A Walk Along The "Golden Road."

Keith Urban took a roundabout way to country music. He was born in New Zealand and raised on country music by Glen Campbell and Merle Haggard by his parents in Australia. Along the way Keith was attracted to the rock music scene, specifically The Dire Straits.

Inspired by what he heard, Keith decided to learn how to play the guitar. A few short years later, Keith was singing and playing guitar so ferociously that he was signed by Warner Music Australia.

After a few years as a raising star in Australia, it was a given that Keith would head to Nashville. With his drummer, Peter Clarke, accompanying him, Keith wasn't exactly embraced by the country Mecca. After some performances as a band with Clarke and bassist Jerry Flowers, the trio was signed by Capitol Records Nashville.

When their self-titled (The Ranch) album came out, it was a raw, but critically acclaimed, effort that failed to impact radio. Clarke packed his bags, headed back to Australia and Flowers would go on to tour with the Dixie Chicks. Keith stayed at capitol and teamed up with Matt Rollings, ( a session pianist who'd produced Edwin McCain) and started his first album.

In late 1999 the self titled album was released and it was immediately embraced by country radio and a stream of hit singles followed. Among the hit singles was Keith's first NO. 1 hit, "But For The Grace Of God." Written with the Go-Go's chief songwriters, Jane Wiedlin & Charlotte Caffrey, this ballad served as the catalyst to propel Keith's album to sell in excess of 500,000 copies.

With a stream of hit singles, the pressure was on Keith to record a second album that would either continue or kill his momentum.

the Tracks
1. Somebody Like You (Urban/John Shanks)
2. Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me?* (Urban/Monty Powell)
3. Whenever I Run (Urban/Shanks/shelly Peiken)
4. What About Me* (Urban/Rodney Crowell)
5. You'll Think About Me (Darrell Brown/Ty Lacy/Dennis Matkosky)
6. Jeans On* (Dave Dundas/Roger Greenaway)
7. You Look Good In My Shirt (Tony Martin/Mark Nesler/Tom Shapiro)
8. You're Not Alone Tonight* (Urban)
9. You Won* (Urban/Crowell)
10. Song For Dad (urban)
11. Raining On Sunday (Radney Foster/Darrell Brown)
12. Your Not My God* (Urban/Paul Jefferson)

Produced by Dann Huff and Keith Urban.
*Produced by Keith Urban.

With super-producer Dann Huff onboard, Keith Urban has dropped the lower case letters, (he used to go by keith urban cause he thought capitol letters would cause his fans to miss his website), and in a sense "grown up."

While Dann Huff has been known to be a "poptry" producer, he's extremely good at what he does. Much like his mentor Mutt Lange has done with rock music (AC/DC, Bryan Adams), Dann has carved a niche as one of the top producers in Nashville today.

Keith himself has produced half the songs himself, which is rare in Nashville. What this tells me is that while the label loved Keith's artistic abilities; they didn't want to give him free reigns yet for a whole record.

The Best Tracks
Somebody Like You was the single released months before Golden Road was ever released. In fact, The album wasn't even supposed to come out until January of 2003 for country singles have been moving up the charts these past few years very slowly. In what used to be a cycle of three to four singles and an album released every year, is now three to six, sometimes even seven singles, over the course of two or three years. With this song, a great up-tempo "ganjo" laden ode to the search for the perfect partner, Capitol Records quickly realized that they had a big hit that would sure sell some records when the album came out so, Like RCA/Arista did with Alan Jackson's "Where Were You," they wisely decided to move up the release by a few months. The single is now sitting at number one on the charts at all three country chart services (Billboard, Radio & Records and Music Row). (Written with John Shanks)

What is a "Ganjo" you ask? Well, it's Keith's made up word for a six string banjo that he plays like a guitar.

Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me has more of an edge to it musically and I can really see the Dire Straits influence on this track. A likely candidate to be a future single, Keith is singing about being a lucky guy who has no worries as long as he's alive and free and with his girl.

The most likely second single is the lyrical gem You'll Think Of Me. One of the few, Keith didn't co-write, this ballad talks about the material stuff we always fight over to keep when a relationship is over yet we always seem to remember memories more than keepsakes.

While it'd be easy to dismiss You're Not Alone Tonight as either a reaction to 9/11/01 or as simply being a "Christian" song, it's neither. For starters, the copyright date of this beautiful ballad is 2000. And while it can be considered a Christian song, it is more than that. It's about feeling alone only to be told that someone's watching, regardless of religion.

Song For Dad is a song that anyone can relate to. It is obviously about Keith's father. Keith is singing about realizing that we all are like our parents, and that it's good. "When somebody says 'I hope I get to meet your dad,' I just smile and say 'you already have'" is one of the better lines to come out of country music in a while. If Capitol Records is reading this, release this track, it is sure to resonate with listeners and become an instant classic.

Raining On Sunday is a ballad that originally appeared on Radney Foster's "See What You Wanna See" album. The lyrics showcase a couple who decide to stay in bed all day on a wet Sunday afternoon. I first heard this in Sept of 2001 in concert, (well actually sooner on Radney's CD), and it's wonderful to finally have it as a recorded form.

The best song is also saved for last, well sort of (but more on that later). After talking about a divine something guiding us all, Keith pulls out his trump card with You're Not My God. There is a little know fact that Keith Urban once had a cocaine problem, (don't all musical stars?), and this song chronicles the struggle he had to deal with. In more general terms, Your Not My God deals with the fame that many people have when they receive money and power. Even if you haven't had a drug problem, many can relate to the final verse about those of us who live for all the wrong reasons. If ever released, I will be the first to request it at country radio. However, I suspect that'll never happen...

...now for the almost last track part. See, there's a song Keith's been singing in concert for years now that is simply called the One Chord Song. It is about one or two minutes after "You're Not My God." Keith does this cute song for about two minutes and then ends the CD.

Final Analysis : Golden Road is one that is incredibly catchy and is sure to please any of his previous fans and the fans of popular modern country music. Traditionalist minded fans will not like it that much. Those who don’t listen to country that often may like it for its guitar playing and witty and soulful lyrics. I think Golden Road is one complete album that’s sure to avoid the sophomore jinx. To perpetuate his “golden road” theme, all the color photos are in gold hues as is the CD. It is actually a gold colored disc.