Randy Houser - "Anything Goes"

[kevin59]

Listen to NEW Single by Randy Houser - "Anything Goes"

Single Release Date: JUN 02, 2008 (Universal South)

AUDIO: wm.allaccess.com/allaccess/randanyt.wma

VIDEO: www.cmt.com/videos/randy-houser/283802/anything-goes.jhtml

[Dustin J.]

And yet another member of Nashville's famed "Trailer Park" gets a record deal.

This is pretty good stuff. Congrats to Randy! He's worked hard to get to where he is.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Apr 2, 2008 17:16:22 GMT -5 Dustin J. said:

And yet another member of Nashville's famed "Trailer Park" gets a record deal.

What is this "Trailer Park"?

[kevin59]

Apr 2, 2008 23:36:53 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Apr 2, 2008 17:16:22 GMT -5 Dustin J. said:

And yet another member of Nashville's famed "Trailer Park" gets a record deal.

What is this "Trailer Park"?

"The Traler Park" A group of long time buddies from all over the south

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=41923999

Jamey Johnson, Jerrod Niemann, Wayd Battle, Randy Houser, Dallas Davidson, Rob Hatch.

[rowdawg21]

I just did a survey for Randy that included this song as well as three others, so maybe they're still trying to decide what the single will be?

[rowdawg21]

"Anything Goes" was sent out to radio today.

[Uncle Lumpy]

Really great to hear they decided to switch to this single. The other one blew.Ive been following this guy on myspace for a few years now . He has a great voice, but Im a little affraid he may be confused with Ronnie Dunn. In anycase , this has the potential to become my favorite tune .Good stuff.

[kim8]

I just listened to this song. Never heard of this guy but I agree he sounds a bit like Ronnie Dunn. He also reminds me of Blake Shelton too, as well as the song Home from Blake. It sounded way too familiar.

[kevin59]

Listen to NEW Single Version of song

wm.allaccess.com/allaccess/randanyt2.wma

[rowdawg21]

This seems to be doing relatively well for Randy. It's at #32 after 13 weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if this stayed on the chart long enough to make the top 10.

[zaclord]

i hope so! i am in love with this song now!

[Kyla]

I heard this on the radio the other night. Some drunk girl requested it. I'm guessing she could relate...

I LOVE this song. Good lyrics.

[Minimalism]

I agree. This is a really good song, though I think the verse kinda sounds like that of "Believe" by none other than Brooks & Dunn. Never mind that though, cause the chorus is to die for. Gorgeous.

[rockingcountry]

I'm just now starting to hear this on the radio and I love it. Great song! I hope Universal South will do better with his career than they're doing with Joe's and Phil's.

[kevin59]

Watch NEW Video of song - "Anything Goes" (CMT)

www.cmt.com/videos/randy-houser/283802/anything-goes.jhtml

[leilamaurizia]

"Anything Goes" is the FREE Discovery Download of the week on iTunes.

[luvhonkytonk]

I love this song. He does sound a bit like Ronnie Dunn, but his voice is deeper. For me it's the way he phrases and emotes rather than the sound of his voice.

[leilamaurizia]

AMG

3 out of 5 stars

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Like many professional Nashville songwriters, Randy Houser — a co-author of Trace Adkins' career-defining smash "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" — was given a crack at a career as a performer based on the strength of his songs and, like many other songsmiths turned singers, he has to sing other people's tunes on his 2008 debut, Anything Goes. One of those professionally written songs is the title track, a clear ploy to ease Houser onto the tight playlists of commercial radio, and it's as fine as far as the formula goes: melodic and tightly constructed, but not quite memorable. The same could be said for Houser's soft, everyman voice, which is pleasing enough but not quite memorable, at least when he's paired with these written-to-order songs — and that can include songs that Houser penned himself, especially his melodramatic ballads, which veer toward the maudlin no matter if he's singing about god or lovers. Apart from the irritating Big & Rich-aping affectations of "Strange," Houser is better when the tempo either kicks up or lays back — when things get looser, he shows some personality. He gets funny on the sly "Lie," grinds out a workingman's blues on "Paycheck Man," and strikes a terrific mellow jazzy groove on "How Many Times," the only one of these three written by another author (in this case, the great Al Anderson). These songs show Hauser's range and his easygoing appeal, and it's just a shame that there aren't a few more of them on this too professional debut.

The 9513

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Album Review: Randy Houser - Anything Goes
Brady Vercher

With his surprising debut single “Anything Goes,” which is currently sittin’ pretty at #18 on Billboard, Randy Houser showed a lot of promise. The subject of the song, predicated on the idea that the narrator’s moral compass relies on the presence of the love he lost, is similar in theme to Jamey Johnson’s “Mary Go Round,” only from a slightly different perspective. It’s real strength, however, lies in the believability of Houser’s vocal, which bears a strong resemblance to Ronnie Dunn with shades of Blake Shelton.

Like I said, though, that single hinted at great things to come, but Houser throws a rope-a-dope with the opening track on Anything Goes, and lets us know he’d rather shun his true talent and rock out instead. For someone who already receives comparisons to Dunn, “Boots On” treads familiar territory about a hard workin’ man looking for a good time.

Likewise, the other rockers on the album don’t have much to offer, instead settling for validating Houser’s country cred. They’re designed to play alongside “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” by non-discerning listeners who want something to party to, despite Houser’s claims that he wouldn’t record a song like the polarizing Adkins cut.

As a whole, the album is fairly diverse, both stylistically and content-wise, which doesn’t exactly make for the best top-to-bottom listening experience. Aside from the rompers, there’s a talking number, a sensitive acoustic song, some ill-conceived falsettos, and a couple of soulful tunes. And amongst the lying, cheating, drinking, and sleeping around is a spiritual song, but considering the majority of the content, “Back To God” comes across as insincere and clocking in at over five minutes, the sermon lasts a little too long. It would actually be a moving song if it featured a softer production style and axed the guitar solo.

One song, “Strange,” serves as an apt description of slow-tempo “How Many Times.” Backed by a piano and Vince Gill with harmony vocals, it’s one of the soulful cuts and is well executed, but it awkwardly ponders how many times you can do a woman wrong before she leaves. It really is a bizarre cut that fails to invoke feelings of empathy for the narrator, but calls into question his aptitude instead.

Other than the title track, the highlights include the final track, “I’ll Sleep,” and “Lie,” which, when considered togther, highlight the discord of the album as a whole. The former song was written after Houser’s father died and is a loving remembrance of him while “Lie,” a talking story number in the vein of a Ray Scott tune, semi-humorously–or offensively, depending on your perception–discusses lying to women to sleep with them.

The themes on Anything Goes are atypical to contemporary country music, which would be a refreshing change of pace, but too often the songs settle for being different instead of superior. Randy Houser shows flashes of brilliance, but as demonstrated by his debut album, he lacks focus and needs to quit occupying the same territory as acts like Dunn and Toby Keith at their worst.

[S4C]

I had totally forgotten his album was coming out, so I was shocked to see this in Walmart the other day. I actually scanned the wrapping plastic pretty meticulously to make sure it wasn't a Walmart exclusive or something.. and ended up buying it. $10 and a free music download at Walmart's online music store was too good to pass up (especially when surrounded by CD's ranging $12-15).

Have yet to listen to it, though, because I've been really busy. But I love this song so much, I'm really excited to hear it.

[rowdawg21]

A more acoustic sounding version of this song was sent out to radio today. However, I don't think that can save it from going recurrent next week since it's down about 600k in audience this week.