CD Review
Artist: Hayes Carll
Title: Trouble In Mind
Label: Universal Music Canada
Released: April 8, 2008   

4 Stars

Reviewed By: Darren Paul (Edmonton Correspondent - Canada) 

Trouble in Mind treads lightly on no boundaries. Throwing himself confidently into dance tunes, ballads, and tongue in cheek comedy Hayes Carll finds success. This is a solid country album. It is down to earth, as connected to indulgence as romance, and lacks any pretension but that which is held up to be laughed at.

Present are catchy sing-alongs featuring characters who are roughing their way through life in I Got a Gig and I Don't Wanna Grow Up. Carll balances introspection with storytelling for the touching ballads Don't Let Me Fall and Willing to Love Again. The comic She Left Me For Jesus assumes a country bumpkin character who's never heard of the big J. Some might consider it to push the boundaries of good taste, but the character's attempts to find out who this Jesus guy is and what to do about him are hilarious.

One peculiarity of this album is a help and a hindrance. Hayes Carll nails a spread of country and western sub-styles from dance hall, to pop country, to southern rock. What is peculiar is the different singing voices he uses on each track. There are songs where he sounds more like Johnny Cash, and others that are distinctly George Thorogood. The album then has a sense of a compilation disk instead of a studio album. However, if it sounds like a compilation disk it leans towards a top hits album. This is fine clever entertainment, and makes for satisfying listening. 

1. Drunken Poet's Dream - 3:28
2. It's A Shame - 3:47
3. Girl Downtown - 3:27
4. Bad Liver And A Broken Heart - 4:22
5. Beaumont - 3:27
6. I Got A Gig - 4:00
7. Faulkner Street - 3:25
8. Wild As A Turkey - 2:29
9. Don't Let Me Fall - 3:45
10. A Lover Like You - 4:23
11. I Don't Wanna Grow Up - 3:37
12. Knockin' Over Whiskeys - 2:55
13. Willing To Love Again - 3:26
14. She Left Me For Jesus - 4:03