Danielle Bradbery- "Friend Zone"

[vamp111]

Yikes, this is worse than anything I have heard from FGL(I have only really heard their singles). This sounds like a female version of "bro country." She can do better.

[Kanenrá:ke]

I actually quite like this but I also like "Live Forever", "Crash And Burn", and "I Am Invincible" all the same way purely as pop songs. I love country it's my first love but pop music is my second love so pop leaning country never bothered me. These recent songs are taking it too far imo though and I really do wish it'd stop but I'll just enjoy the songs for what they are and listen to the great country that is being ignored by radio. If you look outside of radio this year I think it's been a very strong year for country!

(A year that includes, Ashley Monroe, Kacey Musgraves, Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam, Jim Ed Brown, Willie & Waylon, Allison Moorer, Gretchen Peters, Catherine Britt, Kasey Chambers, Chris Stapleton, Cory Morrow, Emmylou & Rodney, Aaron Watson, John Anderson, Clint Black, Lindi Ortega, Logan Brill, The Mavericks, Pat Green, Turnpike Troubadours, Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen, Rhiannon Giddens, William Clark Green, and Zane Williams can't be considered a weak year for country music.)

[sapphire]

I actually like this and find it so catchy, though I agree it's not for country radio. She has been performing 3 new songs before the announcement of this single, all from the same group of writers with three very different sounds. I still think there is still no fixed direction on where they will go with her. My pick though is another song, Room For Two. It's here, in case you might want to hear it: 

Room For Two: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGOtbF83_C4

Mama Was A Liar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ja3QCbTnlI

[cufan7]

I think they should have given her a blend of "Some Hearts" meets "Taylor Swift". Age appropriate songs that are at times autobiographical and at times - showing off her impressive vocal ability.

Allow her time to find herself but at least give her good material in the meantime. This is atrocious.

[stanches2318]

I honestly think that "Friend Zone" was released to get her a big hit on the charts and played on radio. cus u know radio will play it cus this type of song is what sells these days. After hearing her live versions of "Room For Two" and "Mama Was A Liar" I am more excited 4 her 2nd album. I hope it comes out in November around black Friday.

[kw9461]

Good lord this is atrocious. Like, one of the worst things I've ever heard labeled "country". The worse part is, is it's not even catchy in the least bit. I hated it based on the verses, but the chorus was just too much - what a mess. I don't give country radio much credit these days, but I just don't see any way they'll play this garbage in any real capacity. It may well crack the top 40, but I expect really high negatives once the callout data starts coming in.

[mus1cr0w]

After checking out those other two ballads, I have to ask - how does THIS song fit in? Those songs have the potential to be really country.

Again, the direction of this project seems to lack cohesiveness.

I still have to say, she looks very uncomfortable on stage. Mostly when she is introducing songs. She seems like she's taking a "please like me" approach rather than a "listen up people" approach.

MR

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2015 10:31:34 GMT -5 mus1cr0w said:

After checking out those other two ballads, I have to ask - how does THIS song fit in? Those songs have the potential to be really country.

Again, the direction of this project seems to lack cohesiveness.

I still have to say, she looks very uncomfortable on stage. Mostly when she is introducing songs. She seems like she's taking a "please like me" approach rather than a "listen up people" approach.

MR

A lot of artists that come from competition shows seem to lack performance skills, confidence and showmanship; the confidence that comes with performing will probably come for Danielle once she's a bit older, and discovers who she wants to be.
Most people her age DO have that "please like me" approach, and she's probably still trying to find her footing, both professionally and personally.
Also, I'm sure it does help matters that she's on one of the most powerful labels in Nashville, that knows she's young and impressionable, and thus is likely molding her into who they want her to be.
She has a lot of potential, but I don't think the fact that she's so young, and (and thus impressionable), will do her (or her career), many favors in the long run.

[Deleted]

I'm moving this over to the album tracks forum for right now, since all we have is that it's an iTunes single.

In order to start a thread here, the song needs to be a confirmed radio single. I'm 95% sure that this will indeed be Danielle's next single, but until we get official confirmation, the thread will be in the album tracks forum.

[.indulgecountry]

I expected to dislike this because of all the negative comments, but nope, I actually like it quite a bit. Very catchy, especially the spoken bit, which I liked a lot lol. It's pushing the boundaries a little too far for country music though and something tells me it won't work for her like it has for the males of the genre if it goes to radio.

I agree with the consensus though that she doesn't have an artistic identity yet and this feels like a big jump from where her debut album was which had a lot of real country songs and instrumentation, so it's too bad they couldn't find some middle ground... though who knows this could wind up to be an outlier on her sophomore project and the rest of it be more in line with songs from her debut effort. I've never been particularly enthralled by Danielle and I think even though her voice is technically good, she's very vanilla in terms of personality and her voice is pretty plain. One thing I enjoyed about her debut album were the tracks that had a nice country feel to them like "Young in America" and "Daughter of a Workin' Man." I don't hate this, but I hope it doesn't become the norm for her. No matter what she does though, I could very well see her staying power being limited.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

It's a pop song with a banjo, and not a great pop song at that. She already had the deck stacked against her for having staying power as a reality show contestant, but i don't think this is going to help.

[desertfloods]

Talk about major mismatch of material and artist. What she's lacking is a clear musical identity.

This reminds me of Katharine McPhee singing songs that don't suit her voice/personality.

[jenglisbe]

I don't care how country it is or isn't, it's just a poorly written and 'sung' song. How did this ever make it onto a major release?

[H.]

[sport2]

I love Danielle, but not this song. Im really hoping this isn't her next single because if it is im scared it might also be her last. Her voice is way too good to waste on a song like this. Unfortunately I think her label is trying to make her into someone she isn't, which is too bad because I really like her and would love to see her make a name for herself on country radio.

[surfy]

This actually isn't that bad imo, the lyrics need touching up though...

I really hope they aren't expecting to make a dent on country radio though because adding a banjo to a song doesn't make it country...

[sabre14]

Kurt

WBEE put "Friend Zone" up as their 'Music Meeting Song of the Day', so they have been sent "Friend Zone" by BMLG. It's not official but be prepared to move this thread back to the country forum.

[.indulgecountry]

I love this more the more I hear it and it really gets stuck in my head. This reminds me of something Laura Bell Bundy would've recorded, and she probably would've done a better job of it, honestly, but Danielle does alright with it (plus it's probably more age appropriate for her). My favorite part is the spoken word bit.

[stanches2318]

Sept 24, 2015 14:41:57 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I love this more the more I hear it and it really gets stuck in my head. This reminds me of something Laura Bell Bundy would've recorded, and she probably would've done a better job of it, honestly, but Danielle does alright with it (plus it's probably more age appropriate for her). My favorite part is the spoken word bit.

I agree. I told my sister last night that the song was stuck in my head. I do also agree that its her age. I also like the mixture of the Beat with the pop and banjo mixture. I also like this sound better than "Heart of Dixie". And I also think she is having fun and enjoying her music with "Friend Zone" which is good. :)

[sabre14]

The music video has apparently been shot and is coming soon according to Danielle Bradbery.

[Deleted]

I'm actually shocked that they're going to go with this as the lead single. I kept thinking "man, this has to be just a buzz single", because the spoken word parts in here are going to be extremely polarizing. Sam Hunt was getting torn apart on CMT's Facebook page today (they had an article about the #1 parties for "Take Your Time" and "House Party"), and the criticisms were all aimed at the type of music that "Friend Zone" is. If this manages to make it onto the major call-out surveys (it'd have to probably go at least top 40 at radio to do so, and I'm not convinced that that'll happen), I wouldn't be surprised to see it have 30-40% dislike. Even the YouTube comments (it's not on Danielle's official page yet) have been scathing.

I can see this one maybe scraping the top 40 but I'd be shocked if this turns into a hit. It's going to be way too polarizing.

[.indulgecountry]

Sept 24, 2015 22:59:50 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

I'm actually shocked that they're going to go with this as the lead single. I kept thinking "man, this has to be just a buzz single", because the spoken word parts in here are going to be extremely polarizing. Sam Hunt was getting torn apart on CMT's Facebook page today (they had an article about the #1 parties for "Take Your Time" and "House Party"), and the criticisms were all aimed at the type of music that "Friend Zone" is. If this manages to make it onto the major call-out surveys (it'd have to probably go at least top 40 at radio to do so, and I'm not convinced that that'll happen), I wouldn't be surprised to see it have 30-40% dislike. Even the YouTube comments (it's not on Danielle's official page yet) have been scathing.

I can see this one maybe scraping the top 40 but I'd be shocked if this turns into a hit. It's going to be way too polarizing.

I agree even though I like this song a lot. That said, I think that only says how unfair the double standard is there against women that Sam Hunt gets those kind of comments in droves despite flying to #1 three times in the past year while we all know Danielle's song here will be deemed too 'polarizing' for radio. It's a shame that women literally cannot win. They're either too traditional for country radio or they try to assimilate a little and are still shut out.

[dm2081]

Sept 24, 2015 23:35:31 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Sept 24, 2015 22:59:50 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

I'm actually shocked that they're going to go with this as the lead single. I kept thinking "man, this has to be just a buzz single", because the spoken word parts in here are going to be extremely polarizing. Sam Hunt was getting torn apart on CMT's Facebook page today (they had an article about the #1 parties for "Take Your Time" and "House Party"), and the criticisms were all aimed at the type of music that "Friend Zone" is. If this manages to make it onto the major call-out surveys (it'd have to probably go at least top 40 at radio to do so, and I'm not convinced that that'll happen), I wouldn't be surprised to see it have 30-40% dislike. Even the YouTube comments (it's not on Danielle's official page yet) have been scathing.

I can see this one maybe scraping the top 40 but I'd be shocked if this turns into a hit. It's going to be way too polarizing.

I agree even though I like this song a lot. That said, I think that only says how unfair the double standard is there against women that Sam Hunt gets those kind of comments in droves despite flying to #1 three times in the past year while we all know Danielle's song here will be deemed too 'polarizing' for radio. It's a shame that women literally cannot win. They're either too traditional for country radio or they try to assimilate a little and are still shut out.

Yeah but comparing Danielle to Sam isn't a very good comparison. Sam is huge now, so he can take more risks sonically. His sales have been amazing from the very first single, so he's had nothing but momentum. Danielle on the other hand started out with a more traditional leaning song with "The Heart of Dixie". It did okay on the charts, but the follow up bombed and she had over a year away from radio. A fair comparison would be to Jon Pardi, who had a similar amount of initial success. Do you think Jon could make a pop/rap hybrid song like this and chart really well with it? Heck most on here aren't even sure if his safe radio friendly song can break the top 10.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Country Weekly gave this a D-minus. That's the lowest rating I've ever seen them give.

For the record, my count is that until 2015, they've only ever gone as low as C-minus. And even then, I only recall four of them since they started using letter grades in 2012 (Tate Stevens' debut, Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind of Night", and the videos for "This Is How We Roll" and EYB's "Say Goodnight"). The first "D" I ever saw was "Doing Country Right" back in March, and the second just one issue prior for "Bad For You" by Waterloo Revival.

====

With that in mind, I don't usually word my reviews too strongly, WHAT THE SWEET CRAP DID I JUST LISTEN TO. She sounds like a stoned teenage girl trying to imitate Ke$ha. The horrible sports analogies (I see we're all fixated on that bat one) couldn't be more disconnected from the "friend zone" hook if they tried — if you're going to bother with the sports analogies, then why not at least tie them together with a title like "Three Strikes, You're Out"? Also, what's with the stupid bridge about the beat and banjo, which is disconnected massively from both the sports analogies and the "friend zone" hook? This song is like three already weak ideas stitched together Human Centipede style.

I would actually rather listen to "Ridiculous" again than this one. At least that song had a singular coherent narrative, if a ridiculous one. "God Made Squirrels" is sounding better to me now. Even "Automatic" is sounding better now.

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2015 23:58:39 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

The horrible sports analogies (I see we're all fixated on that bat one) couldn't be less disconnected from the "friend zone" hook if they tried

Do you mean "couldn't be more disconnected"? Unless I'm misunderstanding something, the way the quoted sentence reads to me is that the sports analogies are extremely connected to the "friend zone" hook...which kind of goes against the rest of your post, lol.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Sept 28, 2015 0:01:48 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Sept 27, 2015 23:58:39 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

The horrible sports analogies (I see we're all fixated on that bat one) couldn't be less disconnected from the "friend zone" hook if they tried

Do you mean "couldn't be more disconnected"? Unless I'm misunderstanding something, the way the quoted sentence reads to me is that the sports analogies are extremely connected to the "friend zone" hook...which kind of goes against the rest of your post, lol.

You're right. Post fixed. This song has broken me so badly that I'm forgetting how to typelkajri9u094u90u9090zzzzzfjkfdjsss

[Deleted]

Forgive me in advance, but one of my buddies was in my car last week. He is in his 30s and has a very limited understanding of country music because he just started listening within the past couple months.

By the end of the chorus he exclaimed, "what the f*** is this garbage?" and made me change it. This is someone who doesn't know much about country music. This is what we are doing to old and new fans alike.

[matty005]

Do the writers of this song even know what the, "friend zone," means? You don't get put into the friend zone by doing things like not calling a girl back. You are in it with you feel more like a brother to her than a boyfriend.

[sabre14]

Sept 28, 2015 6:44:31 GMT -5 matty005 said:

Do the writers of this song even know what the, "friend zone," means? You don't get put into the friend zone by doing things like not calling a girl back. You are in it with you feel more like a brother to her than a boyfriend.

Exactly. I mean, the musical aspects (vocal arrangement, production) would be bad enough but the song's subject is so wrong headed it isn't funny. It makes it sound so cavalier and the solution being a simple fix, when that's just not the case in real life. 

I like Danielle. She's always seemed like a down to earth person and I really liked her first two singles. But this song is absolutely atrocious and deserves zero success.

[stanches2318]

Sept 28, 2015 11:04:22 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Sept 28, 2015 6:44:31 GMT -5 matty005 said:

Do the writers of this song even know what the, "friend zone," means? You don't get put into the friend zone by doing things like not calling a girl back. You are in it with you feel more like a brother to her than a boyfriend.

Exactly. I mean, the musical aspects (vocal arrangement, production) would be bad enough but the song's subject is so wrong headed it isn't funny. It makes it sound so cavalier and the solution being a simple fix, when that's just not the case in real life. 

I like Danielle. She's always seemed like a down to earth person and I really liked her first two singles. But this song is absolutely atrocious and deserves zero success.

I like this song and "Young In America". "Friend Zone" is not the best song this yr, but it's not a bad song either.