This is the album that shot Keith Urban (rightfully) to the top.

At the 2004 CMA awards, Keith Urban was named male vocalist of the year. This was a very surprising result, considering that he hadn't been a big name for nearly as long as his competition in the category. Genuinely shocked, he emotionally said, "I really just thought I was filling out the category." Honestly, I thought the same thing, but it was a pleasure to watch him win. While he was enjoying the success of Days Go By, his first single off Be Here, it was the incredible strength of Golden Road that nabbed him the upset victory at the CMAs. Top to bottom, this album really has it all.

The banjo and electric guitar mix nicely for the opening track, Somebody Like You, in my opinion the highlight of the album. This is an excellent up-tempo love song, great driving song with a killer beat...lots of fun to sing along with. I wish the end was a bit shorter, the instrumental ending drags a bit and the 5:23 runtime of the song is unnecessary...but this is a great one regardless. Enjoyable driving song on a sunny day, followed immediately by another one, Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me. This song is about a man down on his luck in some regards in life (low on money, lost his job), but he's willing to count his blessings and just appreciate that he's alive and free, and spending his day with the woman he loves. These two songs are an amazing kickoff to the CD; Urban's songwriting talents are immediately evident.

There is exactly one lull on this album, and it happens on tracks three and four. Whenever I Run is about finding refuge in the arms of his woman when life gets tough. Slower-paced song with a boring melody and generic lyrics...I skip it. What About Me is a song where he sings about the grind of life catching up to him and eating his life away. Up-tempo song that's too repetitive, lyrically and musically.

Golden Road gets back on track quickly, and never looks back after that. You'll Think Of Me is an excellent done-me-wrong ballad, sung by a heartbroken man with a great attitude that declares rightfully...it's her loss. He's down for now, but she's going to ultimately be the one with regrets. I realize that I just described a LOT of country songs, but this one is really good. Urban is usually the type that sticks to positive love songs, but he delivers extremely well as the guy picking himself up off the floor and moving on.

Jeans On, originally written by David Dundas, was a hit down under in Urban's native Australia. Urban had fond memories of the song, and decided to put it on this album here in the United States...this is an enjoyable song, with a bluesy southern rock feel. You Look Good In My Shirt is as fun as it gets. He and his ex had a rendezvous the night before...he isn't sure if they can work everything out, but the one thing he does know is that she sure looks good in his shirt. Nothing to take too seriously, just a catchy song with kind of a guilty pleasure for a concept. This is one of the true hidden gems of the album; Urban fans love it, but it never got released as a single (it definitely would've been a big hit).

You're Not Alone Tonight is a very well-written and touching ballad...seeing Urban dedicate this song in concert to the troops fighting for us overseas (as his encore choice that night), that was really nice. I will say this: the theology of this song is a bit poor if you're a traditional Christian like me. I think Keith is one too, he certainly never fails to show his appreciation to God, but he kind of misses the boat on the lyrics here. He sings the worldly view of "be spiritual -- believe in SOMETHING, even if it isn't the same thing as me." Well, you can make your own judgments, that's just the flaw of the song to me. It's still sung beautifully, and in spite of my disagreement with the sentiment, I do think it's very well-written. Also a song that never hit the airwaves, you're very likely to get some listening pleasure out of this song as well.

Another gem of an album track is Song For Dad. I can see where this one wouldn't be particularly radio-friendly, but as part of the album it's fantastic. Urban wrote this one without a co-writer, and it's a tribute to the respect he has for his dad, and how he's proud that he keeps on becoming more like him all the time. I'm sure his dad appreciated this tribute greatly; this is a classy, classy song.

Raining On Sunday is the power ballad of the album. He's praying for rain on Sunday, so he can have an excuse to spend the whole day inside, just holding onto the woman in his life. I guess this isn't any kind of lyrical powerhouse...but the theme, melody, and vocals make this probably my favorite Keith Urban ballad (admittedly not an easy choice, Nobody Drinks Alone off of Keith's Be Here CD is tough pick against).

The album finally closes with a scathing social statement, You're Not My God. He's singing about the corruptive influence of money in this song, an influence that he says nearly ruined him...ultimately he was able to get some perspective and declare to money that "you're not my God." This is a good song for all of us, since so many end up turning money into an idol. Powerful lyrics in this one:
I thought you were the answer
To all of my despair,
And you almost had me six feet down
But I'm still breathin' air.

...which leads into the chorus:

'Cause you're not my god,
And you're not my friend.
You're not the one that I will walk with in the end.
You're not the truth,
You're a temporary shot -
You ruin people's lives and you don't give a second thought.
You're not my god.

I love that song and think it might be the most underrated of Golden Road. There is a hidden track, by the way, a couple of minutes after the end of this song. Keith plays his One Chord Song, an amusing little number the first couple of times you hear it...ultimately it doesn't have a lot of replay value, but worth a first listen.

All in all, Keith really knocks it out of the park with this album. There's a bit of filler in tracks three and four, but believe me...if you play this thing straight through from track one to track twelve, you won't even remember that a couple of early songs bored you; the greatness of the rest more than makes up for it. Urban the songwriter, Urban the singer, and Urban the guitar player make for a pretty incredible combination...throw in Keith Urban, the charming Australian that you can't help but wish success for, and this CD (as well as both of Urban's others) can only be described as irresistible.

GRADES
Up-Tempo Songs: A-
Ballads: B+
Melodies/Musical Presence: A
Lyrics: B+
Variety: A-
Consistency of quality, tracks 1-12: A-