Kenny Chesney
's stardom snuck up quietly. He had a string of modest successes during the late '90s, but he never made crossover waves until 2002's
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
, when his steady touring and steady shift toward
adult pop
paid off with his first number one album, but that was nothing compared to the stunning first-week sales of its successor,
When the Sun Goes Down
, which also debuted at number one to the very healthy sales of over 550,000.
Chesney
had clearly filled a void, one left by the diminished presence of
Garth Brooks
-- a singer who blurred the lines between '70s mainstream
pop/rock
and
contemporary country
, a singer who made adult-oriented music about everyday things. At one point
was aligned with
neo-traditionalist country
singers, but by
, he had left that far behind, using
country
as mere flavoring on an album whose heart and soul is firmly within the tradition of '70s singer/songwriters. Where
merely covered
Billy Joel
(and a latter-day tune at that),
drops references to
Joel
,
James Taylor
, and
Steve Miller
, while covering
Dave Loggins
'
"Please Come to Boston."
So, it's not an entire surprise that he favors
ballads
, usually the anthemic type designed to fill out arenas, and when he does turn the tempo up, it's still laid-back, in the fashion of
Jimmy Buffett
, as on the appealing duet with
Uncle Kracker
on the title track.
often refers to living in the Islands (the Caribbean Islands, that is) in his nice song-by-song liner notes and every one of the many pictures in the disc's booklet features him on an island, but this is hardly a tropical album -- it's a record for middle America, for soccer moms and sentimental NASCAR dads, for those who opted out of the corporate rat race in favor of a loving relationship, as the character in
"The Woman With You"
did. It's for a generation raised on
rock
but living on
, people who like to reminiscence but are perfectly happy in their domestic life. If this sounds condescending, it's not meant that way; it's an apt description of an album that captures a time, place, and mindset, the way
Sgt. Pepper
provided the soundtrack to the Summer of Love. Peppered with references to Abercrombie & Fitch, American Express, dogs named Bocephus, old frat brothers, and forgotten sorority sisters, all set to a canny blend of state-of-the-art
, '70s sensibility, and '80s production (check out muted delayed rhythm guitar on
"I Go Back"
), it's a thoroughly modern mature-
pop
album. Like
Shania Twain
's
Come On Over
or
Up!
, this is music that's meant to have universal appeal, but it's far subtler in its approach, not least because it's delivered not by a diva, but a humble guy with a likeable, friendly voice. It may not be
, but that doesn't matter;
is winning, sturdy mainstream
, and after hearing it, it's easy to see why so many listeners now take
to heart -- he's writing the soundtrack to their lives. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine