Brad Paisley is as American as a Tootsie Roll at a Parade

Early returns on Brad Paisley have been good. I found myself in a crowded elevator right after buying his new CD 5th Gear. When someone asked me what CD it was I said, “The new Brad Paisley.” This was followed by awkward silence.

But when I walked out of the elevator a guy did his best Wolf Man from Top Gun (“Gutsiest move I ever saw man”), pulling me aside to say, “Brad plays a mean guitar man. I’m not into the whole new country thing but I’ll always check out Keith Urban and Brad Paisley because they can flat out play.”

So that’s what I heard a lot about, Brad the ax man. I was also informed early on that Brad writes his own music which is damn near impossible in the manufactured Nashville country scene. And does he ever, 5th Gear boasts 16 tracks.

Having flirted with country, and never having got there on the Bon Jovi record. I nearly rejoiced when listening to the opening track “All I Wanted Was A Car” and this letter jacket of a lyric:

My buddy Blake was all-state with dreams of the NFL
Jenny McClain had big brains
She got a scholarship to Yale
And there was Hershel who did two commercials
And he was going to be a movie star
But all I wanted was a car
All I wanted was a car

Bring on the stories. Don’t get me wrong, the Bon Jovi record is nice. I was just in a guy’s office and he had it playing. It’s a good late years Bon Jovi record. But it’s not a country record. It’s not country because it’s missing the central ingredient of stories, and it’s not country because at the end of the day you still must acknowledge you’re listening to Bon Jovi. And when that happens, the cowboy boots don’t go all the way up the leg.

5th Gear is filled with stories. Including “All I Wanted Was a Car” and a nice ballad “Letter to Me” where we find an older Paisley consoling the 17 year old version of himself that a teenage break up isn’t the end of the world. I love the detail of country music, and Paisley does a nice job sprinkling nuggets like “a Skoal can and a playboy that no one else would know you hid” under the bed to confirm the letter is in fact being written by himself on “Letter to Me”, before dispensing advice like, “and when you get a date with Bridget make sure the tank is full
on second thought forget it, that one turns out kinda cool.” But while those lines get a smile, it’s the advice to not be blinded by the Friday Night Lights of youth that are the best parts of the track, and the more subtle lyrics like “p.s. go hug aunt Rita every chance you get” that makes “Letter to Me” a grand country song.

Another nice little story is “Online” about a tuba player who lives with his folks transforming into a Calvin Klein model online. I have trouble with “Online” because the lyrics sound like the script for a really bad country music video. But the song itself is catch as hell. It’s the one you’ll find yourself going back to. And the transition at the end where an entire marching band is playing the melody is fantastic. There’s just a touch too much cheese on the curd here, or I could really get into this one.

“I’m Still a Guy” and “Ticks” are classic new country with Paisley offering to check his lady’s back (and front) for ticks, and a refusal to apologize for still “having a set” in an increasingly metro world. The problem is if Paisley would have written “I’m Still A Guy” for Toby Keith—it would have done a lot better.

The other issue I have with the Brad Paisley record is clearly this guy has the chops to be a major ax man. But nowhere on 5th gear does he ever truly fly his freak flag. He bends a nice little solo on “Some Mistakes” and they bury some guitar magic at the very end of several tracks. I suppose in the neutered world of Nashville, mad chops like Paisley’s are seen as some sort of genetic mutation –something to be concealed. Whenever Paisley’s eyes turn green and his jean shorts start to rip on 5th Gear, some producer is there to turn down the volume and keep everything on an even keel. Don’t want to lose the Hershey’s sponsorship . . .

I think my favorite part of 5th Gear is the middle-aged optimism. On songs like “It Did,” Paisley talks about life as one never ending crescendo. “It Did” is Paisley’s response to all those moments when you think “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Paisley’s just keep livin’ spirit of optimism permeates the disc, and is an interesting point of view. Instead of waxing poetic about youth or the best days gone by, Paisley tends to go the other way telling his 17 year old self on “Letter to Me”:

“you should see your kids and wife
and I'd end by saying have no fear
these are no where near the best years of your life.”

Paisley lays down 16 tracks on 5th Gear, writes some nice songs with his writing partner, Kelley Lovelace, and gives enough of a glimpse of the guitar to know he’s got a beast inside waiting to come out. Most importantly, 5th Gear has the storytelling necessary to be a summertime country record, and you don’t need to explain away the Bon Jovi part.