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Reviews

Single Review: Keith Urban’s “Coming Home” (ft) Julia Michaels)

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Rating: 0/10

Keith Urban seems hell-bent on removing all vestiges of dignity from his legacy by wasting his undeniable talent as a musician and songwriter on producing the laziest examples of shitty non-country music to grace our ears these past several years. And while I was not one who hated “Female” as vehemently as many, feeling that that did at least try to offer something meaningful and substantive, Urban’s complete forsaking of his signature guitar work in favor of electronic beats is without excuse. And now we have this new single, “Coming Home,” lacking in both sound and substance and proving to be one of Urban’s laziest efforts to date.

Yeah, we all know by now that Keith chose to rip off the classic riff to Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” which is its own form of country music blasphemy. It’s an honor I’m sure Merle is rolling over in his grave somewhere about having been bestowed. But at least they gave him credit. AT least they admitted they had no original thought here whatsoever, which is more than Thomas Rhett could say about his rip-off of “Chain Gang” commonly known as “Crash and Burn.”

But you know why they ripped off the Haggard riff? Because that’s literally the only memorable thing about this piece of shit. If not for that, none of us would be talking about it at all. It’s vapid and shallow lyrically, meant to be about coming home, but instead of taking you to a specific place with unique details like Scotty McCreery’s “Home in my Mind,” it opts for generic bullshit that ultimately says nothing. It mentions a place where people know you and repeats lines about a phone call from far away. It’s obviously trying to reach as broad an audience as possible and thus ultimately becomes disposable to everyone. Nothing here is imaginative, original, or creative. Keith Urban sounds bored and checked out vocally, and oh yeah, since the current trend is to feature a female pop star since that makes it look like country radio is achieving progress on the tomato front, we also have Julia Michaels for a brief appearance, sounding just as underwhelming. Add generic, electronic beats, a melody that’s forgettable and stale, and yeah, literally the only thing here that makes this song worthy of even a passing comment is the Merle Haggard riff. I guess this is genius marketing by Urban, elevating his completely forgettable, average song that’s not country and also not worth anything in the pop world, by adding a classic riff and therefore a story line.

This stuff is so disappointing from an artist like Keith Urban because he knows better. Instead of showing leadership in the genre, he’s selling out hard and ignoring his talents. Instead of letting go of his radio relevancy with grace, he’s sunk to the lowest points of his career. This song is an example of one of his laziest attempts to get a hit, and it just proves the lack of effort and talent it takes to get corporate country radio to play your single, and then to get all your gullible fans to buy this. Keith Urban fans should expect and demand more because Urban is capable of delivering it. And as for the Merle rip-off, it seems par for the course for an artist so determined to forsake any shred of original thought or creativity. But can we really blame him? When all your own ideas are shit, and your song is a shallow piece of crap that no one will remember 30 seconds from now, what choice do you have but to rip off the perfectly good, iconic idea of another?

Reviews

Album Review: Scotty McCreery–Seasons Change

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Rating: 5/10

Traditionalists and mainstream fans alike, recognize what Scotty McCreery has done here with this album release and the success of the lead single, “Five More Minutes.” Set aside for a moment any thoughts and feelings you may have about that single, or anything on this album, and think about the fact that McCreery has outsmarted a system that cast him out after he had barely finished high school. Take into account that for all the marketing and misuse of the term “outlaw,” that phrase was coined for people who went against the ways of Nashville and fought for creative control, making the music they wanted to make and being the artists they wanted to be. Often, people today are so enamored with the term “outlaw” that they overlook that definition in favor of propping up artists who sing about hard living as if it were a badge of honor. There are fans of so-called outlaw country that hate the mainstream and everything in it, anything that sounds modern or contemporary, to the point that some of this outlaw music has become a parody of itself, reliant on references of liquor and cocaine to make it seem authentic, until some of it has become as clichéd as the dirt roads and misogyny of the mainstream. These fans would never give a contemporary country artist like Scotty McCreery a second glance, and yet, it’s McCreery who has done one of the most outlaw things in Nashville in recent years by ignoring the system that killed his career and giving it second life, finding renewed success on country radio when most artists can’t find it once, and doing all this through Triple Tigers. Add to all this that he had a hand in writing all of these songs–no Nashville songwriting committee was forced on him, no compromises were made with a label in some ill-conceived effort to get a hit. Like the outlaws before him, Scotty McCreery did this his own way and with creative control, and he’s achieved remarkable success doing so. This is the record he wanted to make, and regardless of how you feel about it, that effect on the bigger picture is no less encouraging than the victories of Aaron Watson and Chris Stapleton.

Unfortunately, the record he wanted to make isn’t really that impressive.

If I had to describe this album in one word, it would be lukewarm. It’s got a few brighter spots, which we’ll get to, and mostly these come at the front and back of the record. The majority of the middle becomes interchangeable, blending into one forgettable, bland love song after another. It’s not to say that any one of these songs wouldn’t be fine on their own, and in fact, nothing here is really a bad track. But the sameness and lack of color really wears the album down. This is why I say it’s lukewarm; it’s not that any of these songs were bad, but it’s like they stopped thinking of ideas halfway through the record and started writing other versions of the same thing.

It’s also lukewarm in terms of production and instrumentation, as if it can’t really decide what it wants to be sonically. It’s certainly more traditional-leaning than much of today’s country radio, but that’s also not saying too much. I’d like to say that Scotty McCreery does a really nice job of blending the modern and the traditional, and occasionally he does, but really, it’s mostly contemporary. That in and of itself wouldn’t be a bad thing, but his voice, the voice we all came to know and love on American Idol, is well suited for more traditional tunes, and he never seems to explore that. With his creative latitude, and particularly with the way he is rumored to sing many classics at concerts, it’s really disappointing to see him not tap into this at least a little. I wasn’t expecting Keith Whitley reborn, but it would be nice if even one of these songs could actually be called more traditional than modern–not because I am a purist, but because that style suits McCreery.

He’s also selling himself short vocally, as his range is not utilized well at all; we fell in love with the twang and the bass, similar to Josh Turner, and these songs seem to keep him out of that part of his vocals entirely. That said, he lends a warmth and personality to some of these more generic tracks that certainly adds some color. So again, we’re back to the whole thing being lukewarm.

But still, even with all these problems weighing it down, Seasons Change manages to have some really nice moments. The title track and opener displays a double meaning, as it also seems to reflect the changes in his life and career over the past several years. I admittedly am not as blown away by “Five More Minutes” as many have been, and it’s definitely obvious someone is going to die about two lines in, but it’s the details in the verses before that which save it and make it still a really solid song. “Boys From Back Home” manages to avoid every problem with this album–well, except his vocal range–as it sounds like something we’d have heard on country radio in 2004 or so and speaks of nostalgia and teenage years in specific and heartfelt ways. It shows that a song like this doesn’t have to be a pointless cliché. It works because instead of going for generic, listastic details everyone can relate to, this song opts for referencing specific people in Scotty’s life and places in Carolina, so that even though there’s a universality in the theme, you know this song meant something to the singer. “Wherever You Are” also does a better job of blending the traditional and contemporary and is aided by a catchy melody and one of his most sincere vocal performances. And speaking of sincere, the easy album highlight is the closer, “Home in my Mind,” McCreery’s ode to Carolina while he’s on the road. There are references to Carolina sprinkled all throughout this record, a touch of the personal that Scotty McCreery was allowed to inflict upon this project, and they all seem to culminate in this song. Pick this one if you only choose to listen to one track.

It’s these flashes of potential and character that I wish marked the whole album. Scotty McCreery has done a monumental thing by achieving this level of success and creative control, particularly after he was kicked out of the industry. I am glad he was able to deliver the record he wanted to make, but I wish he had done more with this latitude. This record feels very safe and forgettable overall. As I said, there’s not a bad moment, but the majority, other than what I’ve highlighted, is just bland and uninteresting. McCreery is capable of more, and I wish he had exercised his creative freedom to realize that potential. It’s the album he wanted to make, but sadly, the album he wanted to make is pretty disappointing.

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Reviews

Single Review: Cole Swindell’s “Break up in the End”

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Rating: 7/10

First of all, it doesn’t help the state of country music for people to judge a song based on the artist. If people refuse to listen to this on principle because Cole Swindell has basically released nothing but mediocrity or complete shit his entire career, this is comparable to a mainstream listener refusing to listen to Jason Eady because he’s not on the radio. This is not about people who have given this song a shot with an open mind and happened to dislike it; rather, it’s directed at the ones who refuse to give Cole Swindell a chance to improve. If we don’t acknowledge when artists like this release something better but can only comment when they give us something terrible, what is the motivation for any of them to actually churn out better singles and thereby improve the state of our beloved country music? Not only that, it undermines the value of music to assume that certain artists are only capable of producing crap–the power of music and its ability to make people feel something goes far beyond the restrictions of artist or genre. Restricting your listening habits based on these things only makes you miss out on good songs.

So I’ll go on record proudly and say that Cole Swindell, singer of some of the most clichéd, uninteresting, misogynistic bullshit in mainstream country’s recent history, has actually released a good single. It’s a well-crafted song, a song with substance and emotion, and damn it, a song that actually sounds like it belongs in the country genre.

This is a song explaining that, even though he breaks up with this woman in the end, he’d go back and do everything over again. Their time together was worth it, and he includes little details like introducing her to his parents that add a personal touch. Think of a modern take on Ronnie Milsap’s “I Wouldn’t Have Missed it For the World.” Cole isn’t the greatest singer and never will be–a criticism for this track which I can understand more than some of the other problems people have had with it–but he gives a convincing, emotional performance here that makes up for his rather average technical skill. The chorus in particular really finds him in a vulnerable moment, and I’ll also add that it’s nice to see one of these previously faceless, interchangeable bros not only sing something with substance but actually add some heart to it. It doesn’t feel like this came off the songwriting conveyor belt, it feels like something Swindell actually felt. It feels honest in an era where honesty is glaringly absent from country music in the mainstream.

The production is simple here, with prominent acoustic guitar and light percussion. It works mostly because the main focus on a song like this should be the lyrics, but it almost feels a little underproduced, like it could have had a bit more variety in instrumentation or an interlude. This is definitely better than overproduction, but somehow, it does feel like it needed something more. That also could be due to his previously mentioned limited vocal ability, and the fact that the song was restricted to his range.

Overall, though, this is a really solid song, and we’re just going to have to deal with that. More importantly, it’s part of a subtle shift happening in the mainstream country format. When he’s releasing this, and Luke Bryan’s giving us the best single he’s produced in years with “Most People are Good,” it signals a definite, if small, change on country radio and in the mainstream. Whatever your personal feelings about this song, the best thing is that it’s actually helping the country genre for once, both in sound and substance. Well done, Cole Swindell.

Written by: Chase McGill, Jessie Jo Dillon, Jon Nite

Reviews

Single Review: Sugarland’s “Still the Same”

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Rating: 4/10

So I guess we’re never going to get back the Sugarland of old, the group that produced the singles “Baby Girl” and “Want to” and gave us hidden gems on their early albums like “Hello” and “Fly Away.”

I guess we’re stuck with the new and (supposedly) improved Sugarland, the one that gave us the incredibly obnoxious pair of songs “Stuck Like Glue” and “All I Want to Do.”

But actually, that’s not even entirely accurate either because at least those songs made you feel a certain degree of something, even if the emotion varied from annoyance to hatred. All this new “Still the Same” single is is filler at best and an insomnia cure at worst. It’s an absolutely weak and whimpering way to make a comeback…and what an ironic title because the sameness and nothingness in this song is ultimately its defining point and even makes other criticisms seem trivial in comparison. Sure, it’s got electronic beats, it’s overly processed, and Jennifer Nettles’ twang is overdone–but you don’t even notice any of that by the end of the song because it’s already faded into the background and forgotten. Four listens in, and I can’t quote a single lyric. The idea is that their love is still the same after all this time, but it’s a thinly veiled metaphor for their career. The whole thing is poorly written, overproduced, and basically just a shallow piece of nothing. It’s not even that I would turn my radio dial when this came on; I wouldn’t have to because it is so easily tuned out.

Sugarland can be much better than this, as can each of its members separately. Here’s to hoping that whatever comes next for them will be better because this single is lazy and disappointing.

Reviews

Album Review: Luke Bryan–What Makes You Country

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Rating: 4.5/10

Okay, so honestly, this is the kind of album that really doesn’t give me much passion to write. It’s not great, it’s not terrible, it just exists. The vast majority of it is just kind of forgettable. That’s a pretty good summary of this, and I could take the quality songs from this and easily fit them into Memorable Songs.

But the fact that I can pull songs from this into that feature is improvement in and of itself. I feel I at least owe Luke a proper review because he’s showing some maturity and making at least marginally better music. His last album was mostly horrendous, and I’ve hated a good majority of his singles for the past five years. So when you go from spectacularly awful to okay, and even sprinkle in some quality, it should be commended. I’ve been one of Luke Bryan’s biggest critics–anyone who knows me at all will know this–and so I can’t ignore it when the guy’s making better music.

So let’s talk about the quality because you actually do get a few really solid tracks here. “Drinking Again” reminds you that one, Luke can actually use his charisma for good, as opposed to singing hookup songs in trucks, and two, that not all drinking songs are bad. This one’s fun and catchy and would make a good single. I daresay his fans would have enjoyed it more than the insufferable mess that is “Light it Up,” and hopefully, he will release this. “Most People Are Good” is just simply a nice song, and when the world’s going to hell all around us, we need stuff like this to remind us it’s not as bad as the media would have us believe. This is not going to be anyone’s Song of the Year or anything, but it’s a case of less is more, and it’s just nice to hear a song like this. Also, the production, as is actually the case for most of this record, is much closer to pop country than much of Bryan’s previous output, and although modern, this actually sounds like it should be allowed to be in the genre. “Land of a Million Songs” displays some of that too, as we have some prominent piano featured here, and the song itself is another highlight, an extremely well-written tune about doing anything to make it in the music business and constantly looking for things to say and adding verses to your songs. I can’t believe we’re getting a song like this from Luke; actually, it reminds me of a hidden gem we might have seen on one of Blake Shelton’s more recent albums–you know, before he released this current piece of shit. Side note here, isn’t it sad that Luke Bryan has actually produced a better album than Shelton this year?…but I digress.

Then we’ve got some decent songs–not anything necessarily to write home about, but definitely some more proof that Bryan strove for more maturity with this project. “Pick it Up” actually portrays a grown man–I didn’t know the same person who sang “Light it Up” was capable of this–hoping his son will learn from him and adopt some of his cool habits and good values. It’s kind of cheesy, but I’m sure it’s personal to Luke, and that’s more than I can say about every sex anthem by a river in a truck he’s ever produced. The title track isn’t bad either; it’s pretty catchy, and the overall idea is nice, asserting that anyone can be country, and it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what background you have. Good idea, but played out badly, as he then asserts he’s country because of pretty much all the clichés he normally uses in all his other songs. Still, I see what it was going for, and I’ll give him some credit. Same goes for “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset,”–it’s the same clichés as well, but at least there’s a story and a bit of depth to this.

There’s nothing that makes me cringe quite like any of Luke’s previous work, except the God-awful “Light it UP.” Even his loyal fans aren’t liking this too much, as they know it’s creepy and lame. His neurotic obsession with his cell phone would be enough to make me break it off if I were the girlfriend, but hey, that’s just me. Also, like him or not, Luke does have charisma, allowing him to pull off a lot of his previous material, and here, he just sounds completely checked out. The whole thing would really just be lifeless and boring but for the embarrassing lyrics. We don’t have anything else that horrible, but we do get some ill-advised R&B sex jam attempt in “Hungover in a Hotel Room” that just shouldn’t exist. It is just not sexy in the least bit and therefore does not accomplish its purpose at all. And there’s “She’s a Hot One,” which honestly sounds like a leftover from one of Bryan’s bro country albums that didn’t make the cut–and understandably, because it’s like a wannabe version of all those songs. I can’t be too disgusted by this one because it’s just…lame.

As for the rest, there’s literally nothing to say. It just runs together. The good thing here is that none of this is atrocious, and Luke Bryan has certainly proven he’s capable of atrocious. The bad thing is that although it’s a major improvement for Luke, it’s still not a good album. It’s just under exactly half good, and that’s simply because it drags along to fifteen tracks. “Win Life,” there at the end, isn’t a bad song, but by this point, you’re just tired of listening. They could have trimmed this down a little and risen this rating to a 5, even a 6. As it is, the ultimate flaw is it’s uninteresting. But that’s also a noticeable sign of growth because while the quality does stand out, the lesser material mostly just fades into the background. Coming from someone as polarizing as Luke Bryan, that’s improvement, and maturity, and he’s shown both on this album. I hope we get more interesting selections next time, but he’s definitely going in the right direction, even if he’s not quite there yet with this record.

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