It's Been My Jason Aldean Kinda Day

A nightmare about pulling an enormous tick our of my daughter's hair woke me up at 5 am today.  This is what happens when you have a pack of nine deer living in your backyard. So I got an early start on Jason Aldean's new album.  I really like him and have been looking forward to this for a while. The title track, My Kinda Party, released a while back, didn't make it to my ipod on its own. I knew that there was going to be better material in the album so I waited, and there definitely is.

I've listened to the album at least five times already today and I'm not sick of it. There's the duet with Kelly Clarkson, which I'm guessing will be a hit, but I don't think there is a really rocking song like Crazytown that is going to get a crowd of 10,000 beating their fists in the air, bang, bang, bang, but My Kinda Party is coming close. It's growing on me. There isn't a shake your tush song like "She's Country" or anything quite as sweet as "Big Green Tractor", but it's a great album

What is there, for the most part, are a number of very poetic and poignant songs about life and love. Aldean doesn't seem to write his songs, but he sings them like he does. There is something so personal and conversational in his voice that it's very easy to believe that he is singing about himself and to make an emotional connection.

I do already have a favorite. I knew that I was going to like "Church Pew or Bar Stool" (written by Josh Thompson) from title alone. Shul pew or bar stool? It's a song about getting out of a suffocating small town, or, if you translate it into my world, suffocating small community.  "When you don't seem to run on either side of the fence, people act like you don't make sense." Wow, can I ever relate to that line.  "Well it's crystal clear that I, just need to find, a place where there is no lines, and nothing like it is around here." I've wanted to get the heck out of Dodge my entire life. The catch is that "Dodge" follows you wherever you go. The only place with no lines is the place in life where you can finally step to your own beat and not care what others think. I think that place is the age of 40. Maybe Mr. Aldean will find a song that touches on that a few albums from now.

The other song that immediately spoke to me is "Fly Over States". I've always found Aldean's voice to be interesting, rather than beautiful, but it's beautiful in this song.  Being one of the majority of Americans that have never driven from coast to coast, the song makes me want to jump into my car and head west. "On the plains of Oklahoma, with a windshield sunset in your eyes, Like a watercolored painted sky, you'll think heavens doors have opened, you'll understand why God made those flyover states."

Then there are the lost love songs. Aldean can make the feeling of longing palpable,  like he's crying inside, but is too much of man to let on. He did that in Truth, he does that in "See You When I See You", "If You Can See Me Know" and "Heartache that Don't Stop". 
I'd love to hear what my readers think.  If you've heard the album or any of the songs.  Please comment.

This post was revised extensively on Nov. 3rd because it was too long and I changed my mind about a couple of things.