Name: 5th Gear
Brand: Arista
SKU: 1247003
Price: 5.24 GBP
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

Performer Notes

Personnel: Brad Paisley (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Carrie Underwood (vocals, background vocals); Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin); Gary Hooker (electric guitar, 12-string guitar, baritone guitar); Randle Currie (steel guitar); Mike Johnson (dobro); Ron Black, Ron Block, Kendall Marcy (banjo); Aubrey Haynie, Justin Williamson (mandolin, fiddle); Sam Levine (saxophone); Mike Haynes (trumpet); Roy Agee (trombone); Joe Murphy , Tom Baldrica, Joe Murphy (tuba); Gordon Mote (piano, Clavinet, keyboards, music box); Jim "Moose" Brown (piano, Wurlitzer organ); Tim Lauer (keyboards); Kevin Grantt (upright bass, electric bass); Kenny Lewis (bass guitar); Chris Brooks, Ben Sesar (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Vicki Hampton, Wes Hightower (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Justin Niebank.
Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; The Castle, Franklin, TN; The Sound Kitchen, Franklin, TN.
Arrangers: Jay Dawson; Jim Dawson; Kristin Wilkinson; Chris Brooks.
Highlighted by the smash first single, "Ticks," a goofy-sexy ode to nudity al fresco, Brad Paisley's FIFTH GEAR maintains his string of albums neatly balanced between light pop-oriented material and more traditional country. The latter is best exemplified by the twangy guitar instrumental "Throttleneck," the reverent "When We All Get To Heaven," and the tuneful "Bigger Fish To Fry," featuring guest vocals by Vince Gill, Bill Anderson, and Little Jimmy Dickens.
Elsewhere, a lovely ballad duet with Carrie Underwood, "Oh Love," keeps an eye to Nashville's present as well as its past. As on most of Paisley's albums, the main lyrical topic, even more than the usual love songs, is what it means to be a man in contemporary America: "I'm Still A Guy" is perhaps the most obvious song on the topic, but the country rocker "Mr. Policeman," the wry character study "Online" (a song about Internet personas at odds with reality), and the surprisingly philosophical opener "All I Wanted Was A Car" flirt with the concept as well.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.72) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Smart, low-profile Nashvillean Paisley's sixth album features not one but two songs about how adulthood beats adolescence."

Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "[T]he guy's a vivid nostalgist, and his duet with Carrie Underwood is a harmonic delight." -- Grade: B+

Album: 5th Gear
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Ticks
2)	All I Wanted Was a Car
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
11)	Better Than This
12)	With You, Without You
13)	Previously
14)	Bigger Fish to Fry
15)	When We All Get to Heaven
16)	Throttleneck
17)	Outtake #1
18)	Outtake #2

Album: 5th Gear
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Ticks
2)	All I Wanted Was a Car
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
11)	Better Than This
12)	With You, Without You
13)	Previously
14)	Bigger Fish to Fry
15)	When We All Get to Heaven
16)	Throttleneck
17)	Outtake #1
18)	Outtake #2