I, like most people, first heard of Chris Janson after Bobby Bones backed his song ‘Buy Me A Boat’ which ended up being one of the biggest hits of the year, and one of the most successful independently released singles ever. Taking advantage of the huge publicity he received from this, he subsequently signed to Warner Music Nashville, and found his way onto big tours with artists like Toby Keith and Luke Bryan. Having bought his EP and seen him perform live, I was nervous about what his debut major-label LP would be like, praying that he wouldn’t sacrifice his personal style of songwriting and electric live performance, channelling a bit of Jerry-Lee Lewis in his amazing harmonica jams. What I found in the album was good. It isn’t as raw as his EP, but nor is it obviously tainted by pigeon-holing by the label, and so for a debut effort, I would say it was a thoroughly satisfying record.
Kicking off with the song that needs no introduction ‘Buy Me A Boat’, it was obvious that this was chosen as the opener to convince people that the album would be full of similar tracks. Fortunately this isn’t the case, not because it is a bad song, but because every album needs diversity and the string of ballads following are really a fantastic way to introduce Chris’ songwriting style in a more authentic way. ‘Under The Sun’ is a lovely slow-paced ballad demonstrating Chris’ really nice crooner vocals, a style that doesn’t come across in his singles.
‘Holding Her’ is also a romantic ballad, lifted from his independently released EP and written about his wife, and how she changed his life from a wild-card drinker into a sober family man. The song itself is really nice melodically and full of lovely steel guitar wailing, not overproduced so that the lyrics and vocals are dominant, which is really great to fit the atmosphere. It is really noticeable how similar Chris Janson’s songwriting and vocals are to Brad Paisley in ballads like ‘Perfect Storm’ and ‘Shattered Glass’, albeit with less production and guitar. Even in songs like ‘Buy Me A Boat’ there is a similar witticism in the lyrics that Brad may adopt in his writing. Whether this is a deliberate influence for Chris or not, he could do a lot worse, and it works very wells for him!
It is clear that Chris gets on well with Tim McGraw, having written songs for him in the past and being brought onto the stage at Tim’s Bridgestone Arena gig on the ‘Shotgun Rider’ tour. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chris collaborated with Tim on a track on ‘Buy Me A Boat’, which is pretty amazing when you think about it, bringing out Tim McGraw on a debut album! ‘Messin’ With Jesus’ is a slightly darker song than we have heard so far on the album. Making Tim’s vocals more gritty than normal helps to build this atmosphere, and I have to credit the producer on this track, because although it is more rocky than previously, it has still got clear instrumentation and the lyrics and vocals still dominate. I really like this song, and I think even without the star-power of Tim it would serve well as a stand-alone track, which is the bench mark for every song, something many artists fail to hit with collaborations.
‘Right In The Middle’ goes full rock, and a little bit of hick-hop in the verses. I actually really like Chris Janson using this style, because it suits him and he feels authentic doing some faux-rap. When someone like Jason Aldean uses the style, it comes off all wrong, but if it works it works, and Chris is such an eccentric performer that it suits him perfectly. On one hand the rock-amplified style doesn’t fit the rest of the album, but on the other, it does fit with Chris’ style of music, so I’m going to give ‘Right In The Middle’ my approval, with one raised eyebrow.
Seeing the track listing, I saw the name ‘Save A Little Sugar’ and thought that Chris had succumbed to bro-country. While it’s not the deepest of songs, it does not fall into that pit, and has really nice country-rock instrumentation and a catchy melody, making it a nice song to listen to. I would say that it is almost disguised as bro, even though it isn’t, and in fact it actually reminds me a bit of Brad Paisley again.
‘Back In My Drinking Days’ is one of my highlights of the album, fitting what I’ve seen of Chris live perfectly, even down to the harmonica solos. Adopting a bit of hick-hop over country instrumentation with added electric guitar, this is Chris Janson to a tee. As I’ve already said, Chris can pull off hick-hop because he uses it in a creative way, not in a way to disguise the fact that you have run out of inspiration for an actual country song. The energy in this track is wonderful, and it is the one song on the album that makes me think “wow I have got to see this live” which is a real tribute to Chris making music that may not fit into a niche of ‘country’ but definitely carves out a place for himself as a musician in his own right.
‘Where You Come In’ is another romantic ballad, and in my opinion, one of the best on the album. It just has such a lovely feel to it with soft, slow backing, and silky vocals oozing in authenticity. It really is a great tune, and I can easily imagine it being used at weddings as a perfect slow-dance. I love this track, and it shows that Chris has so many different sides to his vocals and they all sound great!
I am a big fan of this album. Yes, it has some bland tracks towards the end, and the singles that brought him the success allowing him to sign for a major-label don’t really fit with the bulk of the album, but the vast majority of the songs as really solid, and a few are really great. As far as debut albums go, this is up there with the best, and if it weren’t for those darn meddling kids (Maddie & Tae) Chris would have my money for being nailed on for CMA newcomer success next year.
Originally posted here.
