Comments on: Review: Rodney Atkins, “It’s America”

By: Country Universe – A Country Music Blog » Review: Brad Paisley, “American Saturday Night”

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:28:05 +0000

[...] feel ignorant or negligent, because it’s clearly meant to be simplistic. Whereas Rodney Atkins’ “It’s America” promises and fails to deliver a substantial look at what defines our nation, Paisley delivers [...]

By: Rodney Atkins - "It's America" | Listen to "It's America | Buy Rodney Atkins -"Its America" and buy the mp3 instantly | The Georgia Jukebox

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:53:00 +0000

[...] More “Its America” Reviews And that is exactly why this song represents both the worst of contemporary country music and the worst of contemporary patriotism. It’s not because of bad grammar (a crime all its own), but because here syntax and meaning have both been displaced by symbolism. – The 9513 In the end the mix drowns out the lyrics and to be frank, Rodney Atkins isn’t a great technical singer and would be better suited with acoustic sounds than with this ‘branded’ image they’re presenting. – Roughstock It merely grasps for catchphrases that are well-known to the radio audience, relying on this recognition to inspire brief moments of connection between the music and the listener. Few consumers won’t be able to latch onto at least one of these examples, but “It’s America” is a disposable effort that fails to construct any meaning behind the music. – CountryUniverse.net [...]

By: Annie Parsons

Annie Parsons — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:44:35 +0000

Only Blake Boldt could write a country single review using the words “jingoistic” and “dreck” and “schizoid.” Well done, my friend. The word nerd in me applauds you. :)

By: Stephen H.

Stephen H. — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:57:59 +0000

Radio sucks … I was (apparently) in the minority that loved “Invisibly Shaken”, but with its complete flop I now expect three or four laundry list hits like this from his next album.

It’s funny you mention “More Like Her” … I’d add “For You”, “The Only Promise that Remains”, and others, into the category of a dying breed — the radio ballad.

By: Lynn Douglas

Lynn Douglas — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:39:03 +0000

This song sounds destined to become the background for a Chevy truck commercial.

Ironically, on all the blogs that I read after the CMAs, this was the one song that everyone was curious about. I bet it does well at radio.

By: Blake Boldt

Blake Boldt — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:08:44 +0000

“Invisibly Shaken” made such little impact that I’d imagine few people even recognize it as a single, and I don’t think it negatively effected Atkins too much. That single was a risk, but with 4 #1′s in the bag, I feel that Curb wanted to try their luck at a ballad. To be honest, I feel the same way about Miranda’s “More Like Her.” Both songs are designed to add wrinkles to their respective images, but lack of chart success won’t deter their careers too greatly.

Atkins is best served recording uptempo material, so I’m not surprised he’s been positioned in that way. I expect this song to be a fixture on the radio well into 2009.

By: CMW

CMW — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:31:50 +0000

Nice review, but Atkins is actually fresh off four consecutive #1s followed by a massive flop, “Invisibly Shaken.” And I can’t help but think that that last single’s poor chart showing has something to do with him going uptempo patriotic this time around.

By: Dan Milliken

Dan Milliken — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:33:56 +0000

I do like the the rapid-fire banjo part at the beginning. And he has one of the better recording voices out there right now, even if he never seems to sound good live.

But yeah. Between this and the new Aldean single, it’s hard not to think our genre’s basically become a parody of itself. Super.

By: Soul Miner's Daughter

Soul Miner's Daughter — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:31:24 +0000

Great review and ITA.
When I heard him perform this on the CMA’s all I could think of was finding some crackers to go with this cheez. Especially with the Chevy “commercial” playing in the background.
You’re right… it is just a bunch of catch phrases that sound like it’s being made up as it goes along.
Besides, I hardly think of Springsteen when I think of America.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:50:50 +0000

Blake,

I refrained from reviewing your review until I wrote my own but I think we basically came to the same conclusion.
http://www.roughstock.com/blog/rodney-atkins-its-america