JASON ALDEAN

Night Train

[Broken Bow]

By combining country and arena rock like a macho-hillbilly alchemist, Jason Aldean has become Music Row’s most popular male vocalist. Helmed by his longtime producer Michael Knox, Night Train sticks close to Aldean’s hicks-from-the-sticks formula. Rattling off the usual menu of Southern-fried clichés, he sings with attitude over screaming guitar riffs. The lead single, “Take a Little Ride,” and the title track are obvious bids for radio airplay—minimally introspective tunes designed for maximum spins. That’s common among Nashville’s hat acts, so naturally, fellow frat-rock brothers Luke Bryan and Eric Church join Aldean on the ramblin’ anthem “The Only Way I Know.” Less impressive is “1994,” a novelty flashback that celebrates rural-route youth with hackneyed detail. It’s when stretching beyond the narrow bounds of nostalgia that Aldean finds his voice, and dialing down the bluster, he excels on the grown-up, reflective ballads “Drink One for Me” and “I Don’t Do Lonely Well.” –Blake Boldt

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