Artists that you used to like, but now you don't

[trustypepper]

Jason Aldean is the big one for me. "Burnin' It Down" was atrocious and mostly everything he has released since has been rather bland and boring.

Unlike many, I loved Luke's Crash My Party era, but his latest era has been a major disappointment.

And obviously "Live Forever" turned me off to The Band Perry, a group I once adored when they released gems such as "If I Die Young," "You Lie," and "Done." I'm still confident they can return to form though.

[sabre14]

I see most posting that Aldean was likable pre-Night Train or the first 3-4 albums, but for me, Aldean starting gradually going downhill the day that Broken Bow released "She's Country." He definitely had some good songs since 2008/2009 like "The Truth" (my favorite Aldean song), "Tattoos On This Town", "Fly Over States" and "Night Train", but overall he's been a rather forgettable artist, especially the past two albums.

The only two Aldean albums I loved were his self-titled debut and Relentless.

[Cody Wants Out...]

sabre14, I also found Aldean's first two albums to be great, but I also enjoyed most of My Kinda Party and from the Wide Open era, I really think the title track should've been the final single instead of the awkward "Crazy Town". I do think the quality of his music, especially the singles, has diminished drastically over time starting with the Night Train album and into this current era (literally most of the album went in one ear and out the other for me). I liked "Tonight Looks Good on You" a little bit, but it's not enough for me to overlook that ultra-hot mess of an experiment that we know as "Burnin' It Down". I may be the only one thinking this, but I see him starting to lose relevance pretty soon, and it wouldn't surprise me if that happens this year.

The Band Perry must be on somethin' strong to put out junk like "Live Forever" and change their appearance from day (debut and Pioneer) to night (pitiful pop group wannabes).

Rascal Flatts is another group that I'm disappointed with; I started counting strikesfrom Unstoppable and wasn't really able to stop so by the time Changed came around, I put up my white flag. If they're only gonna put out albums with only two or three halfway decent songs on them at this point, then I'll find someone else to root for.

I swear, the current state of country radio and the quality of today's country music as a whole is giving me such a headache that I'm finding other sources of entertainment (which is why I'm not posting as much on here).

[brinkeronline]

Rascal Flatts were the only country artist I listened to in High School.

Now their stuff simply comes off as pandering for money and radio spins.

The opposite effect (didn't care for when they first came out but now love) is happening to me for Lauren Alaina - she's a gem!

[Deleted]

So well here are a couple of other acts I'm kind of over.

Easton Corbin- I loved his debut and thought he could improve. Then his second album was rather mediocre along with releasing the atrocity that was the title track. Something in it bugged me. Clockwork was agreeable enough alas forgetful too. Then he released Baby Be My Love Song a blatant bro-country song and sure enough the rest of the album followed suit and his career is probably going to end soon at least his mainstream relevance along with Billy Currington I'm willing to say.

Miranda Lambert- Now before I get pelted with tomatoes. Let me explain, I just honestly feel like ever since she's been with Blake Shelton (now divorced) her music lacked a certain punch. Songs like Baggage Claim felt like they were trying way too hard to be sassy and instead came off as whiny. Over You was a snoozer. Fastest Girl In Town was loud for the sake of being loud and was pointless. Mamas Broken Heart was a step in the right direction. All Kinds Of Kinds was also a good song. Automatic was well I share similar thoughts another poster has (I don't like it). Something Bad was an overproduced mess (I only gave it a pass cause I liked Carrie Underwood part that's it) Little Red Wagon was a wannabe "Fastest Girl In Town" that's not a compliment and finally Smoking and Drinking or the song I like to say that had so much potential but failed a lot to meet expectations. So I've been kinda off the Miranda Lambert train for awhile I'm just sick of this whole "Bad Girl" shtick that's she's done it's overused and annoying.

[thy4568]

Lorrie Morgan -- many people often complain the restrictions major labels put on them. But many a times those restrictions make the artist work harder, find better songs and sing better. I love Lorrie's 90s albums, songs like "Faithfully," "Greater Need," "Somethig in Red," and even her duet album with Sammy Kershaw were good.

But her last few records were not good. Her latest "Letting Go... Slow" sounds like she's trying to re-live the 90s desperately. And her voice sounds so haggard and her upper registers are shot. And her song choices are no longer sharp and she seems to be served second rate songs.

[Uncle Lumpy]

I used to like a ton of artists , that I simply cant stomach anymore.

I loved Chris Youngs first two albums but Neon started a tumble that he has never recovered from.

Billy Curringtons latest album makes me think hes following the same road. After a fairly strong discography (and just a great and unique voice).

Clint Black is another artist That took a baffling nose dive in quality. I would easily put his debut "Killing Time" album in the top ten best albums of all time but his music took a slow, sad downturn after that. I always chalked it up to a happy marriage , but I also believe his insistence on recording only songs from his own pen played a part as well. His latest album is the first studio album I decided to not waste my money on, but that decision probably should have been made 3 or 4 albums back.


But more than any other recent artist :Luke Bryan. I had gotten a hold of a advance copy of his debut album way ahead of its release & was just floored by the majority of it . But after his third album I just can't stomach him anymore. Its really hard to believe the same guy that recorded gems like "The Car In Front Of Me" & "You Don't Know Jack" has devolved to the point of performing "stuff" like THIS...... what ever this is......

[Colton]

Kelly Clarkson

[onebuffalo]

Feb 17, 2016 12:12:54 GMT -5 Colton said:

Kelly Clarkson

Why? Kelly Clarkson has not had much of an impact in country, despite scoring two top two hits: Because Of You with Reba McEntire (#2 in 2007) and Don't You Wanna Stay with Jason Aldean (#1 in 2011).

[Colton]

Feb 17, 2016 12:22:40 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Feb 17, 2016 12:12:54 GMT -5 Colton said:

Kelly Clarkson

Why? Kelly Clarkson has not had much of an impact in country, despite scoring two top two hits: Because Of You with Reba McEntire (#2 in 2007) and Don't You Wanna Stay with Jason Aldean (#1 in 2011).

i just realized this thread was made in the country section 

[onebuffalo]

Feb 17, 2016 12:49:01 GMT -5 Colton said:

Feb 17, 2016 12:22:40 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Why? Kelly Clarkson has not had much of an impact in country, despite scoring two top two hits: Because Of You with Reba McEntire (#2 in 2007) and Don't You Wanna Stay with Jason Aldean (#1 in 2011).

i just realized this thread was made in the country section 

You realized that AFTER clicking on the country section of this website? Nice.

[Colton]

Feb 17, 2016 12:50:51 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Feb 17, 2016 12:49:01 GMT -5 Colton said:

i just realized this thread was made in the country section 

You realized that AFTER clicking on the country section of this website? Nice.

first of all i'm on mobile and second of all i found the thread here pulsemusic.proboards.com/threads/recent

it's not gonna make the country section extremely visible 

[Andy]

Feb 17, 2016 11:36:56 GMT -5 Uncle Lumpy said:

I used to like a ton of artists , that I simply cant stomach anymore.

I loved Chris Youngs first two albums but Neon started a tumble that he has never recovered from.

Billy Curringtons latest album makes me think hes following the same road. After a fairly strong discography (and just a great and unique voice).

Clint Black is another artist That took a baffling nose dive in quality. I would easily put his debut "Killing Time" album in the top ten best albums of all time but his music took a slow, sad downturn after that. I always chalked it up to a happy marriage , but I also believe his insistence on recording only songs from his own pen played a part as well. His latest album is the first studio album I decided to not waste my money on, but that decision probably should have been made 3 or 4 albums back.


But more than any other recent artist :Luke Bryan. I had gotten a hold of a advance copy of his debut album way ahead of its release & was just floored by the majority of it . But after his third album I just can't stomach him anymore. Its really hard to believe the same guy that recorded gems like "The Car In Front Of Me" & "You Don't Know Jack" has devolved to the point of performing "stuff" like THIS...... what ever this is......

I agree with all of these, especially Clint Black. I agree that Killin' Time is one of the greatest debut albums of all-time and likely among the overall best as well. All of the singles are absolute top-shelf and the non-single material isn't that far behind. But while he still had some good songs after that, his output steadily declined in quality. I too passed on his latest album after reading the reviews. I doubt it's terrible, but I doubt it's particularly memorable, either. Just like most of his material in the second half of his career.

It's a shame, because I think if he could have maintained the quality of Killin' Time (or at least come reasonably close), right now he'd probably be regarded as highly as, say, Alan Jackson and George Strait are, if not higher. That probably would have been possible if he was willing to record outside material. Alas, we'll never know for sure.

[thy4568]

I used to like Mary Chapin Carpenter. She used to have some really catchy tunes like "Passionate Kisses," "You Win Again," "Down at the Twist and Shout," "Shut Up and Kiss Me," "I Feel Lucky" and even her ballads were great, i.e., her duet with Joe Diffie. Then towards the end of her tenure with Sony, she decided to stop writing her fun and catchy songs. She then morphed into one of those piano-based singer songwriters who only write songs that sound alike. It was during this time I lost interest in her songs. They tend to mostly ballad that sound like one another.

Then she moved to Rounder where she got completely freedom to be self-indulgent. And self-indulgent she was. All her songs were mostly ballads with nothing that jumps right at you. I don't blame radio for dropping her like lead. Later, I lost interest in her latter Rounder albums. Her last movie album was supposed to be good. But again it was far too dull despite the lush orchestrations.

Sometimes I wonder: (1) did she deliberately give up writing hits to pacify radio, or (2) did her ideas dry up, as it is a challenge o write a song that people can remember, or (3) she got lazy and started to use the same "balladry" template again and again.

I find it interesting how her career morphed....

[Deleted]

I have another artist I'm over.

Randy Houser. His last album for me was generic and every song ran together after a while with being bland nothing's and outside of "Like A Cowboy" his single releases since his breakthrough have left me frustrated as his debut album was great but now he's catering to radio too much.

[thy4568]

John Michael Montgomery -- used to adore his love songs like "I Swear," "Rope the Moon," "I Love the Way You Love Me," but now they sound cheesy. Maybe from overplay?

Toby Keith -- love his earlier stuff. But after he started having the brash patriotic songs, I no longer eagerly wait for his new records. Don't hate his music, just no longer enthused.

Mary Chapin Carpenter -- all her Sony albums were superb! "Shooting Straight in the Dark" is top class. But after Sony, she seemed to have lost her muse. All her songs become slow, wordy and tuneless. And she calls it artistic freedom?

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Jun 16, 2016 23:09:06 GMT -5 thy4568 said:

Mary Chapin Carpenter -- all her Sony albums were superb! "Shooting Straight in the Dark" is top class. But after Sony, she seemed to have lost her muse. All her songs become slow, wordy and tuneless. And she calls it artistic freedom?

I've noticed this with other artists who have a similarly thoughtful, introspective bent to them, like Rosanne Cash or Rodney Crowell. A friend of mine is a big Rosanne Cash fan, but dislikes most of her modern stuff because of how wordy and moody her newer stuff is. He also said that in concert, she never seems to sing any of her 80s tunes like "Seven Year Ache" or "Tennessee Flat Top Box", and focuses exclusively on her newer moody stuff.

I also noticed it with Rodney when I first heard "Please Remember Me". How did the same guy who came up with a witty winner like "She's Crazy for Leavin'" devolve into an overblown emo ballad like that? Same thing with all of his 2000s stuff whenever I heard it on "Altville" about a decade ago: it was all whiny, tuneless navel gazing.

This has me wondering: if Sturgill Simpson's current output is so layered and cerebral that you need a master's in psychology just to figure out what his songs are even about, what the hell will he be putting out in 20 years?

[countrymusicjunkie]

Feb 17, 2016 11:36:56 GMT -5 Uncle Lumpy said:

Clint Black is another artist That took a baffling nose dive in quality. I would easily put his debut "Killing Time" album in the top ten best albums of all time but his music took a slow, sad downturn after that. I always chalked it up to a happy marriage , but I also believe his insistence on recording only songs from his own pen played a part as well. His latest album is the first studio album I decided to not waste my money on, but that decision probably should have been made 3 or 4 albums back.

I couldn't agree more. In the early 90's Clint was one of my very favorite artists, and I still listen to his early stuff a lot, but he went down hill in quality as bad as anyone I can think of. I think you may be right about his happy marriage playing a role in the decline in quality, if I never hear any of his sappy love songs again it'll be too soon.

[Deleted]

Just wanted to note that I moved the last 9 posts in this thread to the Sturgill Simpson Discussion thread in the Artist Discussion K-Z forum, as we'd gotten off on...quite a tangent from the thread topic ("artists that you used to like, but now you're over")

Not a big deal at all -- just thought I'd make an explanatory post, in case any of you were wondering where those posts went! :)

[babybuffalo]

Jake Owen - I was OBSESSED with his debut album. Looked for unreleased songs of his online. Joined the fan community. Went to see Brad Paisley because he was opening.

Every album since then my interest has dropped. I think besides my disappointment in his song choices his frat boy personality wore thin. I never cared about how popular he was becoming on social media. I still love that first album, and really liked Anywhere With You, Barefoot Bluejean Night but I don't have near the interest I used to in his career.