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CD Review: Big & Rich, "Comin' to Your City" (Warner Bros.)
There's very little traditional country to be found on "Comin' to Your City"--which probably means it will be a very big modern-country hit.
Big & Rich , the multi-platinum duo that hails from the Muzik Mafia collective, seems hell bent to prove that it's still "A Horse of a Different Color" on this sophomore (and sophomoric) release. "City" is even more bizarrely eclectic than "Horse"--but, unfortunately, it's not nearly as good.
The album kicks off with what surely has to be one of the strangest tunes ever recorded on a so-called country album (and, yes, that includes the Billy Ray Cyrus oeuvre). From that opener, the Zappa-esque reject "The Freak Parade," the duo falls well short in its attempt to deliver another "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" anthem with the title track. The album's other empty-headed party tracks, including "Jalapeno" and "20 Margaritas," manage to make Jimmy Buffett sound like a rocket scientist.
Unfortunately, those plastic party anthems are as good as this album gets. The CD gets worse--much worse--as Big & Rich channel the Georgia Satellites on the ugly Southern rocker "Soul Shaker" and go for an R&B vibe with "Never Mind Me."
Big Kenny is quoted in the duo's press material as saying that "Never Mind Me" reminds him of the great Bill Withers. After listening to that track, which sounds like a faceless piece of bland '70s light rock, there's only one question that needs answering:
Has Big Kenny ever heard Bill Withers?
