CD Reviews

Kenny Chesney

Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates | Sony

By WERNER TRIESCHMANN | December 3, 2007

2.0 Stars

Kenny Chesney has built his sizeable country empire on selling Jimmy Buffett–like beach fantasies with guitar-fueled mid-tempo frat rock. Just Who I Am offers more of the same, even as it finds Chesney in a contemplative mood. The best of the bunch is “Shiftwork,” a light, calypso-flavored duet with George Strait that’s easily the breeziest Chesney song since “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.” Most of the rest is inert, with the exception of the ballad “Wife and Kids,” which hinges on the chorus “Maybe someday I’ll have a wife and kids.” Chesney belts out that lyric, and for a celeb who went through a brief and notorious marriage with Renée Zellweger, it’s a rather amazing confession. Regardless of what you think you know about the country star, “Wife and Kids” will make you think twice and maybe even, for just a moment, feel for the guy.

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