Gary Allan: Set You Free

Gary Allan
Set You Free
(MCA Nashville)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Gary Allan has made his fans wait for what has seemed to be the longest three years ever for new music, but it was most definitely worth it with the release of his ninth studio album, Set You Free – his follow up to 2010’s Get Off On The Pain.

The country singer has been burning up the country radio airwaves since last fall with the album’s lead single, “Every Story (Runs Out Of Rain),” which is a refreshing subject matter from Allan, who enters into a more positive light than he has been in over the past several years with his music.

Echoing the positive message on the album are tracks such as “Good As New,” which talks of a promising future and how meeting that special someone can quickly make you “good as new,” as well as the uplifting “No Worries,” where he sings about not having a single care in the world “as long as I’ve got you.”

The album covers all of Allan’s finest qualities as an artist in songs like the drivin’ “Bones” that allows him the freedom to explore his rocker side and the poignant “It Ain’t the Whiskey” – a heart broken man’s cry for help to move on. He channels a more spiritual side in the captivating “One More Time,” where he questions what one might ponder when standing at heaven’s gate, hoping that he got everything right before leaving earth.

In addition to Allan’s self-written tunes, many of Nashville’s finest writers fill out the album, including Sarah Buxton (“Pieces”), the Warren Brothers (“Sand in My Soul”) and even rising country star Josh Thompson (“Tough Goodbye”), who joined Allan on last year’s Country Throwdown Tour lineup.

With Allan’s absence from the mainstream country music scene in the past few years, it’s safe to say anything he put out would be embraced by his fans, but the tunes on Set You Free will give his long-time followers more than they could have hoped for, while garnering new fans coast-to-coast.