I’m convinced that beneath the country skins of Kix Brooks and
\nRonnie Dunn beat hearts with more than their share of rock and roll
\nveins.<\/p>\n
I suspected as much when I bought their album
\nBorderline<\/i> on the strength of the song “My Maria”. Now,
\nafter listening to their 1993 release
\nHard Workin’ Man<\/i> (only about two years after I first bought
\nthe tape), I’m even more certain.<\/p>\n
Brooks & Dunn have always known how to put a good groove to
\na country song, making it a cut that could find fans in the rock
\nworld. The title track reminds me of Travis Tritt; it’s a song that
\nglorifies the blue-collar worker and the life he chooses to live.
\nIt’s a pleasant enough little number that is sure to entertain.<\/p>\n
The crossover occurs at the halfway point of
\nHard Workin’ Man<\/i>. Cuts like “Rock My World (Little Country
\nGirl)” and “That Ain’t No Way To Go” are not pure country songs in
\nthe truest definition of the word. Instead, Brooks & Dunn draw
\non many different musical influences for these numbers, influences
\nthat make the songs stand out that much more for the better. “That
\nAin’t No Way To Go” is a solid ballad that almost could fit into an
\nAOR format.<\/p>\n
However, their roots are most definitely in country – and
\nsurprisingly, this is where the music can be hit or miss. Cuts like
\n“Mexican Minute” and “We’ll Burn That Bridge” are solid enough
\nefforts, but by the end of the album, on cuts like “Our Time Is
\nComing,” the formula begins to wear a little thin. And as
\nchallenging as “Texas Women (Don’t Stay Lonely Long)” is
\ntime-signature wise, it does not rank among the best work of the
\nduo.<\/p>\n
The saving grace of
\nHard Workin’ Man<\/i> is that it’s still a fun album to listen
\nto, and is one that could easily draw in someone who is not a big
\nlover of country music. While some diehard country music
\nafficionados might pooh-pooh this
\nnouveau<\/i> country, I say, welcome it with open arms. If it
\nattracts a new audience to your style of music, who cares how they
\ndid it (unless, of course, Vanilla Ice chooses to don a set of
\nchaps and hit the mechanical bull).<\/p>\n
\nHard Workin’ Man<\/i> is the traditional pleasing fare that
\nBrooks & Dunn have been churning out for years – and if you
\nlike any of their works, this album is not going to disappoint you
\nat all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5779],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-39291","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-brooks-dunn","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39291"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}