When you build a song around what is essentially a pun, you have to do one of two things. Either sell the pun so well that it overcomes its inherent corniness, or build such a strong song around it that the pun doesn’t make a lasting impact.
“Kiss Me When I’m Down” tries to do both, and is mostly successful. Allan sings it so well that the focus is as much on the pain in his voice as it is on the lyrics he’s singing. Plus, the title is used so infrequently that it can’t really diminish the song as a whole. But it doesn’t elevate it, either.
So we’re left with what is a fairly typical Gary Allan record these days. Decent song, sung well, arranged tastefully. A bit of California flavor here and there. It doesn’t have the fiery intensity of his earlier work, but it’s been clear for a while now that Allan has already peaked. “Kiss Me When I’m Down” certainly won’t accelerate his current downward slope, but he’ll need stronger material if he hopes to reverse the slide.
Written by Andrew Dorff, Josh Kear, and Chris Tompkins
Besides the fact that Wilson has once again turned out a country pride anthem in the vein of “Redneck Woman”, she name drops several legends of Southern Rock while appropriating their style for her own.
Gretchen, I’ll give you a pass on Hank Jr. and Charlie Daniels, even though you sang about both of them on your first hit. But come on, the Allman Brothers Band? ZZ Top? Are you kidding?
I’d say it’s like she’s not even trying anymore, but she probably is. It just turns out that she’s a one-dimensional character, and that character hasn’t been fresh or interesting since 2004.
Any song that starts with a guitar melody so eerily reminiscent of Rosanne Cash’s “Blue Moon With Heartache” is going to reel me in right away. Throw in an understated production that recalls early Alan Jackson, and the fact that Corbin is an actual country singer instead of just a country personality, and things get even better.
The song is beautiful. Really, really beautiful. Like so many great country ballads, someone who’s been left alone because a relationship failed can relate to it just as well as someone who has been left alone because they’re a widow. On the verses, Corbin sounds so good that he could’ve sent this to radio in 1992 and stood tall among the Mark Chesnutts and Collin Rayes of that time.
But there’s a big flaw, and that’s his over-singing in the choruses. Remember how John Michael Montgomery strained his voice when he wanted to show intense emotion? He’s doing that, with less impressive results. It’s not enough to sink the record, of course. There are so many strong elements that even a weak delivery in some parts can’t stop it from being a good record. But it does keep it from being truly great.
Written by Carson Chamberlain, Clinton Daniels, and Jeff Hyde
I’m not going to argue with quiet, since so much of country radio these days is way too loud.
So yes, “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” is laid back, almost too laid back. It certainly would be a snoozer with a lesser vocalist. But Blake Shelton demonstrates why he’s finally in the Male Vocalist race with the nuances that he brings to a song that could’ve been too dull or too leery in the wrong hands.
I like the creativity of some of the questions here, most especially when he wonders if she paints her toes because she bites her nails. I had to think about that one for a few seconds, but it made me crack a smile.
There was a beautiful album cut by Chely Wright called “Unknown” a decade ago, where she wonders if anyone will ever discover her little idiosyncrasies. This feels like an answer song to that, and a darn good one to boot. I would’ve liked another verse or two, but what’s here is solid.
The new Sugarland album is a failure. Of this, I am sure. But as I wrote in my review, the problem isn’t that they made an eighties rock album. It’s that they didn’t make a good one.
Which got me thinking about others who made pop or rock albums after building a fan base as a country artist. Sometimes it works, and their pop/rock music is as good or better than what they did under the country umbrella.
So I ask this question:
What artist did the best job of transition from country to pop?
I can think of quite a few, but I’m going to start with a less obvious one, since her Aussie/English roots make her easy to overlook. And also because I keep putting off a Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists feature on her.
Olivia Newton-John started off as a folk-type singer, but her first two million-selling singles were country to the core. She won her first Grammy in the category of Best Female Country Vocal Performance, earning the honor for her breakthrough single “Let Me Be There.”
She went on to have three #1 country albums and a few top ten singles, and was named the CMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year in 1974. That same year, she was the second woman (after Loretta Lynn) to be noninated for Entertainer of the Year. Everyone from Loretta Lynn to Donna Fargo covered her hits.
Songs like the very country “Let it Shine” made in impact on fhe pop, AC, and country charts, but like Carrie Underwood did with “Before He Cheats”, Newton-John crossed over in spite of the country arrangements, not by making pop music and calling it country:
But Hollywood came calling, and her starring role in the film Grease required her to sing pure pop/rock. But she didn’t abandon the country format entirely. In fact, the soundtrack contained a new song specifically tailored for the country market, even though it did better on the pop charts when released. But “Hopelessly Devoted to You” has a steel guitar that can’t be ignored:
Even on her next album, Totally Hot, she continued to record country music, scoring her last real country hit with “Dancin’ Round and ‘Round.”
After that, it was pretty much all pop, and she so successfully transitioned into that format that she became more popular than ever. Not a bad second act for a woman who was the most popular female country artist of the mid-seventies. But I’d argue that her pop music was better as well, perhaps because I bought this 45 so many times, always having to replace a worn out copy:
Which country artists do you think segued into other genres most effectively? Who would you like to see try?
The Incredible Machine is a terrible album, an unmitigated disaster that manages to fail in ways that shouldn’t even be possible, especially on a mainstream album created by established professionals and released by a major label.
At its best, Sugarland has made successful music by combining clever musical arrangements with strong lyrical hooks, delivered by the inimitable vocal talent that is Jennifer Nettles. I would have deemed a full album being completely devoid of all three components inconceivable, but The Incredible Machine comes frighteningly close.
First, the arrangements. Look, it’s cool when an audience sings back to you at a concert. Heck, the Sugarland audience has been known to sing along with “Stay” and “Joey”, which are hardly your typical Bic light anthems. But on several tracks here, Jennifer and Kristian become their own audience, singing back to each other in chants best fit for a Journey concert.
And, oh boy, are they chanting back some inane lyrics. Sugarland make the fatal error of mistaking form for content. Yes, there’s an adrenaline rush that’s produced by Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”, and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer”, and Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” But that’s because the songs have a deeper meaning that resonates with audiences, not just because they simply can be chanted along with.
So we get the empty platitudes of “Stand Up”, for example, which impels us to do stand up and…do what, exactly? It unpleasantly reminded me of the high drama of primary season two years ago, when I stood there confused, wondering why I was supposed to be inspired by vague promises of change instead of hard work and proven results. The time for music lifting up a people into social action is largely behind us, but if you’re going to try to resurrect it, it helps to clue us in on what you’re impelling us to do. Unless you just want to feel important for five minutes in an arena, I guess.
So the lyrics aren’t what you’d expect from Sugarland, even on an off day, and the arrangements fall flat on nearly every track. But you still have Jennifer Nettles at the mic, so that must be a net positive, right?
Wrong. I don’t know the Jennifer Nettles on most of this album. She yells at me, can’t enunciate, uses odd accents, and often sounds like she has a head cold, the latter being very pronounced on the could’ve-been-good-if-it-was-sung-better “Tonight.” I can only shake my head at the sad truth that the woman who once broke my heart singing about “Pictures, dishes, and socks” can now repeat the same word a dozen times in the title track without me being able to decipher it once. (The word is “calling”, by the way. Not that it matters, since it doesn’t make sense anyway.)
I can’t think of an album that has ever disappointed me more than this one. Having loved Love On the Inside and Live on the Inside, and simply adoring lead single, “Stuck Like Glue”, I really thought this was going to be good. The charm of that lead single, which brought reggae flavor firmly over to traditional Sugarland territory, had me thinking they could be country music’s Blondie, innovative in their integration of other genres without sacrificing their own musical identity. They decided to be its Starship instead, rejecting everything that made them distinctive and relevant and embracing a musical style that they aren’t even able to do competently, let alone do well.
Where were the adults to tell this A-list act that the music wasn’t working? Why even have a record label anymore, if they either can’t hear the sound of their top act throwing their careers away or don’t have the gumption to stop them before they do? This is a poorly conceived and poorly executed album. Even one of those would be bad enough, but the two of them together is worse than tragic. It’s a disgrace.
I guess I’ve been living under a rock, because the First Annual American Country Awards caught me by surprise. I assumed it was some online poll and that was it, but, no. It’s apparently a full-fledged network award show airing on Fox in December.
I’m actually on board for this. For all the talk about country music being about the fans, there hasn’t been a proper fan-voted award show since the TNN/Music City News thing ended. The CMT Awards is the closest thing, but its category structure prevents it from being a Fan’s Choice CMA or ACM Awards. I also find it funny that the five nominees for Artist of the Year are the exact same five that I thought deserved CMA Entertainer nominations this year.
I’m enamored with the idea of another prime-time showcase for country music during the holiday season. If it catches on, it will be good for the life cycle of country albums. With the ACM flirting with fan voting these past few years, this show might lend some insight into how much of an impact the fans are making on the ACM results.
But what I like the most are the separate categories for touring, which are positioned as major honors but not as big as the overall Artist of the Year. That’s what the Entertainer category is supposed to be, but with no “Live Act” category at the CMA or ACM awards, it doesn’t usually work out that way.
I’m less enthused with the obscene number of Single and Music Video categories. It’s to the point of silliness.
Anyway, here are the nominees. You can vote once a day through Nov. 8 in most races, and through Dec. 4 for Artist of the Year.
Artist of the Year (Overall)
Lady Antebellum
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Zac Brown Band
Touring Artist of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Toby Keith
Martina McBride/Trace Adkins
Tim McGraw
Brad Paisley
Rascal Flatts
George Strait/Reba McEntire
Sugarland
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Male Artist
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Keith Urban
Female Artist
Jewel
Miranda Lambert
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Duo/Group
The Band Perry
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Zac Brown Band
New/Breakthrough Artist
The Band Perry
Easton Corbin
Danny Gokey
Jaron and the Long Road to Love
Jerrod Neimann
Album
Luke Bryan, Doin’ My Thing
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
Miranda Lambert, Revolution
Josh Turner, Haywire
Carrie Underwood, Play On
Single of the Year
Luke Bryan, “Do I”
Easton Corbin, “A Little More Country Than That”
Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”
Joe Nichols, “Gimme That Girl”
Josh Turner, “Why Don’t We Just Dance”
Single by a Male Artist
Luke Bryan, “Do I”
Easton Corbin, “A Little More Country Than That”
Billy Currington, “That’s How Country Boys Roll”
Joe Nichols, “Gimme That Girl”
Josh Turner, “Why Don’t We Just Dance”
Single by a Female Artist
Miranda Lambert, “White Liar”
Martina McBride, “Wrong Baby Wrong”
Reba McEntire, “Consider Me Gone”
Kellie Pickler, “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You”
Carrie Underwood, “Cowboy Casanova”
Single by a Duo/Group
Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”
Little Big Town, “Little White Church”
Rascal Flatts, “Unstoppable”
Steel Magnolia, “Keep On Lovin’ You”
Zac Brown Band, “Toes”
Single by a New/Breakthrough Artist
Easton Corbin, “A Little More Country Than That”
Jaron and the Long Road to Love, “Pray For You”
Jerrod Neimann, “Lover, Lover”
Steel Magnolia, “Keep On Lovin’ You”
Josh Thompson, “Beer on the Table”
Music Video of the Year
Easton Corbin, “A Little More Country Than That”
Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”
Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins, “Hillbilly Bone”
Josh Turner, “Why Don’t We Just Dance”
Chris Young, “The Man I Want to Be”
Music Video by a Male Artist
Easton Corbin, “A Little More Country Than That”
Tim McGraw, “Southern Voice”
Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins, “Hillbilly Bone”
Josh Turner, “Why Don’t We Just Dance”
Chris Young, “The Man I Want to Be”
Music Video by a Female Artist
Miranda Lambert, “White Liar”
Reba McEntire, “Consider Me Gone”
Kellie Pickler, “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You”
I so wish the web had video of the acoustic performance of this song from GAC’s Origins: Luke Bryan. I caught it on TV a few weeks ago and thought, “this guy actually has something.” If I could embed that performance here, I think you’d probably agree.
The song is basically a demand for a clean break-up, so you can guess the scenario. She asked for time apart, he granted it, now hints are floating around that she’s found someone else. Very well-trod ground, and this song doesn’t provide a twist in the trail. But it does draw an emotive performance from Bryan and boast a cool central guitar lick, and in the Origins setting, those elements were enough to drive it home.
But alas: studio-Bryan is a prime victim of mainstream country’s current production trends. The charmingly dopey “Rain Is a Good Thing” begged to strip off a coat of its polish (hello, drunken hootenannies and rain-soaked barn sex don’t sound like Disney jingles), and “Someone Else Calling You Baby” begs to shake off its tacked-on “rawk.” This is pop-country, not melancholy 90′s alt-something, and this guy can actually sing. I’m no purist, but overwhelming guitars and drums like this do nothing but deafen us to the power of the song and performance.
In the end, I like those latter two enough to give this release a pass. But please, please, please, someone set this promising artist’s material free.
Country music has always been filled with artists who write their own songs. But I think in the ’80s and ’90s it went through a phase where everyone was recording songs written by other songwriters; which gives those songwriters great success and a way to provide for their families, but I think the fans also love to hear what the artist has to say from the artist’s mouth. And that’s, I think, one of the reasons why Taylor Swift has done such an amazing job and has been so successful, because she’s baring her heart to her fans and it’s so relatable. – Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum
Where to begin? I’ll start with the fact that Scott is wrong on the merits. There were plenty of artists who wrote their own songs during the eighties and nineties, though the best ones had the good judgment to balance their best compositions with great songs written by others, rather than weaken an album by not recording outside material that’s superior to what they’ve written themselves.
I have more of an issue with the idea that today’s country artists have improved on what came before them with this supposedly new approach. I’m sorry, but today’s current crop of country stars are collectively less talented, less compelling, less interesting, and quite frankly, less capable with a pen, guitar, and microphone than even the B-list stars of the eighties and nineties. There aren’t that many who can sing or write, let alone do both.
Study Taylor Swift for her marketing acumen. There’s a lesson to be learned there. But for all that is good and holy. please look to Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, and just about all of the other big eighties and nineties stars for how to produce good country music. For Scott to think that her generation is actually improving the genre, she must either have remarkably bad taste in music, or a nineties record collection that runs no deeper than Linda Davis.
When you build a song around what is essentially a pun, you have to do one of two things. Either sell the pun so well that it overcomes its inherent corniness, or build such a strong song around it that the pun doesn’t make a lasting impact.
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