Recently in Jason Aldean Category

Despite looking suspiciously like Bam Margera, Jason Aldean is the hottest dude in country right now, and has been since the November 2010 unveiling of My Kinda Party, his fourth album of pop country shine expertly crossed with surly hard rock spit. He contains multitudes: fiery guitar-rock anthems, goopy Kelly Clarkson duets, strident hick-hop excursions, and tender AOR odes to various red states and the women he's lusted after while driving through or flying over 'em. Here, a look at the various dirt roads that led him to the brink of country superstardom, and the anthems he absorbed along the way.

For more, listen to my Source Material: Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party playlist.

Colt Ford
Ride Through the Country
"Dirt Road Anthem" is far and away Party's most innovative moment, Aldean slipping semi-fly-for-a-white-guy rapped verses ("If it's broke 'round here we fix it" is well turned) between Southern-rock-anthem choruses, but the innovation isn't his. Gargantuan ex-golf pro and fellow Georgian Colt Ford first cut the tune in 2008, a far better emcee than Aldean prone to farming out his sung choruses to far better singers than himself, in this case co-writer Brantley Gilbert. The switch from the original's deft acoustic guitar and digitized drum loop to the Aldean version's power chords and stomping drums makes all the difference — kudos to Jason for recognizing a smash hit when he heard it. And if your appetite's whetted, Ford does this sort of thing for a living, hailing Southern staples both real ("Waffle House") and imaginary (the more recent and way more uncouth "Titty's Beer").

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On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Jason Aldean talk about his favorite album of all time. Rhapsody subscribers can listen to My Kinda Party and millions of other albums whenever and however they want. Click here to sign up for a free Rhapsody trial subscription and see what we're all about.

ARTIST: Jason Aldean RECORD: Alabama Mountain Music

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Along with a smattering of new releases by high-profile country artists, the past few months have seen an abundance of greatest-hits packages whose releases were timed with the holidays in mind. Confused? We'll sort out the wheat from the chaff and get you caught up on all the country releases!

New Releases

Reba McEntire
All the Women I Am
On the heels of 2009's raucous Keep On Loving You, Reba's first Dann Huff-produced album carries on the revitalization she's shown in her mid-50s. Again, hard rock has a lot to do with it — the brassy Jill-of-all-trades title track, the roll-up-your-sleeves "A Little Want To" and the speaker-blowing and Twitter-spurning single "Turn On the Radio" are all propelled by tough, funky guitar riffs. Add in gender-and-genre-crossing Beyonce cover "If I Were a Boy" and the gloomy courtroom and home-life details of "The Day She Got Divorced," and you'll forgive any mere professionalism elsewhere. — Chuck Eddy

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