Jake Owen Covers Too Much Ground on American Love

On Friday, July 29th of 2016, Jake Owen drove to the Walmart in Minot, North Dakota, bought out the remaining copies of his new album American Love, then took the time to talk with fans inside and outside of the store, signing copies and giving them to people. One of those copies went to a young girl who'd been through treatment for cancer, and Owen proceeded to invite her and her family up onto a section of the stage for his concert at the North Dakota State Fair that night. From what I could tell, he covered tickets for anybody he met with who didn't have them already, as well. Needless to say, I am a huge fan of Jake Owen as a person. As an artist, I wish he'd pick a lane because he's very talented and I want to see his musical vision reach its potential.

I really don't mind the pop songs in his catalog. He does them better than most and his voice is impeccable. At the same time, his undoubtedly country songs are excellent. "Tell Me" from Easy Does It comes to mind, as does "Heaven" from Barefoot Blue Jean Night and, most recently, "What We Ain't Got" from Days of Gold. I also can't forget to mention "Startin' With Me" and "Don't Think I Can't Love You" from his debut album. Quite frankly, when Jake Owen records a country song, it's almost always a damn good country song.

But he veers too far into non-country territory these days to think of him as a country artist. The arrangements are very poppy throughout most of American Love, and I will outright state that this is not a country album. It's a pop album with two country songs near the end, including the album's best song, "LAX," and the clunky but satisfying "When You Love Someone." Is it a bad album? Not in the slightest, and I credit Jake Owen for making mostly good music regardless of genre, but the issue I take with him is that he's marketed as a country artist but isn't releasing mostly country music. He's not the only perpetrator of this all-too-common misstep, but he's shown himself to be capable of so much more.

American Love opens up with the title track, which is a forgettable. "After Midnight" comes next and is a very good song, but it is a pure pop song so some fans may not like it. I'm not a huge fan of "liking good songs anyway" when they're presented to me as something that they aren't, but it'd be dishonest if I were to say I don't enjoy the tune. "Everybody Dies Young" at track 4 has a nice sentiment but it's a little too fun for me. I think such a subject should be a bit heavier, lyrically, and you can't convince me that there wasn't a way to make more of the idea.

"LAX" sits at track 7 and, as mentioned, is the best song on the album. With prominent steel guitar and excellent vocals, Owen (who went through a divorce in the last year) chooses to take the high road instead of releasing a bitter breakup song. The perspective of the narrator on "LAX" is absolutely refreshing in a day and age where everybody wants to record a childish, vicious kissoff song when they go through a divorce or breakup. Kudos to Jake Owen for showing maturity and class.

"If He Ain't Gonna Love You" is pure fun and features a great guitar line and excellent backing vocals by Chris Stapleton. This song is incredibly catchy and is almost guaranteed to be a single at some point. The album closes with 3 solid tunes, though the first in line is "When You Love Someone," which is held down by some really odd lyrics. "It ain't rocket science, baby, it ain't arithmetic"--imagine hearing somebody sing that line. Well, Owen does in "When You Love Someone" and not even his voice could save that moment from being incredibly awkward. Nevertheless, it's a fairly good song and the other country song on the album. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" sits at track 10 and, though it isn't a country song, it's a damn good song, with a great chorus and classic subject matter.

"American Country Love Song" is the lead single and closes the album strongly, but again, it's not a country song by any means. Where record labels got this idea that you can record a pop-rock arrangement and call it country is beyond me, but that's the nature of the game right now. At the very least, "American Country Love Song" is a good song carried by Owen's vocals.

In the end, American Love is remarkably unoffensive for an album being presented as country even though it's pop record. I honestly thought Owen perfected that kind of record with Days of Gold, which had a handful of truly great songs. My main problem with the record isn't that the songs are bad, it's that there are too many genres being thrown together for the album to be cohesive. It's one thing for an artist to want to show all their influences, but sometimes they try to be too many places on the map at once. American Love is a bit of a step down but overall it's a collection of mostly solid songs with a handful of great tunes. 6/10

Standouts:
"LAX"
"If He Ain't Gonna Love You"
"You Ain't Going Nowhere"
"American Country Love Song"

Duds:
"Good Company"
"American Love"

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