Comin to Your City
Anybody who needed a saddle to stay in the frantic groove of Big & Rich's 2004 debut,Horse of a Different Color, had better cinch it tighter forComin' to Your City, the duo's much-anticipated follow-up: The album rocks far harder, and ventures into zones weirder than the Bermuda Triangle. Don't believe it? Check out "Soul Shaker," which employs screaming electric guitars and a vocal chorus reminiscent of '60s psychedelia, or "Caught Up in the Moment," about a spicy encounter of the mile-high-club kind. Then there's the self-congratulatory one-minute opener, "Freak Parade," which turns into an outsized kid's song à la Shel Silverstein, and the myth-making travelogue title track. And we won't even talk about the indescribably awful "Our America," a patriotic bonus track with fellow Muzik Mafia members Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy that sounds like aSaturday Night Liveparody. Yet while some will find the real-life "8th of November," featuring narration by Kris Kristofferson, worthy of tears and heartswelling emotion (it's about a Vietnam vet who survived an ambush on that day in 1965), there's really no great killer tune here. The surprise, hinted at on their first album, is how well John Rich and Big Kenny incorporate their pranks (risqué vocal asides, fevered carnival barking, instrumental in-jokes, gonzo and goofball humor) with their mainstream ballads and sweet/serious songs. "I Pray for You," with its angelic imagery, is as intense and spiritual a love song as has ever been written, while "Slow Motion" achingly details the shattering of a romantic affair. And even if these merry men can't resist a few off-putting and zany lyrics at the end of "Never Mind Me," it's a perfect piece of Eagles-eque soft-rock soul. There's some just plain bad music here, too ("Jalapeño"), but somehow that fittingly rounds out this wacko offering from the most creative and unpredictable team currently operating out of Nashville.--Alanna Nash