Kickin' It in "5th Gear"
Jun. 19th, 2007 10:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jenny_wildcatI haven't done this much (mostly because I haven't bought any new music lately), but I'm going to review the new Brad Paisley CD "5th Gear" (which, incidentally, I won yesterday from the radio station, much to my giddy fangirl delight).
This is the seventh Brad Paisley CD that I own (if you count the Christmas album he put out last year and then there were the two songs he had on the "Cars" soundtrack) and this one is just as wonderful and brilliant as all those others. The thing I love about Brad Paisley is that he writes most of his own songs and that his guitar work is amazing. It's really distinctive and different from what other artists do, which means you can pick out a Brad Paisley song from anywhere.
And there is the humor, which I've already gushed over but I'm going to gush over it some more. While I liked "Ticks" when it was on the radio, "Online" is the funniest darn thing I have ever - not many people in country music can poke fun at a short, overweight, nerdy kid who flirts with Hollywood bleached blondes over MySpace (I'm pretty sure MySpace idiots aren't smart enough to find the jibes that Brad pokes at them in the song). And the full-on marching band at the end is just the right touch. I can't wait to see the music video they put together for that. Rumor is that William Shatner and Jason Alexander are in this one (they were in Brad's "Celebrity" video, which is also social commentary disguised in an awesomely funny song).
Of course, there's also the poignant "Letter to Me" about a guy who writes a letter to himself back when he was in high school, which is a great little tune about being grown up and thinking about how dorky you were when you thought high school experiences were the end-all, be-all times of your life. It pairs nicely with "All I Wanted Was a Car" that starts out the CD about a sixteen-year-old guy who just wants a car when all his friends are big into sports or school or whatever. "Some Mistakes" is another fun memory-lane type song, but all three of these are spaced nicely in the playlist, so it doesn't get overkill.
And I did not plan this, but it's funny how real life can reflect in the music you listen to. The song "I'm Still a Guy" that I referenced in my post yesterday is exactly the point I was trying to get across, but I think I'll just tell people to listen to this song to understand my argument. Like "Online" it's a social commentary underneath humor, but the social commentary is a little more obvious because this isn't something that is just a quirky little thing that we can laugh about and it goes beyond gender-gap humor. It shows that certain people (men and women) are getting annoyed about how some guys are too much in touch with their feminine side. The chorus has to be my favorite because in the space of four lines, a guy goes from being a suave Romeo to his girl to beating the tar out of another guy because he disrespected the girl. And the third verse is brilliant because it talks to the guys getting facials, Botox, "creamy, lotiony hands," and just neutered in general (yup, the word "neutered" is in this song). While I still think "Little Moments" kicked ass, "I'm Still a Guy" is my new favorite song. I hope it gets on the radio.
Speaking of love songs, "It Did" is point-blank, amazing. It's all about a relationship from the first date to marriage to the first baby and how things get better even when you think that it doesn't get better than this. I'm pretty sure it's inspired by Brad's relationship with his wife, Kim, and those are the best songs. The emotion is there and... yup, it's awesome (as an aside, Kim is one lucky girl and I'm jealous - not covetous, mind, just fangirl jealous; I have a firm "window shopping" policy when it comes to my fangirling. Kim's a great actress too - she's in "According to Jim" and the "Father of the Bride" movies, which are really great).
And then there's the guitar. Where the guitar is in all these songs, "Mr. Policeman" is more about showing off Brad's mad guitar-picking skills, which I am not opposed to. "Throttleneck" is all instrumental, which means more droolworthy guitar work.
And then we get back to the giggly: the Kung-Pao Buckaroos come back with a recap of the other albums of Brad's that they've been in. Vince Gill is the newest Buckaroo, with a small (all-in-good-fun) poke at George Jones' history of "No-Show." They sing "Bigger Fish to Fry," which talks about the fact that all the tiny indiscretions the average person racks up will probably go unnoticed by the devil because he's got "Bigger Fish to Fry," meaning politicians and criminals that are all going to hell, but it's all very funny.
If I have a complaint about this CD, it's that Carrie Underwood shows her overrated and overplayed face [voice?] in a collaboration with Brad, "Oh Love." I really, really, REALLY hate Carrie Underwood. The only reason that she's so popular was because she was on "American Idolatry." There are so many little blonde teeny-boppers trying to be Faith Hill and all they can do is sing and they only last a few weeks because they don't have anything new to contribute. Carrie would be in the same boat, except she already won all those votes from idiots sitting at home that would rather vote for another blonde bombshell than the next president (another post, another rant). It pains me because Brad has had some really great collaborations with other artists: Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, etc. At least Brad didn't waste any of his original material on Carrie Underwood - this song was written by a group of mass-producing songwriters that no one's ever heard of and it's not even that good. The bad news is that I'm sure this'll be overplayed on the radio and I won't be able to stand it.
BUT, I'm willing to forgive Brad for this minor lapse in judgment because his songs on the "Cars" soundtrack were greatness-and-three-quarters.
In the interest of wrapping this up, here's a rundown of the rest:
"Better Than This" - Upbeat, fun to listen to and will be a major accomplishment if I ever figure out how to sing along.
"With You, Without You" - It's okay, some good guitar sounds at the end.
"When We All Get to Heaven" - Yup, the standard religious song Brad puts on all his albums, which I've always liked.
Little Jimmy Dickens "Kung Pao" Outtakes - *sporfle*
Brad Paisley "5th Gear" - Come for the fun, stay for the music, move in for the complete awesomeness
****1/2 out of five stars (Carrie brought it down a few points - see what happens when a plastic-mold Barbie gets involved?)
Love from,
Jenny Wildcat
And there is the humor, which I've already gushed over but I'm going to gush over it some more. While I liked "Ticks" when it was on the radio, "Online" is the funniest darn thing I have ever - not many people in country music can poke fun at a short, overweight, nerdy kid who flirts with Hollywood bleached blondes over MySpace (I'm pretty sure MySpace idiots aren't smart enough to find the jibes that Brad pokes at them in the song). And the full-on marching band at the end is just the right touch. I can't wait to see the music video they put together for that. Rumor is that William Shatner and Jason Alexander are in this one (they were in Brad's "Celebrity" video, which is also social commentary disguised in an awesomely funny song).
Of course, there's also the poignant "Letter to Me" about a guy who writes a letter to himself back when he was in high school, which is a great little tune about being grown up and thinking about how dorky you were when you thought high school experiences were the end-all, be-all times of your life. It pairs nicely with "All I Wanted Was a Car" that starts out the CD about a sixteen-year-old guy who just wants a car when all his friends are big into sports or school or whatever. "Some Mistakes" is another fun memory-lane type song, but all three of these are spaced nicely in the playlist, so it doesn't get overkill.
And I did not plan this, but it's funny how real life can reflect in the music you listen to. The song "I'm Still a Guy" that I referenced in my post yesterday is exactly the point I was trying to get across, but I think I'll just tell people to listen to this song to understand my argument. Like "Online" it's a social commentary underneath humor, but the social commentary is a little more obvious because this isn't something that is just a quirky little thing that we can laugh about and it goes beyond gender-gap humor. It shows that certain people (men and women) are getting annoyed about how some guys are too much in touch with their feminine side. The chorus has to be my favorite because in the space of four lines, a guy goes from being a suave Romeo to his girl to beating the tar out of another guy because he disrespected the girl. And the third verse is brilliant because it talks to the guys getting facials, Botox, "creamy, lotiony hands," and just neutered in general (yup, the word "neutered" is in this song). While I still think "Little Moments" kicked ass, "I'm Still a Guy" is my new favorite song. I hope it gets on the radio.
Speaking of love songs, "It Did" is point-blank, amazing. It's all about a relationship from the first date to marriage to the first baby and how things get better even when you think that it doesn't get better than this. I'm pretty sure it's inspired by Brad's relationship with his wife, Kim, and those are the best songs. The emotion is there and... yup, it's awesome (as an aside, Kim is one lucky girl and I'm jealous - not covetous, mind, just fangirl jealous; I have a firm "window shopping" policy when it comes to my fangirling. Kim's a great actress too - she's in "According to Jim" and the "Father of the Bride" movies, which are really great).
And then there's the guitar. Where the guitar is in all these songs, "Mr. Policeman" is more about showing off Brad's mad guitar-picking skills, which I am not opposed to. "Throttleneck" is all instrumental, which means more droolworthy guitar work.
And then we get back to the giggly: the Kung-Pao Buckaroos come back with a recap of the other albums of Brad's that they've been in. Vince Gill is the newest Buckaroo, with a small (all-in-good-fun) poke at George Jones' history of "No-Show." They sing "Bigger Fish to Fry," which talks about the fact that all the tiny indiscretions the average person racks up will probably go unnoticed by the devil because he's got "Bigger Fish to Fry," meaning politicians and criminals that are all going to hell, but it's all very funny.
If I have a complaint about this CD, it's that Carrie Underwood shows her overrated and overplayed face [voice?] in a collaboration with Brad, "Oh Love." I really, really, REALLY hate Carrie Underwood. The only reason that she's so popular was because she was on "American Idolatry." There are so many little blonde teeny-boppers trying to be Faith Hill and all they can do is sing and they only last a few weeks because they don't have anything new to contribute. Carrie would be in the same boat, except she already won all those votes from idiots sitting at home that would rather vote for another blonde bombshell than the next president (another post, another rant). It pains me because Brad has had some really great collaborations with other artists: Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, etc. At least Brad didn't waste any of his original material on Carrie Underwood - this song was written by a group of mass-producing songwriters that no one's ever heard of and it's not even that good. The bad news is that I'm sure this'll be overplayed on the radio and I won't be able to stand it.
BUT, I'm willing to forgive Brad for this minor lapse in judgment because his songs on the "Cars" soundtrack were greatness-and-three-quarters.
In the interest of wrapping this up, here's a rundown of the rest:
"Better Than This" - Upbeat, fun to listen to and will be a major accomplishment if I ever figure out how to sing along.
"With You, Without You" - It's okay, some good guitar sounds at the end.
"When We All Get to Heaven" - Yup, the standard religious song Brad puts on all his albums, which I've always liked.
Little Jimmy Dickens "Kung Pao" Outtakes - *sporfle*
Brad Paisley "5th Gear" - Come for the fun, stay for the music, move in for the complete awesomeness
****1/2 out of five stars (Carrie brought it down a few points - see what happens when a plastic-mold Barbie gets involved?)
Love from,
Jenny Wildcat
