Country music’s Rascals return with fifth CD

By Jess Royko

Rascal Flatts has done it again. After the tremendous success of its 2006 album Me and My Gang, fans could only wonder just how much better these boys could get. After only one year, Rascal Flatts follows up the success of its previous album by releasing Still Feels Good, which is its fifth album to date since the band’s arrival in 2000.

The boys are all about bringing quality music to the fans, and this trio has never sounded better. Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney bring their best to this album with their outstanding vocals and undeniable skill for making great music. The Rascal Flatts record speaks for itself. In 2006, the band became the best selling artist in all genres of music.

The boys of Rascal Flatts manage to harmoniously blend the sounds of country and pop together while adding their own classic style to it. They deliver just enough emotional songs, ranging from heartfelt love to tormented heartache, to please the fans.

The band members don’t hold anything back on this new album. They co-write at least five songs and also get contributions from fellow country stars Kenny Chesney and Bobby Pinson.

They even kick it up a notch by collaborating with Jamie Foxx on the song “She Goes All The Way.” Rascal Flatts doesn’t disappoint fans as they showcase beautiful lyrics and a mature sound to its latest album, Still Feels Good.

The first single, entitled “Take Me There” begins the album with an upbeat tone. With its catchy tune and cute lyrics, “There’s a place in your heart nobody’s been/Take me there/Tell me about your mama, your daddy, your hometown/Show me around/I want to see it all/Don’t leave anything out,” the members of Rascal Flatts prove why they are so successful. This song gives fans a chance to hear the band’s classic sound.

“Here” is another inspiring track about finding love and surviving the painful road to get there. The song follows the journey of someone who swears he would “relive all the years/and be thankful for the tears/I’ve cried with every stumbled step/that led to you and got me here.”

The album nicely transitions from love songs to songs of heartbreak and loneliness. Rascal Flatts tackles the pain of heartache while emotionally reaching out to its fans. Such tracks as “Help Me Remember” and “Better Now” invoke sadness and pain in the fans with their powerful lyrics. While “Help Me Remember” speaks of love gone astray, “Better Now” tells a story of lost love and regret. Both have an equally profound emotional impact on the fans.

However, it’s not all about love songs; there are a few “feel-good” catchy songs on the album as well. Rascal Flatts has been criticized for being more of a pop band than a country one, so the boys make sure to incorporate that country twang into their fast-paced, catchy song entitled “Bob That Head.” It’s a great song that will leave fans snapping their fingers and moving to the beat. Rascal Flatts makes sure fans do just what the song says: “Bob that head/Every Friday night/Got the windows rolled down/The seat reclined/Givin’ everybody that rock on sign/Yeah, turn it up to ten/Hey y’all join in/Bob that head.”

The album ends on a very somber and tragic note, opening fans’ eyes to the harsh realities of the world. The last song on the album, “It’s Not Supposed to Go Like That,” tells two stories of accidents that led to death. It begins with two boys playing with guns and moves to a story of drinking and driving. The powerful lyrics, co-written by country star Bobby Pinson, have a tremendously deep emotional impact: “It’s not intended to end that way/Life is a journey constantly turning/Down an unknown path/But it’s not supposed to go like that.”

Rascal Flatts cleverly named its latest album Still Feels Good. The boys successfully show that it still feels good for them to be on top and why they are destined to stay there.

Fans are left satisfied after listening to the beautifully inspiring and heartfelt lyrics of the boys’ latest album. Tragedy, heartache, love and plain old fun are all wrapped into one album, leaving fans feeling good.