I’m going to start by saying that I think that this album is anything but conventional. That being said, you can’t go into this album looking for the same things you look for in other, more mainstream albums. It’s a concept album. Either sit down and listen to it all the way through, or leave it on the shelf.
The whole thing is telling the story of Will O’ The Wisp (narrated by Stephen King), a DJ in a dystopian future where all radio is government mandated and maintained. He narrates every few tracks in the voice of the DJ on his show, “Last Night Radio”. The speeches were written by Jennings and edited by King. According to mixonline.com, Jennings said, “He took what I’d done, doctored it and made it his own. He threw in some awesome lines. That made me feel vindicated for any frustration I’d felt. It told me I really was on the right path.” Some of the great lines from King’s lips include “Woody Guthrie once said ‘This land is your land, this land is my land.’ Great words, but this land is their land now” and “Killing for peace is like fucking for chastity.”
This album is aiming for creating not only music and a message, but a great experience. King’s evoking words and the purposeful lyrics create a very vivid picture of Will O’ The Wisp’s and Jennings’ discontent with society. Whether or not this is a bit of a paranoid composure where Jennings is portraying his fear of the government’s mind controlling probes or not is a bit beside the point. The album is either a great fictional dystopian image or a paranoid prediction, but either way, listening to it is a powerful experience.
From a musical perspective, the instrumentals are mostly electronic beats and Nintendo-esque beeps, which is very odd to see from an acclaimed country artist like Jennings. This may be a sign of his desire to break out of the “alternative country” label he’s been put under. Most of the songs are great pieces that have good instrumentals and strong lyrics. Songs like “Wake Up!”, “Triskaidekaphobia”, and “All of This Could Have Been Yours” are definitely the best and most powerful bits on the album. But the other songs, like “Everything Else is Illusion”, “Summer of Rage”, and “Black Ribbons” are also hard hitting melodies that accomplish their goals of making you think, if you can get into the meaning behind the song.
For some reason, this album isn’t too well liked. Those who aren’t huge country fans look at the track listing and see songs like “God Bless Alabama” and “California Via Tennessee” and cringe, and country fans listen to those songs and put the CD back in the store. Neither of these songs, like any of the others on the rest of the album, should be classified as country.
But among these powerful songs lies one that doesn’t seem to fit. While it is a great song, and one of my personal favorites, “Fuck You (I’m Famous)” really doesn’t belong in the album. It doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the album’s message. Don’t let its awkward placement deter you; it’s a fun song. The song is less than two minutes long, and it’s easy to get back into the experience of Will O’ The Wisp. Also, the auto-tuning used in some songs, like “Lights in the Sky” don’t do nearly as much for the album. But it sort of goes with the electronic beats used in the entire collection.
All in all, the entire thing is a great album, worth a listen. It’s not one to listen to each song one by one, but to absorb as a whole, which is a simple task, as the end of each song leads well into the beginning of the next in most cases. One cannot simply sit and half pay attention to it–it defeats the experience. Pick it up for a great musical journey into the adventures of Will O’ The Wisp, or leave it if it’s not your thing.
Reporter’s rating: 9.1 / 10
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