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.

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11 Comments
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May 3, 2007 at 7:54 am Permalink
There were a couple of clunkers, but overall I enjoyed this album a lot.
May 3, 2007 at 9:29 am Permalink
I liked this album a lot, too. It shows a different side of Blake, which is obviously a result of his difficult divorce.
I think his girlfriend is kickin’ his butt on the charts, though. The week isn’t over, but Lambert’s new album, as of now, is iTune’s #1 downloaded country album. She is #7 on the all-genre iTunes chart. Blake is #3 on the iTunes most downloaded country albums chart. However, I believe the iTunes charts are updated daily so it will be interesting to see if Lambert continues her reign into the weekend. She is no stranger to #1 albums, though.
May 3, 2007 at 9:39 am Permalink
I think another reason she’s outperforming Shelton is because she appeals to a much broader audience, both in and out of the country music genre.
May 3, 2007 at 11:19 am Permalink
Her record is way better than his. Not that I would want some wag comparing my writing to my girlfriend’s writing.
May 3, 2007 at 11:25 am Permalink
RE “I think another reason she’s outperforming Shelton is because she appeals to a much broader audience, both in and out of the country music genre.”:
The only exception being country radio.
May 3, 2007 at 7:04 pm Permalink
I feel around the same thing the author felt for the Album. I like Blake Shelton a lot, and has since his debut. This is a quality album with good songs, but it seems like 4 stars is too high for it and 3 is too low. I like it though and the single, “Don’t Make Me”, has been on my mind for quite a while.
May 3, 2007 at 7:28 pm Permalink
One of the really interesting things that we’re seeing with the development of non-traditional media is that how an artist performs on radio is not always directly related to how well they sell. Radio used to be the only show in town, but that’s no longer the case, as far as publicity and promotion goes. I always like to use the example of Martina McBride, who does well on the sales charts, but isn’t going to break any records. I love almost every single she puts out…but I’d never BUY a McBride album. On the opposite side of that, look at an act like Big & Rich, which has had very limited radio play but is one of the better selling acts over the past few years, in terms of units.
May 4, 2007 at 8:28 am Permalink
Also big on radio, not so big in sales: Lonestar, Emerson Drive, Joe Nichols, Terri Clark …
May 4, 2007 at 10:36 am Permalink
“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.”
It’s alright. I still prefer John Anderson’s version.
May 4, 2007 at 10:47 am Permalink
I didn’t particularly care for the John Anderson version because it just sounds like he’s just going through the motions. I can feel the self pity in the Knight and Shelton versions, I can’t feel any of that in the Anderson version.
May 17, 2007 at 8:08 pm Permalink
For It Ain’t Easy Being Me, I like Jason McCoy’s version the best. It may not be the best sung out of all the versions but I think it fits best on his album. John’s is my least favorite.
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