Land That I Love

Rounding up patriotic cuts, the Charlie Daniels Band has recorded for Koch over the past decade or so -- mainly re-recordings of standards or older CDB hits, such as "Simple Man" and "Still in Saigon," although it also has the rabble-rousing "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" from the early days of the Iraq war, all culled from his 2003 album Freedom and Justice for All -- The Land That I Love also adds the brand-new, self-explanatory "Iraq Blues," along with a remake of "(What the World Needs Is) A Few More Rednecks" for good measure. This may not be a great enticement for the fan who already owns everything featured here, but it surely adds a bit of modern patriotic fervor to a collection designed for the reddest of the red states. The remakes aren't as good as the originals -- and the recitations are quite heavy-handed -- but The Land That I Love delivers what it promises, no more and no less. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine