It's hard not to read the title of
Hardy
's fourth album as a message to the country music industry that made him a star: he's voluntarily leaving Nashville behind. Once nimbly navigating the border separating country and rock,
throws himself into churning post-grunge with
Quit!!
, swiping a song title from
Oasis
, namedropping
Nickelback
-- not so coincidentally a band produced by
Joey Moi
,
's collaborator from the start -- and going so far as to invite
Fred Durst
and
Chad Smith
of
Red Hot Chili Peppers
into the studio to make a cameo.
plays like a deliberate tribute to the glory days of nu-metal, but underneath the digital clamor there still are traces of the professional songwriter who penned hits for
Florida Georgia Line
Morgan Wallen
.
is sharp enough to give the strip-club anthem "Good Girl Phase" a boisterous pop hook, a trick he replicates on the
Knox
duet "Happy Hour," while he also knows the power of a simple slow tune: he closes proceedings with "Six Feet Under (Caleigh's Song)," a power ballad designed to bounce off the walls at arenas. "Six Feet Under (Caleigh's Song)" is every bit as calculated as "Psycho" -- a song intended to elicit smirks on behalf of a vengeful ex -- and "Jim Bob," a dirge-like celebration of Southern cliches that can't be called country. By playing modern metal for a contemporary country audience,
hits a bullseye with his intended audience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine