Monday, January 24th, 2011
A woman who can actually sing:
Wynonna.
“Is It Over Yet”
“I Want to Know What Love Is”
“Come Some Rainy Day”
“My Strongest Weakness”
“That Was Yesterday”
Previous Entries: Part One, Part Two
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Wynonna
Monday, August 30th, 2010
And so we come to the end. The top of our list includes a wide range of artists singing a wide range of country music styles. Thematically, these entries are diverse, but what they all have in common is what has always made for great country music. They are all perfectly-written songs delivered with sincerity by the artists who brought them to life.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #25-#1
#25
Smoke Rings in the Dark
Gary Allan
1999 | Peak: #12
A dark, atmospheric wonder, as Allan delivers the final eulogy for a love that couldn’t help burning out. – Dan Milliken
#24
Just to See You Smile
Tim McGraw
1997 | Peak: #1
Being deeply enamored of someone can make it easy – even appealing – to forfeit your own well-being. This single’s sunny tone reflects the persistent affection running through its protagonist, but its story demonstrates the heartbreak to which such unmeasured selflessness leads. – DM (more…)
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
The themes of love and loss have permeated country music for as long as it’s been in existence. This second-to-last batch of great nineties hits contains songs that are direct descendants of well-known classics like “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, along with a Shania Twain hit that would have made Roba Stanley smile.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #50-#26
#50
Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)
Travis Tritt
1991 | Peak: #2
From the first forceful guitar strum on, this kiss-off number somehow manages to seem unusually cool and collected in its own aggression. You get the impression that Tritt’s character has been anticipating this moment, and has already made up his mind that he’s going to relish every second of it. – Dan Milliken
#49
I’ve Come to Expect it From You
George Strait
1990 | Peak: #1
This is about as dark and bitter as George Strait gets. It’s a coat that he wears well. – Kevin Coyne (more…)
Friday, August 20th, 2010
As might be expected, the subject matters are getting more intense as we edge closer to the top. But there’s still room for some carefree moments here, thanks to the Dixie Chicks and Jo Dee Messina.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #75-#51
#75
When You Say Nothing at All
Alison Krauss & Union Station
1995 | Peak: #3
This Keith Whitley classic was recorded as part of a tribute album to the late country star. It became a hit all over again, perhaps because Krauss performed it in a near-whisper. The quiet arrangement matches the sentiment beautifully. – Kevin Coyne
#74
Alibis
Tracy Lawrence
1993 | Peak: #1
Lawrence dishes on his ex’s cheating ways to her new potential lover. How did she get that way? He reveals that he’s the one who taught her everything she knows from the cheater’s playbook. Moreover, he seems regretful of her corruption. – Leeann Ward
#73
Cowboy Take Me Away
Dixie Chicks
1999 | Peak: #1
In a modern world where life can so easily feel cold and mechanical, love remains earthy and exciting and mysterious. It’s a window into a different world, one where we’re not defined by the predictables of our routine – the same stresses, the same cars and buildings – but by our core nature as people, our place in the greater fabric of Earth and, perhaps, heaven. On the surface, “Cowboy Take Me Away” sounds like just a sugar-sweet love song – I’ve even heard it called “pre-feminist” – but there’s something else going on here: a plea for life to have meaning again. – Dan Milliken (more…)
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Bobbie Cryner, Chely Wright, Clint Black, Dixie Chicks, Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, George Jones, Hal Ketchum, Jo Dee Messina, Kathy Mattea, Kenny Chesney, Lee Ann Womack, Lee Roy Parnell, Mark Chesnutt, Merle Haggard, Patty Loveless, Radney Foster, Sawyer Brown, Suzy Bogguss, Tony Arata, Tracy Lawrence, Vince Gill, Wynonna
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
The new country music stars of the nineties grew up with the pop/rock of the seventies. It’s no wonder that many of them revisited songs from that era.
Some of these covers became big hits, like Billy Dean’s “We Just Disagree” and Brooks & Dunn’s “My Maria.” Various album cuts and tribute projects demonstrated Lorrie Morgan’s fondness for Bonnie Tyler (“It’s a Heartache”), Garth Brooks’ love for Kiss (“Hard Luck Woman”), and more than a dozen artists’ affinity for the Eagles.
It’s just a matter of time before today’s country stars start remaking pop and rock hits from the nineties. Here’s a few that I think would work well:
Rascal Flatts, “One More Try”
This Timmy T. hit topped the charts in 1991. It would be a perfect fit for the Flatts boys. They could elevate it into something great.
Carrie Underwood, “Nothing Compares 2 U”
You need a powerful set of pipes to pull this one off. Who could do it better than Carrie Underwood? Okay, yes. Wynonna. But among the artists on the radio dial today, no one could tackle this with better results than Underwood.
SHeDaisy, “You’re in Love”
This band could cover just about any Wilson Phillips track, but this one’s dying to be a hit all over again.
What nineties non-country songs do you think today’s country stars should cover?
Sunday, August 15th, 2010
Many a star was launched in the nineties, a few of them right out of the gate. This section includes the debut singles from Toby Keith, Jo Dee Messina, LeAnn Rimes, and Doug Stone, along with Grammy-winning hits by Alison Krauss and Dwight Yoakam.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #100-#76
#100
The Battle Hymn of Love
Kathy Mattea & Tim O’Brien
1990 | Peak: #9
Wedding songs are typically made of the same fiber, but this one is a little different: it’s energized by burning conviction and fierce pledges. – Tara Seetharam
#99
Blue
LeAnn Rimes
1996 | Peak: #10
Sure, the novelty of thirteen year-old Rimes’ prodigious Patsy imitation helped things along. But that unshakable yodeled hook would have made “Blue” a classic in any era of country music. – Dan Milliken (more…)
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Alison Krauss, Brooks & Dunn, Carlene Carter, Clint Black, Doug Stone, Dwight Yoakam, Jo Dee Messina, Joe Diffie, Kathy Mattea, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Ann Womack, Lorrie Morgan, Mark Chesnutt, Matraca Berg, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, Sammy Kershaw, Tim O'Brien, Toby Keith, Vince Gill, Wynonna
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Johnny Cash may have been too dark for country radio back in 1994, but his morbid single lives on alongside debut singles, seventies covers, and a whole lot of Mary Chapin Carpenter.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #125-#101
#125
Breathe
Faith Hill
1999 | Peak: #1
Sure, the melody of the chorus sounds just like “It Matters to Me.” But “Breathe” took the country power ballad to new heights, becoming Hill’s signature hit in the process. – Kevin Coyne
#124
Life’s a Dance
John Michael Montgomery
1992 | Peak: #4
It’s the catchy fiddle riff that’s so memorable about John Michael Montgomery’s debut, number one, single. He is known for being a balladeer, but this one is an up-tempo motivational song. – Leeann Ward (more…)
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Aaron Tippin, Alabama, Billy Dean, Faith Hill, George Strait, Jo Dee Messina, John & Audrey Wiggins, John Michael Montgomery, Johnny Cash, Martina McBride, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Pam Tillis, Pirates of the Mississippi, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Shenandoah, The Mavericks, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Wynonna
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Signature hits, breakthrough hits, and why-weren’t-they-hits abound in this entry.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #150-#126
#150
Gone Country
Alan Jackson
1994 | Peak: #1
A perfect time capsule of the boom times, as Jackson wryly notes all of those genre-hoppers who saw dollar signs in the growing country music scene. Funny how they didn’t arrive on radio until a decade later. – Kevin Coyne
#149
I Want to Be Loved Like That
Shenandoah
1993 | Peak: #3
Sometimes the deepest understanding of love comes from what you see around you. The narrator in this song won’t settle for anything less than the unwavering love he’s witnessed in his life, and his examples are stunning in the way they slice straight to the core of love, to the bond that can’t be broken by the physical world. This is one of the purest tributes to love I’ve ever heard. – Tara Seetharam (more…)
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Alabama, Alan Jackson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Clay Walker, Doug Supernaw, Garth Brooks, George Strait, John Anderson, Johnny Cash, Joy Lynn White, Lorrie Morgan, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, Paul Overstreet, Randy Travis, Rodney Crowell, Shania Twain, Shenandoah, Suzy Bogguss, Toby Keith, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Proving that the airplay charts don’t tell all of the story, this part of the countdown features several singles by nineties stars that didn’t reach the top but have stood the test of time.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #175-#151
#175
I Wish I Could Have Been There
John Anderson
1994 | Peak: #4
This is the country equivalent to “Cats in the Cradle”, but more tender and less selfish. – Leeann Ward
#174
Sometimes She Forgets
Travis Tritt
1995 | Peak: #7
Tritt gives a surprisingly but fittingly subdued performance on this cover of a Steve Earle song, telling the story of a woman who sometimes forgets that she’s sworn off men. I can never get enough of the incredibly cool arrangement. – Tara Seetharam (more…)
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Aaron Tippin, Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Clay Walker, Clint Black, Confederate Railroad, Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, Earl Thomas Conley, Faith Hill, John Anderson, K.T. Oslin, Keith Whitley, Kim Richey, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Shania Twain, The Judds, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
The hits come from all over the place here. Breakthrough hits from Trace Adkins and Carlene Carter join one-hit wonders Brother Phelps and George Ducas. And alongside crafty covers of songs by sixties rock band The Searchers and nineties country artist Joy Lynn White, you can also find tracks from three diamond-selling country albums.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #200-#176
#200
Carrying Your Love With Me
George Strait
1997 | Peak: #1
A traveler gets through his lonely nights on the sheer strength of love. It’s perhaps a little too saccharine for some, but the sweet melody and Strait’s understated vocals make the record work. – Tara Seetharam
#199
Nothing’s News
Clint Black
1990 | Peak: #3
A man sits around in a bar “talking ’bout the good old times, bragging on how it used to be.” Standard premise, but Black’s melancholy performance lifts the record to Haggardly heights. – Dan Milliken (more…)
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Alabama, Alan Jackson, Brother Phelps, Carlene Carter, Clint Black, Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, George Ducas, George Strait, Joy Lynn White, Julie Reeves, Kathy Mattea, Keith Whitley, Lee Roy Parnell, Mark Chesnutt, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Pam Tillis, Ricky Van Shelton, Shania Twain, Trace Adkins, Tracy Lawrence, Wynonna
on Single Review: Rhonda Vincent, "I'd Rather Hear I Don't Love You (Than Nothing At All)"
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on Single Review: Justin Moore, “Point at You”
on Single Review: Justin Moore, “Point at You”
on Single Review: Chris Young, “Aw Naw”
on Single Review: Hunter Hayes, “I Want Crazy”
on Single Review: Hunter Hayes, “I Want Crazy”