There’s more to mainstream country than Rascall Flatts
Dierks Bentley wants to be everything to every country-music fan, and for the most part, he pulls it off. There’s the badass (“Life On The Run”), the lover (“I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”) and, of course, the blessing counter (“Beautiful World”). Although not entirely distinguishable from his last record, Feel That Fire effortlessly runs the gamut from classic country to twang to rock and pop. Behind some typical mainstream cheese (“I just wanna lay here and feel you breathe / Listen to the rhythm of your heartbeat”—ugh) are likable melodies, a smooth tenor and even smoother Nashville instrumentation and production. As usual, Bentley co-wrote every song, and Patty Griffin joins him for a charming duet—so at the very least, he’s cool by association.
Listen to Dierks Bentley's "Feel That Fire" from Feel That Fire:



Feel That Fire is spawning a lot of blazing clichés this week, and all of them are right! This is one hot CD that is going to go places – read that up! Dierks has said he wanted to stay in the moment, as well as have fun. He’s done it with style and grace. Style with the Warren Brothers in the title cut, grace with the incomparable Patti Griffin in Beautiful World, Better Believer, co-written with Rivers Rutherford, and Pray, written with Rodney Crowell. For fun you can’t beat Sideways and Here She Comes. My favorite today is I Wanna Close Your Eyes, but tomorrow it may change to that motorcycle revving Life on the Run with Mike McCready (Pearl Jam). You may remember McCready’s previous contribution with Bentley on Distant Shore on his first CD. Feel that Fire? You bet.
I AM SO SICK OF ALL THESE OTHER FUCKIN' MUSIC REVIEW SITES TRASHING DIERKS' LATEST ALBUM "FEEL THAT FIRE"!!! THIS CD IS AWESOME! I JUST PICKED IT UP! PHOOEY ON ALL OF THESE FUCKIN' MUSIC REVIEWERS! THEY WOULDN'T KNOW GOOD MUSIC IF IT BIT THEM IN THE FUCKIN' ASS!
"SLANT MAGAZINE" (OR SHOULD I SAY "SLUT MAGAZINE" HAHA) RATED IT TWO STARS AND SO DID "ALLMUSIC"!
All of this angers me...sorry! Well, it's time to take my daily dose of blood pressure medication, Tylenol, Beyer aspirins, and Tums now.