| Product Summary | | UPC: 00828766964226 | | Release Date: 8/16/2005 | | Buy.com Sku: 63995419 | | Item#: M2GCG6 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 | Format:  CD |
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(C) (P) 2005 BMG Music
| | Time Well Wasted reunites Brad with producer Frank Rogers for a 16-track collection sporting 10 selections from Paisley's pen, including the first single, "Alcohol," the fastest rising chart single of his career. Multiple guest stars appear on the album, including Alan Jackson, who duets on the Guy Clark/Darrell Scott tune, "Out in the Parkin' Lot," Dolly Parton (featured on "When I Get Where I'm Going") and a re-appearance by The Kung Pao Buckaroos (Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens and George Jones) along with James Burton and Parton. "TIME WELL WASTED - the reason I chose this as the title of the album is it's just the epitome of the whole album. I hope somebody will put this in their car and spend as much time as they can listening beginning to end. It should feel like a live show - the progression and almost like a life journey. When they are done listening, there would be nothing more I would wish for someone than to feel like it was 'time well wasted,'" says Paisley. Since his debut in 1999, 5-time CMA award winner Paisley has established himself as one of country's finest entertainers. He has celebrated 6 million career units sold of his three-album catalog, Who Needs Pictures, Part II and Mud on the Tires. Mud on the Tires debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and #8 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. It is now certified double platinum.
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Brad Paisley (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, Ferrington high string, baritone guitar, mandolin); Dolly Parton (vocals); Gary Hooker (electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, background vocals); James Burton (electric guitar); Michael Johnson (steel guitar, dobro); Randel Currie (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Kendall Marcy (banjo, background vocals); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Bryan Sutton (mandolin); Justin Williamson (fiddle); Jim "Moose" Brown (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards, background vocals); Bernie Herms (piano); Gordon Mote (keyboards); Eric Darken (vibraphone, percussion); Kevin Grantt (double bass, bass guitar, background vocals); Kenny Lewis (bass guitar, background vocals); Bobby Terry (bass guitar); Ben Sesar (drums); Wes Hightower (background vocals). | | As anybody who follows country music knows, Brad Paisley is acknowledged among audiences and critics alike as the new traditionalist standard-bearer for the 2000s -- the new guy that not only keeps the fire burning, but also rakes in the cash, having number one hits along with good reviews. He's not big and brassy like Toby Keith; he's the heir to George Strait, Randy Travis, and Alan Jackson, the guy who hails back to George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens but is savvy enough not to play to overly serious Americana fans, the listeners who like their country music somber. That's not Paisley -- he may take his music seriously and will sing a serious ballad or two, but he also likes to crack wise and have a little fun. Although that's certainly preferable to colorless alt-country singers, Paisley has been known to overdose on fun, favoring a cute turn of phrase or a knowing wink to his audience. Of course, humor has always played a big part in country -- George Jones, one of Paisley's heroes, made novelties his stock-in-trade -- but there was a terminal cutesiness that threatened to overwhelm his otherwise excellent third album, Mud on the Tires. Thankfully, Paisley has reigned in this trait on its superb follow-up, 2005's Time Well Wasted. | | Paisley hasn't suddenly become a humorless bore -- how could he be when he persists on reviving the Grand Ole Opry's old-fashioned cornpone radio plays, heard here on "Cornology," which, like "Spaghetti Western Swing" before it, features George Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens, and Bill Anderson and adds Dolly Parton for good measure (which naturally results in some silly boob jokes: "he turned around to see two huge 38s pointed right into his face"). The difference is, Paisley no longer leans hard on either his silly or sentimental streak, preferring to lay back and let everything flow naturally. That gives his already attractive music a greater appeal, since his humor is now sly and lived-in, a perfect match for his faithful but not dogmatic country. As should be expected by any deliberately traditionalist musician, there are no surprises, no left turns here -- Paisley remains indebted not only to George, Merle, and Buck, but to how George Strait fused this holy trinity into a fresh yet familiar sound that encompassed the best of Bakersfield, Texas, and Nashville. Change can be overrated, particularly in regard to traditionalist music, and Paisley benefits from mining the same musical vein each time around. He's turned into a genuine craftsman, both as a songwriter and musician, and now with four albums to his credit, he's hitting his stride. His band sounds looser, warmer than it did on Mud on the Tires -- and they're given another dazzling showcase for their prowess on the frenzied "Time Warp," which is as delirious as prime Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant -- and Paisley's singing is relaxed and assured. These are welcome subtle improvements, but what makes Time Well Wasted Paisley's best record yet is the writing. Song for song, this is his best set of tunes, whether it's one of his ten originals or the sharply selected professionally written numbers that round out the album (these are highlighted by the sentimental but not saccharine ballad "Waitin' on a Woman" and a duet with Alan Jackson on Guy Clark's "Out in the Parkin' Lot"). Although Paisley hasn't abandoned goofy humor -- indeed, "I'll Take You Back" has mock crying built into its chorus, and a pivotal line in "Alcohol" concerns how it makes "white people dance" -- this tendency is balanced by wittier jokes and his knack for keenly observed human nature, best heard in the savvy "Alcohol," but not isolated to that, either. It's not just that the words are stronger, but the music is weathered and sturdy, sounding familiar on the first spin and getting stronger with each play. Each of Paisley's prior albums gained stature with repetition, but Time Well Wasted is not only richer than his first three records, it's more gripping upon its first play. Paradoxically, it demands attention partially because Paisley isn't trying too hard to deliver a classic, nor is he working overtime to please his fans. Instead, he lays back and delivers his songs with the ease of an old pro, which means for the first time, he's made a record that can hold its own next to his idols. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine | | Brad Paisley's music is an interesting amalgam of country sub-genres, a paradigm all its own. He melds straightforward, pop-friendly New Country with clever, somewhat Lyle Lovett-like songwriting and the occasional flutter of Joe Maphis/Jimmy Bryant-style guitar virtuosity. Surprisingly or not, this country combo platter made Paisley a star, and TIME WELL WASTED continues in the aforementioned vein. While there are some fairly mainstream moments here that wouldn't ruffle the feathers of, say, the average Kenny Chesney fan, WASTED boasts plenty of smart, sassy tunes brimming with lyrical witticisms worthy of Tom T. Hall or Shel Silverstein. "Alcohol," for example, is a first-person narrative from the beverage's point of view, and in retrospect it's shocking that it took this long to get written. Guest shots from both Dolly Parton and Alan Jackson show that Paisley's work has earned respect from disparate corners of the country scene, a respect that's amply justified by TIME WELL WASTED. |
Producer: Chris Dubois; Frank Rogers |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 08/16/2005 | | Original Release Date : 2005 | | Catalog ID : 69642 | | Label : Arista Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00828766964226 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (No. 983, p.108)
- 3.5 out of 5 stars - "...[A] cowboy-hat guy that even city-slickers can love."Entertainment Weekly (No. 834, p.141)
- "...[B]etween his penchant for comedy, honest romanticism, and fiery Fender Telecaster picking, Paisley's all about the joie shucks de vivre...." - Grade: A- Mojo (Publisher)
(p.105)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "One of the most potent new names listed among the heirs to George Jones and Merle Haggard, Paisely's guitar-playing alone borders on the sensational..." |
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| | Bio | | Brad Paisley was born and raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia, a Mayberry-esque (pop. 1800) town. When he was only eight years old, his grandfather, a nightshift railroad worker who spent his afternoons playing guitar, gave him a gift: a Sears Danelectro Silvertone guitar with an amp in the case. Young Paisley mastered it quickly and soon he and his guitar were inseperable. At age 12, he wrote his first song, "Born On Christmas Day", which he performed in church. Soon after he sang at a Rotary Club meeting where the program director for the local country station heard him and invited him to play on WWVA's "Jamboree USA", the Wheeling-based station's Grand Ole Opry-style Saturday night radio show. The young prodigy wowed the live crowd and became a regular for eight years, opening shows featuring big name country artists such as Roy Clark, George Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens and Steve Wariner. Paisley says he learned invaluable lessons hanging out with the headliners, especially Wariner, who many years later would serve as host the night he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. For six years, beginning at age 14, Paisley also played the "Jamboree In The Hills" music festival in the outskirts of Wheeling, West Virginia, which attracts 60,000 plus country music lovers every year. He opened shows for dozens of top acts at the festival, from Reba McEntire on down. By age 20, Paisley was a local celebrity as well as a second-year student at West Liberty State College. But he yearned for Music City. So he transferred to Nashville's Belmont University and enrolled in the Music Business Program. While at Belmont, Paisley met Frank Rogers, a fellow-student who became his producer. Working together for more than two years, the two compiled a catalog of songs, some of which they wrote together, some with other writers. Soon after graduating, Paisley signed a songwriting deal with EMI and started recording demos. Arista Nashville soon offered him a deal, and the difficult task became choosing which songs were right for Paisley's debut album. The resulting Who Needs Pictures propelled Paisley into country music stardom, earning him an induction into the Grand Ole Opry as well as the distinction as 2000's most-nominated and most-awarded new country artist of the year.
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