Arista
2004
What I Do
About This Album
Alan Jackson had been a star for a long time before he released Drive in 2002, but that album turned him into a superstar, largely because it had the post-9/11 anthem "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," a crossover smash that made Jackson a household name. Unlike some of his peers, he didn't embrace this opportunity to become an omnipresent celebrity, he turned out a second greatest-hits album in 2003 -- complete with another crossover hit in the Jimmy Buffett duet "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" -- before returning with the full-length What I Do in September of 2004. Filled with straightforward, unadorned honky tonk and gentle, rolling ballads, What I Do makes it clear that Jackson doesn't have the slightest interest in becoming a full-fledged, crossover country-pop star. This is the purest country album he's cut in a long time, but what makes it one of his very best albums isn't its purity, it's how it's delivered with a quiet confidence, a big heart, and a sly sense of humor. Jackson has backed away from any big social statements -- there is a song called "USA Today," but far from being a comment on either the state of the world or his celebrity, it merely tells the tale of "the loneliest man in the U.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,5,8,10 and 11)

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