any liquor-pounding country boy grinnin’ from ear to ear, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that! Bring it on, we need more down-South good time music and mind set in today’s landscape! Making it Macon style.
Track to sample first: “You Make It Easy.” The tracks to take a chance on are “Dirt to Dust” and “Gettin’ Warmed Up.”
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