Music review: Alan Jackson – 鈥榃here Have You Gone鈥�
Country music icon Alan Jackson is back with his first new studio effort in six years.
鈥淲here Have You Gone鈥� is an impressive double album filled with stirring tracks possessing the Georgia native鈥檚 tried-and-true formula of delivering heartfelt declarations of life, love and heartache.
Jackson opens the set with a yearning to go back to simpler times as described on the title track with Jackson singing, 鈥淭he songs from your memory I cling to today/I won鈥檛 let them leave me, I won鈥檛 let them fade.鈥� While the message seems to be directed at a lost love, I suspect that Jackson could also be referring to a time when artists such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson ruled the stage.
As a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Jackson faithfully maintains his traditional country style as opposed to much of today鈥檚 watered-down offerings.
Jackson drowns his sorrows away on a number of tear-in-my-beer tracks that speak to the loneliness of heartbreak. 鈥淲ay Down in My Whiskey,鈥� 鈥淚 Was Tequila鈥� and 鈥淲ishful Drinkin'鈥� highlight the fact that there is no substitute for the love of a good woman as Jackson solemnly confesses, 鈥淚 poured that bourbon in the glass/Sat down in the chair there by the front door/Where I watched you walk away there with my heart/And all I鈥檝e ever cared for.鈥�
On 鈥淚 Can Be That Something,鈥� Jackson aspires to be the one to bring comfort during troubled times as he sings, 鈥淏ut I can be that whiskey in your bottle/I can be that smile that takes away your tears/I can be the place you just want to run to/I can be that something to get you through.鈥�
The 62-year-old singer proves he still has plenty of gas left in the tank and can get a little rowdy on the guitar-driven 鈥淟ivin鈥� on Empty鈥� and party anthem 鈥淏eer:10.鈥�
Jackson gets sentimental on 鈥淵ou鈥檒l Always Be My Baby鈥� and 鈥淚 Do.鈥� Both arrangements were written for his daughters鈥� weddings and will certainly be signature selections during receptions for years to come.
鈥淭hings That Matter鈥� serves as a gentle reminder that time passes by quickly and to make the most of each day as Jackson proclaims, 鈥淲e only get so many trips around the sun/Some things matter some things don鈥檛/It鈥檚 up to you to choose which ones.鈥�
Jackson is scheduled to perform at Cleveland鈥檚 Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on July 10.