Love and War
Brad Paisley
(Arista Nashville)
Three-and-a-half stars
When you can namecheck the UFC and Zebco fishing reels in the lead track to your 11th studio album, you are probably Grammy Award-winning country music machine Brad Paisley and can do no wrong.
Paisley is the salve when someone throws a curveball at country. All the familiar ingredients are here – the not-so secret element is that Paisley can play the paint off a guitar and get the biggest names in the business to sing along with him.
Mick Jagger helps him out with stellar vocals on Drive of Shame, a raucous twang of a track. John Fogerty weighs in on title song Love and War, a soaring call-out to take care of America's broken veterans.
There are tracks here that will burn up hot country spots on the radio and cement his place as the most dependable act in the business.
The mix-down is a tad flat but this is meant to be heard in a bar, in a truck, on the road and on the go. You can hate bro-country but don’t hate Brad Paisley for being the best at it.
*Associated Press
