Kenny Chesney may title his 12th album after the pop standard that he sings here with Willie Nelson, but don't mistake Lucky Old Sun for his Stardust.
Chesney is tipping his hat not to the Great American Songbook but the great ball in the sky, the one that shines on beaches from coast to coast, with the Gulf of Mexico being a particular favorite in his book.
Lucky Old Sun is designed to be a soundtrack to laid-back afternoons on warm sand, which by now is very familiar territory for Chesney in his personal and professional life.
As former tourmate George Strait has proven throughout his career, familiarity can be comforting and fruitful, but Chesney forgoes subtle pleasures for mere complacency, delivering no more than what his audience expects.
Coming from a musician who quietly subverted country rules as he was climbing the charts, this slow shrug is distressing, but more than that, it's dull.
Since Chesney swaps Buffett's boozy goofball schtick for gentle strumming, this isn't music for a party, it's music that laps softly against the shore.
To be sure, there's some pleasure to be had here, but it's all about appreciating the album as pure texture: it's merely sunbleached mood music.
And while that's appealing as far as it goes, Chesney could do something a lot more interesting in the sun besides lazing around.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I'm AliveKenny Chesney, Dean Dillon, Mark Tamburino | Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews | Play | 03:18 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 2 | Way Down HereCasey Beathard, Kenny Chesney | Kenny Chesney | Play | 05:53 | 13 MB | 36 MB |
| 3 | BoatsKenny Chesney, Dean Dillon, Scotty Emerick | Kenny Chesney | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven | Kenny Chesney, Wailers | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Down the RoadMac McAnally | Kenny Chesney, Mac McAnally | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 6 | Spirit of a StormKenny Chesney, Brett James | Kenny Chesney | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | Ten with a TwoJack Mack, Mack Vickery | Kenny Chesney | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 8 | The LifeCasey Beathard | Kenny Chesney | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 9 | Key's In the Conch ShellDean Dillon, Scotty Emerick, Tom Gross | Kenny Chesney | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | Nowhere to Go, Nowhere to BeKenny Chesney | Kenny Chesney | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 11 | That Lucky Old Sun | Kenny Chesney | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 44 mins | 101 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 263 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natthaphol Abhigantaphand | Mastering Assistant |
| 2 | Shelley Anderson | Mastering Assistant |
| 3 | Elan Atias | Additional Personnel, Performer, Vocals |
| 4 | Aston Barrett | Additional Personnel, Performer, Vocals |
| 5 | Wyatt Beard | Main Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Casey Beathard | Composer |
| 7 | Judy Forde Blair | Creative Producer, Liner Notes |
| 8 | Drew Bollman | Mixing Assistant |
| 9 | Mike Bosch | Assistant Engineer |
| 10 | Pat Buchanan | Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 11 | Buddy Cannon | Audio Production, Main Personnel, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Butch Carr | Engineer |
| 13 | Chris Carroll | Assistant Engineer |
| 14 | Tony Castle | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 15 | Kenny Chesney | Audio Production, Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 16 | Bobby Crouton | Engineer |
| 17 | Eric Darken | Main Personnel, Percussion |
| 18 | Dean Dillon | Composer |
| 19 | Scott Ducaj | Main Personnel, Trumpet |
| 20 | Chris Dunn | Main Personnel, Trombone |
| 21 | Scotty Emerick | Composer |
| 22 | Mel Eubanks | Engineer |
| 23 | Kyle Ford | Assistant Engineer |
| 24 | Derek Garten | Assistant Engineer |
| 25 | Haven Gillespie | Composer |
| 26 | Kenny Greenberg | Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 27 | Robert Greenidge | Drums, Drums (Steel), Main Personnel |
| 28 | Tom Gross | Composer |
| 29 | Tim Hensley | Main Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | Steven Herrman | Main Personnel, Trumpet |
| 31 | Steve Hinson | Guitar (Steel), Main Personnel |
| 32 | John Hobbs | Main Personnel, Piano, Synthesizer, Wurlitzer |
| 33 | Jim Horn | Horn Arrangements, Sax (Tenor) |
| 34 | Brett James | Composer |
| 35 | Aaron Kasdorf | Assistant Engineer |
| 36 | Brent Kaye | Mastering Assistant |
| 37 | Jennifer Kemp | Stylist |
| 38 | Paul Leim | Drums, Main Personnel |
| 39 | Kimberly Levitan | Art Direction, Design |
| 40 | B. James Lowry | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Main Personnel, Steel String |
| 41 | Jack Mack | Composer |
| 42 | Junior Marvin | Additional Personnel, Performer, Vocals |
| 43 | Dave Matthews | Featured Artist, Primary Artist |
| 44 | Mac McAnally | Composer, Featured Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Main Personnel, Primary Artist |
| 45 | Randy McCormick | Hammond B3, Main Personnel, Organ (Hammond), Synthesizer |
| 46 | Andrew Mendelson | Mastering |
| 47 | Willie Nelson | Featured Artist, Primary Artist |
| 48 | Justin Niebank | Mixing |
| 49 | Larry Paxton | Bass, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Gut String Guitar, Main Personnel |
| 50 | Gary Prim | Main Personnel, Piano, Synthesizer, Wurlitzer |
| 51 | Mickey Raphael | Harmonica, Main Personnel |
| 52 | Samantha Rex | Assistant Engineer |
| 53 | Glen Rose | Photography |
| 54 | Chris Rowe | Engineer |
| 55 | Shannon Finnegan Scott | Production Coordination |
| 56 | Harry Beasley Smith | Composer |
| 57 | Ben Strano | Assistant Engineer |
| 58 | Heather Sturm | Assistant Engineer |
| 59 | Mark Tamburino | Composer |
| 60 | Mack Vickery | Composer |
| 61 | The Wailers | Featured Artist |
| 62 | Wailers | Primary Artist |
| 63 | Ernest Williams | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 64 | Ernest Williams | Performer |
| 65 | John Willis | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Gut String Guitar, Main Personnel |
| 66 | Lonnie Wilson | Drums, Main Personnel |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |