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Post by Elusive Chanteuse on Mar 8, 2019 11:04:05 GMT -5
I just listened to the album. It’s a solid effort but HERO remains superior.
I’ll give a throughout review later when I have more time, but what I will say is that on the first listen, I kinda miss the sassy strong Maren. On this record, I felt like there was a little too much empowerment and love songs.
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Post by Elusive Chanteuse on Mar 8, 2019 14:21:36 GMT -5
Okay, I just heard through everything again! I will say that Girl was by far one of the weakest choice as a single. There were clear standouts they could’ve went with instead. For me, Flavor would’ve been BOLD but it would’ve pushed the envelope. They could’ve also went with A Song For Everything because that one has that nostalgic feeling and is in the veins of My Church imo. I think All My Favorite People is an obvious second single but they messed up with the lead so who knows if they’re gonna go with something random next. I hope they’ll go four/five singles deep.
LOVE All My Favorite People Flavor The Feels A Song For Everything Gold Love The Bones
LIKE Hell & Back RSVP Make Out With Me (it’s too short)
OKAY Girl Good Woman Shade Common
DISLIKE Great Ones
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Au$tin
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Post by Au$tin on Mar 8, 2019 20:05:05 GMT -5
A pretty solid album! I agree the back half of the album is better than the first half, but as a whole it's really nice. My favorite tracks upon first listen were "RSVP" and "All My Favorite People." Other standouts were "Flavor," "Great Ones," "To Hell & Back," and "Good Woman." I've also grown to love "GIRL" and "Common" a lot too. The only track I really didn't care for was "Make Out with Me."
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nickd
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Post by nickd on Mar 9, 2019 2:34:04 GMT -5
The Bones got added to TTH and a bunch of other moderate sized playlists today. Not something that happens too often for country songs. It now stands at 45m playlist reach.
A Song For Everything got added to Pop Rising in addition to a bunch of New Music Friday and country playlists too.
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Mar 10, 2019 6:03:35 GMT -5
Nothing here quite hits the same high as the high points from Hero but it’s still an incredibly solid sophomore album and you can hear the time and attention she put into making a cohesive record.
Projected to debut with 30-40k SPS (15-20k sales).
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austin
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Post by austin on Mar 10, 2019 14:08:02 GMT -5
Nothing here quite hits the same high as the high points from Hero but it’s still an incredibly solid sophomore album and you can hear the time and attention she put into making a cohesive record. Projected to debut with 30-40k SPS (15-20k sales). Your review is spot on. Also, I was hoping for a little bigger debut. Would imagine the lack of a hit out right now led to a softer opening. Either way, I think she’s headed for super stardom.
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Post by thewp on Mar 11, 2019 19:26:30 GMT -5
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tsr
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Post by tsr on Mar 11, 2019 23:32:06 GMT -5
"Good Woman" is fucking beautiful. That and "A Song For Everything" are my faves.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 4:55:57 GMT -5
I felt like it was my duty to come here and let you all know that this is also a great workout album! Create a playlist with these upbeat tracks and the ones from Hero and the elliptical doesn’t feel so bad!
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Post by Troublemaker on Mar 12, 2019 6:50:27 GMT -5
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Post by Ling-Ling on Mar 12, 2019 7:33:56 GMT -5
I've given GIRL a few listens now. It's a perfectly solid collection of tunes, everything is an easy listen and the album kind of just breezes by. Also very cohesive and she sounds great. But I don't think the highlights come close to the highlights on her debut. I think she has a stronger voice as an artist than this, a lot of this is kind of light-weight and inconsequential. I want a more dynamic viewpoint from her, I feel like she did a better job of delivering that on her debut.
Also, both collaborations don't work for me. Brandi sounds so out of place on "Common," it would have worked better as a solo track. And Osborne's voice, ugh, no thanks.
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Post by The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 on Mar 12, 2019 8:02:54 GMT -5
Nothing here quite hits the same high as the high points from Hero but it’s still an incredibly solid sophomore album and you can hear the time and attention she put into making a cohesive record. Projected to debut with 30-40k SPS (15-20k sales). Her pure sales are quite disappointing ... I though she would get similar numbers to Golden Hour's debut (at least 40k on pure sales alone) Her streams look pretty strong though! It will probably double her final numbers
"Good Woman" is f**king beautiful. That and "A Song For Everything" are my faves. Yay! Some love for "Good Woman"... it's such an underrated track around here. I love it!
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Ty
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Post by Ty on Mar 12, 2019 11:41:00 GMT -5
I don't usually check out country albums but this is incredible. I love "RSVP", "Girl", "Make Out with Me", "Common", "The Bones" and "Shade".
For an outsider of this genre, I find this to be a nice blend between country and pop.
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14887fan
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Post by 14887fan on Mar 12, 2019 18:37:08 GMT -5
They’d be fools to not release “The Feels” as the second single. What a complete smash it would be for the spring & summer.
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Post by Active Aggressive on Mar 12, 2019 21:13:43 GMT -5
Now that the foul taste of The Middle has been washed away, I listened to this album and...pretty much agree with Ling-Ling (shocker!). I actually forgot all about Hero and only listened to it once, but decided to give this a fair shot. My highlights are: 1. Make Out With You (Higher by Rihanna, but more polished and no surprise, since she is a huge fan of that song, so I basically view it as an homage) 2. RSVP (demerits for the pronunciation of "Rendez" but...she country!) 3. Flavor 4. The Bones 5. All My Favorite People 6. Shade Don't really remember the rest, but it was definitely a nice listen and I would probably listen to it again.
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Post by Elusive Chanteuse on Mar 12, 2019 21:35:45 GMT -5
They’d be fools to not release “The Feels” as the second single. What a complete smash it would be for the spring & summer. Actually I think they’re going to go (and should go) with All My Favorite People. I think that one screams smash. The Highway is already spinning it. I think they definitely should release it as a single though. But as fourth. AMFP should be second, and then A Song For Everything for third. That would be the perfect remainder of the era, and make up for the weak lead single imo.
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daddy
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Post by daddy on Mar 12, 2019 23:29:09 GMT -5
Enjoying this a lot! I think the next single should be “Feels” or “All My Favourite People” followed by “A Song for Everything”.
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Mar 12, 2019 23:45:42 GMT -5
"All My Favorite People" and "A Song for Everything" need to be the next two singles because both of them sound like #1 country smashes to me. "The Feels" would be a great fourth single though. Sounds like a very solid era to me. Nothing here quite hits the same high as the high points from Hero but it’s still an incredibly solid sophomore album and you can hear the time and attention she put into making a cohesive record. Projected to debut with 30-40k SPS (15-20k sales). Her pure sales are quite disappointing ... I though she would get similar numbers to Golden Hour's debut (at least 40k on pure sales alone) Her streams look pretty strong though! It will probably double her final numbers According to this post from the country forum thread for the album, its figures must have been adjusted up: Predicted to have 24-27k pure sales and 43-47k SPS first week. #4 overall.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2019 2:33:02 GMT -5
In terms of first-week numbers, I’m both surprised and not. I’m surprised that given the visibility and consistent hits Maren has had, she’d debut this low; conversely, I felt like the period of time between releasing “GIRL” as the lead single in late January and releasing the album in early March felt a bit rushed. Aside from social media, I didn’t see a strong rollout and there was not much publicity surrounding the release. Much like HERO proved to be, I think this will be a sleeper hit and gain momentum as “GIRL” moves up the charts and new singles are released. Importantly, it’ll be interesting to see how the numbers for album versus single sales look moving forward. I have the sneaking suspicion that while the pure album sales will further increase over time, digital sales for radio singles will far supersede the project as a whole.
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Mar 13, 2019 3:20:03 GMT -5
I think the album’s got several great choices for singles so will be interesting to see what direction they take next
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Post by zaclord 🌈 on Mar 13, 2019 9:09:36 GMT -5
2. All My Favorite People 3. A Song for Everything 4. Flavor (I can't help but love sassy Maren) Shout out to: The Bones, RSVP, To Hell & Back, and The Feels as other options though.
But considering "GIRL" was the lead, I'm not sure what direction they'll go with singles because they had 10 songs more radio friendly that they could have chosen for the lead single.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2019 11:17:43 GMT -5
2. All My Favorite People 3. A Song for Everything 4. Flavor (I can't help but love sassy Maren) Shout out to: The Bones, RSVP, To Hell & Back, and The Feels as other options though. But considering "GIRL" was the lead, I'm not sure what direction they'll go with singles because they had 10 songs more radio friendly that they could have chosen for the lead single. I think what’s interesting about “GIRL” is that it stands out as the only moment of self-reflection on the album, speaking to who Maren is as Maren, not in relation to other people. I think it was an important song for her to release as she presses on further into her career. While a lot of Hero focused on her life and experiences as a young woman, “GIRL” is the only song that’s reflective in that same vein. I have full confidence that they’ll pick excellent singles this era, but this was one that needed to be heard because it’s uniquely Maren.
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Mar 13, 2019 11:20:49 GMT -5
In terms of first-week numbers, I’m both surprised and not. I’m surprised that given the visibility and consistent hits Maren has had, she’d debut this low; conversely, I felt like the period of time between releasing “GIRL” as the lead single in late January and releasing the album in early March felt a bit rushed. Aside from social media, I didn’t see a strong rollout and there was not much publicity surrounding the release. Much like HERO proved to be, I think this will be a sleeper hit and gain momentum as “GIRL” moves up the charts and new singles are released. Importantly, it’ll be interesting to see how the numbers for album versus single sales look moving forward. I have the sneaking suspicion that while the pure album sales will further increase over time, digital sales for radio singles will far supersede the project as a whole. I'm actually glad they put the album out as fast as they did. The debut numbers might've been a little stronger if they'd timed it later so that it lined up with "Girl" peaking with higher airplay, but I think getting it out soon before the tour started was important, and I also think her releasing the album on International Women's Day considering the title and its lead single, couldn't have been a total coincidence. I was like, 'I see you Maren.' The album will have legs, so in the end, I don't think scoring the biggest debut superseded getting it out sooner for the fans, especially since her debut era lasted so long. Considering how glacial a lot of singles climb the country charts this day, I actually hope more country artists are able to take this approach. Brett Young also did the same thing with his sophomore release back in December, only a few months after "Here Tonight" had started its run. ETA: Also @stephanie I agree with you about "Girl." It was the right lead single choice imo. It's a strong statement piece and I think it was a more important way to launch this album than just going for one of the catchy uptempos. Plus, I love it, lol.
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zaclord 🌈
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Post by zaclord 🌈 on Mar 13, 2019 12:20:02 GMT -5
2. All My Favorite People 3. A Song for Everything 4. Flavor (I can't help but love sassy Maren) Shout out to: The Bones, RSVP, To Hell & Back, and The Feels as other options though. But considering "GIRL" was the lead, I'm not sure what direction they'll go with singles because they had 10 songs more radio friendly that they could have chosen for the lead single. I think what’s interesting about “GIRL” is that it stands out as the only moment of self-reflection on the album, speaking to who Maren is as Maren, not in relation to other people. I think it was an important song for her to release as she presses on further into her career. While a lot of Hero focused on her life and experiences as a young woman, “GIRL” is the only song that’s reflective in that same vein. I have full confidence that they’ll pick excellent singles this era, but this was one that needed to be heard because it’s uniquely Maren. Oh, I love "Girl" and definitely understand why it was chosen as the lead single! I just meant in terms of songs that would be deemed the most "radio friendly" options for singles, "Girl" wouldn't be at the top of that list. I love the song and agree it says a lot about who Maren is and where she stands, which I think is why a lot of people love her so much already and why even more people will love her after this era from her. I think "Girl" was a perfect debut single because the hype around Maren is so big right now that even if "Girl" wasn't something radio was interested in the long run, it still was a guaranteed top 30 hit and the absolute worst I can see it doing would be the middle of the top 20. Even if it underperformed, Maren had so many radio friendly songs in her back pocket with this album that she could release them 2nd and regain momentum easily since she's being groomed as country's next "it girl" (at least in terms of radio). So I think it was a really smart tactic to set the tone for this era, but definitely not the safest choice.
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austin
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Post by austin on Mar 13, 2019 12:34:09 GMT -5
'Girl' is a statement song and definitely not a poor lead single choice, but its still the second worst song here. I wish something different was picked as the lead simply because of that, but I don't disagree with their decision because she is trying to say something and use her voice.
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Ling-Ling
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Post by Ling-Ling on Mar 14, 2019 7:37:42 GMT -5
I think "Girl" is a solid single. It's just not the best single choice on the album, but lead singles usually aren't. The first half of the album seems to be focused more on radio fodder, they'll probably get all the singles from that section I imagine. And that's not a knock on those songs, they're all super catchy and radio friendly. Just a bit toothless for the most part.
The real meat of this album is in the back half for me, I hope some of those songs get to see the light of day.
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Post by daddy on Mar 15, 2019 1:52:51 GMT -5
I stan horndog Maren on RSVP. Very relatable!
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Post by tryexp on Mar 15, 2019 15:04:08 GMT -5
My favourites are All My Favorite People, A Song for Everything, Flavor, To Hell & Back and Good Woman. I not a big fan of Girl and RSVP, but the rest is alright. There are a couple of good songs that will hopefully be successful on the country chart, but I was expecting some (minor) pop hits, and I think they will have a hard time breaking any song into pop radio. But I feel this is the album Maren wanted and I respect that integrity.
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daddy
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Post by daddy on Mar 15, 2019 23:54:51 GMT -5
The Feels = potential crossover?! / commercial song
A Song For Everything = country awards / country radio (should play)
All My Favourite People = country radio would love it
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Mar 18, 2019 10:37:10 GMT -5
Officially debuts at #4 with 46k SPS (25k sales). Also, per Billboard:
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