Gary Allan Living Hard CD

LIVING HARD has a newfound bluesy rock edge that's a bit different from Gary Allan's previous, more traditionalist strain of Nashville country, but it feels more like an exploration of a slightly different sound than a naked pop crossover attempt. Tough outlaw rockers like "Wrecking Ball" sit comfortably next to power ballads like "Learning How To Bend" and winsome love songs like "She's So California." While the album seems less intensely personal than 2005's TOUGH ALL OVER (which was written and recorded in the aftermath of his wife's suicide), a strain of emotional loss still reverberates through many of these songs; even the soaring first single, "Watching Airplanes," has a melancholy edge. However, these songs are tempered by the rebellious title track and the wry bad-boy anthem "Like It's A Bad Thing."

Personnel: Russ Paul (acoustic guitar, steel guitar); John Willis (acoustic guitar, mandolin); Jaime Hanna (electric guitar, strings, background vocals); Kenny Greenberg, Brent Rowan (electric guitar); Hank Singer (fiddle); Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ); Glenn Worf, Michael Rhodes (bass instrument); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Jerry Flowers, Jon Randall, Wes Hightower, Russell Terrell, Perry Coleman (background vocals); Dan Dugmore, Robby Turner.