June 2010 is a prime time in Clay Walker’s career as he has seen “She Won’t Be Lonely Long” continue to climb the charts all the way into the Top 10, making the song his first to reach that height since 2007’s “Fall.” He has also released his first full album in three years with She Won’t Be Lonely Long. While Clay has had his share of the peaks and valleys that come with a music career, he continues to truck on as the years pass sharing his brand of country music with fans and his current album is no exception.

The project starts with the already successful title track (Check out the video here.), also a high point on the album, which is Clay’s strongest single in quite some time. What follows is a selection of material that covers everything from love to searching for heroes in today’s times (“Double Shot of John Wayne”) to the struggle of right versus wrong (the banjo-tinged “Jesse James”) to summer (“Summertime Song”) and celebrating America (“All American”). However, it’s on the mid-tempos where Clay really shines, particularly on “Where Do I Go From You” and “Keep Me From Loving You.” While “Wrong Enough To Know” stands out as an up tempo highlight from the perspective of a man who knows love when he sees it.

On She Won’t Be Lonely Long, Clay is in fine vocal form on with the only noticeable misstep coming in his performance on “Like We Never Said Goodbye,” a fine song in itself but Walker seems to be stretching a little too much to hit those high notes. Another off moment is “People in Planes” with its awkward recitation and country-pop feel, but on the other side of this track is country gold in the form of a classic hit from the 1980s. Clay tackles Alabama’s well-loved number one hit “Feels So Right” and comes out the other side as a winner with aid of former Alabama lead singer and the sole writer of the tune Randy Owen who contributes background vocals.

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital  © 2010

Check out more Album Reviews