Skip to main content

Brantley Gilbert: "Just As I Am" [Album]

Today I received the new Brantley Gilbert CD in the mail. Yes, I am still buying physical CDs! Although the days may be numbered as I now mostly listen to music electronically while on the go - plus files do not take up as much space as physical media.


In any case, I was excited and curious what the first full major-label release for Brantley Gilbert would sound like. Commercially it already is one of the most successful albums of 2014 by selling 211,000 copies in its first week and debuting at No.1 on the country albums chart and at No.2 on the pop charts behind the new album by Coldplay.

Brantley Gilbert walked into the spotlight kind-of unplanned in 2010, when Jason Aldean recorded two of his songs for his 2010-album, the title track 'My Kinda Party' and 'Dirt Road Anthem', respectively going to No.2 and No.1 on the country singles charts.
Those hits kick-started Brantley's career into the mainstream and resulted in a reissue of his album 'Halfway To Heaven' which then reached the No.2 spot on the country album charts.

So far, that album also may have been the one, that comes closest to actually touching on country music. Because listening to the No.1 song 'Country Must Be Country Wide' from that album tells one, where his roots really are: deep in southern rock.

These roots firmly resurface on 'Just As I Am' and after having listened to the album for the first time, I am left a little disappointed. But let me summarize:
I do love the already-platinum, cross-over hit lead-single 'Bottoms Up' with its mash of rock, hip-hop and country styles, its catchy "up-up"-chorus and the big budget video that goes with it.
It definitely is the song that stands out the most on the album. It avoids at least partially the overpowering rock guitar sound, that drowns out many of the other songs on the album and make them sound alike too much.

That happens to the opening song 'Bad Boy', as well as to '17 Again', two songs that deal with teenage themes. Similar, although a little better with its references to Guns'n'Roses songs and at least some tempo breaks in the song, is the fast and aptly titled 'My Baby's Guns'n'Roses'.

'That Was Us' starts with a country shuffle that never looses the electric guitars and 'Let It Ride' never really takes off. The second single off the album, 'Small Town Throwdown' atually sticks out a little for its sound from the rest of the album, as it is less rock, but more current country charts material, somewhere between Florida Georiga Line and Luke Bryan. The collaboration with Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett on this song may add to that feeling. The lyrics are not saying much more than the title lets one expect though.

Although I love a good rock guitar beat, to me, the better songs on the album are the ones where the speed gets turned down a little. Such as on 'I'm Gone', which may be the song, dedicated to his breakup with Jana Kramer. Or 'One Hell Of An Amen', which talks about a fallen soldier and someone dying from cancer. Both convey the emotion not only in the lyrics.

I personally like 'Lights Of My Hometown' which starts with a short accoustic introduction ending much too soon until electric guitars come screaming in. The beginning and the tempo-breaks in between remind me of one of my current favorite songs, Eric Church's 'Give Me Back My Hometown'. But then the screaming rock guitar riffs drive the song into a frenzy, that somehow misses the emotional link to a small town at night.

What the album is missing are moving ballads, that are not afraid of dropping the screaming guitars for some accoustic sounds. What comes closest to it, is the closing song 'My Faith In You' with some of the most emotional lyrics on the album, delivered accordingly. In particular with the spoken parts towards the end of the song. Here the screaming guitars believably convey the deep emotions of the song and make it a highlight on the album.

Brantley Gilbert had a hand in writing all songs on the album, while Dann
Huff and  Scott Borchetta himself produced. Coming from southern rock roots after all, this album is not so much a surprise, but a little disappointment by not coming over to the country side more. To me it misses the highs, the ballads, the diversity and the country touch.
So I can only spare 3 stars out of 5.

Artist: Brantely Gilbert (http://www.brantleygilbert.com/)
Album: "Just As I Am"
Release Date: May 19th, 2014 / Producer: Dann Huff / Scott Borchetta.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Over for you

"Seated at a piano onstage, Evans delivered a heartbreaking performance with lyrics that set a scene of a man blindsided by his lover’s decision to end the relationship. Evans made no personal comments before or after the song."   ( Jessica Nicholson / billboard.com, September 26, 2022)

Alabama: "The Closer You Get" [Album]

The band Alabama has probably been the most influental musical act in my life and responsible for converting me to country music for good. Their slight rock and pop influences created a whole new vibe for country music and as we know, they were the first (at least successful) self contained country band; meaning they played all their instruments themselves, even during recordings most of the time. At live shows, they were not merely singing like successful groups such as the Oak Ridge Boys or the Statler Brothers had done before them, but as a band they were also playing their own instruments.

Wranglers

"On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., considered one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, dies at the age of 49 in a last-lap crash at the 43rd Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida. After being cut from his car, Earnhardt, whose tough, aggressive driving style earned him the nickname “The Intimidator,” was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead of head injuries." (history.com / A&E Television, November 13, 2009)