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Amazon.com: Swaddled in the usual twang and spiced up by Stuart Duncan's sparkling mandolin and fiddle, Jackson continues his endless exploration of joy and sorrow tempered by his guileless humility. As usual, his originals provide the most power. The joy of "Too Much of a Good Thing" contrasts with the throbbing sense of loss found on "Rainy Day in June." Too cute and transparent for its own good, "USA Today" pales (though the publishers surely loved the plug) next to the finely honed laments "If French Fries Were Fat Free" and "You Don't Have to Paint Me a Picture." The latter, with the line "Your love's like some old cheap magic marker that said forever, now it's gone," is worthy of Harlan Howard. Of the non-originals, "Talkin' Song Repair Blues" may be a songwriters' in-joke, but the Billy Burnette-Shawn Camp composition "Burnin' the Honky Tonks Down" yanks Jackson from his usual laid-back comfort zone into a ripping vocal-instrumental jam. As a whole, the album stands as a benediction to an artist whose integrity and success has prevailed in the face of endless trends and fads that have swept away many lesser talents. --Rich Kienzle
Customer Reviews:
- Larry Profitt (KORC RADIO, WALDPORT, OR): What I Do - and Alan Jackson does it so well. This is an outstanding country CD. I really like the song selections for this CD. The music will touch your heart, lift your spirit, make you laugh, help you cry, and make you count your blessings. "If Love Was A River" and "Monday Morning Church" are worth the price of the CD. Only in country music will you find a song like "If French Fries Were Fat Free." And only Alan Jackson will make it a "hit" song. I highly recommend this CD. What else can I say? It's Alan Jackson, it's real country music and it's worth every penny you pay for it.
- Nowhere Near The Quality Of Drive Or High Mileage: Who wrote the songs on this one? Weird Al Yankovick? "If French Fries Were Fat Free?"? "U.S.A. Today"? Really? Maybe he's been spending too much time drinking with Mr. Buffet and this is having a negative impact on his song-writing.
My advice to people is to hear this album first before you go out and spend money on it. If you don't have Jackson's "Drive" or "High Mileage", get these albums first. "Under The Influence" is a good album worth buying if you like really traditional country.
This one merits 2 stars for the pretty good track "To Do What I Do" - Another great CD by Alan Jackson!: I think I've worn out the CD already by playing it over and over! I really enjoy it and like just about all of the songs on the CD.
- Good Times!: Everytime I buy an Alan Jackson CD, I am happy. This one does not disappoint. The sole reason I bought this CD was for "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" and when I listened to the rest of the CD, there are several AWESOME songs on here. I would definitely recommend this CD.
- Alan in a mellow mood: In his younger days, Alan included plenty of rocking up-tempo songs on his albums. These days, the up-tempo songs are fewer but Alan still delivers country music of the highest quality while remaining true to his country roots.
So the ballads and mid-tempo songs dominate here, whether upbeat (Too much of a good thing, There ya go), sad (Rainy day in June, USA today, You don't have to paint me a picture, Strong enough, Monday morning church) or reflective (If love was a river, If French fries were fat free).
Alan shows a comedic touch in The taking song repair blues, in which he gets even (in a nice way) with a car mechanic who over-charges for his services - you are likely to enjoy this if you also enjoyed One piece at a time (the Johnny Cash classic). The most up-tempo song here is Burning the honky tonk down, in which the musicians let rip although even on this song, Alan keeps his vocals restrained. The album closes with a live recording of To do what I do.
This album is not my favorite of Alan's (I prefer his early albums that had plenty of rocking country songs). Nevertheless, it is another great album from Alan.
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