Some deep musical thoughts and a review of Pat McAfee's new album, "Diary of a Polarizing Figure"
It's country. It's hip-hop. It's reggae. It's...interesting.
Everybody is ready to pounce on the new Pat McAfee album, “Diary of a Polarizing Figure,” because they feel he’s already over-exposed – yes, even more than Peyton -- he’s got a gigantic ego run amok and he’s lost all sense of humility and reality.
This album is his “Melania,” or like Eddie Murphy’s foray into recording - remember “Party All the Time”? – a vanity project because, as the website Awful Announcing put it recently, “Pat McAfee’s music album is the epitome of someone who can’t be told no anymore.”
So maybe he doesn’t have a lot of people – besides his wife and young daughter -- telling him no.
But this dude’s whole life is about refusing to take no for an answer.
It’s why he is where he is.
A story:
My buddy at The Athletic, Zak Keefer, uncovered this story a couple of years ago for the Indianapolis Star:
When McAfee was a senior in high school, his parents told him they would not pay to send him to the prestigious Ray Guy kicking showcase In Florida. After all, he already had a scholarship to Kent State in Ohio. Well, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He borrowed $100 from a friend, turned it into $1,400 in an illegal poker game in his hometown of Pittsburgh and earned enough to get down to Miami. There, he kicked beautifully and received more scholarship offers, including one from the school he ultimately attended, West Virginia.
Another story:
When he was making the transition from punting to joining the media, almost everybody told him no, or at least expressed doubt. During a conversation before his regrettable Barstool TV introduction, he asked my opinion, and I told him I thought he should try to milk two more years of NFL contracts and then dive into the media. And I can promise you, I wasn’t the only one making that argument.
“Media will still be there in two-three years,” I said. “Might as well bank another couple of million kicking a football.”
He didn’t take no for an answer. He couldn’t be moved off his position. This was, after all, a guy who gave himself the name “Pat McAfee Show” on his then-Twitter account long before he’d ever done a show of any kind. He loved football, but he loved TV and especially the talk shows. Truth is, he wanted to retire and go into media years before he ever left the Colts. He told head coach Chuck Pagano on at least one occasion, and probably more.
As for this album, I listened to it this weekend, and I have a review (I haven’t written a music review since I wrote one in high school on Jethro Tull’s 1974 album “War Child” in high school.)
I also know that I know next to nothing about music – I played the sax for a few years as a kid – so I reached out to local and regional country/rock artist and friend Corey Cox, who was kind enough to share his thoughts on “Polarizing Figure.”
Without further ado, here are our reviews:
