Eric Church - The Outsiders (Album Review)

Eric Church's last album Chief was a pretty fun listen. I'd deem it the near beer of "outlaw" country meaning it’s not really outlaw country at all. It just wants to look and be branded that way. That being said Chief was a solid listen and overall I liked a lot of the album. When going into Eric Church's new album The Outsiders I took the same approach in thinking about it. This is an artist who markets himself as more of the outlaw or the outsider, but that isn't really true. He's a successful guy, he's sold a ton of albums, and has no trouble getting his music played on CMT, radio, etc...  So I'd say, go into this album thinking I'm going to have a near beer.

Once you take that into account the album and songwriting are pretty strong. It's a well paced album. It has a country meets alternative rock approach. Church has been able to create an album that makes his music appealing and standout amongst the hoard of country artists scrambling for CMT plays and the hopeful crossover to other genre listeners. He's more successful in his quest than Brad Paisley, an artist who fits a similar mold,  over the course of his last couple albums. At times this album echoes some of the things Zac Brown Band are able to do. "Cold One" could easily be found on a Zac Brown Band album. "Roller Coaster Ride" is another alternative rock/country song that is well paced and is one of the better songs. I think musically and vocally the song is a big success and it screams single. It might not all work for everyone. The spoken word parts of "Devil, Devil. Princess Of Darkness Prelude" sound kind of cheesy and out of place on the record. It's back to business as usual when the actual song kicks in at about three and a half minutes in. Those first three minutes, in my opinion, could have been left off or split into a separate track. The last half of the song might be some of the best music on the album.

Production and mixing fits the album nicely. This is mostly a slick sounding album, but it does have its moments when the rock elements mix in and it lets loose. Like towards the end of "Cold One" when the rock elements just get slightly muddy sounding. You can tell the team working on this album spent a lot of time on capturing exactly what they wanted this album to sound like. It does a great job of having tracks that appeal to the base country audience while easily incorporating songs that would find more of a home on alternative radio.

So is Eric Church an outlaw or an outsider? No. I honestly don't think he is. I think he's the cool kid at the table wearing an AC/DC shirt under his letterman jacket. However, that doesn't mean this isn't a fun, enjoyable, well thought out album that is better than most mainstream country you'll hear this year.