Bna Records
2004
When The Sun Goes Down
About This Album
Kenny Chesney's stardom snuck up quietly. He had a string of modest successes during the late '90s, but he never made crossover waves until 2002's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, when his steady touring and steady shift toward adult pop paid off with his first number one album, but that was nothing compared to the stunning first-week sales of its successor, When the Sun Goes Down, which also debuted at number one to the very healthy sales of over 550,000. Chesney had clearly filled a void, one left by the diminished presence of Garth Brooks -- a singer who blurred the lines between '70s mainstream pop/rock and contemporary country, a singer who made adult-oriented music about everyday things. At one point Chesney was aligned with neo-traditionalist country singers, but by When the Sun Goes Down, he had left that far behind, using country as mere flavoring on an album whose heart and soul is firmly within the tradition of '70s singer/songwriters. Where Garth Brooks merely covered Billy Joel (and a latter-day tune at that), Chesney drops references to Joel, James Taylor, and Steve Miller, while covering Dave Loggins' "Please Come to Boston." So, it's not an entire surprise that he favors ballads, usually the anthemic type designed to fill out arenas, and when he does turn the tempo up, it's still laid-back, in the fashion of Jimmy Buffett, as on the appealing duet with Uncle Kracker on the title track.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10)

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