Track Listing

1. All I Wanted Was a Car
2. Ticks
3. Online
4. Letter to Me
5. I'm Still a Guy
6. Some Mistakes
7. It Did
8. Mr. Policeman
9. If Love Was a Plane
10. Oh Love - Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood
11. Better Than This
12. With You, Without You
13. Previously...
14. Bigger Fish to Fry - Whisperin' Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Vince Gill, New Kung Pao Buckaroos, Brad Paisley
15. When We All Get to Heaven
16. Throttleneck [Instrumental]
17. Waitin' on a Woman [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1098 in Music
• Brand: Arista
• Released on: 2008-04-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Like his friend Vince Gill, Brad Paisley has achieved the often-difficult feat of reconciling being an entertainer and world-class guitarist. He's proven that on four admirable albums, and 5th Gear follows in that vein. Certainly "Ticks," an airy, radio-friendly ditty, is not the true substance here. That comes with such superior fare as the insightful "All I Wanted Was a Car" and "Online," a sly satire of people's Web facades. While his duet with Carrie Underwood ("Oh Love") is a bit cut and dried, Paisley ably handles "Letter to Me," "It Did," and "Mr. Policeman," a 21st-century outrun-the-law tune. The closing hymn, "When We All Get to Heaven," and ripping instrumental "Throttleneck" are Paisley at his best. It's admirable that he invites his venerable buddies, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Vince Gill, and Bill Anderson, along with Dolly Parton, to join in, but the obligatory "Kung Pao Buckaroos" skit is wearing a bit thin. Better to feature them musically, the way he includes Dickens, Gill, and Anderson on "Bigger Fish to Fry." In a time where lines between county and pop are blurring far too much, it's comforting to know Paisley still realizes and respects the differences. --Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews

Paisley does it again as 5th gear is first rate music
Brad Paisley's career continues to climb with a combination of well-written songs and dynamic guitar work. 5th Gear starts out with the catchy, fun and youthful Jack and Diane type tune "All I wanted was a car". Ticks has a great rocking beat to it and leads into track 3, which is "Online" and of course is a song about people's online persona's, poking fun at the ridiculous descriptions people can have regarding anonymity on the internet. My name may or may not be Eddie, but I can tell you this song has a lot of truth to it and brought me a few laughs. "Letter to Me" is a slower, somber paced tune that is classic Paisley all the way.

Track 8 is "Mr. Policeman" and features lightning fretwork as well as vocals that have to go fast just to keep up. The track "Bigger Fish to Fry" features other artists and is great with an old feel sound in the guitars and rhythm. The track "When we all get to Heaven" is very solid and by now I will just say this is a complete album. The instrumental "Throttleneck" is thrown in for good measure and continues to show, like his previous release of the album "Time Well Wasted" that Paisley can be diverse and somewhat experimental and make his music all the better for it.

Brad kicks into full gear with 5th Gear
"5th Gear" marks Brad's fifth album (sixth if you count the Christmas album) and he continues the approach that pretty much started with "Mud On The Tires". The album includes the single "Ticks", probably the only song written on the subject, that song follows the trend of his older songs "Celebrity" or "Alcohol". The newest single "Online" is something of clunker to me only because it's a very "current events" kind of song and in time can become dated. Brad's sense of humor comes thru on "I'm Still A Guy" a song along the lines of "I'm Gonna Miss Her". The duet with Carrie Underwood, "Oh Love" is a standout. These two voices sound really great together. The album ends with the instrumental track "Throttleneck" where Brad tears it up. The Kung Pao Buckaroos return once again as well (with Vince Gill filling in for George Jones) and sing on the track "Bigger Fish To Fry". You'll also hear Dolly Parton in a brief clip from the "Time Well Wasted" album. Little Jimmy Dickens' jokes are once again really funny in the outtakes.
A great album and Brad shows why he's the top male in country music today.

Another stellar record from one of country's best
Brad Paisley has quickly proven himself to be one of country's most talented artists. A true singer/songwriter/musician, he routinely crafts some of the catchiest, wittiest, countriest music gracing radio today. His voice is smooth and melodical, yet he never hesitates to spoil his nice-guy image by dropping a dirty joke or two ("I don't highlight my hair/I've still got a pair/Yeah honey, I'm still a guy" he deadpans).

5TH GEAR is easily one of Paisley's finest records. There's not a song on here that doesn't shine in some way. Even the cliched tunes sparkle; The Trent Willmon/David Lee Murphy tune "Better Than This," while a hick anthem, does bring something new to the table ("If a bus load of women, really good lookin' women, just suddenly pulled in here" Paisley cheers). And even on "It Did," Paisley's performance soars (although, let's face it, soon or later the narrator has got to realize that things really will get better, even if he thinks they can't). Even the Carrie Underwood duet "Oh Love" is enjoyable, even if too many frequent listenings will leave you going "oh God."

The true highlights of the album, though, are some classic moments. "All I Wanted Was a Car" is a hilarious forray into adolescent longing, as is the whistful and stellar "Letter To Me," and the hysterical "Online." "Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once," Paisley boldly declares, then goes into a modern-day outlaw tale of a man on the run for the law ("Hey hey, Mr. Policeman/Bet you I can run faster than you can"). The gospel number at the end will leave you crooning, and the closing instrumental will leave your heart racing. Even "Ticks" is enjoyable...and halfway clever, actually.

Paisley's talent is this: he makes traditional country music, but polishes some of it up just enough so that it gets played on contemporary radio. He's already a member of the Grand Old Opry, he's known as one of country's true traditionalists, and he's made fans of country fans new and old. 5TH GEAR isn't really anything new--but it's nothing short of absolutely great country music, from one of country's true (and far too few) musicians.