Over the course of The Outsiders, Eric Church channels “Black Album”-era Metallica, name-drops Satan, and attempts to fuck his wife so hard that their house falls down. Those songs are awesome, and Church — swaggering rock star that he is — stakes his image on them. But his greatest strength might be his ballads, and The Outsiders is stacked with those, too. He marvels that anyone worth a damn would attach herself to “A Man That Was Gonna Die Young.” He revels in the memory of a guys’ getaway to “Talladega” just before full-fledged adulthood swallowed him whole. He fearfully bristles at the thought of his “Dark Side” coming out if his family is ever in danger. And at the album’s triumphant climax, he passionately pleads with a former flame to “Give Me Back My Hometown,” Pizza Hut and all. –Chris [LISTEN]