album reviews

Alan Jackson - “Good Time” CD

By Sam Houston ⋅ May 16, 2008 ⋅ Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

I know more than a few Alan Jackson fans who were concerned that Alan’s previous album marked a permanent change of direction for him.  That album, produced by Alison Krauss, will likely prove to be the worst selling album in the Alan Jackson catalog so it is good to see that Good Time is a return to form for him.  His fans can stop worrying now.

Good Time is jam-packed with solid country music and, as usual for an Alan Jackson album, the songs will appeal to a wide audience.  There are love ballads for the ladies, a drinking song or two for the guys, some autobiographical songs, and lots of Alan Jackson humor on display.

Alan shares some of his own story on “Small Town Southern Man,” the first single from the album, a song in which he pays tribute to his father, and on “1976” in which he describes some of the notablel highlights of 1976, the year he met his wife at the local Dairy Queen.  One suspects that the lady has a sense of humor after listening to “Nothing Left to Do,” Alan’s description of “one night in the life” in which he tells us that there’s “nothing left to do now that we’ve done it.”

Other examples of Jackson’s humorous touch are “I Still Like Bologna,” in which he admits to enjoying plenty about the digital age but says that he’s not ready yet to give up all of life’s simple pleasures and “If Jesus Walked the World Today,” in which he imagines that when Jesus comes back it will be as a hillbilly.

“If You Want to Make Me Happy,” a traditional honky tonk song, kicks off with a fiddle and closes with a steel guitar.  What more can a country fan ask for?  How about a hook that advises, “If you want to make me happy, pour me bourbon on the rocks and play every sad song on the jukebox.”  Does it get any better than that, country fans?

Good Time includes a love song duet with the talented Martina McBride, “Never Loved Before,” that may be destined to be a single at some point.  It is just one of at least half a dozen love songs on the album, some of which are mid-to-up-tempo songs that even the guys will enjoy.

Alan Jackson fans will love this album…and, with seventeen songs on it, Alan is offering us a real bargain.  Buy this album.  You won’t be sorry.  It’s not a perfect album, but it is, for the most part, real country music.

- Sam Houston