CD Review Alan Jackson – Where Have You Gone
by Kriz Rogers for Country Music News International
01. Where Have You Gone (Alan Jackson)
02. Wishful Drinkin‘ (Alan Jackson)
03. I Can Be That Something (Alan Jackson)
04. Where the Cottonwood Grows (Alan Jackson)
05. Way Down In My Whiskey (Alan Jackson)
06. Things That Matter (Robert Keith Stegall, Michael White)
07. Livin‘ On Empty (Alan Jackson)
08. You’ll Always Be My Baby (Alan Jackson)
09. Where Her Heart Has Always Been (Alan Jackson)
10. The Boot (Adam Wright)
11. Back (Alan Jackson)
12. Write It In Red (Alan Jackson)
13. So Late So Soon (Scotty Emerick, Daniel Tashian, Sarah Buxton)
14. This Heart Of Mine (Adam Wright)
15. A Man Who Never Cries (Alan Jackson)
16. Chain (Alan Jackson)
17. I Was Tequila (Alan Jackson)
18. I Do (Alan Jackson)
19. Beer: 10 (Alan Jackson)
20. The Older I Get (Hailey Whitters, Adam Wright, Sarah Turner)
21. That’s The Way Love Goes (Lefty Frizzell, Whitey Shafer)
Alan Jackson Brings Country Back
Alan Jackson starts his new album off by asking a question, and then he answers it at the same time – in the title track as well as all the others songs on this country music art piece work of love.
“Where Have You Gone”, is the song and the pondering, and it has the true feel of a heartbreak song, but instead of a person, Jackson is singing about the heart and soul of the common man’s music. He has it, and he proves it. The love and respect for the genre shine as emotional beacons in every beat, syllable, note and vocal phrasing, and his longtime producer Keith Stegall has handled the music rudder with macro precision.
There is something for every country music appreciator on “Where Have You Gone”: heartbreak songs, yes, but also upbeat, smokin’ hot, drinkin’ songs. We are served country music essentials in songs like “Where The Cottonwood Grows” and “The Boot”, but Jackson also opens the curtain to family matters in “You’ll Always Be My Baby” (that he wrote for daughter’s wedding), and “Where Her Heart Has Always Been”, a hopeful, loving tribute that he wrote for his mom’s funeral.
While it has been six years since his last album, this one is well worth the wait. If you buy the CD, you will see a cover that has a black-and-white picture of the artist himself, guitar in hand – not even in a case – walking over the pedestrian bridge in Nashville (The John Seigenthaler Bridge) towards downtown as ready as can be to bring country back into the city. We do foresee the Hank Williams Jr. flavored song “Back” to be echoing between the Broadway buildings before long, as well as the audience sing-along friendly “Beer:10”. The back of the little booklet has a map of Nashville on it, and inside you will find the lyrics to all twenty songs, of which Alan Jackson wrote fifteen. We got exactly what we expected and more in this album and Luke the Drifter is smiling in Hillbilly Heaven.