Album Review - “Town Line” by Aaron Lewis

I've never done an album review before, so let's see how this goes.

This is Aaron Lewis’ debut solo country/acoustic album. He’s also the lead singer for Staind. They’re a hard rock band that first formed in the mid 1990’s and they’ve been going strong since. From what I can tell, this album doesn’t mean they’re breaking up. It appears that Aaron is just doing his own thing while the rest of the band takes a break before working on a new album to follow up Staind’s sixth album, 2008’s “The Illusion of Progress”. I’ve been a fan for well over a decade, have all the albums, and I’ve been to four concerts (three Staind plus Aaron Lewis’ acoustic once).

I’m glad to see it, to be honest. Staind fans have known for years that Aaron is a very solid acoustic performer, so this has been a long time coming. “Town Line” has seven tracks, however three of them are various versions of “Country Boy” and one of them is a new version of a song from “The Illusion of Progress” called “Tangled Up In You.” The fact that there are three versions of “Country Boy” on this album makes the album a bit hard to listen to on a long car drive (even if you really like a song, when it’s 3/7 songs you hear, it gets old after a while).

The album starts with “The Story Never Ends.” I think it’s about living in a more rural setting, how it’s home for him, and how he misses it on the road. This is overall the best song on the album to me. The lyrics are very well-written and the song flows quite nicely. What it also really does well is sets the stage for the album. The sound and the words make it very clear that this is different than Staind. It’s a very light and actually happy song.

Track 2 is “Vicious Circles.” I think it’s about getting the message right so that the cycle of misery can be broken. Cycles are a common theme in both Staind’s and Aaron’s music (indeed, Staind’s third album was called “Break the Cycle”), along with remembering the pain of the past to appreciate the joy of the present. I find the evolution of Staind’s and Aaron’s music fascinating. This one’s also a good one.

Tracks 3, 6, and 7 are various versions of “Country Boy.” One is the original, one is the radio edit, and one is acoustic. It seems to have a similar theme to “The Story Never Ends,” but it goes in a different, slightly darker direction. It’s a reflection on Aaron’s career with Staind so far and it basically says that you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. Also, the song makes it clear that Aaron’s a Tea Party supporter. It’s a good song to listen to, but having three versions on a seven-track album is a bit overkill for me. The name truly lives up to the nature of the song.

Track 4 is the new version of “Tangled Up In You.” It’s a love song that I’ve got a strong emotional attachment to with my girlfriend. We were thrilled when Aaron did an acoustic version at his local stop on his recent tour. This version has a much more country sound than the original version from “The Illusion of Progress” and featured a back-up female vocalist. It didn’t work for me and I thought the original is far superior. In fairness, that’s probably because of my personal emotional connection, but I also don’t think it’s a song that truly lends itself to a country sound. Aaron’s vocals were on-point, as usual, but the back-up vocals killed it for me. I think changing the back-up vocals is all that’s necessary to make this song work, but the original’s still unbeatable for me.

Track 5 is called “Massachusetts.” Any resident of the state will appreciate this song. Even as a non-resident of the state, I can appreciate this song. Again, it’s very well-written. I think of it as a Massachusetts-centric version of “The Story Never Ends.” He also talks about his wife and daughters a lot in this song.

Overall, it’s a great album. I highly recommend it for rock fans. If you like it, catch him or Staind live if you can.