Keith Urban's new album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing comes to us in the midst of turbulence in his personal life—a life that is well documented in the press. Urban's romance and resulting marriage to the beautiful and talented Nicole Kidman, and his recent admittance (by his own will) to an institute for recovering alcoholics, provide the backdrop for his fourth album. Urban left us two years ago with Be Here , a solid country album, providing his unique sound in abundance and selling over four million records—and quite a mark on country-radio, with every single released doing well.
Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing feels newer and more contemporary, which reflects Urban's journey in the past years. He incorporates a different style of music—mainly pop. While he has always toed right between the line of country and rock, he finds his voice today with a pop influence. The lead single, "Once in a Lifetime" brings this to immediate attention, with its pop-like beat. However, don't let this new sound make you think that Urban has become Justin Timberlake. His lyrics and music are still incredibly creative. The lyrics are quite country-esque; that is, they tell a story, and have a clear meaning. The music varies between good ole country foot tapping ("Tu Compania" is this album's best example) and rocky-pop ("Faster Car"). Urban, a brilliant musician, plays an incredible 11 instruments on this album—including what he calls a "ganjo"—a 6th string banjo, played like a guitar. We are treated to quite a few instrumentals on this album, most of them with Keith's strongest suit—the electric guitar.
Other gems on this 13-song album are "Shine" (a love song), "I Told You So" (which sounds the most like his previous material), the poignant "Stupid Boy" (perhaps the most relevant to Urban's life now), "Raise the Barn" (a great country-rock number, featuring Brooks & Dunn's Ronnie Dunn, and discussing the rebuilding of the south in Katrina's aftermath), the latin-infused "Tu Compania", and perhaps my favorite, "I Can't Stop Loving You". Sharing Ray Charles's famous song's name, it is a good-ole fashioned "lovers have to say goodbye" song—highlighting in the most tragic way Urban's strongest point—his totally sincere voice, which makes you wonder where this guy comes from.
Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing does exactly what it sets out to do—sum up our lives in the most simple and at the same time most complicated of ways: great melodies, truthful lyrics and some truly amazing guitar playing.
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