This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Nashville duo Big & Rich call their sound, “Country music without prejudice.” They could add, “And without borders.”
Their eclectic debut album Horse Of A Different Color finds former Lonestar singer John Rich and pal Kenny Alphin gleefully shoehorning C&W, R&B, roots-rock, hip-hop, funk, metal, bluegrass and gangster rap — along with a heapin’ helpin’ of redneck humour — into one of the strangest musical hybrids to come down the pike in a while. When it all dovetails — like on the hick-hop rocker Rollin’, the bluegrass metal of Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy) or the honkytonk hilarity of Kick My Ass — it’s a bit like Brooks And Dunn on peyote. When they try to play it straight, though, it just sounds like … well, plain old Brooks And Dunn. And either way, you have to wonder if anyone is going to want a disc that’s probably got too much hip-hop for the roadhouse and too much honky-tonk for the dance club. They may be without prejudice — but Big & Rich might still be rebels without a clue.
