Love and War
| Brad Paisley
Love and War
Love and War is the eleventh studio album by American country musicsinger Brad Paisley. It was released on April 21, 2017, through Arista Nashville. The album's lead single is "Today".
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Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
Brad Paisley’s ‘Love and War’ Is a Defiant Classic Rock Rewind
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Sounds Like Nashville
It is this insight that stays with the listener long after the final note is played, making Love and War a welcomed addition to country fans’ collections.
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Community Voices
Its unevenness aside, Love and War proves yet again that Paisley needs to rethink his approach to albums.
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Paste Magazine
Then again, it won’t matter much once Paisley’s onstage, coaxing the exact emotional response that these songs demand from thousands of likeminded fans. More will be better and it will encourage more of the same by the time he hits the studio again. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle that shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
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Saving Country Music
Love and War still leaves much to be desired. Sonically, hats off to Paisley for putting together a spicy, energetic effort that is traditional at times, contemporary in others, but always true to itself and to the heart of modern, healthy country music.
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Critically Country
I enjoyed this album and not just for a mainstream album. The instrumentation on this album really enhances it and as I said before Brad is a hell of a guitar player.
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The Diamondback
Although it has good songs, the album leaves listeners wanting more from Paisley — an artist who has shown the ability to create music that doesn't adhere to norms, but chooses to keep the same repetitive sounds in his music.
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The Young Folks
Love and War isn’t bad. There’s a few songs on there that I absolutely love as well as a few songs I absolutely loathe.
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Rough Stock
After a little bit of time to work on his music outside of the spotlight, Brad Paisley has created, with Love and War, a project which rivals his best work, even if the album is more or less what fans would've wanted out of another Brad Paisley record.
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One Country
Paisley has lost much of his luster through the years. But he is still very capable of rising dutifully with guitar in hand to keep the format thriving–if only the pressure to collect radio hits wouldn’t get in the way.
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Digital Journal
Overall, Brad Paisley's new album is one of his weakest records to date, if not his weakest.
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Your Life in a Song
Love and War shares with the rest of Brad’s catalogue his mix of traditionalism and contemporary country.
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All Music
Since Paisley still has his skills, this is often enjoyable -- he knows how to craft songs and can play a mean guitar -- but it's hard not to hear Love and War and think Paisley would be a little bit better off if he learned a lesson from Jagger and Fogerty: sometimes, it's better not to try so hard.
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Country Exclusive
Overall, I’m glad to see that Brad Paisley is back to being Brad Paisley. Take that as you will; this record won’t change your mind about him, but if you were hesitant to buy this because his last two records were somewhat disappointing, rest assured that he’s back to doing what he does best which is just being himself.
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My Kind of Country
Lyrically, there is not a song on this album that I dislike. There are songs on which I would change the production and/or instrumentation.
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Building Our Own Nashville
Love and War has done well since its release and I hope it continues to do so as Brad does deserve it and overall it’s a good album, not his best but it is good and if it is your first time listening to Brad then you are likely to be very pleased and hardcore fans I am sure will be very happy too.
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Spectrum Pulse
yes, I'll say it's his most consistent record in some time, and if you're a fan, you're going to love this. But again, I wish Brad Paisley would take more steps out of his comfort zone and take more risks - at this point in his career, he's got nothing to lose and with indie country's growing prominence, everything to gain!
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AP news
″Love And War” has tracks that will burn up hot country spots on the radio dial and cement his place as the most dependable act in the business. The mix-down throughout is a tad flat, but this is meant to be heard in a bar, in a truck, on the road and on the go.
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Six Shooter Country
Before listening to this album, I had read a lot of comments from people saying this is Brad’s best album yet. I disagree. I found several tracks to be uninspiring and dreary. It is a lot of same old same old, songs that reminded me of other Brad songs.
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The National
The mix-down is a tad flat but this is meant to be heard in a bar, in a truck, on the road and on the go. You can hate bro-country but don’t hate Brad Paisley for being the best at it.
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Maine Campus
I was not sure how I felt about this album at first. I had to play the whole thing twice before I made up my mind. The first half of the album is a bit strange. It is not the usual Paisley style, so I assume it was a bit more experimental. In fact, the beginning has more of a rock and bluegrass influence. The second half of the album is classic Paisley and downright beautiful. Slower tunes, very twangy, but as always, very well written.
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Tennessean
Paisley has bolstered the traditional tenets country music as much or more than anyone of his generation. And at a time when country music is as pop as it has ever been, Paisley is poised to release one of his most country albums to date — and perhaps his best.
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Noisey
It begins with something called "Heaven South," which one kind of hater will dismiss as escapist piffle but I say is Paisley's way of telling another kind of hater to quit feeling sorry for themselves and be grateful for what they got.
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Herald Standard
From the comical side of trying to dispose of any traces of the house party held for friends before the parents come home with “One Beer Can” to the heaviness of the darkness that permeates through the world on “The Devil Is Alive and Well,” Paisley proves once again why he’s worthy of country superstar status.
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Vulture
Love and War is warm and good-natured, full of aw-shucks charm and down home bona fides without ever using them to flash backwoods cred.
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Stereo Board
‘Love and War’ may be the album Paisley needed to make to prove he wasn’t stuck in a comfortable rut as a lovable Nashville statesman and beloved host of the CMAs, but the fact it’s possibly the finest album of his career will also silence critics of the nicest man in music who isn’t named Dave Grohl.
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Cleveland
There is little doubt that he is the best axman in country, and possibly in any genre. If there is a quibble, it is that the riffs, while fantastically speedy and intricate, are so commonplace as to diminish their value. Less is more.
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Lincoln Journal star
"Love And War" has tracks that will burn up hot country spots on the radio dial and cement his place as the most dependable act in the business.
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Wide open country
Somehow, Paisley has found an impressive way to have his cake and eat it too. He can be delightfully corny, bitingly sarcastic and saccharine sweet. Or he can be beautifully authentic. All the while shredding a solo or 12 and earning the respect of critics and contemporaries alike.
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