CD Review – Outlaws Like Me – Justin Moore

13 years ago Liv Carter 2

 

Outlaws Like Me – Justin Moore (Valory Music Co., 2011)

Repeatedly throughout Justin Moore’s sophomore album, he desperately tries to convince us he is really, really country … and not only is he really, really country … but he is also an outlaw – a country outlaw!  In his attempt to drive this point home, he takes it too far and winds up with a CD that I just can’t swallow, no matter how many times I try to chew on it. Even with some “Jack in my Coke” (or Jack without any Coke!) I couldn’t swallow and stomach this album. Remember the old saying, “thou dost protest too much”? If you have to repeatedly tell the listener that you are a bad-a** redneck, then you probably aren’t.

In the title track, ‘Outlaws Like Me’, Justin and co-writer Jeremy Stover, describe the internal battle of choosing to do good or do evil. OK, I get the concept and it really is a great concept … it was just so poorly written. Nothing in the lyrics comes remotely close to the behavior of an outlaw.  (Definition of Outlaw:  a person who has broken the law, especially one who remains at large or is a fugitive.) The lyrics talk about being a “rough houser, sleep arounder, whiskey pounder, barroom leaner.”  If you are going to make a strong comparison about yourself, you better not give anyone a reason to disagree with it, or the comparison will fail.  Outlaw?  I think not.

In Justin’s cut-by-cut of this record, he speaks about what he hoped to accomplish with this album and with each of the specific songs. With the album he says, “I wanted to make it a point to make this album a little more country than the first one. It was really important to me to cut a really, really country album.”  So, he decided to write (along with Jamie Paulin and Ashe Underwood) ‘Run Out of Honky Tonks’ which he says was the most country song he’s ever recorded and that it is a “good old country heartbreak song.” With blatant, cliche lyrics as, “Can’t seem to drink enough to numb the pain…”, I was beginning to yawn my way through the piece.  He wanted ‘My Kind of Woman’ to be  “one of the first songs we’ve done that’s female-oriented.”   If your idea of a female-oriented song is about looking good on the bed, looking good holding a cane pole and a gun and about liking to roll around in the hay… wow.

An interesting pattern caught my ear while listening to this album, to what I perceived as the possible “silent intentions” of songs such as ‘Redneck Side,’ ‘Bait a Hook’ and ‘If You Don’t Like My Twang.’  While there is nothing wrong with writing about how great it is to be a “redneck,” (or any other category for that matter) at the same time, is it really necessary to put down others if they are not? I realize ‘Bait a Hook’ was intended to be quirky and funny – but again, if you have to keep force-feeding the listener as to what/who you are and what/who you are not … aka “pretty boy”, then it just becomes redundant and ultimately overkill. It’s not that I automatically disapprove of these honky-tonk styled songs, (see my Toby Keith “Bullets in the Gun” review) but if it is poorly done, then it simply misses the mark.

As I started to listen to ‘Flyin’ Down a Back Road’ I had great hopes. However, what could have been a really great song falls short. In speaking about this song being autobiographical, it talks about discovering the truly important things in life. Co-written by Justin (along with Jamie Paulin and Jeremy Stover) it mentions sweet times of riding down the road with his buddies, spotting deer in a hayfield, a Sunday meal after church and hugging his mama. Not one mention of his wife?  (For songwriting tips on this topic, please refer to songwriters Dave Pahanish and Joe West‘s latest hit.) ‘Till My Last Day’ falls into this category as well. Professing undying love for your partner could sound so much better than “All the way up til they lay me down/ six feet under the cold hard ground … I’ll be loving you.”  (Check with songwriters Radney Foster, Rodney Crowell et al for tips on writing “soft” love songs.

‘If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away’ was the only saving grace on this album. It movingly speaks to those who have lost loved ones, the unanswered questions and the yearning to see them again. Justin can’t take full credit as this song was written by Dallas Davidson, Rob Hatch and Brett Jones. To this song I say, well done.  Maybe with some work, Justin’s next CD could be great … they do say that “third time is a charm!”

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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