Me and My Gang Revised

Me and My Gang
By: Rascal Flatts
Record Label: Lyric Street Records
Vocals: Gary LeVox
Guitar: Joe Don Rooney
Bass: Jay DeMarcus

From the first strum of the guitar, to the last meaningful word, Rascal Flatts tugs on your heartstrings. Me and My Gang is their fifth album. Their fifth album is more pop than country. Me and My Gang is heading towards outright adult pop. The boys (Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus, and Joe Don Rooney) skillfully crafted their fifth album to envoke every emotion one could possibly ever have. “Me and My Gang” hit the airwaves in 2006 and one song sprung straight to the top of the charts; not only on the country stations but on most radio stations as well. “What Hurts The Most” became a No.1 hit within a few weeks of being played on the radio. All 13 songs on the album make you want to listen to it all day long. “Me and My Gang” has quite a few ballads on the CD, and the guys liven it up by giving us different types of songs. This album has your "in love” songs, "lost love" songs, a fast paced funny twist on a country song and a classic country/Bon Jovi song. (By throwing in a talk box guitar stolen from “Livin on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi)

In this album Rascal Flatts introduces us to a diverse cast of characters in their songs. The very first song on the album “Stand” lets us feel the emotions of an oppressed person. We hear from the broken hearted in "What Hurts The Most”. In “I Feel Bad” we hear from the heart breaker. A father who wants and wishes the best for his daughter in “My Wish” and hopes she will remember her past. The song "To Make Her Love Me” is about a man who royally messed up and wants a second chance. Lastly in "Ellsworth" a song so beautifully written and performed with so much emotion brings people to tears.(some reviews say the song was written about a woman with Alzheimers) “Ellsworth” creates a portrait of a grandma losing her mind and a family that knows it."Grandma burned the biscuits/Nearly took the house down with it/Now she's in assisted livin'/We all knew that day would come" The one fast paced classic “Flatts” song that most country fans have come to know is “Backwards”. It tells you what happens when you would play a country song backwards, including almost everything that could happen in a life time. When anyone takes time to think and really hear the lyrics to “what hurts the most” may bring tears to your eyes.
Lyrics:
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house,
that don’t bother me I can take a few tears now and then and I just let ‘em outI’m not afraid to cry every once and in a while,
Even though goin’ on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again, I pretend I’m okay, but that’s not what gets me
What hurts the most, was being so close, and having so much to say
And watchin’ you walk away, and never knowin’, what could have been
And not seein’ that lovin’ you, is what I was tryin’ to do

I love this album a lot. Personally Me and My Gang means a lot to me. The first song I heard after a rough patch of my life was “Stand” and it really helped me. The tone of the song, the lyrics and the message really hit home.
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you breakCause its all you can take
On your knees you look upDecide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand
After hearing this song I felt inspired. My spirit was lifted. It may seem strange but this song helped me find my inner strength and move past problems that I thought were insurmountable. I bought the album as soon as I could and I never wanted to take it out of my CD player. Me and My Gang is an album very near and dear to me.

All in all “Me and My Gang” is Rascal Flatts’ best album to date. Rascal Flatts continue to deliver exactly what their fans have come to love and expect, and that's a virtue, since it is hard for country-pop groups of any caliber to be both consistent and reliable. Rascal Flatts do not make any concessions to sounding young, which does make them kind of unique among mainstream groups of any kind in 2006 (most groups are younger). This is exactly what Rascal Flatts did in their rock-solid fifth album making it a smash hit.