"Drink in My Hand." "Hungover & Hard Up." "Jack Daniels." The titles tell the story on Eric Church's third album: This is country music in the rough 'n' tumble honky-tonk tradition. Church, from North Carolina, is one of Nashville's sharpest young songwriters, and on Chief the rock guitars and twangy blues are set against big hooks and finely grained storytelling. The country hit "Homeboy" is the tale of a small-town-boy-turned-wanna-be-hip-hop-thug. In "Springsteen," the sound of Bruce songs teleports Church back to teenage romance: "Somewhere between that setting sun, 'I'm on Fire' and 'Born to Run'/You looked at me and I was done but we were just getting started."

Listen to "Homeboy":

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“More Than a Feeling”

Boston mastermind Tom Scholz was as surprised by anyone when he sent his unsolicited demo to record labels and got back a positive response. Scholz said, “I couldn’t believe it. Nobody knew who we were, so I wouldn’t even say we were struggling. It was groveling.” Part of the credit for the interest must go to the anthemic rock number "More Than a Feeling." Inspired by the Left Banke's 1966 hit "Walk Away Renee," Scholz worked on the song for five years in his basement studio before it was released on this album.