Chief

Eric Church may not have been the first to blend modern country with bluesy Southern rock and outlaw honky-tonk, but his breakout album, *Chief*, made him a superstar. “Drink in My Hand” is a “Take This Job and Shove It” for a new generation of blue-collar good ol’ boys, while “Homeboy” is a heartfelt ballad lovingly addressing a younger brother headed down a dangerous path. And in blockbuster hit “Springsteen,” Church gives a nostalgia look back at the music from his formative years.

Eric Church has been grouped into a movement of country singers with outlaw instincts and pop smarts, best exemplified by Jamey Johnson and his terrific 2010 chart-topper The Guitar Song. But where Johnson follows the example of Waylon Jennings, a hard-living romantic who embodied outlaw mythology as well as its…

Check out our album review of Artist's Chief on Rolling Stone.com.

Chief doesn’t make Church a country music Jesus, but it does back up a good deal of his braggadocio.