Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 10/08/2002
Keith Urban's sophomore issue on
Capitol is an early yet devastatingly original piece of work that pointed the way toward the album's
Be Here and
Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy thing in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
Urban is partially responsible for the diverse musical traditions that make their way into the
contemporary country music scene of the 21st century. While others like
Garth Brooks,
Tim McGraw,
Travis Tritt and the like modeled a sound that included Southern and '70s
rock,
Urban brought
bluegrass, Top 40
pop stylings, and drum loops into the mix as well and made them all work in his own songs as well as those he covered.
Golden Road is the first place listeners really get to hear the monster guitar slash and burn that he is well known for in his live performances.
Urban and
Dan Huff produced
Golden Road. The album contains two
Urban originals in the beautiful, lithe ballad
"You're Not Alone Tonight," and the shuffling soft rocker
"Song for Dad," that showcases the blend of sounds he would later employ as his own trademark mix. The set also contains a pair of excellent cuts by
Rodney Crowell, which are particularly suitable, and perhaps were even tailor-made for
Urban in
"You Won" and
"What About Me." The ballad
"Raining on Sunday," was a single written by
Darrell Brown as was the other single
"You'll Think of Me." Tony Martin's
"You Look Good in My Shirt," is a delightful stinging rocker, and
Monty Powell's
"Who Wouldn't Want to Be Me" is another, with
Urban playing the strings off his banjo as well as electric guitar. While his later records were bigger hits, this one is consistent enough and full of such charm and personality that it's difficult to believe
Urban didn't write everything here. That he owns these songs as if he did makes
Golden Road a real lasting early achievement.
~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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