Brad Paisley

If his signature cowboy hat ever slipped from his head, we might have proof that Brad Paisley has been parodying his own music all along. It’s not that you can’t take the country superstar seriously, especially after last year’s largely instrumental album, Play; it’s a matter of whether Paisley takes himself seriously. Every new album builds on Paisley’s twang-in-cheek style and the culmination here is “Catch All the Fish.” The lyrics open with a store clerk questioning the singer’s shopping cart full of beer and fishing equipment only to have Paisley come to his senses and fill up another cart. As the song progresses, his goal to catch all the fish and drink all the beer only proves half successful, eventually turning the chorus into, “catch all the beer and drink all the fish.” Though he has a very strong musical presence on the CD, Paisley takes advantage of his lyrics (most evident on “The Pants” and the titular song) to turn a phrase and throw in some humor or depth to his tunes. However, it’s not all jokes. Love and heartache take turns on the album, and it shows that the singer has something to say and isn’t just wisecracking. Regardless, whether he’s laughing with us or at us, everyone’s having a good ol’ American time.