Billboard Album Review - Red Stick Ramblers - My Suitcase Is Always Packed

Billboard Album Review - Red Stick Ramblers - My Suitcase Is Always Packed

Billboard.com Album Review - Red Stick Ramblers - My Suitcase Is Always Packed

Billboard Album Review - Cracker - Sunrise In The Land of Milk and Honey

Billboard Album Review - Cracker - Sunrise In The Land of Milk and Honey

Billboard Album Review - Cracker - Sunrise In The Land of Milk and Honey

Billboard Album Review - Iron and Wine - Around The Well

Billboard Album Review - Iron and Wine - Around The Well

Billboard.com Album Review - Iron and Wine - Around The Well

Billboard Album Review - Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women

Billboard Album Review - Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women

Billboard.com Album Review - Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women

Billboard Album Review - Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses - Roadhouse Sun

Billboard Album Review - Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses - Roadhouse Sun

Billboard.com Album Review - Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses - Roadhouse Sun

Steve Earle - Townes

Steve Earle - Townes - Album Review

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Steve Earle - Townes

“The mark of a classic songwriter is less the physical artifacts left behind than the psychic ones: who was influenced, how the legacy is carried forward and, certainly, the enduring nature of the songs. For the late Townes Van Zandt—check, check and check. And for Steve Earle, who knew Van Zandt from the early ’70s, cutting an album of Van Zandt compositions was a no-brainer. Every one of these 15 tunes is a living, breathing creature, from the haunting, modal-tinged blues-waltz (with cello) of “Rake” to the jaunty fingerpicking and mouthy dialogue of “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold” (a duet featuring son Justin Townes Earle) to the eternally elegant Tex-Mex anthem “Pancho and Lefty.” Additional guests include Tom Morello, Tim O’Brien, Darrel Scott and Earle’s wife, Allison Moorer. Throughout, Earle’s shape-shifting voice inhabits the songs just like Van Zandt’s own colorful characters inhabit them, and fans who desire an even more up-close-and-personal experience can spring for a two-CD deluxe edition featuring Earle’s solo acoustic versions of the same material.—Fred Mills”

Jason Aldean - Wide Open

Jason Aldean - Wide Open - Album Review

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Jason Aldean - Wide Open

“Combining the soul of a country boy with a rocker’s edgy intensity, Jason Aldean burst through as one of the country format’s most successful new artists with such hits as “Why,” “Amarillo Sky” and “Johnny Cash.” On his third album, he continues to make the kind of ramped-up music that brought him to the party, as evidenced by the fast-climbing first single “She’s Country.” “Crazy Town” is the Macon, Ga., native’s ode to Nashville. “This I Gotta See,” which teems with anticipation, boasts a sensuous, descriptive lyric about the woman waiting at home. Among the collection’s best tracks are introspective numbers like “Fast,” about a country boy leaving rural life behind, and “On My Highway,” a potent song that talks of surviving life’s up and down and living every moment on your own terms. Aldean’s voice has a warmth and soulfulness that is particularly effective on confessional ballads like “Don’t Give Up on Me.” —Deborah Evans Price”

Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable - Album Review

Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable - Album Review

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Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable

“The three members of Rascal Flatts sit like reigning kings—in high-backed, throne-like chairs with a red velvet curtain behind them—on the cover of their sixth album. And why not? After 10 years and just as many No. 1 country singles, the trio has long ruled the country world and may well be the “Unstoppable” force the title posits (although the song itself is about love, not career). The 11-track set is unlikely to slow the group’s momentum, since it’s as polished as a diner countertop. It has the requisite array of country-pop straddling sonics, starting with the soaring choruses and fiddle hooks of “Love Who You Love” through to the chugging rock tempo of “Close” and the arena-sized beat of “Summer Nights,” whose power chords and well-worn lyrical images of beach party celebration sound like Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime” as played by the Dave Matthews Band. Rascal Flatts and its assorted songwriting cohorts also bring out such heart-wringing, earnest lost love paeans as “Here Comes Goodbye,” “Why” and “Forever.” —Gary Graff”

Download Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable via IsoHunt Torrent

Keep Your Soul - A Tribute To Doug Sahm

Keep Your Soul - A Tribute To Doug Sahm

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Keep Your Soul - A Tribute To Doug Sahm

“From the mid-’60s garage rock and bucolic psychedelia of the Sir Douglas Quintet to the bilingual Mexican-American soul of the Texas Tornados, through a solo career until his death in 1999, Doug Sahm entertained thousands of people and influenced multitudes of musicians. This dead-solid perfect tribute is kicked off by a fierce version of Sir Doug’s 1966 hit “She’s About a Mover,” delivered by Little Willie G, the East Los Angeles singer who once led Thee Midnighters, backed by Ry Cooder. You can’t go wrong with Jimmie Vaughan’s West Coast blues (”Why Why Why”), Charlie Sexton’s garage punk (”You’re Doing It Too Hard”) and Frida & the Firedogs’ soulful R&B (”Be Real,” featuring Marcia Ball). Delbert McClinton is just the right voice to put across Sahm’s autobiographical soul-searcher “Texas Me,” and Alejandro Escovedo gives insight into Sahm’s influence on his own tough but tender border rock with “Too Little Too Late.” Sahm’s forever groovy mastery of counterculture vernacular is illustrated by Los Lobos’ rendition of “It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down,” and the trademark Vox organ of the Quintet’s Augie Meyers is heard on “Ta Bueno Compadre.” —Wayne Robins”

Billy Ray Cyrus - Back To Tennessee - Album Review

Billy Ray Cyrus - Back To Tennessee - Album Review

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Billy Ray Cyrus - Back To Tennessee

“Say what you will about Billy Ray Cyrus, the man has long since exceeded any expectations critics placed on him when “Achy Breaky Heart” made him an overnight sensation in 1992. And “Back to Tennessee,” his latest, is a solid testament to Cyrus’ staying power. The title cut, which he co-wrote, is a driving number that serves as a thematic cornerstone for the new Hannah Montana movie, in which he stars with daughter Miley Cyrus. “Butterfly Fly Away,” a duet with Miley that’s also included in the movie, is an airy and flowing song about family on which father and daughter’s voices blend nicely. Other highlights include “Somebody Said a Prayer,” a powerful statement about belief in a higher power, and “Love Is the Lesson,” a Southern rocker with a message (”Life is the teacher, love is the lesson”). —Ken Tucker”

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