Jason Aldean Old Boots New Dirt

By: Tony Manfetano

One thing you cannot say about Jason Aldean is that he is not an early adapter. He has been at the forefront of every trend and fad, but true country music fans are a picky and particular lot. And let’s be honest, some attempts have gone a little too far as of late yielding less than optimal results. Perhaps I am just bitter because I never learned how to “Diffie”.

To deny the market for party country music would surely be done in vain. With the influx of pop into country radio Jason has proven that he deserves his fame. His newest album, Old Boots, New Dirt, starts out with what seems like more of the “let’s try this” attitude Jason has embraced with his last few releases. As always there is some good exploration of melody and screaming guitars, which at first seem a bit gratuitous. Almost as if Jason is becoming a mockery of himself.

This carries on till we get to the first single from the album, Burnin’ It Down. Remember in the early 2000’s when everyone was putting aftermarket rims on their cars? The manufacturers caught onto the trend and began outfitting their models with upgraded wheels from the factory. This song sounds like somebody already made the remix before the song came out. Though lacking in lyrical content it has a great groove and admittedly is hard not to move your head to with the windows down. Dj’s mixing country into dance music is a nascent yet noteworthy twist on our genre, but if you start putting aftermarket rims on at the factory they just become stock rims. It takes all the allure out.

Tryin’ To Love Me, is a prosaic attempt at heartfelt with nothing original invoking zero feeling. But….START HERE.

Did you think I was just going to hate the whole time? Nope, Sweet Little Something, track five is where this album should have started. Here we get to hear the Jason Aldean we know and love. Rockin’ and in your face without trying too hard. This is the bar band boot heel stomping zone Aldean belongs in. The simplicity is excusable because this song knows what it is. He follows it with Laid Back, where we get some of that rhythm and groove Jason is known for.

Tonight Looks Good On You, is a testament to the writing abilities of Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley and Dallas Davidson and is the first time we hear something real on this record.  The theme carries all throughout the song and is able to draw something clever and catchy out when we least expect it.

I really wanted to despise If My Truck Could Talk just for being another truck song, but it is an original premise. Written by Wendell Mobley, Neil Thrasher and Andrew Pates, I had to slip this one into my country playlist while I was listening.

The title track drops a big ol’ sack of reality on us in the relatable situation of having to get away from things reminding us of lost love. But alas, we come to my favorite track, I Took It With Me. Penned by David Lee Murphy and Ben Hayslip. A great song about taking who you are wherever you go. Through the guitar lick intro and crunchy rhythm section we still get the feeling of someone who has experienced this emotion first hand. We also get some tangible truth on Two Night Town, which is the only real country song on the album. It took us till the final track but we got one. The veracity in Brett James and Tim Nichols’ lyrics breaks through steel guitar despite the lead player’s attempts to encroach.

Lyric, melody, music. If two out of three of those are there the missing is usually forgivable. This album leaves us bereft till the second half. The tunes that stand out hearken to the Aldean who knew what he was and where he fit.

Old Boots, New Dirt, Jason Aldean’s sixth studio album, comes to us from Broken Bow Records. Find all the info on where he will be and what is coming next at JasonAldean.com or follow him on twitter at @Jason_Aldean.  We know Jason will come out unscathed if he can just find his way back to red dirt and Georgia Pines. Saving country music is not about sounding like Hank Williams. It is about real life and staying true to it, whatever the kind of guitar you play or hat you wear.
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