The music business, like life, isn’t always fair to the most qualified or talented people but if you work hard and continue to get your reps, like Chris Young has, then your career will continue to grow with each and every project and release. The talented singer/songwriter’s latest project on the train of growth is I’m Comin’ Over, his fifth album for RCA Nashville. The album, which features eleven tracks, is also the first time the singer worked in the producers chair with friend and frequent collaborator Corey Crowder serving as co-producer for the project. Their other frequent collaborator on the project is Josh Hoge who co-writes six of the songs. Chris Young, for his part, co-wrote all but two tracks and Crowder co-wrote eight of the songs on I’m Comin’ Over.
The first there tracks (“Heartbeat,” “I’m Comin’ Over” and “Think Of You”) are all written by the collective and set the album’s sonic template for the remaining eight tracks. “I’m Comin’ Over” is already a chart-topping, Gold-certified hit while “Think Of You” showcases Chris’s powerful vocal paired with another powerful vocalist, Cassadee Pope. This song, which will be the album’s second single, feels timeless in each aspect, from the vocals of the duet partners to the production to the lyrics. “Heartbeat” blends the traditional nature of Chris Young’s voice with the contemporary production aspects that have taken over Nashville’s sonic landscape and suggests that the song, a song about falling in love, could also be a summertime anthem on country radio along with being a great opener for the dynamic live show Chris performs night in and night out.
While Chris Young has always been one to write songs on his albums, he’s never been afraid to cut great outside songs and “You Do The Talkin’” and “I Know A Guy” are two examples of this. Cary Barlowe, Liz Rose and Corey Crowder co-wrote the former a song about letting the music on the radio ‘do the talking’ so the narrator can do the other things necessary to get a relationship to the next level. “I Know A Guy” twists a familiar phrase and presents the story in ballad form about a guy who is dealing with heartbreak. It’s a country song of the highest order and once again shows how powerful of a vocalist and emotive singer Chris Young is. “Sunshine Overtime” is built to be a huge summertime hit with it’s jovial melodies and breezy groove. It’s pure F-U-N. “Sober Saturday Night,” co-written by Chris with the Warren Brothers, is a song which features the iconic harmony vocals of Vince Gill as Chris sings about — yep you guessed it — heartbreak as he sings “Ain’t no whiskey strong enough to make things right, I’m just getting over another sober Saturday night.” this song, with flourishes of steel guitars audibly in the mix, is a powerful ballad which allows Chris to showcase his vocal dexterity the same thing he does on the familiar sounding “Calling My Name” and the stunning, folksy closer “What If I Stay,” a song which is closer to the king of mellifluous country music Chris Young grew up loving and dreaming about singing.
If there’s a case to be made about I’m Comin’ Over, the album, it’s that Chris Young: the superstar, has arrived. Got that award show nomination panels? Chris Young is one of the best vocalists in all of country music and while he may not have the same kind of voice as that other guy named Chris (Stapleton, who won all the CMA awards the week before I’m Comin’ Over came out), make no mistake, Chris Young is as talented a singer. There’s not a bad track to be found on I’m Comin’ Over and there are plenty of moments to suggest that the album will be the turning point in which the headliner artist turned into a superstar artist.
Cobra
I have to disagree. This album to me is mediocre, at best. Almost every song sounds the exact same. The title track and "Sober Saturday Night" are two exceptions. "I Know a Guy" is pretty good, "Underdogs" is the only song where the tempo is remotely different. But that song isn't even very good. Aside from that, every song is pretty much the same as the last, an exact replication of the previous one.