Ashley Monroe - "The Blade"

[wonderstruck]

[sabre14]

Great album -- like really great album. There's some tracks that can easily be singles at radio and not feel terribly out of place on mainstream radio but there's a lot of traditional feel to The Blade, particularly the last few tracks on the record. Justin Niebank is such a great producer and someone I wish more artists used.

My favorite tracks are "Weight Of The Load" (terrific instrumentals in this track), "I Buried Your Love Alive" (love me some Matraca Berg penned tunes), "If The Devil Don't Want Me", "Mayflowers" and "I'm Good At Leavin'" (could easily see Miranda singing this one herself). Those last three tracks are so refreshing to hear from an artist on a major label, lol. The sounds of the steel guitar and fiddles just blare out of my speakers with easy going melodies that put a smile on my face.

"On To Something Good" was the correct choice for the lead single but it's lackluster peak leaves me pessimistic about any other song doing reasonably well on country radio. Perhaps the bloodbath that was March through May on the charts is partly to blame, so there is that to talk myself that Ashley can get a top 40 out of this album but I know that she hasn't been a radio artist for the duration of her career.

This album is absolutely fabulous though and well worth the listen. :)

[Deleted]

I'm gonna wait to see what critics say. I'm not gonna lie I was a little nervous about it. Since Ashley Monroe's song On To Something Good got criticized for no country element Ashley sounded bored while singing. Hearing Sabre say that is a relief. I hope to get a copy for my baby.

[rsmatto]

This is a great, great record. But sabre14, it's not JUST Justin Niebank. Vince Gill also co-produced. I saw most of this record live in addition to having the advance tracks. It's easily one of 2015's best.

[sabre14]

Jul 16, 2015 17:45:27 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

This is a great, great record. But sabre14, it's not JUST Justin Niebank. Vince Gill also co-produced. I saw most of this record live in addition to having the advance tracks. It's easily one of 2015's best.

Oh I know Vince co-produced the album with Justin, but I figured I single Niebank out since I'm sure many here know who Vince Gill is, but not Justin Niebank, lol. :)

Almost every record Justin Niebank has produced I've enjoyed, including some of his mixing work on other albums.

[Deleted]

Here's the Spotify link so that this thread can remain viable:

[.indulgecountry]

This album is magnificent and I'm not even halfway through it yet on my first listen (just got home from Target ). But good gracious, I just LOVE her voice to pieces and her music is so, so wonderful. I wish Ashley Monroe got the same kind of attention from the general public/award shows/etc. as Kacey Musgraves.

[sabre14]

Jul 24, 2015 14:28:25 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

This album is magnificent and I'm not even halfway through it yet on my first listen (just got home from Target ). But good gracious, I just LOVE her voice to pieces and her music is so, so wonderful. I wish Ashley Monroe got the same kind of attention from the general public/award shows/etc. as Kacey Musgraves.

This album is absolutely phenomenal. When over at my parents I actually played "The Blade" for my father and he said that might be his favorite song he's heard from any country artist this year -- and he's actually buying the album on his way home from work today. :)

It's a shame that "On To Something Good" got lost in the shuffle (this past spring was just horrible timing for so many artists singles) because Warner made it a point to get Ashley some airplay this album era; unfortunately many country listeners never got a chance to hear that lead single.

I'm hopeful this album can sell well like Traveller did earlier this year and show that many still crave great country music like this. "The Blade" is awesome but I might put it as the fourth or fifth best track on the album, it's that good.

[.indulgecountry]

Instagram is so fun. I posted a picture of the album after I bought it and it was 'liked' by Josh Gracin, several indie Nashville musicians/artists, and one of the songwriters (Jamie Floyd) of the title track. #random but I thought it was kinda neat. :)

[Daryl the Beryl]

87 on Metacritic!

[George Strait Junkie]

played this album alot since it came out so now i can give my review on it

1. If The Devil Dont Want Me - hands down the best on the album i can relate i've asked this too many times lol
2. I'm Good At Leavin' - classic country song Ashley pulls it off so damn good
3. Dixie - i can relate to this one too i wish i could get outta my town as well. great song
4. Mayflowers - a great ole country ballad. love the melody sounds like a melody from a old Haggard song
5. Winning Streak - If Losing's A Game I'm On A Winning Streak - yup i've lived that line lol
6. The Blade - what a great written song
7. Bomshell
8. Has Anybody Ever Told You
9. From Time To Time
10. Weight of The Load
11. I Buried Your Love Alive
12. On To Something Good
13. If Love Was Fair

[Zeebz]

Stellar album. It's the best album I've heard all year and I didn't think anything could beat Pageant Material. Every single song is an instant favorite. "The Blade", "I Buried Your Love Alive", "Dixie", "If Love Was Fair", and "I'm Good At Leavin'" are my favorites but it's so hard to choose because I love them all. This'll be on repeat for the next few months. I need to check out her other material for sure.

[codyj100]

Like Zeebz said above, I didn't think anything could beat Kacey's Pageant Material. However, THIS does. The album came in the mail this morning and I am halfway through it now. Every song is so enjoyable. I really do enjoy most anything that Vince and Justin team up on, though. Sheryl Crow's Feels Like Home was one of my favorite albums from 2013, and now The Blade will easily be one of my favorites - if not, the best of the year. (That of course, will remain unknown until the end of the year), but as it stands right now, I doubt anything coming out later this year could reach the caliber of Ashley and this album. I don't know that I can pick just one particular favorite, because every song that follows the first is just as good. Her voice is beautiful on "Has Anybody Ever Told You." Has anyone read the liner notes? She talks about a prayer that she wrote after her Dad passed away, and it is SO true to how she has played out in the music business. Female Vocalist of the Year? At least New Artist? Ugh, SO GOOD! 

[Kanenrá:ke]

Love the album and I'm loving the evolution she's showing with each album. I still love Satisfied & Like A Rose a lot but this is easily her best work.

My rankings so far (may change as time goes on.)

01. "Mayflowers"
02. "The Blade"
03. "If The Devil Don't Want Me"
04. "Has Anybody Ever Told You"
05. "I'm Good At Leavin'"
06. "Bombshell"
07. "I Buried Your Love Alive"
08. "Weight Of The Load"
09. "Dixie"
10. "If Love Was Fair"
11. "Winning Streak"
12. "From Time To Time"
13. "On To Something Good"

[codyj100]

Okay, I'll actually rank the songs for this album. For some reason, I get lazy about it with many of the others.

1. Has Anybody Ever Told You
2. The Blade
3. Mayflowers
4. Bombshell
5. If Love Was Fair
6. Winning Streak
7. If The Devil Don't Want Me
8. I Buried Your Love Alive
9. Dixie
10. I'm Good At Leavin'
11. Weight Of The Load
12. On To Something Good
13. From Time To Time

[.indulgecountry]

This was really hard to rank because I love all of these and a few of them could fluctuate pretty easily, but I tried anyway:

01. Dixie
02. If Love Was Fair
03. The Blade
04. If the Devil Don't Want Me
05. Bombshell
06. Mayflowers
07. On to Something Good
08. I'm Good at Leavin'
09. Has Anybody Ever Told You
10. Weight of the Load
11. From Time to Time
12. Winning Streak
13. I Buried Your Love Alive

I am pretty confident in at least my Top 3 though. <3

[codyj100]

Aug 3, 2015 2:08:53 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

This was really hard to rank because I love all of these and a few of them could fluctuate pretty easily, but I tried anyway:


I am pretty confident in at least my Top 3 though. <3

THIS is exactly how I feel. I had never ranked an album on Pulse before. Halfway through I was going to give up, because of course I had to go and pick one of the hardest albums to rank as the songs are all equal in quality. My list could change the more I listen to the album, but like you, .indulgecountry, I am confident in my top three. 

[Deleted]

The Blade sold 12,000 copies in its 1st week, according to Nielsen/Billboard. That was good for a debut of #2 on Top Country Albums this week, behind only Alan Jackson's Angels and Alcohol, which rose 2-1 in its 2nd week. Ashley's previous best position on Top Country Albums was #10 with Like A Rose.

12,000 copies...12,000 copies...hmmmm, where have I seen that number recently? Oh, that's right, that's as many copies as Canaan Smith's Bronco sold in its 1st week!! Hey radio, how come you play Canaan but you won't play Ashley? Canaan had a #1 single that was heard by millions and millions of people, yet none of them cared enough to buy his album. Ashley, on the other hand, has received virtually no airplay and yet 12,000 people didn't need radio to tell them that she had a new album out.

If Ashley had scored a hit as big as Canaan did, I'm sure The Blade would have sold well over 50k in its opening week, but of course we'll never know because "country radio" is too busy playing safe, boring, generic material and creating an extremely passive listening environment. Most listeners will buy a single or two from time to time, but they aren't truly supporting a lot of the new artists that radio plays. Meanwhile, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Aaron Watson, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, and now Ashley Monroe are out-selling so many rookie acts (mostly new male artists) that have the 'privilege' of being supported by radio. Something is backwards here...

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2015 20:29:44 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Meanwhile, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Aaron Watson, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, and now Ashley Monroe

You forgot Blackberry Smoke as well as Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen....

And between this and The Band Perry post, I like the ranting side of you way better than the business side :)

[onebuffalo]

Ashley Monroe covering John Mellencamp:

theboot.com/ashley-monroe-pink-houses/

[Deleted]

A fantastic feature on Ashley via Spin magazine:

www.spin.com/2015/08/ashley-monroe-pistol-annies/?utm_source=spinfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spinfacebook

[Deleted]

The Blade is free on Google Play this week!