Album Review: Montgomery Gentry - Rebels On The Run

By: Matt Bjorke

Last Updated: October 18, 2011 10:10 PM

Montgomery Gentry recorded six albums over the last decade with Sony Music Nashville and also released a Greatest Hits project in 2005 (The label likely will release an album sometime soon that chronicles the 2006-2010 years, as a “Playlist best of” or “Essential Montgomery Gentry” collection). The Award winning duo moved over to growing indie label Average Joes Entertainment to record Rebels on the Run with respected producer Michael Knox.

After one full listen through the record it’s obvious that the T-Roy and Eddie have found their groove they lost an album or two ago. While the hits were still coming, the rest of the albums filled like filler while Rebels on the Run is all killer. Lead single “Where I Come From” does follow the tried and true hit formula of songs about small town life but the lyrics aren’t “it’s better than the city” type of song but more of a “I’m proud of my hometown” type of song and you know Eddie and Troy sing of a live I’ve seen and lived. In smaller towns in America, everybody knows you and you like them. It’s a nice return to form that does feel like “My Town, the sequel” but that’s a good thing.

Most of the record falls into the goodtime vibes of the early Montgomery Gentry records with a little more of that southern rock edge the band ‘pioneered’ with “Hillbilly Shoes,” songs like "Work Hard, Play Harder" (not to be confused with Gretchen Wilson's song of the same name), “Damn Right I Am,” “Ain’t No Law Against That” and “Rebels On The Run” certainly fall in this category as do “Simple Things” and “So Called Life,” a song written by Sean Patrick McGraw and Bruce Wallace (it also is available digitally from SPM).

There are a few strong ballads on the record with “Missing You,” “Empty,” “Damn Baby,” and “I Like Those People” showcasing different spectrums of the country ballad world, the mid-tempo traditionalist-like “I Like Those People” (which features Charlie Daniels and Randy Owen), traditional-leaning “I miss you baby” song (“Missing You” and “Empty”) to a romantic tune in “Damn Baby.” This may seem like I’m saying Rebels on the Run is a calculated album but I’m not. It’s a strong collection of songs where Montgomery Gentry does what they do best, that is to entertain their audience.