Rascal Flatts, Rascal Flatts

Very few musicians have done what Rascal Flatts have accomplished in their first album. This album truly set the bar high for themselves and all other country musicians for that matter. The album contains several hit singles and might of been #1 on the charts had it been their second or third album and they had released an album half as good for their first. The album produced 3 top ten hits and one #1 hit "Prayin for Daylight." This album had definitely put Rascal Flatts among the top musicians in Country music.

This CD represents the movement in which Country music has undergone sliding from traditional and folk to honky tonk and bar music and now to the music displayed in this album which is basically Pop rock with with fiddles, mandolins and other traditional country instruments. It is upbeat and peppy and never slows down. This is the kind of music you'd be singing along to on a Friday night drive.

Many reviews have criticized this group for their departure from traditional country music, and some basically refuse to acknowledge their music as country. It brings to ask the question, "What is country?" If the answer has to do with the types of instruments played, well yes then it is country. If it has to do with the lyrics of songs being about getting drunk, trains, cattle drives and rodeos, well this is not the traditional country. These guys don't even have the typical Southern drawl many country singers have in their voices. On the countrary, their voices are clear and very pure. It extremely rare to find singers as great these guys in Country music. These guys are proud of their movement away from streamlined country, and the topics in the songs are typically on love and relationships broken. They are not even really trying to be cowboys like other notable country musicians.

They have been labeled as a boy band by many, due to their music style. In response to this the band retorted that "We are not a boy band, we play instruments." Another threat to these guys is the fact they do indeed have talent in playing instruments. Lead singer Gary LeVox is backed up by Jay DeMarcus who plays bass and piano, and Jo Don Rooney who is an accomplished guitarist. Together these three have expanded the genre of country music to many horizons and thus expanded the fan base of country music.

This album has the same strengths that their later albums have. In my opinion after 4 albums released this one is still my favorite. This album has one great song after another. I definitely recommend it to anyone.