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Album Review: Brad Paisley - "Wheelhouse"

Country shred, double-stop licks, and G-bender pulls salvage Paisley''s most pop-sounding album to date.

Jason Shadrick
By Jason ShadrickApr 03, 2013
Jason Shadrick
Since attending a Dave Matthews Band concert as a teenager, Jason has been into all things guitar. An Iowa native, Jason has degrees in Music Business from Minnesota State-Mankato and Jazz Pedagogy from the University of Northern Iowa. Since then, he has spent time doing everything from promotion at an indie music label to organizing guitar workshops all over the country. Currently, Jason lives with his wife, son, and daughter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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Brad Paisley
Wheelhouse
Arista Nashville

There are a few things you can count on with every new Brad Paisley album: great tone, somewhat shtick-y lyrics, and the most stone-cold country shred this side of Hank Garland. That being said, Paisley’s albums sometimes seem burdened by heavy-handed production. With Wheelhouse, Paisley continues to take chances and push modern country away from the auto-tuned sing-alongs with a simple twist of his G-bender.

Released nearly six months before the album release, “Southern Comfort Zone” is a nostalgic look at life below the Mason-Dixon line. Paisley throws in just enough EL84-powered twang and Stones-inspired double stops to keep the guitar nerd’s eyes from glazing over. The melding of country-rock riffing and programmed drum beats on the intro to “Outstanding in Our Field” shows that Paisley isn’t afraid to push buttons (literally) when it comes to a perceived “innovation” in country music. Don’t get me wrong, I love innovation as much as the next 6-stringer, but there is a fine line between a true visionary and an artist who’s never heard the word “no.” Wheelhouse is Paisley’s most pop-sounding album to date, and with that, makes me wonder how long it will be before that vitamin that you stick in the cupcake disappears completely. —Jason Shadrick

Must-hear tracks: "Southern Comfort Zone," "Onryo"


"Southern Comfort Zone" from Wheelhouse

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