One listen to the EP's debut single is enough to tell you how fitting the title is. Indeed, "Country Done Come to Town," and it done brought some rock and roll with it. This is one of those hell-raising country-rock anthems that was a trademark of Big and Rich. But on the bright side, the country is at least almost as audible as the rock. The prominent fiddle is a nice touch, and it barely avoids being drowned out by the heavy beat and the guitar riffs. Thus, to John's credit, the song does not sound "fingernails-on-chalkboard" awful. (I hate to think about what this song would sound like if given the Jason Aldean treatment)
But the cold hard truth is that there's nothing on this track that we haven't heard a million times before, both on country radio in general, and on past Big and Rich albums. The "I'm so country" claim lost credibility a long time ago. This is poor timing for the release of another such song. John should be branching out into different themes with his solo releases, rather than constantly returning to this tired formula. Overall, "Country Done Come to Town" ends up sounding like a cheap rehash of "Comin' to Your City. And that song wasn't even worth rehashing in the first place.
JOHN'S SCORE: 5
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)
SEE THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO: http://www.urbancountryblog.com/2010/05/new-video-country-done-come-to-town.html
(WARNING: This is an ultra-cheesy video which mainly features scantily-clad bikini babes and more fake boobs than a Dolly Parton look-alike contest, though the George Jones and Gretchen Wilson cameos are an interesting touch)
