I normally don't buy an album by a new singer soon after the record comes out. I want to listen to a few more records before I decide if I like that person's music. I must admit, though, that after seeing the "Long Black Train" video on Great American Country, I admire Josh Turner. He's a solid singer whose roots are firmly in traditional music, and now that I've listened to Long Black Train, I think it is a very good debut.

The title track "Long Black Train", in which the "long black train" is a symbol for temptation("That devil's a-drivin' that long black train", Josh writes), is reminiscent of Johnny Cash, a singer I listened to a lot when I was younger. "Long Black Train" was a major hit for Josh, and the video got a lot of airplay on both GAC and CMT. The wisecracking song "What It Ain't", where the speaker recalls past romantic failures and uses them to tell his buddy how not to start a relationship("I might not know what love is/But I know what it ain't"), was this record's second big hit. "Good Woman Bad" has the guy wondering why his lover is doing him wrong after all he's done for her("I treat that bad woman good/Lord, I need a good woman bad"). "Backwoods Boy" has Josh reminiscing about his youth in the backwoods of South Carolina("I'm a backwoods boy/Grew up on a dirt road"). "She'll Go On You" reminds us to take every opportunity to show our loved ones we care about them, because if we don't, they'll "go on you". "I Had One, One Time" is the wistful recollection of a guy who's lost everything and who is admiring what his friend has(job, car, and so on). The romantic ballads "Jacksonville" and "In My Dreams" and the pleading lost-love ballad "Unburn All Our Bridges" are well-done, emotional songs. Long Black Train could be a five-star record if it weren't for one song. Josh's remake of Jim Croce's classic song "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" drags this record down. Josh's rendition of "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" is well-done musically, and his singing is awesome. Josh's version of the Croce classic, however, misses the wisecracking that in my opinion made Jim's original not only a big pop hit but a really fun song. The song tells a great story, but here, Josh sounds as if he is not really enjoying himself but instead is merely acting like it.

In short, Long Black Train is not a perfect debut album, but it's a very good one. On this record, Josh has gotten off to a fine start. In the coming years, I think we'll be hearing a lot more of him on country radio.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.8 (669 ratings)
Price	$13.34
Category	Americana

Long Black Train

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