Young, Isaak release new CDs

Famous Friends

Given the massive success of Chris Young's award-winning collaboration with Kane Brown on the title track, it would be an easy assumption to make that his eighth studio album would tow the same contemporary line that landed him a bevy of hits. The result is exactly that. But with some contingencies The opener, "Raised on Country," starts out with a raucous groove that may get your toes tapping for the entirety, but the lyrics devolve into some painfully tired cliches like ...

Losing Sleep

Chris Young has one of the best country voices, and it's always a pleasure to hear him sing. But it's disappointing when the title cut sounds more like the groove to a Justin Bieber song than anything truly country. When, say, someone like Jason Aldean performs music with barely any resemblance to real country music, it's not that big a deal; he's not a great natural singer to begin with. However, Young's voice is just too good to waste on mere pop. ...

It Must Be Christmas

Song selection can sometimes seem fairly inessential whenever chosen by a master singer. Such is the case with "It Must Be Christmas," Chris Young's new holiday collection. He sounds as perfectly comfortable with the jazzy "I'll Be Home for Christmas," where its supper club vibe takes a little of the edge off one seriously sad song, as he does with the Phil Spector rock nugget "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Young is also helped out by a few special guests. ...