Phil Vassar, Prayer of a Common Man

I have this insane urge to call up Phil Vassar, like we're friends or something, and tell him that his new CD is INCREDIBLE and I'm just so damn proud of him.

The songwriting is solid as always, but he's taken some major leaps and bounds in his sound. I've always said that Phil isn't just mainstream country. He doesn't make the same album over and over again. His self titled debut and American Child did sound fairly similar, but with Shaken Not Stirred, he went a little more Billy Joel and even Ray Charles, with his Greatest Hits (for which he recorded six or seven new tracks of songs he wrote but that were made popular by other artists) he went for a simple, more acoustic approach, and with the new album, Prayer of a Common Man, he took yet another direction. Some of the tunes are a little more radio friendly, but some of them, especially the first track, I almost want to use the term avant garde. The ones that are a little more typical are still produced differently... in a way that you feel as if you're listening to the music in an arena (with a good sound technician...) rather than from a machine reading a disc. It feels energetic and LIVE.

Of course, he's also on a new label this time around, which is something I didn't realize was happening until I read the liner notes and noticed he thanked his "new family" at Universal South. Another thing I noticed... no mention of Julie, and no wedding ring in the photos. Somebody got a divorce...

The music though. Man, the music. I'm a fan.

The disc dropped YESTERDAY. Go out and grab it. Let's give this man some great first week sales. He deserves them.

New Music!

First thoughts on Josh Ritter:

Reminds me of:
Billy Joel
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Jason Mraz, but more mature
John Mayer
Rolling Stones
Motown
Radiohead
Bob Seger

That was on a first listen through the album. Not only that, but I was hearing things I don't really have the musical vocabulary to express. Most of what I was hearing is less than current, you'll notice, but the combination of these influences makes Josh's music unique and fresh. I highly recommend The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.



First thoughts on Carrie Underwood:

I love Ashley Monroe, and I love her delicate little voice, but take an Ashley tune like "Flat on the Floor," and add Carrie's powerhouse vocals and you have pop-country perfection.

The rest of the album follows suit. I loved Some Hearts but Carnival Ride is, in my opinion, exponentially better. From the first listen, I just believe that this album is more Carrie, and less management and producers trying to create a strong first album. I'm not knocking that because obviously it worked, but this seems more authentic.

And as long as I've recently brought up the subject of covering songs and how I'm not usually a fan, she lent me another surprise with an impressive take on Randy Travis's "I Told You So," with Vince Gill on background vocals.

Carnival Ride is highly recommended as well.

(embedding is disabled, so this is the new single, All-American girl.)