In 1993, an unknown country singer Toby Keith once again decided to attract attention of record companies to his band, yet, alas to no purpose, he was depressed and crushed. He had promised himself that he’d give up on music as a career if he won’t have a recording contract by his 30th birthday, but he was already 32 and there was no any positive prospect. It’s not the most attractive life situation but luckily Toby Keith has finally managed to turn everything upside-down in a good sense of the word. While it was impossible for him to make it work without label formerly, today he feels completely independent. His new album Big Dog Daddy is the first Toby Keith’s album placed under his total control. It was composed, recorded and produced by him and finally released by his own label. This is that kind of metamorphosis that happens to those who are not scared of hard working. And Toby deals with this kind of labor exclusively. 11 extremely popular albums and 13 years of ceaseless touring. As Toby himself said: “I may not be the biggest star around, but nobody will ever out work me.”
Toby surely puts a modest air when speaking about his starry status. He became a genuine super star as far back as 2002 when he released his American nationwide hit Courtesy Of The Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American) and his following album Shock’n Y’All literally made him a half mythical being. The popularity of this artist can be scarcely overestimated and he pretends of being unaware about it for no purpose. But actually this is not the point. It seems like his new album is going to set up a new record of Toby Keith’s popularity. Big Dog Daddy is already taking a first position on Billboard 200 charts and Toby Keith himself calls this album one of the best in his entire discography. Unlike his preceding album White Trash With Money where Toby began performing a softer and more soulful country music, Big Dog Daddy offers powerful country rock in the vein of his early records. It’s not a retreat towards past but a self-representation in a new, completely independent state.
The album offers a whole bunch of perfect classic country songs that sound sufficiently poppy for radio format and simultaneously have that purely country spirit. The number of the best tracks unconditionally includes High Maintenance Woman, which is the main single of the album - perfect guitar sound, classic country atmosphere and irresistible voice of Toby Keith. The album has plenty of similar tracks; particularly, you may pay your attention at Pump Jack or Get My Drink On. Sometimes Toby inclines to rock’n’roll more appreciably like he did on self-titled track Big Dog Daddy. But still his lyrical side, which was frequently overlooked in the past, represents the very best part of the album. Such songs as I Know She Hung The Moon of Walk It Off are great examples of Keith’s sensitivity. The album finishes with another excellent track Hit It – this is one of the most uncharacteristic and heavy songs of the record and another Keith fans pleaser. A person must have a real talent to make old and trite clichés sound modern and fresh. And Toby Keith definitely knows how to do it. Big Dog Daddy isn’t trying to invent something new, it always stays in the boarders of country music but the power, honesty and sincere simplicity it carries make you dive into every millisecond of this record. The album will be highly suitable for any country rock fan.
Hide From The SunThe Rasmus make a better, harder, tighter and catchier Dead Letters. Hide From The Sun is pop and rock music, lacking in cynicism, egotistical posturing, sarcasm or irony, replacing all of the above with big emotion, romance and dreams of better days