By Allison Stewart
Georgia-born country star Jason Aldean may never do another song as weird as "Dirt Road Anthem," the redneck rap song that is the high point of his fourth disc, "My Kinda Party." A cover of a track popularized by country singer-rapper Colt Ford, it's a standard-issue ode to George Jones and back roads, beer and biscuits made deliriously novel by Aldean's delivery, which falls somewhere in between beatnik spoken word and Kid Rock.
A rock-and-roll-influenced hat act with blue-collar inclinations, Aldean must have figured that one boundary-stretching moment was enough, because the rest of "Party" is likable but Nashville boilerplate. Every other track will sound familiar, even if it's the first time you've heard it.
There are manly love songs (like the mid-tempo "Heartache That Don't Stop Hurting," stopped from being a full-fledge weeper only by Aldean's limited range). There's a superstar duet (the great and gooey Kelly Clarkson collaboration "Don't You Wanna Stay," which sounds like Bryan Adams teaming with Heart in 1984 for a contribution to some alternate universe "Footloose" soundtrack. It's that good).
There are Toby Keith-style odes to patriotism (like "Fly Over States," which is milder than it could have been, again thanks to Aldean's limited range) and a grouping of formulaic "I like beer and pickup trucks, just in case you were wondering" anthems like "Country Boy's World" and "My Kinda Party" that deliver pretty much what they advertise.
Recommended tracks: "Don't You Wanna Stay," "Fly Over States"
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