Comments on: Keith Urban, Defying Gravity

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:18:56 +0000

I’m listening to this one now and I am finding it very boring. It’s probably my least favorite album of Keith’s.

By: J.R. Journey

J.R. Journey — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:55:22 +0000

I’ve only listened to this album once – and it was a quick run-through while I was reading and sending email so I wasn’t paying super attention. That said, it didn’t sound all that different from any other Keith Urban album from a casual listen.

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:37:12 +0000

“The DJs on my station said they loved it!”

I hate to break it to you, but you’re never going to find a radio DJ who admits to not loving a song by one of the genre’s core artists.

That said, I’m really enjoying the record. I know he’s playing below his game, but it’s still sort of irresistible.

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:46:32 +0000

Oh yeah, let me add “I Told You So” to my list of songs of Urban’s that aren’t deep that I love.

By: Craig R.

Craig R. — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:18:05 +0000

Leeann,
I think you and Dan have hit upon an issue that Urban and great many other “country” singers seem to suffer from: emotional push. I agree that every song doesn’t need to be deep ( although a great many country songs wouldn’t suffer with more depth). It is really the emotion that strikes me as well. Honesty, self-awareness, wit, and some sadness can make a fun song great,if not better,than a deep song.

Keith Urban has never been a country singer in opinion. He always comes off as a sort David Cassidy with age. But when he first arrived on the scene I thought his vocals for songs like ” I Want To Be Your Every Thing” “Where The Blacktop Ends” and ” You’ll Think Of Me” were the perfect balance of grit and self-awarness. But I noticed that his songs have been gaining a speed that applies only to the fast pace of country radio. They are light on lyrics, cloudy with fake sounds, and very short on emotion of any real depth. Urban can do better. Maybe his status has changed the way he thinks his songs should be. The last song he sang that I really enjoyed was “I Won’t Say I Told You So” which I thought was cutting and tongue-in-cheek, at least in his delivery. But it still wasn’t country. And country music needs emotion; real, raw, honest emotion even when it is up-tempo.

By: Casey

Casey — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:23:40 +0000

I’ll give you your 2 1/2 stars, because we’ve all come to expect better from Mr. Urban (though personally I would give it 3, maybe 3 1/2 stars…radio has been and will be very kind to the singles methinks).

Now, if I tune in next week and Rascal Flatts has anything above a 2 1/2…there will be problems. :P

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:48:56 +0000

I’m not even looking for deep meanings from Urban at this point. I like a “deep” song as much as the next person, but I’m also all about the fun stuff too. The problem is I want to feel something and I felt nothing, fun or sad, from this album. Like Dan, his fast, upbeat stuff (“Somebody Like You”, “God’s Been Good” to Me”, “You Look Good In My Shirt”, “Who Wouldn’t Want to Be Me” etc.) are among my favorite Urban songs. Not only didn’t most of the lyrics do anything for me, I didn’t enjoy the production choices or even most of the melodies. I thought Dan was being generous here. Too bad for me though, because Urban has been one of my favorite artists, even after not Love, Pain…. I suspect he will be again at some point though.

By: Dan Milliken

Dan Milliken — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:28:59 +0000

I do use a lot of what probably sounds like jargon, so my apologies for that. :) I’m never sure my album reviews make sense to anyone but me, honestly. That’s probably why I procrastinate writing them like mad.

But anyway, I really am a big Keith Urban fan when he’s at his best, and honestly I tend to listen more to his uptempo, less “deep” material than I do to his ballads, probably just because I don’t want to be depressed all the time. :) But I just don’t think any of the songs on this album are quite as memorable as, say, “Somebody Like You” or “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me.” Both of those were pretty lighthearted and fun, but they had a little more meat to me, probably because they did acknowledge a bit of hardship along with the happiness, where most of the songs on this album are just peppy, end of story.

But yeah, different strokes, it’s whatever. Which songs did he perform on the Today show?

By: gail

gail — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:12:05 +0000

Too bad you don’t like it! I love this album!! Why does every song have to have “deep” meaning and jump off the CD at you. Why can’t you just simply listen and let all that jargon you guys talk about go and just try to enjoy this music!! The DJs on my station said they loved it! Oh well, different opinions are what make the world a unique place. I just saw Keith perform 2 songs on the TODAY show this morning and he was in such a great mood and he sang awesome. What a voice Keith has. He sounds live like he does on CD!

By: Dan Milliken

Dan Milliken — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:12:19 +0000

I’m with ya, Leeann. I didn’t want to rag on him any more than I did, but it’s a frustrating release on many levels. I can hear the technical appeal behind much of it, but this is the first time with Keith where I wasn’t particularly interested in buying any of the tracks for myself.