Review by Stratman

Jason Michael Carroll has had a few songs that were modest hits, and he is hoping to have a big one with his new radio release title track, “Numbers”. I like the song, sort of rock influenced, but not sure how strong it will be for his first release. This is his third album and he is marketing it through Cracker Barrel restaurant as a lot of country artists seem to be doing lately.

“Numbers” is just that. It is filled with number references throughout the song with some of them coming from personal experience. It gets a little too much of that for me. “This Is For The Lonely” is to me, a better choice for a first release, but that’s not my call. I dig the B3 organ. Another cut that has strong rock ties to it. I DIG IT!

“Ray of Hope” is a nice ballad. “Meet Me In The Barn” has a nice dobro and is an ok tune.” Hell or Hallelujah” and “Can I Get An Amen” have good harmonies, but are average songs.” My Favorite” is a good song with nice guitar work and tasty vocals.

“Don’t Know Why I Don’t”, “Let Me” and “Stray” sound good, but don’t really do much for me.  “Last Word” is a nice tune, but thank goodness for “Alyssa Lies”. This is the best cut on the album. I love this track! It is a hit! This song saves the album.

The vocals on this album are very predictable. JMC sounds the same on all the tracks as do many of the songs. The album sounds too much like all the other cookie cutter artists in “country music” today. It started off good, and then went nowhere until “Alyssa Lies”. There are good musicians, it was produced and recorded good but just not much there. Sorry.

Rating – C+ (but only because of “Alyssa Lies”)