1 Tattoos on This Town - 3:22
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2 Dirt Road Anthem - 3:49
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3 Church Pew or Bar Stool - 4:19
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4 Just Passing Through - 3:20
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5 Fly Over States - 3:38
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6 My Kinda Party - 4:44
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7 I Ain't Ready to Quit - 3:33
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8 It Ain't Easy - 3:01
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9 Country Boy's World - 4:06
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10 The Heartache That Don't Stop Hurting - 3:54
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11 Texas Was You - 3:25
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12 Don't You Wanna Stay - 4:16
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13 See You When I See You - 3:48
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14 If She Could See Me Now - 3:30
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15 Days Like These - 3:59
Jason Aldean isn’t a country music traditionalist -- unless one counts the pop- and rock-edged new country that emerged in the 1990s as a tradition, and since it’s cruising well into a second decade as the dominant music on country radio stations, perhaps it is a tradition by now.
Aldean loves electric guitars, and there’s more
Eagles and even
AC/DC in his sound than there is
George Jones, which, again, given the state of country music in the 21st century, hardly makes him a maverick. He’s not a strong singer, although he gets things done well enough, and he isn’t a songwriter, either, but since the commercial success of 2009’s
Wide Open, which yielded three hit singles (
"She's Country," "Big Green Tractor," and
"The Truth"), he got his pick of the best songs from Nashville’s veteran writers for his new album. Produced by
Michael Knox ,
My Kinda Party has an impressive sonic consistency, full of churning and chiming electric guitars (provided by guitarists
Kurt Allison and
Adam Shoenfeld --
Aldean uses his touring band in the studio) wrapped around big songs with small-town themes. At best, this formula produces energetic tracks like the wonderful opener,
“Tattoos on This Town”; the small-town Saturday night anthem
“My Kinda Party” (the lead single from the album); and the air-guitar epic
“Days Like These,” which closes this set out.
Aldean even tackles a straight ballad like
“The Heartache That Don’t Stop Hurting” with enough sincerity and style to make it work. Again, there are layers of electric guitars everywhere, and truthfully,
Aldean has found success because he finds songs that fit his voice and then lets the guitars do what they do. He does just enough, and doesn’t reach for the stars -- it’s a formula that should keep on working into the near future. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
- Composer - Adam Craig
- Guitar (Acoustic) - Adam Shoenfeld
- Guitar (Electric) - Adam Shoenfeld
- Composer - Andy Gibson
- Composer - Ben Stennis
- Composer - Bill Luther
- Editing - Brandon Epps
- Composer - Brantley Gilbert
- Composer - Brett James
- Composer - Bryan Edwards
- Composer - Busbee
- Composer - Caitlyn Smith
- Composer - Colt Ford
- Banjo - Danny Rader
- Guitar (Acoustic) - Danny Rader
- Composer - David Lee Murphy
- Art Direction - Glenn Sweitzer
- Design - Glenn Sweitzer
- Photography - James Minchin III
- Composer - Jaron Boyer
- Composer - Jason Sellers
- Composer - Jayce Hein
- Composer - John Edwards
- Composer - Jon Mabe
- Composer - Josh Thompson
- Composer - Justin Weaver
- Composer - Kim Tribble
- Guitar (Electric) - Kurt Allison
- Composer - Leslie Satcher
- Vocals (Background) - Lisa Torres
- Composer - Michael Dulaney
- Composer - Michael Howard
- Producer - Michael Knox
- Vocal Engineer - Mickey Jack Cones
- Lap Steel Guitar - Mike Johnson
- Composer - Neil Thrasher
- Vocals (Background) - Neil Thrasher
- Composer - Paul Jenkins
- Vocals (Background) - Perry Coleman
- Engineer - Peter Coleman
- Mixing - Peter Coleman
- Drums - Rich Redmond
- Percussion - Rich Redmond
- Mastering - Richard Dodd
- Composer - Ronny Vines
- Assistant Engineer - Sam Martin
- Production Assistant - Shalacy Griffin
- Vocals (Background) - Shalacy Griffin
- Composer - Thomas Rhett Akins
- Composer - Tommy Curry
- Hammond B3 - Tony Harrell
- Piano - Tony Harrell
- Strings - Tony Harrell
- Wurlitzer - Tony Harrell
- Composer - Tony Martin
- Bass - Tully Kennedy
- Composer - Wendell Mobley
- Vocals (Background) - Wes Hightower
