Kenny Chesney's stardom snuck up quietly. He had a string of modest successes during the late '90s, but he never made crossover waves until 2002's
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, when his steady touring and steady shift toward
adult pop paid off with his first number one album, but that was nothing compared to the stunning first-week sales of its successor,
When the Sun Goes Down, which also debuted at number one to the very healthy sales of over 550,000.
Chesney had clearly filled a void, one left by the diminished presence of
Garth Brooks -- a singer who blurred the lines between '70s mainstream
pop/rock and
contemporary country, a singer who made adult-oriented music about everyday things. At one point
Chesney was aligned with
neo-traditionalist country singers, but by
When the Sun Goes Down, he had left that far behind, using
country as mere flavoring on an album whose heart and soul is firmly within the tradition of '70s singer/songwriters. Where
Garth Brooks merely covered
Billy Joel (and a latter-day tune at that),
Chesney drops references to
Joel,
James Taylor, and
Steve Miller, while covering
Dave Loggins'
"Please Come to Boston." So, it's not an entire surprise that he favors
ballads, usually the anthemic type designed to fill out arenas, and when he does turn the tempo up, it's still laid-back, in the fashion of
Jimmy Buffett, as on the appealing duet with
Uncle Kracker on the title track.
Chesney often refers to living in the Islands (the Caribbean Islands, that is) in his nice song-by-song liner notes and every one of the many pictures in the disc's booklet features him on an island, but this is hardly a tropical album -- it's a record for middle America, for soccer moms and sentimental NASCAR dads, for those who opted out of the corporate rat race in favor of a loving relationship, as the character in
"The Woman With You" did. It's for a generation raised on
rock but living on
country, people who like to reminiscence but are perfectly happy in their domestic life. If this sounds condescending, it's not meant that way; it's an apt description of an album that captures a time, place, and mindset, the way
Sgt. Pepper provided the soundtrack to the Summer of Love. Peppered with references to Abercrombie & Fitch, American Express, dogs named Bocephus, old frat brothers, and forgotten sorority sisters, all set to a canny blend of state-of-the-art
country, '70s sensibility, and '80s production (check out muted delayed rhythm guitar on
"I Go Back"), it's a thoroughly modern mature-
pop album. Like
Shania Twain's
Come On Over or
Up!, this is music that's meant to have universal appeal, but it's far subtler in its approach, not least because it's delivered not by a diva, but a humble guy with a likeable, friendly voice. It may not be
country, but that doesn't matter;
When the Sun Goes Down is winning, sturdy mainstream
pop, and after hearing it, it's easy to see why so many listeners now take
Chesney to heart -- he's writing the soundtrack to their lives. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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