Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
John Mellencamp, “The Americans”
Proof positive that songs with meaningless liberal platitudes are just as boring and uninspiring as songs with conservative ones.
This stinks.
Grade: C-
Listen: The Americans
Buy: The Americans
Category Single Reviews
Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
Miranda Lambert, “Famous in a Small Town”
This is interesting. Lambert has crafted a song around how life in a small-town basically results in everybody being famous, since everyone knows what everyone else is doing. I think this is sincere and spares us the tired odes to the simple life. I think it’s cool hearing a pretty successful country star still sounding interested in the gossip of the town she left behind.
There’s a lot of critical buzz surrounding Lambert’s upcoming CD. Radio gave the cold shoulder to the lead single and title track, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, a song that didn’t impress me much anyway. Now I have some curiosity about what the rest of the project has in store.
Grade: B+
Listen: Famous in a Small Town
More Miranda Lambert:
Album Review: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Category Single Reviews
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
Pam Tillis, “Band In The Window”
There are a lot of songs about Nashville, but they always seem to focus on the music industry, whether celebrating it (“16th Avenue”) or demonizing it (“Murder On Music Row.”) But what about those who carry on the traditions long left behind? The ones who saw Coal Miner’s Daughter and Sweet Dreams and still see downtown Nashville as the path to stardom?
Many times I’ve been in the bars and pubs that line Broadway, and yes, as you pass them by, you will see a band in the window. It’s hardly the fast path to a record deal these days, but the dreamers hold out hope as they belt out traditional country music without pretense or any presumption that you need to give ground to what’s hot on the radio. You sing it because it’s what you feel.
With “Band In The Window”, Pam Tillis has paid a long overdue tribute to those stubborn souls who “pour their heart out” when they sing, whether it’s the drummer who “lives for the music” and has “no shirt, no shoes, no job, no wife”, or the girl who’s “name’s Louise, but not Mandrell, she’s got 80′s hair and fringe all around her skirt.” How true every word of this song is, right down to the gawking tourists and the glorious past of country music is felt when you walk those streets. When the third verse claims that the ghost of Patsy Cline waltzed in and sang along to Louise belting out “Sweet Dreams”, it’s easy to believe it.
“Band In The Window” is the perfect introduction to RhineStoned, which just might be the best Pam Tillis album to date. It’s amazing that the woman who was once seen as country music’s prodigal daughter is now one of the fiercest guardians of the genre. Trust me when I tell you that as good as “Band In The Window” is, more than half of the rest of the album is better. Thank God for country music, and thank God that Pam Tillis is still making it.
Grade: A+
Listen: Band In The Window
Buy: Band In The Window
Category Single Reviews
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
Put Yourself in My Place
January 22, 1991
When Pam Tillis signed with Arista records in 1990, she was already close to being damaged goods, an artist that had made several attempts at stardom in the previous decade but never quite managed to get there. However, Arista was a startup label that had just opened up its Nashville offices, and it needed a female flagship artist to complement their token hat act, a young Mr. Alan Jackson. With great confidence in her songwriting skills and unique voice, label president Tim DuBois made a decision that would make the difference between Pam’s earlier unsuccessful work and the music she would release for Arista: he gave her complete artistic freedom.
And boy, did she use it. Put Yourself in My Place is an ambitious album, steeped in country music tradition but thoroughly modern for the time. The project launched with “Don’t Tell Me What to Do”, co-written by Max T. Barnes and songwriting legend Harlan Howard. Originally recorded by Marty Stuart, Pam’s version was an instant hit, reaching the top five of the country singles chart. It was a feminist anthem with a twist; the girl still loves the man who left her behind, but won’t allow him to tell her to move on. “I’ll love you forever if I want to”, she defiantly sings. Even before it went to radio, Howard knew it was something special, and remarked at the time: “It’s the most exciting record I’ve had.”
Category Album Reviews
Tags: Pam Tillis
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey
1983
True story. In the fall of 1996, my parents and I drove down to Nashville from Queens, NY to visit Belmont University. As a senior in high school, I already knew I wanted to work in the country music industry, and Music City was my Mecca. Multi-tasking teenager that I was, I had set two additional goals to achieve while in town: see a performance of the Grand Ole Opry, and get my hands on a copy of Pam Tillis’ long out-of-print pop album, Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey. I’m proud to say I accomplished both goals our first night in town, before I ever set foot on the campus of my alma mater.
I found a cut-out cassette of Cutey at Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop on Broadway, the very street immortalized in the film Coal Miner’s Daughter and lovingly celebrated in Pam’s upcoming single, “Band in the Window.” Six bucks and change later, I’m listening to it on my walkman on the way back to the Fiddler’s Inn Hotel. My reaction? Horror at first, which gradually faded into bemusement. What was this faux New Wave train wreck I was listening to, and why was my favorite country artist performing it?
Category Album Reviews
Tags: Pam Tillis
Friday, March 16th, 2007
Vince Gill, “What You Give Away”
This is why I love country music. This is why I wade through all the songs about redneck pride and checking for ticks. I keep coming back for songs like this, songs that touch on the deeper meaning of everyday existence.
“What You Give Away” captures the essential truth that our existence is meaningless without using it in service to others. That your life, when ended, has been in vain if you haven’t used the gifts God gave you to make your small corner of the world a better place.
Is there room for a song like this on country radio these days? Possibly not. But every hot young star and those who dream to be one should listen to this on repeat, then challenge themselves to make music with a similar sense of purpose. A masterpiece.
Grade: A+
Listen: What You Give Away
Buy: What You Give Away
Category Single Reviews
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
Rodney Carrington, “Show Them to Me”
This could’ve been an absolute train wreck, since it’s just a comedian running down euphemisms for breasts as he implores the woman to “show them to me.” However, it’s pretty darn funny, with only one “fun bag” reference falling flat and the rest of them delivering.
What I love about the single is that it also doubles as a satire of every self-important “message” country song that has saturated the airwaves in recent years. His vocal is anything but tongue-in-cheek; you’d think he really was singing about world peace. Even better, the choir that shows up in the second chorus sounds borrowed from Martina McBride’s “A Broken Wing”, adding an extra dose of self-importance. By the end, he’s wrapping it in the American flag and the faux patriotism that saturated the genre back when it seemed the best way to sell records: “If you love your country, then show them to me.”
I was tempted to give it a Double D for a grade, but I’ll stick to the scale I use for the rest of the singles.
Grade: A-
Listen: Show Them To Me
Buy: Show Them To Me
Category Single Reviews
Monday, March 12th, 2007
…and rips the boys a new Ring of Kerry. I don’t get the opportunity to write reviews of bad concerts because I only go see artists that I already like. But if I did, I hope I’d write them like this:
Rascal Flatts showed up and immediately demonstrated that RAWKing to them meant “KISS concert.” This stuff started from the very beginning of the show: The lights went out! The Flatts appeared, silhouetted behind a smoky curtain as a robotic voice counted down from five! A big boom! The curtain vanishes! And… there they are! Eeeeeeeeeeee! From there, it was two hours of video screens and shooting sparks and flashy lighting and confetti cannons and a metal gondola that carried them from one end of the venue to the other. (Believe me, PopWatchers: When I came back from getting another beverage to see the three Flatts boys in a steel cage, hovering above the heads of the squealing people, I just about walked out right then and there.)
Some more:
And when the screens weren’t showing us a waterfall or a beautiful woman dancing on a beach, they were showing us… Rascal Flatts’ own videos! That’s right: On at least three occasions, the band played a song in perfect sync with what gets shown on CMT, making me wonder why these people paid hundreds of dollars to be there when they could have stayed home and watched CMT in their pajamas, and gotten the same performance. I don’t know about you, but I like to hear a little musicianship in my live shows. Otherwise, it’s like someone pushed play on a really big CD, and then charged me $9 for beer.
Whitney Pastorak, for the win:
Are we all so starved for entertainment that we’re willing to watch an average band put on a mediocre performance with cliched special effects, and call it amazing? I know the people in the stands were having fun — they never did stop squealing — and a very drunk casino manager next to me said this was the best concert they’d ever had in that venue, better than Madonna. I almost choked to death on my $9 beer at that point.
At the end of the show, Rascal Flatts climbed back up to the top of their spaceship stage and disappeared behind a booming cloud of smoke. It reminded me less of Garth Brooks and more of the Wicked Witch of the West, and I am now wondering if the title of their previous album (Melt) was more symbolic than anyone knew. Should I meet Rascal Flatts in the future, I may try to pour a little water on them, just to see — because if what I saw Saturday night is the best they’re planning to do with their massive fame and devoted fan base, I don’t think they deserve any of it. Let’s give it to someone who’s willing to at least pretend like they care. Because trust me: The fans really, really do. And that’s not something anyone should take lightly, or for granted.
Check out the rest of the review for more snark and righteous indignation, in addition to a rave for opening act Jason Aldean. Then scroll down to see the RF fans fight back. Pop some corn, sit back and enjoy the spectacle!
Category News
Monday, March 12th, 2007
George Strait, “Wrapped”
I’ve been underwhelmed by the singles from Strait’s It Just Comes Natural set so far, but there’s no quicker way to get back on my good side than covering Bruce Robison. Strait returns to the same Robison album that contained “Desperately” and turns the title cut into an instantly classic Strait tune. He turns in a fantastic vocal performance, making Robison’s original sound darn near pedestrian in comparison. I would love to hear a Strait album just of Austin songwriters. If this song is any indication, he’d knock it out of the ballpark.
Grade: A
Listen: Wrapped
Buy: Wrapped
Category Single Reviews
Tags: George Strait
Monday, March 12th, 2007
Jamie O’Neal, “God Don’t Make Mistakes”
The song is decent enough. Nothing spectacular, especially when compared to Loretta Lynn’s “God Makes No Mistakes”, which was a far more interesting song. My real issue with this single is O’Neal’s vocal, something I never thought I’d write. She’s one of my favorite singers because she has a smoky, bluesy voice that’s unlike anyone else out there. But on this single she is doing what can only be called a Martina McBride impression. A casual fan of country music could be excused for thinking it was the latest Martina single. Heck, if I didn’t know it was O’Neal singing, I might make the same mistake.
Grade: B-
Listen: God Don’t Make Mistakes
Category Single Reviews
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