Mud On The Tires

07/07/2003 9:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mike Lipton

Country star Brad Paisley is the proverbial "triple threat": an artist who can sing, play and write with the best of them -- in fact, better than most of them. The West Virginia native was also blessed with enough of a down home, "aw shucks" attitude to quickly become a member of the George Strait school of New Traditionalists, those New Country practitioners who haven't totally forsaken their genre's humble roots. That said, Paisley, who has been playing professionally since his teens, figured out Nashville in a hurry and his unassuming style quickly became as rehearsed as Garth Brooks's congeniality. But that hasn't stopped him from making good records. If the songs are stock Nasvhille product ("Celebrity" predictably bemoans--or brags--about the consequences of being a star), Paisley's rich voice and slick-but-fiery guitarwork still set him apart from the pack and make the mundane not only palatable but enjoyable. If that wasn't enough, Paisley has enlisted a cast of guests ranging from fellow West Virginians Jerry Douglass and veteran Little Jimmy Dickens to Vince Gill, fellow guitar whiz Redd Volkaert (check out the twin-guitar showcase "Spaghetti Western Swing"), Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi (?). With a chorus of kids, it's only Paisley's charm that elevates "Ain't Nothin' Like" from cornball--unfortunately, "Famous People" isn't doesn't fare as well. On the up side, "Whiskey Lullaby" (a gorgeous duet with Alison Krauss) offers some good, old-fashioned tragedy ("he put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger") and "Hold Me In Your Arms (and let me fall)" is a nugget of trad country. While it's a nice inclusion, Paisley's straight-up version of the gospel standard "Farther Along" only points to the triteness of some other tracks. Still, Paisley's average is far better than most and, unlike posers like Tim McGraw, he can actually walk the walk.