Take two A-listers on the same label, give them a duet and watch it take off. It's a foolproof plan, and it's one that Arista has taken with its flagship artists, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, on "Remind Me." And in fact, it's a pairing that I find very interesting, since I've found Paisley to have gotten progressively worse in nearly every aspect of his musical abilities, while Underwood has gotten progressively better. Luckily, this is a return to the "good" Brad that I fell in love with the first time I listened to Mud on the Tires — the Brad who could be clever, witty and detail-oriented. 

The opening stanza in particular is interesting: "We didn't care if people stared / We'd make out in a crowd somewhere / Somebody's tell us to get a room / It's hard to believe that was me and you." Here, the details are relatable, and amusing without being corny. The song amounts to a fine ballad of wanting to rekindle that spark of love that was present when two lovers first started out, and the fine details continue throughout: kissing at the airport for so long that they miss a flight, her waking up in his t-shirt, et cetera. Both Brad and Carrie give fine performances on their own, but they come out slightly imbalanced when put together. Granted, it's hard to find a good vocal match for Carrie, but no matter how much she tries to dial herself down, her powerhouse voice still makes Brad's very limited range all the more obvious. But that's a small complaint for an otherwise-excellent song. 

"Remind Me"  reminds me of why I became a Brad Paisley fan in the first place. Sure, maybe he's better at some aspects of a song than others, but when all the parts come together as well as they do on "Remind Me," he's got another bona fide hit on his hands. And if he's going to get it as right as he did here, then why not share it with his labelmate, to keep her name in the spotlight between albums? Sounds like a good plan.

Listen: "Remind Me"

BUY: Amazon