CD Review: Gretchen Wilson - All Jacked Up

(andPOP) - It?s scary to release a second album -- especially when the first topped country and mainstream charts, was certified quadruple platinum and helped usher in a new era of country music.

Gretchen Wilson saved new female country. Content to be the "redneck woman", she shows no interest in crossing over to pop music like Shania Twain or Faith Hill -- and country fans love her for it.

It?s no surprise supporters have been collectively holding their breath while preparing for Wilson?s sophomore album release, but they can exhale knowing she refuses to disappoint. All Jacked Up is a solid sequel to 2004?s monster hit Here for the Party.

Wilson knocks you off your bar stool with the album?s first single ? the drinking anthem "All Jacked Up". A loud tune about having too much, this song picks up where "Here for the Party" left off.

But Wilson isn?t just a party girl ?- the rest of the album offers more than enough to satisfy.

Wilson is still just a rough and red around the neck as she has always been, calling everything as she sees it. Her lyrics are so unapologetically in-your-face, you can practically hear her daring someone to do something about it.

She solves deadbeat boyfriend problems by drinking in "One Bud Wiser" ("I found an equalizer that makes his memory a no show") and dissects America in a duet with Merle Haggard called "Politically Uncorrect" ("And I?m for the farmer with dirt on his hands/And the soldiers who fight for this land/And I?m for the Bible and I?m for the flag/And I?m for the working man"). Wilson takes a bold swing at fake blondes, specifically socialite Paris Hilton, in "California Girls" ("That Paris Hilton gets under my skin/With her big fake smile and her painted on tan/She?d never have a chance at a real man").

The strongest song is the ballad "Raining on Me". Offset by strong drums and guitars, Wilson?s vocals spark with emotion as she sings about constant disappointment and hope.

The only song that misses is "He Ain?t Even Cold Yet". This slightly morbid tune about a woman who moves on with other men just after her husband dies is misplaced and misses the passion other songs on the album have.

Wilson fills the disc with plenty of shout outs: to moms on "Full Time Job", the working man on "Skoal Ring" and to fleeting youth on "Rebel Child".

She rounds out the album with "Not Bad For a Bartender", proof she refuses to forget about "swingin? doors and cleanin? floors" and how she "out of nowhere somehow found [her] yellow brick road" (she was bartending at age 14 with a loaded 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun behind the bar for protection).

It should be noted Wilson co-wrote the majority of the songs on All Jacked Up and also co-produces with John Rich (of country duo Big and Rich) and Mark Wright.

Fans of country music or female singer/songwriters should definitely pick up this album. Wilson?s avoided the sophomore curse and will no doubt continue to jack us up with each album she produces.

4 out of 4 stars.

Gretchen Wilson: All Jacked Up
Release Date: Sept. 27, 2005
Track Listing:
1 All Jacked Up
2 California Girls
3 Full Time Job
4 Skoal Ring
5 He Ain't Even Cold Yet
6 One Bud Wiser
7 Politically Uncorrect
8 I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today
9 Rebel Child
10 Raining on Me
11 Not Bad for a Bartender