Kenny Chesney shows the way on new album

Kenny Chesney, "The Big Revival" (Blue Chair/Columbia)

Kenny Chesney took a year off before recording his new album, "The Big Revival," and it shows. Cohesive in scope, "The Big Revival" suggests the veteran country star is determined to extend his two-decade string of top 10 hits - something he has achieved with first single, "American Kids."

Chesney has continually tinkered with his sound, growing more introspective in recent years while remaining the king of the arena singalong. Chesney's forte is that even his rockers offer snapshots of the lives of his fans, as he does here on "Beer Can Chicken," which he co-wrote. A rocker like "Drink It Up" avoids the clichés flowing through contemporary country songs by injecting some real-life gravitas.

Working with longtime co-producer Buddy Cannon, Chesney slips some modern Nashville rhythms and loops into songs like "Til It's Gone" and "Rock Bottom," yet holds on to the classic-rock guitar sound he loves. But the album's most powerful moment arrives with the closer "If This Bus Could Talk," which traces Chesney's story from a nervous greenhorn opening for Patty Loveless in 1993 through the twists and turns of a long career.

Today's country arena rockers may model themselves on Chesney's good-time style, but "The Big Revival" proves they still have a thing or two to learn from him.