New Music Reviews
Thursday, September 16, 2004

Winston-Salem Journal

Alan Jackson
What I Do

Label: Arista
If you like: Waving a flag of truth
Song to download: "Burnin' the Honky Tonks Down"

Singer Alan Jackson's continued popularity in country music is not hard to figure out. He has genuine talent, he knows what to do with it, and he is a dependable firmament in a modern market not given to dependability or long-term careers.

Jackson's record remains unblemished with What I Do, yet another fine example of how he can maintain old-school Nashville tradition in such a way as not to chafe the chaps that run (and run from) New Nashville. Key to Jackson's popularity is the fact that, after years of high-profile success, he has no contrived image. Jackson writes and sings solely about what he knows and feels. All songs, particularly his ballads, are performed with evident care and emotion. Even the most maudlin material never slips into pathos; his skill with old-fashioned country wordplay kicks up a fair share of good-natured hokum.

Jackson takes truth, wrings out a passel of pain to shore up the pleasure, and touches the hearts of all people who care to listen. For Alan Jackson, What I Do is who he is, take it or leave it.

- Ed Bumgardner
relish staff writer