Jason Aldean - They Don't Know

By 2016 Jason Aldean had nothing left to prove commercially, which is usually when country singers start coasting. They Don't Know is notable for doing the opposite. It is his longest album, fifteen tracks deep, and it spends that length testing how far the arena-country formula will stretch.

"Lights Come On" opens it as a stadium song about stadium songs, self-aware in a way Aldean rarely bothers being. "A Little More Summertime" is the record's best ballad and became its biggest hit, a breakup song that resists the obvious chorus. "Any Ol' Barstool" is the one traditionalists point to when arguing he can still sing country, all pedal steel and restraint. Against those, "Comin' In Hot" and "Whiskey'd Up" go hard in the other direction, closer to Southern rock than anything on Nashville radio at the time. Michael Knox produced again, keeping the guitars enormous throughout.

It topped both the country and all-genre albums charts, and it remains the clearest snapshot of Aldean at his commercial peak, unbothered by whether the two halves of his sound sit comfortably together.

Vinyl pressing from BBR Music Group.