Me and My Gang

by Rascal Flatts

Overview

Ever since their eponymous 2000 debut there has been more pop than country in Rascal Flatts' contemporary country-pop, but with each subsequent record the trio has been drifting slowly, steadily toward outright adult pop, which is where they arrive on their fourth album, 2006's Me and My Gang. Discounting the steel guitar that's used occasionally as tonal coloring, the most country song here is the jokey "Backwards," which blatantly (and proudly) recycles the old joke of "what happens when you play a country record backwards?" (the punch line is "Ya get your house back/Ya get your dog back," etc. -- although it is a little strange that in this version ya get your best friend Jack back before your wife). This isn't a complaint, just a matter of fact: while some country-pop does place equal emphasis on country, Rascal Flatts makes pop music for mature audiences under the guise of country, partially because pop music doesn't have much room for adults anymore. Not that Rascal Flatts are always serious -- there's the aforementioned "Backwards," but also the silly title track where the boys try to domesticate Big & Rich's outsized swagger by simplifying it, singing "la la la" on the bridge and throwing in a talk box guitar stolen from Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" -- but they do not make any concessions to sounding young, which does make them kind of unique among mainstream groups of any kind in 2006. Furthermore, Rascal Flatts are good at this kind of thing: they choose their material well, pick the right musicians and producers, and turn out appealing slick music that sounds good even when the songs themselves are kind of forgettable. And there are some forgettable tunes here, too -- there are also those that are memorable in their mawkishness, like "Ellsworth," which attempts to create a portrait of a grandma losing her mind but is undone by its clunky heavy-handedness ("Grandma burned the biscuits/Nearly took the house down with it/Now she's in assisted livin'/We all knew that day would come") -- but as a whole, Me and My Gang holds together well, since the slower moments glide by on the same smooth, glistening surface as the tunes that catch hold, like the single "What Hurts Most." There are no great surprises here -- well, apart from the vague reggae rhythm that fuels "Yes I Do" -- but there are no disappointments, either. Rascal Flatts continue to deliver exactly what their fans have come to love and expect, and that's a virtue, since it is hard for pop groups of any stripe to be both consistent and reliable, which is exactly what the trio proves they are with this solid-as-a-rock fourth album. [This 2006 edition contains one bonus track.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/17/2006
Label:	Hollywood / Lyric Street
UPC:	0720616507525

Tracks

1. Stand
2. What Hurts the Most
3. Backwards
4. I Feel Bad
5. My Wish
6. Pieces
7. Yes I Do
8. To Make Her Love Me
9. Words I Couldn't Say
10. Me and My Gang
11. Cool Thing
12. Ellsworth
13. He Ain't the Leavin' Kind
14. Life is a Highway

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rascal Flatts   Primary Artist
Larry Corbett   Cello
Armen Garabedian   Violin
Chris McHugh   Drums
Tom Bukovac   Guitar
Russ Pahl   Guitar (Steel)
Lonnie Wilson   Drums
Tereza Stanislav   Violin
John Wittenberg   Violin
Travis Toy   Guitar (Steel)
Alyssa Park   Violin
Dann Huff   Guitar
Jonathan Trebing   Guitar
Josefina Vergara   Violin
Bruce Bouton   Guitar (Steel)
Roberto Cani   Violin
Suzie Katayama   Cello
Peter Kent   Violin
Gordon Mote   Piano,Keyboards
Eric Darken   Percussion
Tim Akers   Accordion,Keyboards
Jonathan Yudkin   Fiddle,Mandolin
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Jay DeMarcus   Bass
Joe Don Rooney   Guitar
Jim Riley   Drums
Mario de Leon   Violin
Howard Duck   Keyboards
Charlie Judge   Keyboards
Paul Franklin   Guitar (Steel)

Technical Credits

Steve Robson   Composer
Greg Lawrence   Assistant
Wendell Mobley   Composer
Jon Stone   Composer
Jason Sellers   Composer
Wally Wilson   Composer
Jeff Balding   Engineer
Justin Niebank   Mixing,Engineer
Neil Thrasher   Composer
Mills Logan   Engineer
Todd Tidwell   Assistant
Michael Dulaney   Composer
Dann Huff   Producer
Danny Orton   Composer
Lowell Reynolds   Assistant
Monty Powell   Composer
Drew Bollman   Assistant
Adam Ayan   Mastering
Steve Churchyard   String Engineer
Jay DeMarcus   Composer
Mark Hagen   Engineer,String Engineer
Jeffrey Steele   Composer
Joe Don Rooney   Composer
Gary LeVox   Composer
Tom Cochrane   Composer
Glenn Sweitzer   Art Direction,Package Design
Sherri Halford   Art Direction
Chapman Baehler   Photography
Jennifer Kemp   Wardrobe
Jimmy Yeary   Composer
Mike "Frog" Griffith   Production Coordination
Chris Rowe   Digital Editing
Greg McCarn   Art Direction
Gregory Becker   Composer
Adam Olmsted   Assistant
Dino Hermann   Digital Editing
John "Johnny Genius" Murphy   Wardrobe
Rhonda Parman   Make-Up,Hair Stylist
Tony Mullins   Composer
Blair Daly   Composer