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American Ride

Toby Keith - American Ride Audio CD

A fair review of the Toby Keith "American Ride" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Toby Keith reviews here, or go back to the Toby Keith tabs.

Band: Toby Keith
Title: American Ride
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-10-06
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: American Ride 2: Gypsy Driftin' 3: Are You Feelin' Me 4: Every Dog Has Its Day 5: Woke Up On My Own 6: If You're Tryin' You Ain't 7: Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song) (Featuring Dave Koz,Marcus Miller and Arthur Thompson) 8: If I Had One 9: You Can't Read My Mind 10: Tender As I Wanna Be 11: Loaded 12: Ballad Of Balad (Featuring The Hogliners)

Toby Did It Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this song! Have you ever see or heard of Toby walking the easy side? This song is Great, and walks the edge! But who hasnt yet in this day and age? He hits home with fans! He connects with all ages and colors! He's a Wonderful entertainer! Keep up the GREAT job Toby. . . your fans stand by you, and Love you no matter what you do! .

Toby ROCKS!
Just when you think there could not be a better song on the disc the next one comes on and rocks your world. Every song is fabulous. . . .
One of my favorites so far!.

Toby Keith Rocks ThisOne.
Toby Keith takes the stage w/this one. Can't stop listening to this CD, amazing. Great country tunes, at it's best. Buy without a doubt.

Toby Keith's American Ride
It's a great cd, I think you'll enjoy it! . Toby Keith's new CD American Ride is a "can't miss"! It starts off with songs that poke fun at everything going on in the world today, like politics, the environment and even Desperate Housewives! Toby sings about being on the road as a musician, and lots of songs about drunks, goofy guys, and his american pride, especially in the song Ballad of Balad.

American Ride

While there are some artists out there who only release new albums once a decade (I'm not mentioning any names . . Shania), there are others, like King George Strait, who release `em almost every year - or every 18 months, at least. I had barely got used to calling That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy Toby's new album when - whoa, he releases a new one. Beginning with his latest chart-topper, the shout-y title-track, which mentions everything from the 0-zone layer to

Desperate Housewives, it's an uneasy starter to what is, on the whole, a satisfying main course (and unlike this review, there are no pretentious culinary metaphors on the album. ) To my would-be discerning ears, "Gypsy Driftin'" sounds like "God Love Her Part II - Return of the Highway Cowboy" ("God Love Her" being a hit from his last album). It's a mid-tempo anthem celebrating the tumultuous life on the road of a rock - I mean - country star, wherein Keith proclaims that, "It's hard as hell out on this highway/But I'm still addicted to the show". Lyrically, it sounds like Gary Allan on the title track to Living Hard, but doesn't rock as hard at first, instead going for a slower-paced build-up as Keith describes sweatin' in out on his 18th summer, before buying a guitar, writing songs about beer-joints and touring them.

Musically, we revisit the ever so slight 50s flavour of Keith's 90s hits ("He Ain't Worth Missing," "A Woman's Touch" and "Dream Walkin'") on the relatively brief "Are You Feelin' Me". If this is a delicate little romantic stroll, than "Every Dog Has It's Day" (with its questionable couplet of "Merle" with "Girl" which everyone from Brooks & Dunn to Collin Raye has had a stab at) is bruise-inducing skateboarding at the park. It's an in-your-face, thumpin' rocker and wouldn't be out of place on a Montgomery Gentry album. And is it just me, or is ole Toby a dog-lover at heart, as Unleased, Pull My Chain and Big Dog Daddy suggest - and those are just the album titles! Anyway, we digress: this could certainly be a single, if they re-mixed the sound lower, as it's louder than Miranda Lambert's latest record. The I-can't-believe-she's-gone lament of "Woke Up On My Own" continues this trend, as does the fun "If You're Trying, You Ain't" and, later, with "Loaded" - both of which will go down well at house parties and arena concerts alike.

But before that - a saxophone on a Toby Keith record? Only slightly, but at least it's there. Apparently, it's a tribute to basketball player Wayman Tisdale, and being British, I don't recognise the name, but that doesn't stop me from thinking this is one of the best tracks on the disc, and with some seriously good song-writing going on:
"I got up and dialled your number and your voice came on the line/That old, familiar message I heard a thousand times/It just said, `Sorry that I missed you, leave a message and God bless'/I know you think I'm crazy, but I had to hear your voice, I guess. "

The sign reading, "Ballad Territory - Keep Off the Rock" is in full view on "Tender As I Wanna Be", which, with its opening piano tinkling and placid strings, sounds like the debut single from an American Idol winner. Power ballad fans and those lamenting about Lonestar (if those people exist) will lap it up, but if anybody fancies a more - dare I say it - country sound, then head on over to "You Can't Read My Mind".

When I heard the fiddle in the intro, I was shocked (as if Taylor Swift had just told Kayne West to go to hell). OK, the fiddle leaves the party almost immediately, but a steel guitar can be heard low in the mix, and over the guitar, Keith delivers some pretty decent lyrics ("Baby I can't tell you what I'm thinking/I've way too much to drink/This is when I usually say something out of line/Just be glad that right now you can't read my mind"), making it an easy-going number, and the fiddle/steel instrumental in the middle makes it an even better one. It's a real shame Keith doesn't employ those instruments a bit more.

That would have been a good track to leave on, but unfortunately, the real ending comes with the oddly-titled "Ballad of a Ballad", a diary-style look at military life and the kind of thing Daryl Worley used to be obsessed with.

Keith fans will be delighted, while others will just think "Same old, same old" and stomp off somewhere and sulk, but if Strait delivers similar product time and again (and I'm not complaining - anybody who's heard Twang doesn't), then why can't the Tobster? Yes, it is a wonder his head can fit in his Stetson, but although I don't care for his voice, he's been around just as long as Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, and releases more records. That old freight train marked "Toby's Brand - Change at Own Peril" continues its assiduous trundling down the railroad.
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You can see a complete list of all Toby Keith discography, or go back to the Toby Keith tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.