Thursday ahoy! And it's time for more country music here on the B Side. Looking through the Billboard Country charts this morning, there are a solid number of artists making music right now that a) I haven't reviewed and b) I've never heard of. Urban certainly doesn't fit into the latter category, his name seems to be at the forefront of a lot of country discussions. I'm not sure I've heard anything by him, time will tell. This is his best selling album at 4x in the states, so I figured I'd start here. You wouldn't really know listening to him, but Urban was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia at age 6. Shortly after the move, he started competing in youth singing contests and winning many of them by age 8. He's been making music since 1990 - after making a splash in the Aussie country scene. Back in 1992, he moved to Nashville to conquer the American scene as well. And although he began making solid headway into the business, he also had a severe cocaine addiction that was keeping him from really taking the next step. He checked into rehab in 1998 to get clean. This particular record came out in 2004, seemingly after his problems had dissolved. This produced three number one country hits and had another track peak at #48 even though it never was released or played on the radio. For the most part, the album is pretty upbeat and fast paced. I could see country fans getting ready to this album in the morning, and even driving into work with it. It may be a little too contemporary for my liking, but it's a good listen. I'd have to hear his other stuff to get a real feel for him as an artist, but at first blush - I can see why he's popular.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Days Go By
2. Better Life
3. Making Memories of Us
4. God's Been Good to Me
5. Hard Way, The
6. You're My Better Half
7. I Could Fly
8. Tonight I Wanna Cry
9. She's Gotta Be
10. Nobody Drinks Alone
11. Country Comfort
12. Live to Love Another Day
13. These Are the Days
Listen To Samples
Top 3 Tracks:
1. Better Life
2. The Hard Way
3. Days Go By
FINAL RATING:
3.25 out of 5 stars
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