Album Review: Blake Shelton – Pure BS

For his fourth and latest album, Pure BS, Blake Shelton tried something new by bringing producers Brent Rowan and Paul Worley into the mix along with Bobby Braddock, whom he has worked with on his previous albums. The result is a combination of typical country songs about drinking, broken hearts, and lost loves, all with a slight traditional ring.

The album opens with the southern rock song, “This Can’t Be Good,” that finds us at a party on the Mississippi river bank on a date with the sherriff’s daughter. The vocals remind me of Hank Williams, Jr. and the premise about dating a girl with a dad nobody would want to mess with is reminiscent of Dierks Bentley’s “What Was I Thinkin’.” It sounds like Blake is shouting at times, but it doesn’t detract from the song too much and still comes off well. Maybe we’ll see some more of this type of song if Miranda Lambert has any influence on his music.

Changing gears, the following song and the first single “Don’t Make Me,” sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it. At first it sounded like something Ty Herndon would sing, but I didn’t see the title on his latest album. Blake shows off his vocal chops while begging his love to not make him let her go. It’s the first of many songs about former loves and letting go, including “I Don’t Care,” “She Don’t Love Me,” “What I Wouldn’t Give,” and “I Have Been Lonely,” one of Blakes co-writes on this album.

The album includes a light honky tonk party song, “The More I Drink.” It has the happenin’ bar room piano and some amusing lyrics like “The more I drink/I’m the world’s greatest lover and a dancin’ machine,” but it wears thin pretty quickly.

“Back There Again,” is beautifully sung by Shelton and backed by the piano. He sings about his life falling apart and leaving his love to save her the pain of breaking her heart again. The lyrics, music, and vocals all come together in this song to create something truly moving. Definitely give it a listen.

I thought the Chris Knight penned song, “It Ain’t Easy Being Me,” was great back when he released it and considering Blake doesn’t change anything, other than adding a little edginess to the vocals, I still like it.

The album ends with “The Last Country Song” which Blake helped write and features two of country music’s greats: George Jones and John Anderson. This uppity tune is about the urban sprawl consuming a country roadhouse and its visitors singing until they’ve sung the last country song. It’s an alright novelty song, but it’s not very remarkable.

In today’s society of quickie marriages and the all too common divorce and the desensitization of both, we sometimes forget about the two people involved and the personal struggle that they go through. Looking past the obvious meaning of the album’s title at the second obvious meaning, taking in the predominant theme of this album, and knowing Blake’s personal situation, one has to wonder if perhaps this album really is Pure Blake Shelton.