bna records 2008
Kenny Chesney 2007 studio album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates left a lot to be desired. As I pointed out in an earlier review Poets & Pirates was Chesney recycled, a studio filler if you will. Chesney’s newest album Lucky Old Sun is just what the beach bums were calling for. Laid back with a with salt on the rim.
Kicking off with the surprising track I’m Alive, Lucky Old Sun picks up where Chesney’s 2005 release Be As You Are left off. The track is surprising because it features Dave Matthews and is probably on of the smoothest tracks on the album. Way Down Here and Boats keep the island feel going, but the album picks up with the reggae feel with Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven. Mac McAnally (of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band) lends his vocals to the track Down the Road. Spirt of a Storm brings an acoustic feel to wrestling emotions of reality and fantasy.
No Chesney album would be complete without a song about being drunk or drinking, so Chesney follows his never failing formula with the rocking Ten With A Two. Chesney also borrows heavily from Jimmy Buffett’s stylings with Keys in the Conch Shell, Nowhere To Go,Nowhere To Be and The Life. The album wraps up with Willie Nelson joining Chesney on the track That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day).
Lucky Old Sun is Chesney upping the ante, the album’s laid back feel is like a vacation down island without the price tag, so honey, pack your bags.
