Maddie & Tae - "Start Here"

[.indulgecountry]

Next single absolutely has to be "Shut Up and Fish." That song has #1 smash written all over it much like GIACS, imo. I think that it would do wonderfully well on country radio.

Then for the fourth single I'd pick either "Waitin' on a Plane" or "No Place Like You," because those are my other two favorite radio-friendly songs on the record, though maybe they could take a risk with another ballad. On the one hand it'd be a shame if "Fly" is the only ballad that sees a radio release from this great record, but on the other, the tracks with tempo are probably their best bet at building and maintaining success at radio.

[Deleted]

I got a follow from them on twitter! I will let them know how badly I want Shut Up and Fish to be released as the next single.

[Deleted]

I know that country music right now would probably never accept it but I'd love After The Storm Blows Thru to get released as a final song. Truly show radio what these girls are made of.

[Deleted]

I'm hoping they release at least another 3 singles. Ideally it would be Shut Up and Fish, Downside Of Growing Up and either Smoke or Sierra.

[Kanenrá:ke]

Love the album it's so beautiful to hear all the country instrumentation on an album that radio is supporting! I've been having a hard time ranking the tracks but so far it's looking like this...

01. "Sierra"
02. "After The Storm Blows Through"
03. "Shut Up And Fish"
04. "Fly"
05. "No Place Like You"
06. "Smoke"
07. "Downside Of Growing Up"
08. "Waitin' On A Plane"
09. "Girl In A Country Song"
10. "Your Side Of Town"
11. "Right Here, Right Now"

I'd go like this for singles:
01. "Girl In A Country Song"
02. "Fly"
03. "Shut Up And Fish"
04. "No Place Like You"
05. "After The Storm Blows Through"

[defying gravity]

Single Predictions:
Girl In A Country Song
Fly
Shut Up and Fish
Smoke
Downside of Growing Up

On their clip Behind The Song "Downside Of Growing Up", Maddie says that "Downside of Growing Up is her favorite song on the record by far, so I could definitely see that as a single at some point. It's just about as radio friendly as "Fly", if not more. I would love for "Smoke" to be a single, but that title may cause confusion (A Thousand Horses' debut single was released not too long ago). I feel like that's also the reason Florida Georgia Line didn't release their song "Smoke", but you never know.

[codyj100]

I'm only halfway through this album. WOW! So...how do I put it...country. It is nice to know that newcomers like Maddie & Tae that could be so easily swayed to put out more radio friendly material, have turned the tide in some way. Their lyrical content is so empowering, and they both have such beautiful voices to complement the album's instrumentation even more. "Shut Up And Fish" has to be the next single. 

[wonderstruck]

[Deleted]

I listened to this album as a casual fan of both "Fly" and "Girl In A Country Song," so I didn't really have any expectations of how I would feel about "Start Here" after deciding to give it a chance.

I've always been a huge fan of Country women duo/bands, (the Dixie Chicks are my favorite Country act of all-time), so I've really been yearning for someone to come in and fill that void of good female Country bands/duos.

That said, Maddie and Tae 100% blew me away with this album and surpassed every expectation I had; they have a new (big) fan in me.

It feels like it's been ages since we had a Country act that called themselves Country...and made ACTUAL Country music; Maddie and Tae clearly know (and love) Country music in terms of what it should sound like at its core, and I love that.
Their harmonies and lyrics and solid, but the instrumentation (ACTUALLY COUNTRY?), made me so, so happy to hear from a mainstream act.

On first listen, the standouts (for me), were "Never Growing Up" and "After The Storm Blows Through," but the entire thing is absolutely stellar.

I get so sick of every act making countless excuses about being "Country," when it has to be a farce with so many who don't care about the roots/history of the genre, the traditional instrumentation, etc. in the slighest.

These ladies clearly KNOW what Country is, and there is no misrepresentation here.

Job well-done on a fantastic debut album that proves there are artists out there who still know/care about Country music.

[draggintheriver]

I've had this album on repeat for the past week. I can't find a single flaw in it. I hope these girls stay around for a long time.

[carriekins]

Sept 4, 2015 15:18:05 GMT -5 draggintheriver said:

I've had this album on repeat for the past week. I can't find a single flaw in it. I hope these girls stay around for a long time.

Only flaw I can find is it's too short. ;)

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2015 15:36:13 GMT -5 carriekins said:

Sept 4, 2015 15:18:05 GMT -5 draggintheriver said:

I've had this album on repeat for the past week. I can't find a single flaw in it. I hope these girls stay around for a long time.

Only flaw I can find is it's too short. ;)

Even with the Target Deluxe ;)

[carriekins]

Sept 4, 2015 15:45:29 GMT -5 zack97 said:

Sept 4, 2015 15:36:13 GMT -5 carriekins said:

Only flaw I can find is it's too short. ;)

Even with the Target Deluxe ;)

The fact that it's the last two songs repeated and that they don't sound all that different acoustically drives my husband insane.

[wonderstruck]

[.indulgecountry]

I was kind of irked that I went to Target and was basically forced to pay extra for those two acoustic tracks that I.... haven't even listened to yet. I just can't bring myself to play them back-to-back with the way they're repeats of the two directly in front of them. Plus, I'm not a fan of acoustic tracks really. I wish they'd put more songs on the album. I remember one called "Take Me on Home" from awhile back that got put up somewhere that sounded glorious but it didn't make the album. :(

[Cody Wants Out...]

I'll do a track-by-track later, but first things first: my mind kinda fainted when I first saw this thread over a week before the album came out (still getting used to Friday releases). The album itself took a small handful of listens to get used to, but it's pretty darn awesome...and it sounds like actual country music! It's also awesome to hear that DCX was one of their influences; it definitely shows on this record.

[josephmorgan]

Start Here debuts at #7 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Country Albums with 28,000 overall units sold.

[trebor]

Debuts at #3 on the Official UK Country Artist Albums Chart. Doesn't make the Official General Album Chart, though.
Starts at #5 on the Australian ARIA Country Albums Chart and #49 on the main Album chart.

[M&TSwiftie]

Sept 6, 2015 23:14:06 GMT -5 josephmorgan said:

Start Here debuts at #7 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Country Albums with 28,000 overall units sold.

that's a good start it'll start slow but I'm sure it'll go gold and platinum eventually :)

[onebuffalo]

Sept 6, 2015 23:14:06 GMT -5 josephmorgan said:

Start Here debuts at #7 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Country Albums with 28,000 overall units sold.

I'm sure that number would have been higher had the CD been released right after Girl In A Country Song hit the top in December. Glad to see it finally saw the light.

[Marv]

Absolutely the best country CD of this year, and one of my top three CDs of the past 18 months alongside The Way I'm Living by Lee Ann Womack and Provoked by Sunny Sweeney. I cannot recall any previous era when the overwhelming majority of the best country CDs and singles have been by females by a breathtakingly enormous margin.

It's a staggering indictment of the state of country radio, which has deteriorated extremely fast over the past three years, much like top 40 radio similarly self destructed between 1989-92 in falling from first to fourth in total listeners and not showing any signs of recovery and fixing their self-created mistakes either in terms of listening levels or number of stations for over 15 years.

Here's hoping that the bro-country addiction starts to fade, and that the format returns to the sky-high levels of songwriting and actually having the best songs do much better on the airplay charts real soon.

This CD is a masterpiece which offers irrefutable proof of how really extraordinary country music can be when originality and creativity supersede a slew of testosterone-drmakeover in the shirtest possible time possible.enile copycats who continue to hog the charts with really trite music far too fixated on far too few subjects.

These ladies are a superb asset for country radio and country music, and I certainly hope they become format superstars or at least format staples at a format which really needs a makeover

[someguy]

I'm a little late, as I finally just picked this up today (and gave it my first couple of listens). I love this though, easily one of the best of the year, and one of the best debut albums from the last decade or so (and I don't think that's exaggerating). I love their harmonies, and the use of actual country instruments on the album. Such a pleasant listen.

So far, I would rank the songs:

1. Downside Of Growing Up
2. Shut Up And Fish
3. Girl In A Country Song
4. Sierra
5. Waitin' On A Plane
6. After The Storm Blows Through
7. Fly
8. Right Here, Right Now
9. No Place Like You
10. Smoke
11. Your Side Of Town

I even really like "Your Side Of Town" though...there really is not a weak link on here. I hope they see great success with this excellent album.