Album
Dierks Bentley
Home
HumpHead (label)
20 February 2012 (released)
08 February 2012
Everything about Dierks Bentley’s latest album reeks of country. From the singer wearing a baseball cap on the cover to the opening chords of Am I The Only One, this is obviously an album rooted in strict country traditions. But then that is hardly surprising for a man who has earned several CMA Awards and a number of Grammy nominations for his previous albums and singles.
It would be easy to make sneering comments about the Nashville world Bentley inhabits, with all that denim, those big jeeps with horns that play music and of course the big hats. But what would be the point, when in the end, the music works and entertains. It is what it is. It is obvious why those awards and sales have come so easily for the Arizona born singer and he struts into this seventh studio album with a real confidence.
After an acoustic adventure on previous release Up On The Ridge, this is a move into full-on country-rock, with guitar solos and rattling drums. It seems Bentley is laying down a gauntlet to try and challenge Country’s big league; the likes of Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw. But his voice is not quite as strong or impressive and is a touch generic to stand out from a very crowded market place.
On the quieter moments on Home, he is at his most impressive, with the title track’s loving reflections of all things America ticking all the right boxes lyrically for his partisan and patriotic audience. But Breathe You In and the excellent When You Gonna Come Around (featuring guest vocal from Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town) are much better.
The sloppier ballad, Thinking of You, wraps things up and after the fade out you hear Bentley’s 3-year-old daughter singing her version of the song. It is a little too ‘sweet’ even for this genre. Putting this aside, Home is an accomplished country album, packing just the right amount of fun and schmaltz.
It would be easy to make sneering comments about the Nashville world Bentley inhabits, with all that denim, those big jeeps with horns that play music and of course the big hats. But what would be the point, when in the end, the music works and entertains. It is what it is. It is obvious why those awards and sales have come so easily for the Arizona born singer and he struts into this seventh studio album with a real confidence.
After an acoustic adventure on previous release Up On The Ridge, this is a move into full-on country-rock, with guitar solos and rattling drums. It seems Bentley is laying down a gauntlet to try and challenge Country’s big league; the likes of Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw. But his voice is not quite as strong or impressive and is a touch generic to stand out from a very crowded market place.
On the quieter moments on Home, he is at his most impressive, with the title track’s loving reflections of all things America ticking all the right boxes lyrically for his partisan and patriotic audience. But Breathe You In and the excellent When You Gonna Come Around (featuring guest vocal from Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town) are much better.
The sloppier ballad, Thinking of You, wraps things up and after the fade out you hear Bentley’s 3-year-old daughter singing her version of the song. It is a little too ‘sweet’ even for this genre. Putting this aside, Home is an accomplished country album, packing just the right amount of fun and schmaltz.