AMG Review of Pure BS [Deluxe Edition] [Bonus Tracks]

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

Blake Shelton's Pure BS was released in May of 2007 to widespread acclaim and fine sales. Later in 2007, keeping the iron hot, he released, "Home," a subsequent single written by no less than Michael Bublé, that didn't appear on the album; it took off with a bullet. A year later, after non-stop touring for almost the entire time, Shelton hasn't had the time to record a proper follow-up. He and Warner Nashville are trotting trot out another version of Pure BS called a "deluxe edition," that includes the single and a pair of Shelton-penned bonus cuts -- "Chances" and "I Can't Walk Away." Sorry to say that these two songs -- the former a no account ballad, the latter a sad attempt at an anthemic rocker -- add nothing to the fun, power, and romance on Pure BS; they're generic at best. If it weren't for "Home" being the new closer on the deluxe edition, these new songs would have marred an otherwise focused and very consistent effort. This was a bad idea all around. Sometimes less is more.