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Reviews

Album Review: Dierks Bentley–The Mountain

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Rating: 8/10

A little over a year ago, after Brad Paisley returned to his natural self on Love and War, I wrote a piece detailing which artists I’d like to see follow his lead and just get back to being themselves. Dierks Bentley was first on that list–right up until Black, he was a beacon of hope in the mainstream, managing to blend the traditional and contemporary sounds and themes in a great way to make him one of the best in mainstream country…then we got “Somewhere on a Beach,” and it all went downhill from there. It seemed that Bentley was selling out, and he didn’t even need to do so–he had carved out his own niche perfectly and was seeing airplay and mainstream success without venturing down this road. He was making an album for the wrong reasons, and that was especially disheartening when he’d been such a strong mainstream artist previously.

With The Mountain, we have seen him return to form in fine fashion. “I don’t care how you buy it, or listen to it. I’m making the record for me,” he said of this project, and that’s not only the right way to approach an album, it’s the way Bentley has always been, and the part of him that took charge when he decided to do something different with Up on the Ridge a few years ago. It’s just a recipe for good, heartfelt music, and that’s what Bentley delivers on this record.

He knew he needed to get out of Nashville in order to make an album like this, and the mountains of Colorado were the perfect backdrop. You’ll hear references to Colorado often, even if the song isn’t about that state at all, as well as to the landscape, and the title track here is all about climbing through the mountains of life one small step at a time. But the thing that captures this album’s mood the most is the production. Just as Marty Stuart set the desert to music last year with Way out West, and Brothers Osborne made Port Saint Joe an album that literally sounded like a weathered, forgotten coastal town, Bentley’s album captures that wildness and beauty of Colorado in a really special way. It’s the way the solos only seem to intensify during the outros of songs; instead of fading out, many times we hear the instruments gain in strength as the songs come to an often abrupt end, running free and uninhibited. “The Mountain” goes out on a wave of fiddles and rock guitars, and the otherwise softer, more sedated “You can’t bring me Down” features some mandolin at the end that just comes alive and takes over the whole thing. It’s all so vibrant and fresh, and it takes you to that place in your mind, where you can imagine the snowcapped mountains in “Gooddbye in Telluride” and picture the stars shining through the window in the record’s one characteristic sex song that has become a mark of Bentley’s career, “Nothing on but the Stars.”

The production, though often this album’s greatest asset, can bring it down at times. “Living,” a song featuring lines about finally noticing the birds on the branches and the sunrise, and celebrating those special days when we feel especially alive, would have been better without the drum loops. “You Can’t Bring me Down” feels too pop-leaning as well, particularly with its themes of ignoring Nashville gossip–you’d think it’d also ignore the more mainstream sounds. And “Goodbye in Telluride” is a really cool song lyrically, as the narrator is begging his girlfriend to wait until they leave that magical place before she leaves him, so that his favorite place won’t be ruined by that memory, but the poppier production just really doesn’t go with this song at all. Sometimes, these songs just needed a wilder feel, like the excellent opener, “Burning Man.” That song just explodes and grows more intense as it goes along, and Bentley and Brothers Osborne, who are featured here, do a fantastic job capturing the theme of the record right away. Incidentally, this song is one of the standouts of the whole album.

In addition to the country rock selections and the more mainstream-sounding tracks, Dierks also provides two ridiculously country songs to close the album in “Travelin’ Light” and “How I’m Going Out.” First of all, thank you, Dierks, for showing everyone in the mainstream what exactly “featuring” means and what exactly it means to feature an actual country woman instead of another pop star. Brandi Carlile absolutely soars on “Travelin’ Light,” a track about laying down your past and burdens, and I know it’s a revolutionary concept, but she’s actually got a whole solo verse! Dierks Bentley should be commended here for doing the right thing and picking Carlile to sing on this song; also, they sound outstanding together. “How I’m Going Out” is a reflection on his time on Music Row and an acknowledgement that one day, his star will burn out. He vows to take this gracefully, unlike many who haven’t–Keith Urban, anyone? These two songs are straight-up, three-chord country, and “Travelin’ Light” even displays some bluegrass influence. Together, they form a nice “f off” to the whole establishment and prove that there is still room left in mainstream country for these types of songs.

Fellow fans of Dierks Bentley, this is the Dierks we’ve all come to know and love. This is him being himself, a refreshing blend of styles, from traditional country and bluegrass to modern country rock, and sprinkling in enough mainstream elements to make him accessible to those fans as well. It’s 90% Colorado and 10% Nashville, in that way that only Bentley can deliver. This is everything you want in a mainstream country record in 2018, and although not a perfect album, it’s a damn good one and one which will have staying power. I can’t stop playing this record, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that 8 looks entirely too low by December.

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Playlists

May Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music

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May was not an extremely impressive month for albums, and this playlist reflects that, featuring a number of songs from stuff we haven’t featured in full. It did produce good albums from Kayla Ray and Jason Boland & the Stragglers, as well as the first 10/10 album for me with Brent Cobb’s latest, so although not as crowded with good releases as March and April, May did give us some good music. There’s a new single from Dwight Yoakam on the list which is always good news. And i know that Hellbound Glory song was released four years ago, but the reissue of their album with additional material gives me an excuse to throw in the excellent “Streets of Aberdeen.” As always, thanks to Zack for supplying this to the Spotify people.

Apple Music users, you can follow me there via @countryexclusive for this and all our playlists, as well as the Saving Country Music Top 25. For May’s playlist,
Click Here

Spotify users, click below.

Reviews

Album Review: American Aquarium–Things Change

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Rating: 8.5/10

As recently as a few weeks ago, I stated on Twitter that one of my controversial musical opinions was my lack of feeling toward American Aquarium. As I noted then, it was never about the writing–that’s always been pretty excellent, and “Losing Side of Twenty-Five” is an absolutely brilliant song that I’ve loved since the first time I heard it. But after seeing them live twice, I was not convinced of them as a band, and I felt like BJ Barham, the lead singer, tended to only sing in one gear: over the top. But we must approach music with an open mind as I said just yesterday, so I took my own advice and went into the new American Aquarium release setting aside all preconceived notions.

That’s partly because so much had changed for American Aquarium prior to this album. The title is certainly appropriate. Every single member of American aquarium had left, leaving Barham to start from scratch. I knew it had taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make this record, and more than that, I wanted to hear the new version of the band. After several listens with this thing, I have to say that though I am sorry Barham had to endure all this hardship, the result is a much better version of American Aquarium. It results in an album borne of struggle and resilience, and one that is a truly enjoyable listen.

The writing was always the band’s greatest strength, and this album is no exception. Barham’s songs have a way of feeling at once personal and autobiographical, and also quite relatable. He writes with clever turns of phrase, but never with the depth of some songwriters that sometimes forsakes the ability to connect with the audience. It all feels very real. There’s a track here called “One day at a Time” wherein he speaks of getting sober and trying to make up for the past and the hurt he’s caused everyone, and every word feels like it came straight from his soul. You are pretty much entitled to be impressed by a line like “you see, the man left holding the pen controls how every story ends, and truth becomes a martyr for the sake of the song.” “I Gave up the drinking (Before She Gave up on Me)” is essentially this same song, only told in a lighter fashion. “crooked+Straight,” one of the harder, rock-leaning tracks, is one time where the intensity of Barham’s vocal delivery really works to add to this excellently written autobiographical story. I could go on about the writing for almost every song here, so I’ll just say the songwriting throughout much of this record is just outstanding.

But that’s been the case for American aquarium the entire time. Where this album elevates itself above everything else they’ve ever recorded is in the way they’ve found their sound. They sound like a band more than they ever did before, and more than that, the tracks all seem to have the right production and instrumentation. There are some surprisingly and refreshingly country tunes here, like “Work Conquers All,” a nice ode to Oklahoma featuring some lovely fiddle. As an Oklahoman, I have to say I was excited to hear the little town of Durant referenced, as opposed to something like Oklahoma City or Tulsa which are often the only two cities people from other places can name. There’s accordion all over “Shadows of You,” and Jamie Lin Wilson’s harmony, as it usually does, really adds to this wistful heartbreak song. There are the standard rock songs as well, but these and other country selections provide more flavor and variety to the album. BJ Barham also seems to have found some different gears, doing a better job of holding back on softer songs so that when he belts the harder stuff, it can be more easily appreciated as a sign of emotion. The sound of American Aquarium has just improved in so many ways, and it’s interesting and unfortunate that it all had to come crashing down in order for that to happen.

The song that initially sparked my recent Twitter comments, and the unapologetic album opener, is “The world is on Fire.” the political nature of this may make it polarizing for some listeners, and I do question the idea of making this the opener when the rest of the record, even the political commentary, is more understanding. None of it backs down from its stance, but a track like “Tough Folks” captures the mood of this album better, with the line “Last November I saw firsthand what desperation makes good people do.” There’s an empathy with people who hold different political viewpoints, as well as enough self-awareness of Barham’s own failings, to make songs like this one more likely to connect with listeners than “The world is on Fire.” It’s also really similar to “White Man’s World” from Jason Isbell in that both songs reference their daughters and the anxiety about the world the girls will inherit, but that fosters comparisons to Isbell’s song, which did a better job of being self-aware rather than preachy.

Other than this song, though, I’m really enjoying this record. Much of the songwriting is stellar, and each track gets the instrumentation and production exactly right. Perhaps most refreshing is that out of the hardship and upheaval this band went through, American Aquarium became worlds better. This album is the best of American Aquarium’s career, and it’s all the more special that it’s a product of desperation and turmoil and incredible determination. I hate that BJ Barham went through hell to get here, but it’s often the case that going through hell produces the best and most enduring art. That’s certainly the case here, and indeed, this is one of the strongest albums of 2018 so far.

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Reviews

Review: Florida Georgia Line’s “Simple” and “Colorado”

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Lots of pleasant surprises came for me on Friday, not least the release of two new Florida Georgia Line songs into the atmosphere that are actually pretty decent. Before we go any further, I can see how both of these songs, especially “Simple,” will be polarizing, and I am in no way suggesting these will be universally liked, but I will say that to refuse to listen because of the artist is not the right way. As a reviewer, I am excited when artists I have previously hated or openly criticized give us something better–there’s no place in the critical realm for hatred of artists specifically on principle, and if FGL or anyone else releases better music, it’s only an improvement for the genre we all love. Like what you like, but always keep an open mind.

“Simple”

This one is the official single, and basically, Florida Georgia Line decided to go full-on Lumineers with this. You can see immediately why I said it will be polarizing; this sound breeds conflict as much as anything FGL have previously recorded. It’s like pop country with a bluegrass influence, with a banjo driving the song instead of being buried in the mix and thrown in just as a token country instrument.

Lyrically, it’s about as simple as the title suggests, painting a picture of a love that’s easy and doesn’t need anything complicating it. They talk of once living on social media, obsessed with “who all gives a damn,” until they realized life’s about the little things. It’s a message many will be able to relate to and which should be expressed more often in a time where people live on their phones and the Internet, and many are more comfortable behind their screens than actually communicating with others face-to-face. There’s also the fact that people don’t go outside and absorb nature because they’re glued to technology–in the end, the sunsets you saw will matter more than the Twitter likes you received, and so many people have lost sight of that. This song isn’t deep at all lyrically, and the spelling out of “simple” in the chorus is pretty annoying, but the message is strong and timely.

The spelling can be pretty obnoxious, though, especially at the end of the song. Tyler Hubbard is still an underwhelming and frankly annoying vocalist, and as stated, the lyrics aren’t earth-shattering by any means. But it’s a catchy, solid song from the duo nonetheless. Not amazing, but a pretty good song and certainly one of their best singles in a good long while.

Rating: 6/10

“Colorado”

Now we come to the one I’m most excited about, “Colorado.” I wish they’d have waited and released this one as a single as well instead of including it in with “Simple” like some modern-day version of a B-side on a record.

From the opening lines, “I got friends from Colorado, I got friends from Tennessee, so I got something in a bottle, and i got something from a seed,” I was a fan of this song. That’s just a really clever hook, and “Colorado” goes on to be about the narrator using whiskey and weed to help him get through a breakup after being engaged. Whiskey and weed are never mentioned, though, except in the outro where they’re called “Jack and Jane.” The metaphor there is that Jill, his fiancée, “ran away,” but “Jill’s got nothing on Jack and Jane.”

There’s an ironic resemblance to “Simple” in this song, although the subjects are basically the opposite. In this one, the narrator is “drunk up in the Smokies on a Rocky Mountain high,” with “no cars, no bars on my phone.” I don’t think it was intentional, but it’s interesting that both of these songs forsake technology.

Vocally, this one does suit Tyler Hubbard better, and surprisingly, Brian Kelley actually gets solo lines in the bridge. Like “Simple,” this song also features country instrumentation and fits nicely in the pop country realm.

“Colorado” is a catchy, lyrically smart offering from fGL with a clever hook and some actual organic instrumentation. I wish this had been chosen instead of “Simple,” or at least that they’d saved its release and made it another single, but it’s still a really good song from this group and for this listener, my favorite FGL song since “Dirt.”

Rating: 8/10

Concerts

George Strait is Still the King: a Live Review

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When I made the resolution at the beginning of 2018 to attend and write about more live shows and emphasize the importance of live music, especially in the current climate of streaming where tours, rather than album sales, support artists, I already knew I would be seeing King George Strait in June. It seems fitting that this post marks the halfway point of the goal of going to twelve shows this year because the midway point should be special, and George Strait certainly qualifies. Aside from being one of the biggest names in the history of the genre and not touring regularly after 2014, Strait is my favorite artist. I am working to own all of his albums, and when I tried to write a reflection on one earlier this week in preparation for this show, I eventually threw my hands up in surrender, unable to select something because of the sheer amount of quality material he has produced over his thirty-seven-year career. He was one artist my grandma, my mom, and I could all agree on, speaking to the resonance his music has had with several generations. I had seen him live once before, on the tour just before his massive farewell one, and although it was a great show, I had it pretty effectively ruined by the company, as my ex-husband, to whom I was then engaged, hated every moment of being there and made it known. Don’t go to shows with people like this if you can help it, it’s better to go alone if you must. Anyway, when my mom announced to me last October that he would be playing two shows in June in Tulsa, I jumped at the chance to right this wrong.

And after seeing King George on Friday (6/1), I don’t know if my words can possibly do it justice. I’ve seen some incredible stuff during this 2018 concert series–I’ve had the pleasure of watching Colter Wall silence crowds with his voice in a small, intimate setting, I’ve seen Shane Smith & the Saints absolutely kill it live for the third time in two years, and I’ve witnessed Jason Isbell take songs like “Speed Trap Town” and “If we Were Vampires” and somehow translate them into unforgettable moments in a live setting. I’ve had the great fortune to have not seen a bad show yet this year, and yet all of it somehow pales in comparison to what George Strait did Friday night.

I gave credit to Colter wall for doing the best closing number so far in 2018, and George strait gets credit for the best opening. He was introduced by Waylon Jennings’ “are You sure Hank Done it This way,” followed by the entrance of the ace in the Hole Band, who broke out into “deep in the Heart of Texas” while Strait came out onto the stage. It was nearly seven minutes after the lights went down that George Strait actually began singing, with the opener being “write This down.”

From there, he gave us two hours of music and thirty-one songs, and it struck me that on Saturday, he could easily choose thirty-one entirely different ones to perform for that crowd without resorting to singing anything obscure. That’s just ridiculous and speaks for itself. I don’t usually do this, but I will list the ones he performed below this post. I did notice that it was pretty well-balanced between older and newer material, with perhaps a bit too much focus on the more modern stuff. I can’t begin to guess how you decide which songs to play with a discography like this, though; do you just flip some coins, or roll some dice, or what? Although he could have done all #1 hits, I was impressed by the fact he included lesser-known songs as well, like “Cold Beer Conversation” and “Take me to Texas.” He also worked in tributes to other artists, singing “The Old Violin” from Johnny Paycheck and following the trend of so many right now by doing a couple for Merle Haggard, “Sing Me Back Home” and “are the Good Times Really Over.” I need him to record “Are the Good Times Really Over” now; that was one of the highlights of the whole thing. During the encore, he also did two Bob Wills numbers with the appropriate “Take me Back to Tulsa” and “Milk cow Blues.” Asleep at the Wheel had been the opener for Strait, and they also paid tribute to Wills, first with Waylon’s “Bob Wills is Still the King” and then with Wills’ song “New San Antonio Rose.” I had the feeling listening to all these songs that these may be some of the last artists playing Bob Wills music on big stages like this, and how important that is for the preservation of country music’s history–lots of people have heard of Merle Haggard, and many are paying tribute to him, but to hear music by Bob Wills in a sold-out arena is special because many younger audiences have likely never heard of him or his songs. With George strait especially, this is bridging the gaps between generations once again, as all these contemporary listeners who found his music in the last decade of his career are being exposed to older artists like this. It’s a great reflection of country music paying homage to its roots.

As for the highlights in Strait’s discography, it’s hard to single any out because they’re all such great songs, and George is a brilliant live performer. “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” stood out for me because that’s always been my favorite of his songs, and he didn’t sing that when I saw him before. “Baby blue” was another one that especially stood out, as well as “Troubadour.” “Amarillo by Morning” obviously qualifies here, and “All my Exes Live in Texas,” though not one of my favorite Strait songs, is just incredibly fun in a live setting. Except for a couple songs, he sounded excellent vocally, and also, unlike so many shows I’ve seen, this one wasn’t so loud that I couldn’t hear or understand the words. My dad, who has some significant hearing loss, also commented that he could actually understand George, so I know it’s not just a case of me being really familiar with these songs.

George noted that there would be something special happening that night besides the music. That came when he called up a soldier and a representative from the Military Warriors Support Organization and presented the key to a mortgage-free home to the veteran, who was wounded and has experienced TBI and PTSD. The Military warriors Support Organization seeks to provide housing and financial support to soldiers who have suffered severe injuries during combat, and we were told that this is the sixty-first home given by Strait, who is responsible for contributing fourteen million dollars to this effort. It was refreshing to see the crowd stand and cheer for a soldier with the same enthusiasm they gave to George Strait, and it seemed necessary to include that in this piece. For more information about this organization, you can go to MilitaryWarriors.org.

I feel like this goes without saying, but if you do get one of these chances like I had to see George Strait live, please do it. As a music fan, this is one of the most memorable concerts I’ve ever gotten to attend, and it’s an honor to be able to write about it here and have this outlet to share it with you all.

Best Live Songs: “Baby Blue,” “Are the Good Times Really Over,” “I Can still Make Cheyenne,” “Amarillo by Morning,” “Troubadour,” “All my Exes Live in Texas”

Setlist

1. “Deep in the Heart of Texas”
2. “Write This Down”
3. “Oceanfront Property”
4. “Cold Beer Conversation”
5. “Wrapped”
6. “Baby Blue”
7. “Run”
8. “She’ll Leave You With a Smile”
9. “The Old Violin”
10.”Kicked Outta Country”
11. “I cross my Heart”
12. “Arkansas Dave”
13. “The Man in Love With You”
14. “Check Yes or No”
15. “Sing me Back Home”
16. “Are the Good Times Really Over”
17. “Here for a Good Time”
18. “Take me to Texas”
19. “Give it all we Got Tonight”
20. “Give it Away”
21. “You Look so Good in Love”
22. “It Just Comes Natural”
23. “I Can Still Make Cheyenne”
24. “Amarillo by Morning”
25. “The Chair”
26. “Troubadour”
27. “Unwound”

Encore
28. “The Fireman”
29. “All my Exes Live in Texas”
30. “Take me Back to Tulsa”
31. “Milk Cow Blues”
32. “The Cowboy Rides Away”