Ladies and gentlemen, we have gone country again! This time it's Brad Paisley's turn. The West Virginia born singer has done particularly well with this record, cracking the UK Top 40 Albums chart, which is no small feat for a country artist! We're going to take a look at why the follow up to 2014's Moonshine in the Trunk has done so well.
Here are the rules behind the ratings:
2 - Filler
3 - Above average filler
4 - Killer
5 - Career defining masterpiece
Track 01 - Heaven South
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 02 - Last Time For Everything
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 03 - One Beer Can
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 04 - Go to Bed Early
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 05 - Drive of Shame [Feat. Mick Jagger]
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 06 - Contact High
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 1.5/5
Track 07 - Love and War [Feat. John Fogerty]
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 08 - Today
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 09 - selfie#theinternetisforever
John - 4/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 10 - Grey Goose Chase [Feat. Timbaland]
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 11 - Gold All Over the Ground
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 12 - Dying to See Her [Feat. Bill Anderson]
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 13 - Solar Power Girl [Feat. Timbaland]
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 14 - The Devil Is Alive and Well
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 15 - Meaning Again
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 16 - Heaven South (Reprise)
John - 4/5
Tilly - 4/5
Conclusion
John - I wasn't expecting to like this album so much. I've said before that I'm not a big country fan when we reviewed Little Big Town's The Breaker, but this really surprised me. It's the sort of album you could listen to on a sunny day's drive through the countryside with the wind blowing through your hair. It gives off such a chilled, summery vibe. There were a few tracks here and there that were very dull - The Devil Is Alive And Well and Contact High being two of them - but overall I think Love and War is consistently good. There were a lot of laugh out loud moments, many of which were in selfie#theinternetisforever (an excellent satirical look at today's society) - this guy has a fantastic sense of humour! Lyrically strong, and musically mostly varied and fresh, Love and War is a good effort from Paisley. If you're into country music, you have to have a listen.
Overall Score - 3/5
Tilly - I'm a fairly big fan of Brad Paisley, but even I'll admit his albums can drastically vary quality wise. His strong point are songs that take the piss out of things, and there were no way near enough songs on here like that for my liking. One of Paisley's downfalls is that when his songs are bad, they are mind numbingly dull. Love and War thankfully, didn't have too many of those, but they were still present and that stopped it from being a strong country record. However, Heaven South - and it's reprise - One Beer Can, selfie#theinternetisforever and Solar Power Girl were all excellent tracks, and I'll no doubt be playing them on repeat. Not your best Paisley, but still incredibly fun!
Overall Score - 3/5