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):
“Well, I made a mess of my life,” claims Alan Jackson on What I Do. “Each time I went left I shoulda gone right.”
Nice try. If there’s anybody in country who clearly knows which way the wind is blowing, it’s Jackson. And despite his claims to the contrary, that winning streak isn’t likely to come to an end with this album.
Clearly comfortable in his role as blue-collar everyman, the personable crooner takes a relaxed approach this time out, offering up a dozen-track disc deftly divided between lighthearted honky-tonk ditties and downhearted ballads. Overall, the mood is mellower and more low-key here in comparison to some of his more raucous earlier work — but hey, why shouldn’t it be? After the massive crossover success of Drive, Jackson has nothing to prove to anyone any more. And he certainly has no need to exert himself to please the faithful and top the charts.
He only has to keep doing what he’s always done.
