Score: 2.5/5
In his third album “About To Get Real,” Easton Corbin provides a couple of highlights alongside his popular single “Baby Be My Love Song,” but the rest of the album fades into background noise.
While “Damn Girl,” “Clockwork” and the title track showcase Corbin’s creativity, the majority of the 12-song album falls into the too-close to other country hits category.
Although “Damn Girl” is on the surface – a typical country pick-up song, Corbin takes a more respectful, old time Southern approach with lines such as, “I don’t like to use this kind of language around a lady, but damn girl” and “We don’t have to drink at all, we can just sit here and talk all night long.”
As play on the normally degrading words, “Damn Girl” is overall an unexpectedly good country ballad.
“Clockwork,” the album’s lesser-known single, captures the emotional side of a seemingly inescapable pattern of hurt. Corbin’s smooth, rich tone expresses feeling of being powerless combined with lyrics such as, “We love. I live and never learn. I crash. I burn. You leave. I hurt, like clockwork.”
While “Clockwork” tells a story of the hurt that love can bring, Corbin brings a hopeful tone to love with “About To Get Real,” a song about that moment when you fall in love.
Throughout the track, Corbin’s throwback vocals bring a simple style that combines with the honest lyrics, such as “Where is this is going is where I’ve been hoping we’d end up at.”
Despite these creative country takes on love, “About To Get Real” features some repetitive songs that are the essence of the girl in a truck and pick up song stereotypes.
“Diggin’ On You” is the epitome of a girl in truck song. Corbin’s take reflects his usual laid back style, creating a smoother less country rock oriented version than Chase Rice’s “Ready Set Roll.”
“Yup” is Corbin’s softer version of Chris Young’s hit “Aw Naw” with a rich vocals and smooth guitar riffs. The tracks tells the story of a man, who knows that he should head home, but instead decides to stay to live in the moment.
Although Corbin has produced several No. 1 hits in his young career, “About To Get Real” falls short of showing the depth his first two albums showed.
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR