Relentless

iTunes Review

Jason Aldean plays the outlaw better than most and actually sounds like he means it. Relentless is a convincing portrait of a young rebel with a chip on his shoulder and a pang in his heart. Aldean kicks things off by giving his boss the finger in the fiddle-driven “Johnny Cash” before plunging into a batch of tunes alternately defiant and regretful. Wisely, he avoids fluffy love ballads — tracks like “Do You Wish it Was Me,” “Back in this Cigarette” and “Who’s Kissing You Tonight” look back on failed relationships with varying degrees of longing and self-recrimination. From the nostalgia of “Laughed Until We Cried” to the bitterness of “Grown Women” (a soulful duet with Miranda Lambert), romantic dysfunction is a recurring theme here. Not that Aldean always wallows in sorrow. “I Break Everything I Touch,” for example, is a strutting anthem for bad-boy lovers everywhere. “No” and “Not Every Man Lives” apply this ornery attitude to broader philosophic questions and manage to rock out while doing it. With a pinch of grit and a measure of honesty, Aldean delivers the real stuff on Relentless.