Single Review: Chris Stapleton, “You Should Probably Leave”

“You Should Probably Leave”

Chris Stapleton

Written by Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, and Chris Stapleton

Back when Traveller was blowing up, there was a common point of  disbelieving discussion around Chris Stapleton.

It surrounded the fact that Stapleton had co-written many radio hits for mainstream country artists like Thomas Rhett, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan.  Some of them were pretty great, but others were as cookie cutter as any other generic hit of that time.

The narrative surrounding this was one of triumph, though.  Stapleton had paid his dues and compromised to get his foot in the door, but then when he got the opportunity, he was able to be the serious country artist that he always wanted to be.

And that’s the lens through which Stapleton’s work has been perceived ever since.  It helps that he’s got that fantastic voice, which elevates anything that he sings. It also helps that he usually makes tasteful production choices that give his records a timeless feel, like they could’ve been recorded in any given golden age of country music.

Stapleton has credibility to burn, which is why he can get away with releasing as meandering and boring a record as “You Should Probably Leave.”

This song goes nowhere. There is no discernable melody, the storyline is dull as dishwater, and the tempo is excruciatingly slow.  The arrangement is as limp as any given record from a C-list Urban Cowboy artist.

He does his best to sell it.  He’s got the vocal chops to do so.  But it isn’t enough to get this one over the finish line.

Grade: C-

 

 

2 Comments

  1. This song isn’t that bad (probably a C+) but adding a steel guitar or resonator guitar to the arrangement would make the song more interesting

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