Toby Keith Album: “Big Dog Daddy [Circuit City Exclusive]”

I own every Toby Keith CD so buying this one was a no-brainer. Not only does the CD lack fun songs, but they're not catchy either. I could barely even listen to the whole thing. This CD is nowhere near the quality that How do you like me now?!, Pull my chain, Unleashed, and Shockin' Ya'll. Honkytonk U was just ok, and White trash with money had some fun songs like get drunk and be somebody, and running block.

This CD is not Toby Keith quality stuff. Borrow it from a friend to listen to it before you buy it.

I was skeptical about purchasing yet another Toby Keith CD but am glad I made the purchase. Once again, Toby comes through with his distinct voice and ear catching tunes. Toby is by far one of the best song writers yet in country music. I went to see a concert at the Tweeter Center in NJ and let me tell you, I am still impressed with the show he performed. The song "High Maintenance Woman" is cute and funny. The cd was a very good buy.

I love this CD. My favorite number is "Big Dog Daddy" because it truly rocks. Don't want to date myself, but I'm from original rock with Gerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard etc. I always turn up the volume on this one. The instrumentals are spectacular and generous. I hate for it to end. I never tire of this album. It has great variety, nostalgia, heart, thought and humor.

Toby Keith is one of those artists who knows exactly what his fans want, and delivers every single time. That alone is noteworthy. He is also a consistent hit-maker, the underdog who emerged from the shadows to become a bonafide superstar.

All that aside, Keith rarely takes risks. His last couple albums featured a few forrays onto a limb, but BIG DOG DADDY plays it safe. Fortunately, it's still a decent album (note the four stars). Vocally, Keith is in fine form; his growls on "Pump Jack" and the title track are spine-tingling, and his soothing tone on "I Know She Hung the Moon" is believable as he croons, "I know that she hung the moon/But I the one that held the ladder." His songwriting is still better than most of his peers', as his sense of humor gives play to some whitty one-liners, and his insight into male thought translates into the fantasy of the title track and "Pump Jack," a tune about pipe dreams. "Walk It Off" is surprisingly insightful, while "High Maintenance Woman," "Hit It," and "Get My Drink On" show his ability to find a commercial hook or selling point.

Toby Keith has emerged into a true musical artist. Granted, he doesn't take many risks (as Tim McGraw has begun doing), or write truly deep material (as Keith Urban has begun experimenting with), but he has stayed true to who he is, and has crafted music that speaks to the common people. He is a man of more than two dimensions ("Love Me If You Can," though not penned by Keith, is definitely a biographical piece), and his music shows that, if you look closely enough. Toby Keith will go down as an outlaw of country music, not just because of his attitude, but because he does things his way and nobody else's. And that, truly, has always been the spirit of honest country music.

If you are a country music fan, or a music fan in general, you will find a lot to love about "Big Dog Daddy". Toby consistently releases great albums, but this one brings him back to his pre-"Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" days. "Big Dog Daddy" is pure Toby Keith, and pure country music. I consider this one of his best albums, along with his 1999's "How Do You Like Me Now". This is wholly produced by Toby, and in a fortunate twist, he took a songwriting breather on a couple of songs, allowing songs written by someone other than him to be on his album. Those songs are certainly welcome on this album.

"High Maintenance Woman", the lead-off single of the album, showcases Toby's signature tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Toby was raised by a witty father, and it sure shows through his music. No genre of music expresses so much sense of humor as country music, and no artist has as great a sense of humor as Toby. Only Toby would come up with a line such as "..a high maintenance woman don't want to maintenance man."

"Love Me If You Can", one of the songs on the album that does not include Toby in the writing credits, but to Craig Wiseman and Chris Wallin. The song is for "Big Dog Daddy" what "Not Ready to Make Nice was for the Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way", although in a much less "to hell with you" kind of way. Some dismiss this song as Toby apologizing for his beliefs, but it's not. He's sorry that people hate him, but he's not sorry for what he believes. Nobody should be. Toby just happens to be a celebrity, so people who disagree with him are happy to hate him. Those who aren't as familiar with Toby and his music as his fans are would be surprised to hear this song, as it shows Toby in a less egotistical light, which many people see him in.

"White Rose" is a nostalgic take on what used to be and what is now. Being from a small town that at one time used to be a thriving community, this song really connected with me. The town where I grew up used to have a theater, a bowling alley, a drug store where beverages were a dime, a gas station with 50 cent gas. These places of yesteryear are now only memories, and that is the theme of this song. The fantastic writing, and Toby's melodies make this song a gem on this album.

"Get My Drink On" is one of the token country songs that you would typically find on a Toby album, or country album. But this song fits Toby like a glove, and alludes to his music in the 90's. You can't help but want to jam to a song with a name like that.

"Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya" doesn't stand out like the other songs on the album, but it's still a good one. With this song, Toby took a phrase perhaps most often heard on a school playground, and incorporated it in a song about a guy who meets a woman acquaintance who shared some drinks and some conversation with a lonely drifter. At least that's what I got out of it.

"Big Dog Daddy", the title track, is another one of those titles that has Toby written all over it. It borrows the musical style of Chuck Berry, and does it well. Some people say that Toby stole this song from Berry, and that Berry should sue Toby, but Toby should do Chuck proud with this one. This is a weekend party song that is the funnest track on the album. This song was born to be played on a jukebox.

"I Know She Hung The Moon" is about a guy who has a knockout girlfriend (or wife) that keeps on getting looks from other guys across the bar. It basically says, "You keep looking at my girl, and wondering if she loves me, but me and her are as close as glue and paper. Sorry Charlie, she's mine" although in a less egotistical way. Just like "High Maintenance Woman", "Hung the Moon" also features clever wordplay, with the line, "I Know She Hung the Moon, but I'm the one that held the ladder".

"Pump Jack", written by Toby Keith and Bobby Pinson (singer of "Don't Ask Me How I Know), alludes to the glory days of oil rigs in the panhandle states. Both Keith and Pinson worked in oil fields before becoming involved in music, and their experiences inspired them to write this song. However, not everyone can relate to the hardships of working in an oil field, yet the song has a general theme of working hard doing dangerous work, and not making much, but at least keeping the respect of those around you. And it also helps when it's got a great tune.

"Burnin' Moonlight" is country music at it's sexiest. This is a song that wouldn't last a Nashville minute on country radio, because it is basically a song about making passionate love. It's about a couple who had some vehicular problems on the road, so while they had time to kill (or moonlight to burn), why not "get it on"?

"Walk It Off" is a song that says if you lose a woman, don't mope around, don't feel sorry for yourself. Walk it off. It's as simple as that.

"Hit It" is this albums "Get Drunk and Be Somebody". It also serves as a product placement for a certain alcoholic beverage. The song is all about partying and drinking, something you've come to expect on a Toby Keith album, and considering the fun I had listening to the song, that's just fine with me.

If you forget about politics and Toby's personal convictions, and truly just listen to the music, you'll have about as much fun as you could have listening to music while listening to this album.

This is some of the very best music of Toby Keith's fine career. And that's saying something.