CD Review of American Man: Greatest Hits, Volume II by Trace Adkins
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Toby Keith,
Hank Williams, Jr
EMI/Capitol Records
Trace Adkins:
American Man: Greatest Hits, Volume II
xhibit A:
She's ridin' in the middle of his pickup truck
Blarin' Charlie Daniels, yellin' "Turn it up!"
They raised her up a lady but there's one thing they couldn't avoid
Ladies love country boys
Exhibit B:
There oughta be a law, get the sheriff on the phone
Lord have mercy, how'd she even get them britches on
That honky-tonk badonkadonk?
Exhibit C:
I got my game on, better hang on tight
I guarantee it's gonna be a helluva ride,
I got my groove on, I got my smooth on
Yeah, you ladies better watch out tonight, I got my game on
If you've had your head in the sand the past couple years, or have managed to completely avoid the modern day country music revolution, then rest assured, you've just been brought up to speed on the hick hoppin', rebel rousin' ways of the ultimate ladies man, Trace Adkins. His mindlessly male, over-the-top themes of livin', lovin', cruisin' and boozin' have won him fast fame among legions of card-carrying CMT members.
American Man: Greatest Hits, Volume II rounds up his most recent chart hits from no further back than 2002, but focuses primarily on the last two or three years, when he's become an unshakeable household name in country. The formula doesn't stray, as "Ladies Love Country Boys," "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," and the new single "I Got My Game On" each follows the same very simple and primitive diagram: man finds woman and clubs her over the head a la Captain Caveman. In fact, even Adkins himself admitted in a recent interview that he's gone to that well one too many times.
The package does peddle three new songs – a concept I've yet to fully comprehend about "greatest hits." 2008 will find the far sappier "You're Gonna Miss This" being released as a single, the ultimate "because I said so" from father to daughter. And who would know better than a father to five daughters? The grizzled Louisianan baritone ain't all bite, though, as "I Wanna Feel Something" will attest. "I hate that I'm jaded and I make you cry, but still you stick around me, only God knows why," seems surprisingly tender after some of his more boisterous material. American Man is poised to be his fourth #1 album in Adkins' last five tries. Not bad for an old roughneck.