The first time I saw Brad Paisley he had the unenviable duty of opening for Loretta Lynn at the Town Hall -a Loretta Lynn not seen in Manhattan for over a decade. We wouldn't have taken a fool lightly, and we didn't get one, without a single song released, Paisley blew the audience away with good humor and good songs.
A winning proposition, a career making proposition. And it made him a country giant. – a sort of anti-Steve Earle. But how many times can you go back to the same place for the same thing?
But it has been over a decade since "Long Sermon" and in that time, Paisley's sincerity drags, his jokes sales, and for every "The World" off Time Well Wasted there is two "This Is Country"'s an insufferable egotistic nonsense bullshit. "You're not supposed to say the word cancer in a song, and telling folks that Jesus is the answer is wrong…" On what planet? In another verse he discusses a person being told their brother died fighting for his country. You think country is the only place that happens?? Listen to "Yellow Ledbetter" – a song around a billion times better than anything on This Is Country Music With its asinine quotes from country great songs, it wraps itself so hard in the flag it asphyxiates him.
And it happens over and over again on this album: somber self-regard followed by sophomoric humor. Oh, plus some good guitar work. "Eastwood" is a real good Western giddy-up, "Toothbrush" is one of his story songs wrapped around an idea you don't quite see coming. But all three duets are terrible, terrible, terrible. "Love Her Like She's Leaving" makes my stomach turn. I hate the way he builds into the song, I really am sick of all his preambles. Why stick the fucking song at a wedding and having some Uncle sit down and lecturing. SING YOUR SONG. or rather don't. Henley adds zero to the adventure and it is as annoying as "Ticks".
The album is best when it revs its engines. "Camouflage" and "Old Alabama" are fun, "Toothbrush" not bad at all, But song for song it is a smug, self-righteous piece of product. It might be country music but it ain't country music the way Mama tried.
Grade: B-