Over the past few years, Billy Ray Cyrus has developed a slick L.A. persona not only as an actor, but as Miley Cyrus’s dad—a role he has embraced with gusto in the media. With "Back To Tennessee," he tries to disassociate himself from the Hollywood circus while reinforcing his commitment to family and fatherhood. The lead-off title track, co-written by Billy Ray, sets the tone of the album with lines like, “Creepy town so full of users/Make a million still a loser/Some will bet on you to win/Most hope you won’t,” before settling into the groove of the strong melody-driven chorus: “I see the road now/I see just what I need/To find my way back to Tennessee.”
Billy Ray is indeed at his best when singing about home, faith, and family, and devotes two tracks to the subject of fatherhood—“He’s Mine,” about a father’s pride in his son, and “Butterfly Fly Away,” a lullabye-esque father-daughter duet with Miley. The problem is that both “Back To Tennessee” and “Butterfly Fly Away” are available on the soundtrack for the upcoming "Hannah Montana The Movie" film, releasing this weekend. And there’s really not much that is exclusive to this album that is very compelling. I get the sense that Billy Ray Cyrus (or perhaps more precisely, Disney/Lyric Street Records) is riding Back To Tennessee on the coattails of Miley mania, hoping to feed off the frenzy of the Hannah Montana movie release, and praying no one will notice that the highlights of this album are available elsewhere and the rest is forgettable filler.
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