Jason Aldean releases 'My Kinda Party' — Metallica meets Hank Williams Jr.

Jason Aldean, 'My Kinda Party'

(Broken Bow)

With his fourth album, "My Kinda Party," Jason Aldean stands at the forefront of a movement combining country themes with hard-rock chords. This time, he branches out into country rap, too, on a cover of "Dirt Road Anthem," previously recorded by co-writers Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert.

To balance his rocking sound, Aldean ties his songs to country music with stories about Southern boys making noise to blow off steam. A rare platinum-selling country act on an independent label, Aldean may rap about "swervin' like I'm George Jones," but his 21st-century version of country music takes its sonic cues from rock acts like Nickelback and its rap flow from Uncle Kracker. Aldean realizes that, in the modern South, blue-collar kids are as likely to party to Jay-Z and Metallica as they are to Hank Williams Jr. and Brad Paisley.

More than ever, Aldean succeeds at bringing alive a demographic rarely seen or heard in the media — and he does so with a fresh sound that steers clear of lyrical clichés.

Michael McCall, The Associated Press

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