Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley
5th Gear


Brad Paisley doesn't just provide another splendid album on 5th Gear. He gives a concert for the price of a CD.

And what a concert it is. Along with Paisley's varied vocals and virtuoso guitar playing, he's joined by Carrie Underwood (nothing like a six-million-seller as a backup singer), a high school band and the Kung Pao Buckaroos - Whisperin' Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens and Vince Gill.

The whimsical "Ticks," about a guy who wants to take a woman he meets in a bar for a walk in the woods so he can check her for ticks, is the album's hit leadoff single. The duet with Underwood, "Oh Love," a touching song with musical overtones reminiscent of his "Whiskey Lullaby" duet with Alison Krauss, is also single-worthy and underscores Paisley's vocal dexterity in jumping from a humorous song about bugs to a tender ballad about love without a hitch.

The songwriter part of Paisley's singer-songwriter label shines in "Online," about how an overweight fast food worker becomes a Hollywood hottie as soon as he hits the Web (the Brentwood, Tenn., High School marching band joins in on this one). He also wrote "Letter to Me," about how he would tell his 17-year-old self that things will work out, and "If Love Was a Plane," which observes that people commit to love, but would never board a plane with a 60 percent chance of going down.

He adds some vocal silliness with the Buckaroos, some old fashioned religion in "When We All Get to Heaven" and "Throttleneck," which showcases not only his instrumental mastery, but that of his musicians as well.

"I'm Still a Guy" is pure fun from someone who makes no apologies for some of his sex's shortcomings and who has no intention of changing: "These days there's dudes getting facials / Manicured, waxed and Botoxed / But with deep spray-on tans and creamy lotion-y hands / You can't grip a tackle box." Guarantee: It's the only time you will ever hear a song accompanied (simultaneously) by a girly music box and a macho tuba.