James Mitchell Tenpenny Ⅲ celebrates the beauty of life, love, death and manhood with his third studio album, which is conveniently titled, “The 3rd.” After a six-year gap between his second and third albums, country fans are fervent to listen to Tenpenny’s new 20-track album, which was released last Friday, Sept. 20.
Tenpenny’s album consists of twenty country-focused songs, and features collaborations of a diverse range, from country singers alike to even a hard-rock band. Some of these collaborations have caused debate as to whether Tenpenny is incorporating the true country essence into his music or recklessly experimenting. The album itself has a similar soul to any other country compilation, however, country enthusiasts find that Tenpenny has skillfully bent the genre with modern pop and rock conventions.
“The 3rd” is full of many surprises. The biggest hit on the album is Tenpenny’s cover of “Iris,” the tremendously famous rock song by the Goo Goo Dolls. The song played a critical role in Tenpenny’s life, as it influenced him to start playing music and naturally was the first song he learned on the guitar.
Tenpenny’s cover of “Iris” is crafted with the utmost feeling of sincerity and is heartwarming to any listener. His country-ization of the Goo Goo Dolls hit was a wonderful way to bring new life to the monumentally popular song.
Originally, Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik wrote ”Iris,” for the Nicholas Cage movie “City of Angels.” The song follows the movie’s plot line of an angel Seth, who wants to give up “forever,” (his immortality) for a normal human existence in the hope of being with the woman of his dreams. Rzeznik puts himself in the point of view of Seth the Angel while singing this song, which consequently creates a true-to-life feeling for everyone to listen to.
Following the road work laid out by Rzeznik, Tenpenny, creates his twist to the song with a masculine Tennessee twang and use of traditional country instruments. In comparison to the original song, Tenpenny uses a more stadium rock style in the balancing of his drums and guitar rather than just relying on his voice as the main focus of the song and having drums and the guitar lead in the background.
The most controversial song on the album “Demon or Ghost” is a track with a dual focus on hard rock and country. The song features Grammy-nominated metalcore band Underoath. To summarize the theme, “Demon or Ghost” follows a typical country song dynamic: It tells the story of a man in a toxic push-pull relationship with his girlfriend and struggling to cope with his feelings.
Regardless of theme, the song cannot be taken as a stereotypical country tune, due, to the hard rock element that completely dominates any country semblance. Underoath lead singer Spencer Chamberlain consistently sings over Tenpenny during the track, bringing to question who the main credit to the song actually belongs. “Demon or Ghost” does not fail to incorporate the chaotic nature of a hard rock song, however, coming from a country album it sounds more like a mixtape than an appropriate country-to-rock collaboration.
“The 3rd,” is an album to remember for years to come, as it is one of Tenpenny’s best musical works so far. In the near future, Tenpenny will be featured on the newest Brooks & Dunn album ”Reboot Ⅱ” which, will be released this year on November 15. Shortly after “Reboot Ⅱ” is scheduled for it’s release, Tennpenny will attend the CMA awards for his nomination for ”New Artist of the Year,” on November 20, 2024.