Rank The Albums: Josh Turner

[rsandcm1]

Another round to rank some studio albums:


1.Everything Is Fine (2007): If LBT was Josh in pure form, how could EIF be a better album? Well, it's because he takes what he already does well and expands on it by trying out new sounds and songs. Mr. Turner stays true to his neo-traditional country that he loves ("So Not My Baby","Everything Is Fine") with fun ("Firecracker") and heart ("Another Try"), while also dipping his toe in R&B ("Nowhere Fast") and Celtic ("The Longer The Waiting..."). If you want to see Josh being Josh, listen to LBT. But if you want to see him stretch his boundaries but stay true country with stellar results, give EIF a shot.
2.Long Black Train (2003): As just a fresh-faced kid starting in the business, this is an excellent beginning. From well done original songs ("Long Black Train","Jacksonville") to great covers ("You Don't Mess Around With Jim","The Difference Between A Woman And A Man"), this is Josh Turner in pure form.
3.Punching Bag (2012): Though there are cliched parts and one or two boring songs ("Whatcha Reckon"), PB is able to show off Josh's creative side more than any other album. From the boxing intro to his children singing along, this shows him at his most fun and comfortable with himself.
4(tie). Your Man (2006) & Haywire (2010): Just because these two are at the bottom does not mean they are bad albums, just that they don't work as well as they could like Josh's other studio efforts. Both records contain tracks that could be considered Josh Turner classics in the future ("Would You Go With Me"/"As Fast As I Could"). Unfortunately, although Mr. Turner is an amazing singer and neo-traditionalist, his writing can be a little lacking sometimes, leaving some songs on the albums that can be almost uncomfortable to listen to ("White Noise"/"Eye Candy"). And for the most part, this leaves great songs at the front of both albums, and not-so-great songs weighing down the back.

What does everyone else think?

P.S.:I hope the new album gets released soon, because I need new Josh music.

[Kentucky25]

As a disclaimer to all Josh Turner fans, I am merely a casual fan of his, usually cherry-picking singles I like from albums. I have listened to all of them, but he’s never been an artist I could get fully invested in. I will say that I absolutely loved “Lay Low” and if his new album is anything like that, it will be in strong contention to be high on my rankings.

1. Everything Is Fine (2007):
Favorite Tracks: “So Not My Baby”, “Nowhere Fast”, Everything is Fine”, and “Another Try”
“Firecracker” is a head shaker for me, just never like it at all. “The Longer the Waiting” is a hauntingly beautiful song. “So Not My Baby” and “Everything is Fine” are great neo-traditional Country songs that Josh sings so well. And speaking of hauntingly beautiful, “Another Try” is a masterpiece of a song.

2. Haywire (2010):
Favorite Tracks: “As Fast As I Could”, “Why Don’t We Just Dance?”, “All Over Me”
“As Fast as I Could” stands out as the best song on the album. The build into the chorus and the production set a mood that fits the song’s lyrics perfectly. “I Wouldn’t Be a Man” is a song that I like/dislike 50/50, nothing wrong about it, it’s just sometimes it is simply a song I don’t want to hear.

3. Long Black Train (2003):
Favorite Tracks: “She’ll Go On You”, “What It Ain’t”, “I Had One One Time”
The “She’ll Go On You” and “I Had One One Time” combo may stand as my two favorite Josh Turner songs, but the rest of the album doesn’t do much for me. I cannot praise those two song enough though and on the strength of these two songs I rank it as highly as I do.

4. Your Man (2006)
Favorite Tracks: “Would You Go With Me?” “Angels Fall Sometimes”, and “Your Man”
“Me and God” is a song that I have burned out on long ago, as with “Long Black Train”, but the other songs keep the album as a middle-of-the-pack ranking. I consider “Would You Go With Me?” to be the career defining song for Turner and the one that will stand long past the others.

5. Punching Bag (2012):
Favorite Tracks: “Time is Love”
I had high hopes for this album as a casual fan of Josh Turner, but it disappointed greatly. So much so that I had forgotten “Time is Love” wasn’t just a standalone single until I went back and checked for this album.
Picking between Long Black Train and Your Man was quite difficult and on another day the two might have been flipped.

[bboat11]

Album Ranking:

1) Punching Bag - Album Score: A (95%)

 
Favorite Tracks: "Punching Bag", "Time Is Love", "Pall Bearer", "I Was There"

As a whole, this is a very strong album. There are definitely a few songs that could have been successful singles, if only the label hadn't botched the era by releasing "Find Me A Baby". This album seems to have the least filler of all his albums, which contributes greatly to why it is #1 for me.

2) Live Across America - A (93.33%)

This album features basically all of his hits up through the Haywire album, and he also has an amazing live voice. How could I not love this album?

3) Everything Is Fine - A- (91.67%)

Favorite Tracks: "Another Try", "Baby I Go Crazy", "The Longer The Waiting (The Sweeter The Kiss)", "One Woman Man", "Soulmate"

This album has so many standout songs, and hardly any of them were singles! And excellent album tracks can truly make an album better. I certainly didn't dislike the other singles not mentioned in my favorites list, but they are just average compared to the high quality of the ones I listed. "One Woman Man" is especially awesome; it so should have been a single!

4) Haywire - B+ (89.23%)

Favorite Tracks: "Why Don't We Just Dance", "I Wouldn't Be A Man", "Lovin' You On My Mind", "As Fast As I Could", "I'll Be There", "The Answer"

I know it was met with a mixed reception on Pulse, but "I Wouldn't Be A Man" is by far my favorite Josh Turner song. This was my first album of his, and I purchased it simply on the strength of that song! This album unfortunately has a few filler tracks, but they are still pretty strong filler tracks, so I still enjoy it as a whole.

5) Long Black Train - B (87.27%)

Favorite Tracks: "Long Black Train", "Jacksonville", "She'll Go On You", "The Difference Between A Woman And A Man"

Overall this was a pretty solid debut effort. For the most part the best songs were released as singles, with the glaring omission being "Jacksonville." I enjoy this album as a whole, but I can see where some people might dislike it because it does have a lot of filler.

6) Your Man - B- (81.82%)

Favorite Tracks: "Would You Go With Me", "Your Man",  "Lord Have Mercy On A Country Boy"

By far his weakest album. Ironically it's his one of his biggest albums hits-wise The two big hits are the only truly excellent songs, though "Lord Have Mercy On A Country Boy" is pretty close too in terms of catchiness. It definitely would have been a better single than the awful "Me And God". (I know Ralph Stanley is an icon, but come on... The guy is so old it sounds like Josh is duetting with a computer synthesized ghost...)

Artist Average: B+ (89.72%)

I have always loved Josh Turner's voice. It is pure velvety sexiness. And yes, I can say that as a straight male! He is also undeniably country. Like, there is never even a single song that seems to pander to trends. That being said, I find his albums to be slightly lacking in general. They have gotten stronger later in his career, but at times it definitely feels as if there are too many filler tracks. I do not absolutely love any of his albums as a whole. However, there are huge standout songs on each of them that make each one worth listening to. I really hope his new album gets released at some point soon, because "Lay Low" was fantastic!

[gonecountry]

1. Everything Is Fine (2007): LOVE THIS ALBUM - Back to front
Favorite Tracks: “Everything is Fine”, "South Carolina Low Country", "The Way He Was Raised" and “Firecracker”
“Everything is Fine”, "South Carolina Low Country", and "The Way He Was Raised" are three of my favorite country songs. They each tell such a descriptive story. "One Woman Man" is a great cover of a great George Jones tune.

2. Live Across America (Cracker Barrel release) (2013)
Favorite Tracks: “All Over Me", Everything is Fine”, "Long Black Train". If you like concert albums, this is a great one.

3. Your Man (2006)
Favorite Tracks: “Lord Have Mercy On a Country Boy", Would You Go With Me?” “Way Down South”, and “Your Man”
“Lord Have Mercy On a Country Boy" is another incredible remake in my opinion. He has done some great covers (including King of the Road) that can be found on youtube. I'd love a covers album by Josh.

4. Haywire (2010):
Favorite Tracks: “As Fast As I Could”, “All Over Me”
“Why Don't We Just Dance" has been overplayed IMO. Not a bad album but not overly memorable

3. Long Black Train (2003):
Favorite Tracks: “Long Black Train”, “What It Ain’t”
Outside of the above two song, the album wasn't overly memorable IMO


5. Punching Bag (2012):
Favorite Tracks: “Time is Love” and "Find Me A Baby" (was pretty good)
I have this and barely remember anything from the album.

"Everything is Fine" and the Live Cracker Barrel CD are standouts. I like Josh and really hope there is a new album out in 2016. Such a great voice, was sorry that "Lay Low" didn't do better - what a great song..

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I haven't heard all of his albums, but I remember Long Black Train being really really weak when I listened to it last. "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man" is a meandering nothingness that's by far the worst Bobby Braddock song I've ever heard. Other songs were crippled by bad lyrics: "Unburn All Our Bridges" -- how the hell do you "unburn" something? "I Had One One Time", "Good Woman Bad", "She'll Go on You" (again, the title makes me think of a baby accidentally peeing on someone) and a weaksauce cover of Jim Croce. Of course, "Long Black Train" is still a freaking masterpiece, and I liked "What It Ain't" (WATZ still breaks it out now and then) and one or two other tracks. But other than that, man, what a weak album.

[Andy]

Mar 2, 2016 21:01:26 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I haven't heard all of his albums, but I remember Long Black Train being really really weak when I listened to it last. "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man" is a meandering nothingness that's by far the worst Bobby Braddock song I've ever heard. Other songs were crippled by bad lyrics: "Unburn All Our Bridges" -- how the hell do you "unburn" something? "I Had One One Time", "Good Woman Bad", "She'll Go on You" (again, the title makes me think of a baby accidentally peeing on someone) and a weaksauce cover of Jim Croce. Of course, "Long Black Train" is still a freaking masterpiece, and I liked "What It Ain't" (WATZ still breaks it out now and then) and one or two other tracks. But other than that, man, what a weak album.

I agree it's a fairly weak album. I revisited it last year around Thanksgiving and found it rather forgettable outside of the two singles.

I'm not familiar with all of Josh's albums to do a thorough ranking (I think, on balance, his material is decent but not especially great), but I will say I quite like Your Man and especially Everything is Fine.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I remember hearing several tracks from Your Man previewed on a show that did that kind of thing, and a couple other tracks jumped out to me, particularly "Loretta Lynn's Lincoln".

[bboat11]

.indulgecountry, I am surprised we haven't heard any of your thoughts here! I know Josh is one of your favorite male artists :) I would be eager to hear your thoughts on his albums!!

[.indulgecountry]

bboat11 the reason I hadn't responded yet is because this is so hard. :'(

1. Haywire
2. Punching Bag
3. Everything Is Fine
4. Your Man
5. Long Black Train

I really like all of these albums (which I guess should be obvious since he's my favorite male country singer), so this ranking could easily fluctuate a bit. <3