Lady Antebellum - "Long Stretch Of Love"

[evan93]

3rd single off 747, impacting country radio on March 23
I will update the thread when more infos are released!
(Many thanks to jhomes87 for letting me open this!)

[kml567]

Fantastic! This totally should have been the 2nd single. My favorite on the album. Still boggles my mind how they chose "Freestyle" instead of this.

I hope it becomes a big radio hit just in time for the summer tour. So excited to see Lady A + Hunter + Sam this summer!

[dm2081]

Wouldn't have been my choice, as I think Lie With Me and 747 are bigger hits to be had, but this is definitely a step up from Freestyle. Not sure how high this one can get, but it will sound pretty good during Summertime. This will be a good test to determine how much momentum they really have lost.

[sabre14]

No surprise as many knew it would be next after that interview at CRS. It really should have been the second single though. Then again, almost anything should have been instead of "Freestyle".

[Cody Wants Out...]

Awesome! Definitely one of my favorites on a pretty lackluster album. Hopefully this'll do well enough to warrant the title track closing the era. (I guess one can dream, right?)

[Kentucky25]

This never really stood out to me when I first listened to the album, I'll give it another listen and see.
I agree that 747 sounds like a smash hit, but that may just be because it's really the only song from the album that I like.

[rsmatto]

They can close out "747" with the single or "She Is" if they so choose to. Still surprised that "She Is" wasn't the 2nd single choice. This one always felt like it needed to be distanced from "Bartender" a bit too. This was also all over the Samsung Milk commercial late last year.

[sabre14]

Add date is March 23rd, via Country Aircheck.

[someguy]

Good choice, but I hope it's not too little too late for them from this album.

[LBTrocks]

Wow, they've been 3 for 3 for me this era! Love this one too! I like it even better than "Bartender" actually. I'm not a Lady A fan, so me liking 3 songs from them in a row is rare. I previewed the album at one point, but I can't remember what the songs sounded like. I do remember having no urge to go and buy it though.

[ethanhunt]

I like this song bug I was hoping for Damn you 17

[sabre14]

This has been the first thing I've see the past week when I'm logging into All Access.



Whenever I see "coming down the line", all I can think to myself is to then sing "feeding off the souls that are lost in crime."

[.indulgecountry]

^ Nice ad. I hope this does well, because it's their best single since "Goodbye Town" or maybe even "Downtown," imo. I just didn't care for their last three releases.

Mar 8, 2015 12:48:25 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Whenever I see "coming down the line", all I can think to myself is to then sing "feeding off the souls that are lost in crime."

I do believe that line is "feeding off the souls that are lost and cryin'."

[sabre14]

Mar 9, 2015 12:10:04 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

^ Nice ad. I hope this does well, because it's their best single since "Goodbye Town" or maybe even "Downtown," imo. I just didn't care for their last three releases.

Mar 8, 2015 12:48:25 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Whenever I see "coming down the line", all I can think to myself is to then sing "feeding off the souls that are lost in crime."

I do believe that line is "feeding off the souls that are lost and cryin'."

Lol, I should have put that in the misheard lyrics thread.

Anyway, "Long Black Train" is all I think about now when I see that particular ad.

[rsmatto]

And single art (my mocked image)

[Ten Pound Hammer]

WATZ played this three times in one day before it even charted. And yet I still haven't heard them play Little Toy Guns.

Oh well, when a station plays freakin' Schuyler, Knobloch, and Bickhardt out of nowhere, it's kinda hard to complain...

This is probably the closest in a long time I've heard Lady A sound to the "Love Don't Live Here" era. Good stuff.

[dm2081]

These guys seem to have zero buzz around them. The song is charting decently enough on BB and MB, but it's not having any monster gains yet (compared to Jason and Blake's new ones right now). It's still not even in the top 200 country songs yet on iTunes, which is pretty embarrassing if you ask me. It hasn't even gotten one vote yet on Pulse for the new weekly song challenge! Hard to believe that one non-offensive single choice can completely derail an album, but that seems to be the case here. I'd also like to point out that, if I remember correctly, they didn't release any instant downloads for this album when it was coming out besides "Bartender". I can't think of many other big name artist who acted similarly recently. Not sure if I'm connecting dots that don't exist or if maybe the lack of pre-album releases might have been a lot opportunity to drum up more interest or at least gauge whether certain songs were popular.

[sgtoddball]

Lots of irrational decisions surrounding this group in the last 2 years. They dumped Paul Worley as producer and decided they wanted to go in another direction with their sound. Despite having success with Downtown and Bartender, those songs just do not fit this group imo. I think they have lost interest from all the fans they got by singing songs like NYN, Love Dont Live Here, American Honey etc. Whomever decided to release Freestyle as a single should be fired. I think this song should have been the lead single with Bartender #2 and Lie With Me or She is as #3. If this song stalls I think they should take 6-8 months off at radio and go back to writing the bulk of their songs with Tom Douglas and Josh Kear and stop trying to sound like something they are not.

[onebuffalo]

Interesting contest for Lady Antebellum fans:

www.billboard.com/articles/business/6524506/lady-antebellum-quicken-fan-mortgages-wheels-up-tour

[Deleted]

It's amazing how quickly Lady Antebellum has descended from A-list status to a trio that seems almost completely done at radio, with their current single now struggling outside the top 40 on the charts. Aside from "Downtown" and "Bartender," Lady A just hasn't been able to keep their cross-format fan base that made them so huge over the past few years, and it seems clear they don't have a lot a large amount of support from inside the country circle. 

Personally, this never did seem like the best single choice. After the abysmal sales "Freestyle" had, it might have been a good idea to release a song with a bit more substance. "Lie with Me" is the next most popular song on Spotify and this sounds like a solid potential radio hit, but unfortunately this track will likely never see the light of day after "Long Stretch of Love"'s chart run. I would normally say it might be best for Capitol Nashville to just pull this now and not leave Lady Antebellum with an embarrassingly slow chart run to a 30's or 20's peak, as they did with "Bourbon in Kentucky" and "Miss You," but seeing how tough it is just to chart these days makes me doubtful this will happen. I just can't see this coming anywhere near as high as "Freestyle" did on the charts and the best I can imagine is a chart run similar to Rascal Flatt's "Riot," which looks like it'll fall just short of "Payback"s peak chart position.

I don't see why Lady Antebellum can't come back with another huge lead single as Rascal Flatts did with "Rewind," but I'm still expecting their momentum to continue to decline and I suspect they may only have at most a few years of relevance left unless something like a stylistic change occurs.

[bjer127]

To me their single choices have been so mismanaged. It started with "Wanted You More". What a borefest that was. Honestly, they should scrap managers, producers etc. Spend quality time writing quality songs and try to not fit in with any trends or whatever. I think they are capable of really good music.

I just wish "And The Radio Played", or "Golden" , or "It Ain't Pretty" would have seen radio. I think any one of those would have smashed.

[Deleted]

I don't think these guys are done yet (career-wise), but I agree that there really isn't much momentum for the current album anymore. "Freestyle" was just a disaster of a single choice. I'm honestly stunned that they decided to release that to radio, let alone record it.

The band members are still all pretty young yet, so there's always the chance that they could really re-emerge and catch a strong second wind sometime within the next few years.

[sabre14]

I actually think Lady A would have been fine if they had just picked almost anything than "Freestyle" as the second single. Even this song would have done better and they would have stood a much better chance at sustaining their momentum for this album. I like to think of myself as a pretty savvy person for what will and won't work as radio singles, so I have no earthly idea what Capitol was thinking selecting that as the follow up to "Bartender".

"Long Stretch Of Love" had an absolutely brutal update to start the week, and has lost 7 spins and 255k in total audience since Sunday. This climb looks to be a difficult one, especially what looks to be a very unfriendly chart in terms of competition.

[dm2081]

When the album came out, "Lie To Me" was clearly the next best seller after "Bartender", so why they didn't just listen to the consumers baffles me. I understand that isn't the only way or even the best way to pick a single, but when you're a group who's been a tad bit shaky and unsure of the direction you're heading in (At least to the general public it seems that way), why not roll with the song that seems to be the favorite? But I agree, there is zero momentum for this song right now, and I've yet to see it crack the top 200 country songs on iTunes, which is just sad to be honest.

[sgtoddball]

Actually One Great Mystery was the best selling Album track during the Album Release. Lie With Me was released in the UK as a single and has some nice streaming numbers but as far as the US goes it still hasn't done as well sales wise as One Great Mystery. This song is going to be performed at the ACM's and the co-writer Josh Kear is actually joining Lady A to play the "Woodrow" during the performance. If the song doesn't pick up in sales after that....then I think it's done before it can even get started. It's a short song and I see no reason radio is not playing it given the fact they jumped all over Freestyle and it got into the top 30 rather quick with no sales.

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2015 16:48:21 GMT -5 sgtoddball said:

It's a short song and I see no reason radio is not playing it given the fact they jumped all over Freestyle and it got into the top 30 rather quick with no sales.

It's because when they released "Freestyle", they had momentum. "Freestyle" was following up a smash hit - the Platinum, #1 "Bartender". But now "Long Stretch Of Love" is following up a dud ("Freestyle") that didn't sell at all. Plus, just look at all the options that radio has right now...new singles from Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Josh Turner, Brantley Gilbert, Rascal Flatts, Dustin Lynch, Kip Moore, Maddie & Tae, Reba, Thomas Rhett, Big & Rich, Dan + Shay, Parmalee, Kacey Musgraves, Eli Young Band, Jana Kramer, Gary Allan, Montgomery Gentry, RaeLynn, Chase Bryant, George Strait, Toby Keith, Thompson Square, and Cole Swindell...what do all of these artists have in common? They've all scored at least 1-2 hits from their current or most recent albums. Furthermore, we've got newer artists (all backed by major labels) like A Thousand Horses, Michael Ray, Kelsea Ballerini, Canaan Smith, Mickey Guyton, Mo Pitney, Brothers Osborne, Drake White, Cam, and Logan Mize that are all searching for that first "breakthrough" hit to get their names out there. A Thousand Horses obviously have already 'made it' with debut single "Smoke" top 10 and climbing (and looking like a future #1), and both Kelsea Ballerini and Canaan Smith seem likely to peak in the top 10 before all is said and done.

My point is that the release schedule has not been favorable to any of these artists, simply because they are all releasing at the same time. Only a select few are able to cut through the pack (Jason, Blake, Luke when his new single comes out, etc). With each and every subsequent release, the slice of "airplay pie" available gets smaller and smaller. As I said in another thread, it's almost as if 75 songs are trying to fit onto a 60-position chart right now. That hurts everybody, and it makes for a slow chart, especially since no label wants to give up and forfeit the minimal airplay that they are getting. That's why a song like Joe Nichols' "Hard To Be Cool" is stubbornly hanging around, because the label knows that as soon as that one is done, it's gonna be a while before Joe is back in the top 30 again.

I'm glad to hear that Lady A will be performing this song at the ACM's though. That should be a big plus for them.

[nncountrykid]

Apr 15, 2015 12:31:17 GMT -5 bjer127 said:

To me their single choices have been so mismanaged. It started with "Wanted You More". What a borefest that was. Honestly, they should scrap managers, producers etc. Spend quality time writing quality songs and try to not fit in with any trends or whatever. I think they are capable of really good music.

I just wish "And The Radio Played", or "Golden" , or "It Ain't Pretty" would have seen radio. I think any one of those would have smashed.

It started when they never released Love This Pain. That was about as sure of a thing as they could've had.

[.indulgecountry]

Lady Antebellum has released some great stuff over the years, but I've always felt they were overrated and that for every great song they had, they as many equally unmemorable ones. So, in a way, I'm a little glad that they've been knocked down a step in terms of popularity, since I was always of the opinion that their fanfare was a bit confusing to me. I'm really glad that a group like LBT who was long-since underrated and underrepresented at country radio but is heaps more talented and puts out far better music (imo) has finally risen up the ranks to be more successful while Lady A's success subsides a bit. And considering how strange Lady A's single choices have been lately (the panic after Golden single #2 underperformed, not releasing "And the Radio Played," and then letting the awful "Freestyle" see the light of day), their dip in popularity doesn't seem unwarranted or unexpected to me.

I do quite enjoy this single, much more than their last 3 singles, all of which I disliked, so it's unfortunate it's the one spinning its wheels right now. I don't want them to just disappear/stop having hits (I don't think they will anyway), but I think they really just need to get it together. I would like to see this song pick it up and at least peak around where "Freestyle" and "Wanted You More" ended up though because I enjoy it.

[sgtoddball]

Apr 15, 2015 17:12:27 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Apr 15, 2015 16:48:21 GMT -5 sgtoddball said:

It's a short song and I see no reason radio is not playing it given the fact they jumped all over Freestyle and it got into the top 30 rather quick with no sales.

It's because when they released "Freestyle", they had momentum. "Freestyle" was following up a smash hit - the Platinum, #1 "Bartender". But now "Long Stretch Of Love" is following up a dud ("Freestyle") that didn't sell at all. Plus, just look at all the options that radio has right now...new singles from Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Josh Turner, Brantley Gilbert, Rascal Flatts, Dustin Lynch, Kip Moore, Maddie & Tae, Reba, Thomas Rhett, Big & Rich, Dan + Shay, Parmalee, Kacey Musgraves, Eli Young Band, Jana Kramer, Gary Allan, Montgomery Gentry, RaeLynn, Chase Bryant, George Strait, Toby Keith, Thompson Square, and Cole Swindell...what do all of these artists have in common? They've all scored at least 1-2 hits from their current or most recent albums. Furthermore, we've got newer artists (all backed by major labels) like A Thousand Horses, Michael Ray, Kelsea Ballerini, Canaan Smith, Mickey Guyton, Mo Pitney, Brothers Osborne, Drake White, Cam, and Logan Mize that are all searching for that first "breakthrough" hit to get their names out there. A Thousand Horses obviously have already 'made it' with debut single "Smoke" top 10 and climbing (and looking like a future #1), and both Kelsea Ballerini and Canaan Smith seem likely to peak in the top 10 before all is said and done.

My point is that the release schedule has not been favorable to any of these artists, simply because they are all releasing at the same time. Only a select few are able to cut through the pack (Jason, Blake, Luke when his new single comes out, etc). With each and every subsequent release, the slice of "airplay pie" available gets smaller and smaller. As I said in another thread, it's almost as if 75 songs are trying to fit onto a 60-position chart right now. That hurts everybody, and it makes for a slow chart, especially since no label wants to give up and forfeit the minimal airplay that they are getting. That's why a song like Joe Nichols' "Hard To Be Cool" is stubbornly hanging around, because the label knows that as soon as that one is done, it's gonna be a while before Joe is back in the top 30 again.

I'm glad to hear that Lady A will be performing this song at the ACM's though. That should be a big plus for them.

Good Points. I guess we'll see if this can pick up in sales and maybe that will help with the radio spins. With them starting a new tour in May, it will be tough not having something on the radio and I'm not sure "Lie With Me" will get a release if this doesn't catch on.

[someguy]

If this doesn't pick up and at least make the top 20, I'd be surprised if they pushed a fourth single. Stranger things have happened though.

Their momentum is pretty much nonexistent at this point. I think that they should ride this single out, then take a few months away to come back with something solid and more in line with their earlier sound.