| Horsepower - Chris LeDoux | |
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Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
To a man, every rodeo fan will tell you they enjoy Chris LeDoux's shows when he comes to town. As a former bareback bronc rider and rancher, LeDoux has lived the life he often sings about in his songs. While he only has one Top 10 hit ("Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy" - with Garth Brooks) Chris has a large enough fan base to record nearly every year and has sold over 5 million records in his long career. For his newest Capitol-Nashville release Horsepower, his 36th, LeDoux has chosen 12 sturdy tracks that bring back the rocking' rodeo cowboy that he's known to have been prior to his liver transplant.
2002's "After The Storm" was a wonderful collection of tunes albeit a tad subdued compared to Chris' other albums. It was the type of album he needed to record, one that reflected on his life. Horsepower is a record that embraces life and tells tales of men who live their life to the fullest.
The title track opens up the record. It's a fun uptempo song that sounds like it could be a great summertime song. That makes me wonder why a song that talks about the thrill of riding a bronc and driving a car by horsepower. The chorus says, "I think about horsepower, for eight seconds or miles per hour, that's the way I am and it's a fact I can't ignore, yeah, big four-legged, fuel-injected, runnin' wild or radar-detected, a man can always stand a little more horsepower." The poetic Mac McAnally wrote this track (he produced the record with Alan Schulman too).
Chris LeDoux sings story songs better than most singers and "One Last Tornado" is such a song. Written by John Rich (a former member of Lonestar) and Aaron Barker, the song tells the tale of a man who loses his life after riding a bull named "Dust Devil Rage." Like "Horsepower," this is a song about living life to the fullest.
Written again by Mac McAnally, "All Wound Up" was previously recorded by Sawyer Brown on their Drive Me Wild record. When you mention Sawyer Brown with most any song, then typically it means it's a fun party type of song and "All Wound Up" is such a song. With a driving rock-inspired lead guitar setting the tone, the song is about what that special woman makes him feel.
"The Buffalo Grass" is a nice story song about the way the plains used to be. This is a reflective story song about the way things used to be and isn't the type of song anyone but an aged vetran could sing. The lyrics are tender and tell a story that begs you to listen. The nice wood flute (Native American flute) adds a nice touch to give the song a distinct sound to it.
Toby Keith fans will recognize "Rodeo Moon." It was written by Toby and Chris and was on Toby's Unleashed CD. It's another story ballad that tells about a couple who are in love and happy to live under a rodeo moon, no matter where they are.
"Pass My Hat" is an old Doug Kershaw song that Chris reprises with Jo-El Sonnier (Son-yeah). Chris sings the verses in English while Jo-El sings the same thing in French. This is a Cajun country song and Jo-El plays the Squeezebox (accordion) on the song too. It's a simple song that doesn't say much but is oh, so fun to listen to.
As he customarily does, Chris closes out his CD with a nice song from one of his self-released albums from years ago. "Blue Bonnet Blues" is the song he reprises this time and it's a reflective and bluesy ballad about a relationship that has been over for a long time.
Chris LeDoux has survived many things and has lived a life that has seen enough for two lifetimes. He is a man with many passions and the wherewithal to see that he follows each passion. Horsepower is a record that showcases a passionate musician balancing his past rowdy rodeo cowboy ways with his newer older reflective mood. It's a balance that fits him well. Fans of Chris will surely love Horsepower as will western music fans. Chris LeDoux is a man who may just bring the "Western" back into "Country Western" music.
Song List:
Album cover used with permission of Capitol Nashville