Big & Rich

Duo John Rich and Big Kenny are mellowing in their old age. Their 2004 debut, Horse of a Different Color, marked their arrival on the country scene with bling, beats and 10-gallon cowboy hats, but their third album now finds the pair's rough edges smoothed to a contemplative middle-of-the-road sheen. The track list of Between Raising Hell... reflects something of a midlife crisis as the pair—now with god, not glory, on their minds—face a disconnect between polished ballads and rowdier numbers, one that even the faux A- and B-side format doesn't quite manage to sell.

The Nashville reggae (you heard me) collaboration with Wyclef Jean on "Please Man" battles with a cover of "She Shook Me All Night Long" for most ill-conceived track of the year, but the slower numbers are more successful. While lead single "Lost in This Moment" almost buckles under the weight of its own worthy emotion—as the group milk every tear from their target audience with tales of weddings, christenings and angels "singing such a heavenly sound"—the melody is undeniably crowd-pleasing. Although only the faint steel guitar twang and drawled delivery throughout hint at the group's country roots, the soft-rock production is slick and radio-friendly. When it comes to hooks, sing-a-long choruses and emotionally manipulative schmaltz, Big & Rich deliver another solid showing.

—Abby McDonald
06.11.07

If Comin' to Your City didn't provide the shock and awe of Horse of a Different Color, at least on chart terms, it did reveal that Big & Rich weren't a one-trick pony, destined to disappear after one huge record. But then, they were hardly one-hit wonders -- they were the leaders of the Muzik Mafia, a gleeful group of tacky hucksters and savvy craftsman who remade Nashville in their own image, starting with their own music but extending far, far down, from Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy to reviving John Anderson and Rich co-writing like a madman. It was the kind of mad productivity not dissimilar to modern-day hip-hop producers -- they were branding left and right, bringing in everybody under their umbrella -- but it sure brought up charges of spreading themselves thin, especially in the wake of the underperformance of Comin' to Your City. But even if that album didn't generate an anthem like "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" and even if it had a few moments where the calculation shone through their crassness, it still had a musical punch. And for its successor, Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace, Big & Rich came up with a good gimmick: divide it into a fast side and a slow side, as if people still listened to music on LPs or cassettes. Great concept. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi