When you think the ride is over, you're back at the beginning....

Well to make things short, this was the best country album released in 2005. Yeah, I know it's kinda late but I felt it best to start with that.In fact, If your a newbie to country music, and want to listen to something to start, you can't go wrong here. Brad Paisley has carved a career of being simply the best male country singer/guitarist around now (sorry, Vince), and Time Well Wasted has continued his string of near-perfect albums of down-home goodness. He does usually have a pattern with his albums, but puts a winner in each of them.

Time Well Wasted starts out with the #1 song "The World", which is a cute little love ditty he's so good with, with lines like "to the waiter at the restaurant, you're just another tip....but to me you are the world...", and with charm celebrates the joy of the plain and simple without resorting on dumping on the urbane (the way a lot of other country artists fall back on). Next is his requisite drinking song, here being "Alcohol", which this time treats the subject with humor (as opposed to the somber subject in his last album's "Whiskey Lullaby"). However, next inexplicably comes a non-descript number "Waitin' On A Woman" which doesn't exactly suck but isn't really a keeper either. However Paisley is back on track with the best "fun" track on the album, the hilarious "I'll Take You Back", which is a litany of unbelievable things that must happen before he'll forgive his ex. "She's Everything" is a little bit of a by-the-numbers love song, but better delivered than "Waitin'...". The swing song requirement is covered by the female-baiting "You Need A Man Around Here", with his "aw, shucks I'm just a man" sweetness that even works on me. Alan Jackson joins Paisley on the fan-admiring song "Out In The Parking Lot", which is a great description of the people who pay these guys' salaries by coming to their shows. "Raining You" is a sweet, soft number to break the frivolity for a little bit in the middle of the album. Paisley then gives us a taste of his classic approach with the honky-tonk of "Flowers", as in "how many flowers have to die before you'll forgive me". After this, just when you think you're in a simple flow of the album, Paisley knocks me out with the two best cuts on the album, where he shines the most with his inspiring tales of everyday life, this time with the upbeat "Love Is Never Ending" , which sounds like a perfect sunny day song, and the classic duet with Dolly Parton, "When I Get Where I'm Going", sure to be a funeral standard (and that's in a good way) for years to come. "Easy Money" is a hat tip to his band, which is rare these days in the faceless NashYork machine. Paisley puts a killer instrumental in every album, and this time its the frenetic "Time Warp" which goes from lightning speed guitar runs to a grinding blues solo, and then back right again to the whirlwind pace it started with. The albums songs conclude with the sweet title cut, which is a good comedown from the pace of the album. However, it's not the end, with the comedy number "Cornography" closing things off with help from George Jones, Dolly Parton, and Little Jimmy Dickens again stealing the show. If you got your CD from Target, you get a second CD which has four songs, all of them good but not essential, including the standard songs "Yes You Will" and "Hard To Say Hello" and the novelties "Ode De Toilet" and "College" (and older song from an earlier Pat Green album).

All the songs here show the triple threat, Paisley can be, as a singer, a guitarist, and a songwriter. There is so much quality on here I can imagine almost every song here to be a hit single if given the chance. And with Time Well Wasted, he puts the best example of what country music is today. Buy it. Love it.

Grade: A
Best Cuts: "The World", "Alcohol", "I'll Take You Back", "Out In The Parkin' Lot", "Love Is Never Ending", "When I Get Where I'm Going", "Easy Money"
Weakest Link: "Waitin' On A Woman"

Time Well Wasted hit #2 pop albums and #1 country albums.
"Alcohol" hit #4 country and #28 pop singles.
"When I Get Where I'm Going" made #1 country and #39 pop singles.
"The World" made #1 country and #45 pop.
"She's Everything" hit #10 country so far and #35 pop singles so far.

You can pick up a copy of Time Well Wasted at sites like here and here.

If you'd like to listen to the classic track "Love Is Never Ending" click here to download (rightclick to bring up in a new window).

And here's the video for the first single, "Alcohol"...