After a two-year wait, Chris Young has released this third studio album, "Neon". This is the follow-up to Young's moderately successful 2009 release, "The Man I Want To Be." And like a fine wine, the 26-year old former"Nashville Star" winner is getting better with time. "Neon" seems to represent a shift in direction for Young, and is his most "country" album to date. This album is heavy on love songs and light on the rowdy ones. This is a good sign, as Chris Young seems to have finally found his "lane". Make no mistake, with his range, Young can sing just about anything. But his vocal style seems to fit the love songs best.
Take the album's first single "Tomorrow" for example. From those smooth low notes to the high ones, Young's voice seems to soar. The album's best song is the title track, "Neon". Not since 1991's "Neon Moon" made Brooks and Dunn country superstars, have I heard such a great song about neon. Twenty years ago, this song would have been a huge hit. Unfortunately, today's country is different from the B&D days, which means this song probably won't get any radio play.
Getting back to the love songs, Chris sings to (and about) women in a way that takes us back to old school country. And what a breathe of fresh air this is. Songs like "You", "When She's On" and "She's Got This Thing About Her" are perfect songs about love. And the upbeat "Lost" seems tailor-made for country radio, and could be the albums biggest hit, while NOT being it's best song. But none of these songs portray women as sexual objects like so many of today's country hits do.
"Save Water, Drink Beer" is the lone rowdy-ish song on the album. It's a pretty good song about getting through a drought by drinking beer (That old well is plumb dry/The city put a limit on the water you can buy/We don't mind/'Cause round here/We save water and drink beer).
This CD closes with "She's Got This Thing About Her". Some critics will call this song cheesy, because of its string arrangement. But those would be the critics who blasted George Strait's "I Cross My Heart" for the same reason. Critics who don't get country music should never review it. This song has a nice subtle touch to it and wraps the experience of "Neon" up perfectly.
"Neon" is Chris Young's best album to date. Young co-wrote seven of the ten tracks on the CD. The only problem with the album is that it leaves you wanting more. This is also a throwback to the REAL country days, when albums had only ten songs on them and you wanted more. There is not a bad song on "Neon". Hopefully country radio will embrace this album so that it will yield several hit singles. Those who prefer to download their music must heed my warning and be sure to by the entire album, and not just one or two singles. If not, you will be missing some great music.
