Jason Aldean - Jason Aldean

Jason Aldean was twenty-eight and several years into being told no when Broken Bow released his self-titled debut in 2005. He had been dropped by two labels before this record, and it opens with "Hicktown," a song loud and unsubtle enough to make clear he had stopped trying to sound like anybody's idea of a Nashville hopeful.

What made it stick was the two-sidedness. "Hicktown" and "Lonesome USA" lean on the rock guitar that would define his career, while "Amarillo Sky" tells a farming family's story with enough restraint to become one of the most requested songs he has ever recorded. "Why" gave him his first number one. "Asphalt Cowboy" and "She Loved Me" show the ballad instincts that kept him on country radio long after the arena-rock production took over. Michael Knox produced, and would go on to produce every Aldean record since.

Two decades on, this is the album that established the template thousands of country singles have followed: guitars turned up, small-town detail kept specific, no apology for either.

Reissued on vinyl by BBR Music Group. The debut that turned a twice-dropped singer into one of the biggest touring acts in American country music.