Album Review – Brooks & Dunn’s “Reboot II”

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35 years into their existence, a decade after their brief disbanding, five years after being elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and with both members now nearing 70 years on this planet, somehow Brooks & Dunn remains perhaps the best duo in all of country music, still. The CMA Awards sure though so, recently awarding them Vocal Duo of the Year, 17 years after their last win for the award, and 32 years since their first.

Meanwhile, it’s been 17 years since the duo has released a new, original album. So how does Brooks & Dunn continue to reign as the most popular country duo around? Combine a weak field where they’re competing with the likes of Dan + Shay for recognition, and the timeless aspect of their incredible catalog that only increases in quality with age. Like all great country music, the songs of Brooks & Dunn are eternally relevant.

But instead of exploiting a moment when Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn still have tread left on the tires to give it another shot with original songs, we get a second installment in their Reboot series under the false pretense that they need young and hip performers to help re-integrate their catalog back into the country music consciousness.

Reboot II does have quite a few cool collaborations and interesting new interpretations of the duo’s legendary songs, just like Reboot I did. But overall, it’s an exercise that simply frustrates you as a Brooks & Dunn and classic country fan that this duo can’t give it one last hurrah with new songs before their talents and faculties start succumbing to age, which invariably happens with every performer.

Making the Reboot II experience one shade worse is the production decisions by Dan Huff to turn so many of these tracks into rock/metal songs, probably under the false presupposition that Brooks & Dunn songs are too fuddy duddy for modern ears, so they need a jolt of energy to make them fresh. Meanwhile, some of the hottest names in country music at the moment are guys like Zach Top and Braxton Keith who are making hay revitalizing the sounds first forged by Brooks & Dunn.

Sure, you don’t want to make the same song twice. You want to add some new interesting wrinkles to a new version of an old classic. But then again, why are we engaging in this “reboot” process anyway?

Like with any tribute album or compilations, Reboot II is too much of a mixed bag to offer grand summations of it. So we’ll take a look at the individual songs below. But ultimately, this album feels like a fruitless exercise. Get these guys back in the studio with new material, and not to try and keep up with the Morgan Wallen’s of the world, but to double down on what made Brooks & Dunn and ’90s country great in the first place.

Song Reviews:


1. Play Something Country (with Lainey Wilson)

Oh the irony of taking a song called “Play Something Country” and making it sound like a rock song off of ZZ Top’s Eliminator album. Producer Dan Huff duffed this one, and Billy Gibbons deserves a co-producer credit on it. 4/10

2. Neon Moon (with Morgan Wallen)

The treatment on this remake is fine, but it really exposes the trivialness of this entire album. Who on God’s green earth would favor listening to this version of “Neon Moon” over the original where Ronnie Dunn does such a masterful job delivering a timeless song and melody? Morgan Wallen is just very mid, and offers nothing interesting or new. It’s like like choosing Morgan Wallen’s version of “Cover Me Up” over Jason Isbell’s. The only reason one would ever do so is ignorance that the original exists. 6.5/10

3. Rock My World (Little Country Girl) (with Marcus King)

This isn’t entirely terrible. It’s a smart matching of production and arrangement to allow Marcus King to do what he does best, and make a well-known song into something new. It doesn’t knock your socks off, but shows the possibilities of what a good tribute record can do when done right. 7.5/10

4. Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You (with Megan Moroney)

While the original version of this song always felt a little too polished and primped for country radio, Megan Moroney really helps bring out the meaning in the lyrics by showcasing the contours of her voice in a rendition that’s arguably greater than original one. The more muted and understated tones seem so much more appropriate to this song, and Moroney proves she can be a really emotive singer when she has confidence behind her delivery. 9/10


5. Brand New Man (with Warren Zeiders)

Warren Zeiders is like all the worst parts of Morgan Wallen distilled into one performer. He’s an embarrassment to “country music,” and this “version” of an iconic country song is an embarrassment to us all. The world is a little more worse off because this take on “Brand New Man” exists. The rock excesses of Reboot II are really what make the project significantly more inferior than it needed to be, and this track is one of the worst offenders. 1/10

6. Believe (with Jelly Roll)

If you hate Jelly Roll, or sappy music in general, you want to hate on this track. But Jelly Roll makes it really hard to. “Believe” is a song that sits right in his wheelhouse, and even his loudest detractors have to admit the guy can sing. The problem is that he’s not country. Jelly Roll is some sort of version of a contemporary Christian artist where well over 50% of his material is religious. “Believe” fits right in with his original material. And while very few of the collaborators on Reboot II rose to match the vocal quality of Ronnie Dunn, Jelly Roll did. 8/10

7. She Used To Be Mine (with Riley Green)

Not a bad version of a B-level Brooks & Dunn hit. Riley Green might leave a lot to desire in the songwriting department, but he’s always reliable for keeping it country like he does here. This is one of the more classy tracks of the album. 8/10

8. She Likes to Get Out of Town (with The Cadillac Three)

What makes a song legendary is not just the words, and not just the vocal performance. It’s the melody. The melody is what stokes the positive brain chemistry and nostalgia, and too often on Reboot II, the melody gets completely ignored for droning rock treatments that attempt to be “edgy,” but instead take everything cool out of the song. That’s the fate of this collaboration with The Cadillac Three on one of the better songs from the Brooks & Dunn catalog that Kix Brooks sings. 3.5/10

9. Boot Scootin’ Boogie (with Halestorm)

Just no. For whatever reason, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm has always been a reliable collaborator in the country-adjacent world, from Eric Church to Ray Wylie Hubbard. But this song goes off like a fart in church. It’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” It’s not meant to be a metal song. Why is this so hard to understand, and why wasn’t this version squashed in the womb after the first take proved the idea was only good on paper? 1/10


10. That Ain’t No Way to Go (with Mitchell “Bitches” Tenpenny)

This was always a weaker Brooks & Dunn track held back by schmaltzy contemporary production. Adding Mitchell “Bitches” Tenpenny to the mix and trying to contemporize the sound even more makes it even a measure worse. 3/10

11. How Long Gone (with Earls of Leicester)

Excellent track here that recognizes that “How Long Gone” was always a bluegrass song, just one that Brooks & Dunn made country. Jerry Douglas co-produces this rendition with Shawn Camp who was one of the original co-writers on the song. A bluegrass album of Brooks & Dunn songs could be killer. 8.5/10


12. I’ll Never Forgive My Heart (with Jake Worthington)

This is more like it. Why they didn’t team Brooks & Dunn with more younger artists inspired by their original sound is perplexing, especially after listening to the results of this collaboration with Jake Worthington. 8.5/10

13. She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind (with Hailey Whitters)

Like so many of the tracks on this “Reboot,” the collaboration with Hailey Whitters take a more contemporary approach. But in this instance, it still works with a great performance by Whitters, and by allowing the original melody to still live within the new version. 7.5/10

14. Hard Working Man (with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram)

You would have appreciated a more country-sounding version of this song. But similar to the Marcus King collaboration, you appreciate crafting a rendition that fits with the established sound of the collaborator, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. If nothing else, this track exposes how versatile Ronnie Dunn can be keeping up with Kingfish’s own game. 7.5/10

15. Hillbilly Deluxe (with HARDY)

HARDY really is the worst. Any thoughtful moments or rootsy elements to his music have been almost wholly replaced now by his headlong foray into butt rock. As he’s fully embraced his role as the Nickelback of modern music, he’s become an embarrassment to himself and others. Truth is, “Hillbilly Delxue” was always a weak, pre Bro-Country song. Somehow, HARDY made it a measure worse. 0/10

16. Indian Summer (with ERNEST)

ERNEST never seems to disappoint when he gets a hold of a classic country song, especially since he seems to bring such passion to the enterprise. “Indian Summer” was a semi-hit released on Brooks & Dunn’s #1’s…and Then Some album. But ERNEST sells you on the idea that it was one of the strongest tracks from their catalog. 8.5/10


17. Drop in the Bucket (with A Thousand Horses)

Yet another rock song on the album, though this song originally was more of a Southern rock song than a country one to begin with. And if we’re being honest, Michael Hobby of A Thousand Horses might sing this song better than Kix Brooks did originally. “Drop in the Bucket” is a pretty forgettable track from the Brooks & Dunn catalog, but this version sells you better on its merits than the original one. 7/10

18. Only in America (with Corey Kent)

At this point, it sounds like a broken record. But taking a country song and giving it a more rock interpretation bleeds the melody out of it and results in a more bland listening experience. The Corey Kent version isn’t bad, but definitely doesn’t improve anything from the original one. 5.5/10

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