Martina McBride Album Series Rankdowns

[bboat11]

I thought I’d be a big star by today,
But I been sleepin’ in a warehouse in West L.A.,
And it’s alright ‘cause it’s midnight
And I got two more bottles of wine.

7. "Two More Bottles Of Wine"

Track #7
Runtime: 3:16
Songwriters: Delbert McClinton
Vocal Range: B♭3 - C#5



Total: 117
Average: 7.31
Std Dev: 2.30 (2nd smallest)


codyj100 - 1
dub - 4
@adam1995 - 6
someguy - 7
kansasmeetsmo - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 7
.indulgecountry - 7
d3vin44 - 7
fearlessarrow - 8
bboat11 - 8
castleoblivion26 - 8
BlueShades874 - 9
tim - 9
Troublemaker - 9
Kanenrá:ke - 9
BackwoodsBarbie - 11

Leo ✔
cerulean
born


At first I was super concerned that this song was going to suffer the fate of being the song that gets tanked despite being really good. I was so thrilled that this ended up finishing at #7, which was its highest point in the submission process! I also cannot believe that I ranked this at #8, because I love everything about it... Martina's vocal is vibrant and full of saucy personality. But perhaps the most awesome part of this song is the instrumentation! This arrangement is delicious '90s perfection, folks! The piano solo is everything!

codyj100 becomes the first victim to lose their #1, while BackwoodsBarbie loses her #11. This means that Kanenrá:ke is the only one who has a #11 left. But 15 of us still have #1s! Every song that is left will start wiping out #1s, except for one.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Great Disguise
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Swingin’ Doors
Wild Angels

[bboat11]

This means that "A Great Disguise" is officially the last album track remaining! How much higher do you think it will make it??


Also, here are our remaining songs! Which one will be the last to miss the top 5?

A Great Disguise
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Swingin’ Doors
Wild Angels

[.indulgecountry]

"Swingin' Doors" will probably be next, followed by "A Great Disguise" is my guess.

[dub]

I LOVE "Two More Bottles of Wine" and right before I submitted I felt VERY bad about how low I ranked it. It's probably the song I've listened to most from this whole album over the years.

[bboat11]

But when the sun goes down

And the moon is high 

Your memory pulls me under like a strong riptide.

 I’m still in love with you; 

It’s all smoke and lights.

 I’m just a good pretender in a great disguise.

6. "A Great Disguise"

Track #4
Runtime: 4:04
Songwriters: Greg Barnhill, Hillary Kanter, Even Stevens
Vocal Range: F#3 - B4



Total: 94
Average: 5.88
Std Dev: 2.83 (2nd largest)


BackwoodsBarbie - 1
Kanenrá:ke - 2
kansasmeetsmo - 3
castleoblivion26 - 4
bboat11 - 4
tim - 4
dub - 5
Troublemaker - 6
someguy - 6
.indulgecountry - 6
BlueShades874 - 7
@adam1995 - 8
d3vin44 - 8
codyj100 - 10
fearlessarrow - 10
Cody Wants Out... - 10

Leo ✔
cerulean
born


Coming in at #6, we lose the very last song that was not a single on the album! This song seemed destined for the top 5 at first, but once the results started balancing out there was no chance or risk of this song ever peaking higher or lower than #6 in the rankdown. It easily trounced all the other album tracks, finishing over 20 points higher than "Two More Bottles Of Wine" did. However, it also got pummeled by all 5 of the singles from this album, as #5 placed almost 20 points higher than this one did. Several more people could have submitted lists and not affected this one's placement at all, so everyone who is disappointed to see this miss the top 5, you can rest easy knowing that it wasn't even close!

Anyway, this song is incredible! I cannot believe that we have 3 heathens in this rankdown who would say this is their 2nd-to-last-place song! This has always been a standout in her discography, and I always thought it should have been a single. The lyrics are SO well-crafted, and honestly the best part of the song. The semi-dated '90s production fits this song like a glove as well. I am disappointed that this missed the top 5, but I also LOVE everything that is left, so I am okay with how things are going!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Swingin’ Doors
Wild Angels

[bboat11]

Now that "A Great Disguise" has worn a path right out of this rankdown, here are your top 5!

Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Swingin’ Doors
Wild Angels

That's right folks, ALL 5 of the singles from this album ended up in the top 5! I think that is really cool, and I definitely cannot disagree with any of it because they are all incredible.

Let's see those top 5 predictions! I'll try to finish this up throughout the day tomorrow, since I'll be traveling home for Thanksgiving on Tuesday

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Noooooooooo!!! Lyrics of Great Disguise are beyond amazing, probably one of my all-time favourite. I love this song!

[.indulgecountry]

Wow @ 5/5 singles made Top 5! I thought based on some other comments made that "Swingin' Door" might miss out in favor of this one, but I guess not. It's definitely next though, lol.

[castleoblivion26]

"Two More Bottles Of Wine" is a great song and Martina sounds amazing on it. Am good with it being #7 though.

"A Great Disguise" I absolutely love this song, and it is easily a favorite of mine from this album. This song was also later covered by Pam Tillis on her Every Time album (the same album that featured "I Said A Prayer"). Her rendition is really great too!

My hopes and predictions:
5 ~ "Swingin' Doors"
4 ~ "Safe In The Arms Of Love"
3 ~ "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town"
2 ~ "Wild Angels"
1 ~ "Cry On The Shoulder of The Road"

Serious predictions:
5 ~ "Swingin' Doors"
4 ~ "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town"
3 ~ "Safe In The Arms of Love"
2 ~ "Cry On The Shoulder of The Road"
1 ~ "Wild Angels"

as much as I want to see "Cry On The Shoulder of The Road" be the #1 here I'll be shocked if "Wild Angels" is not #1. I also really wanna see "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town" make it to the Top 3 over "Safe In The Arms of Love" which I love but is definitely my least favorite of these 5 (which isn't saying much as I like them all!).

[BackwoodsBarbie]

My predictions:


5. Safe In The Arms Of Love
4. Swingin’ Doors
3. Wild Angels
2. Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
1. Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road

[BlueShades874]

A couple of these songs have really grown on me in the last week or so...All The Things We've Never Done being one. I somehow totally missed this song and never have listened to it before this rankdown. It grew on my pretty fast (and I believe I had it being my highest album track). The other is A Great Disguise. I didn't have it ranked all that high, but it grew quite a bit on me and I like it so much more now than I did the first time or two I heard it. Here's my predictions for the top five:


5. Cry on the Shoulder of the Road
4. Phones are Ringing All Over Town
3. Swinging Doors
2. Safe in the Arms of Love
1. Wild Angels

[codyj100]

NO! NO! NO! I’m getting caught up but my #1 is out before the top five. 

[bboat11]

Well, I’ve heard you’re back in town.

 I suppose you’ll come around 

When nights are cold and friends are hard to find.

5. "Swingin' Doors"

Track #5
Runtime: 3:28
Songwriters: Jim Foster, Chapin Hartford, Bobby Boyd
Vocal Range: G3 - D5



Total: 77
Average: 4.81
Std Dev: 2.37


codyj100 - 2
Cody Wants Out... - 2
BackwoodsBarbie - 2
.indulgecountry - 3
bboat11 - 3
Troublemaker - 4
@adam1995 - 4
castleoblivion26 - 5
someguy - 5
fearlessarrow - 5
BlueShades874 - 5
kansasmeetsmo - 6
d3vin44 - 6
dub - 6
tim - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 11


Leo ✔
cerulean
born



As much as people seemed to doubt this song's chances of making the top 5, it ended up being a contender for practically the entire submission process! Songs numbers 5-2 all ended up finishing incredibly close in points, and did a lot of swapping around, but this one was pretty much always in the back half of the singles. The song it was battling with ended up finishing at #3, shoving the primary #3 contender back to #4. The top 5 progress is always super interesting to watch in these Martina album rankdowns, because the songs are always so close in quality!

Anyway, I am pleased at how well "Swingin' Doors" did. I had also assumed going into this rankdown that this would be the lowest single, and probably end up lower than one or two of the album tracks. But I am SO glad that that was not the case, because this song deserves the top 5! This is one of the most delicious '90s production songs in Martina's entire catalog. The steel and piano in this arrangement are blended especially well. I am shocked this was a flop for her, because on the heels of "Safe in the Arms" and "Wild Angels", the remaining 3 singles should have been HUGE!








The official music video for this song is a live video!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Wild Angels

[bboat11]

Now that the well has run dry for "Swingin' Doors", there are 4 songs remaining. Kanenrá:ke lost the final #11 of the rankdown, and it was also the final song to not be ranked at #1 by anybody!

The next song, however, has the 3rd largest Standard Deviation in the rankdown, and was ranked #1 by multiple people. As I said above, it was on pace to finish at #3, but ultimately got pushed back to #4 because d3vin44 ranked it a little low right at the end.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I love this song. Melody on chorus and instrumentation on verses are amazing.
Entire album is great but I like this song and Great Disguise a little bit more than I like other songs so I'm a little sad to see them being eliminated back to back somewhere in the middle of rankdown.

[Cody Wants Out...]

WHAT?!?!?!?!? I was just starting to think of this as another #1 contender!

[bboat11]

And there ain’t no tellin’ what I’ll find, 

But I might as well move down the line 

‘Cause there’s no comfort here in your zip code.

4. "Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road"

Track #8
Runtime: 3:09
Songwriters: Matraca Berg, Tim Krekel
Vocal Range: E3 - D5



Total: 72
Average: 4.50
Std Dev: 2.78 (3rd largest)


castleoblivion26 - 1
Kanenrá:ke - 1
@adam1995 - 2
kansasmeetsmo - 2
dub - 2
someguy - 3
BackwoodsBarbie - 3
Cody Wants Out... - 4
.indulgecountry - 4
fearlessarrow - 4
tim - 6
bboat11 - 7
Troublemaker - 7
BlueShades874 - 8
codyj100 - 9
d3vin44 - 9


Leo ✔
cerulean
born


Just look at those rankings! 10 people put this in their top 5! There was no question that this song was destined for a top 5 finish. In fact, it flopped around between 2nd and 3rd place for most of the submission process, before falling to #4 with the final submission from d3vin44.

This song also has the rasp that I talked about after "You've Been Driving All The Time"! On the album version of this song, "steel guitar on the radio" is raspy! I still wish I knew how she did that...

Also, don't let my #7 ranking of this fool you. I love everything about this song! This is just such a strong album, and the top songs are all fairly even in quality, so I had trouble ranking this one in a way that felt like it was given justice.








I included both of these videos so people can hear the difference between the studio version and the single version. The official music video uses the single version, which is obviously a re-recording, as it has different vocal inflections throughout the song as well as melodic differences at the end of the song.



And here is a live version of the song featuring Levon Helm, who sang background vocals in the studio version as well.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Wild Angels

[bboat11]

BTW there was a hint!!!!!

Nov 20, 2017 17:44:46 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Now that the well has run dry for "Swingin' Doors", there are 4 songs remaining. Kanenrá:ke lost the final #11 of the rankdown, and it was also the final song to not be ranked at #1 by anybody!

The next song, however, has the 3rd largest Standard Deviation in the rankdown, and was ranked #1 by multiple people. As I said above, it was on pace to finish at #3, but ultimately got pushed back to #4 because d3vin44 ranked it a little low right at the end.

"It makes me feel a little low, steel guitar on the radio..."

[d3vin44]

I REALLY wanted to like this song, but it was a little slow and didn't go quite where I wanted it to. I wanted it to go deeper, and make me connect. It is a nice song and very country, but with a title like this, I wanted it to make me cry. haha So I'm glad that I could move this one to #4.

[bboat11]

Anyone ready for this top 3 reveal???

[bboat11]

He calls from work to tell her 

He’s sorry about last night. 

If he uses all the right words

 She’ll forgive him once again. 

But the phone just keeps on ringin’

And he knows that somethin’s wrong. 

He feels his heart start poundin’

 And his head begins to spin.

3. "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town"

Track #3
Runtime: 3:32
Songwriters: David MacKechnie, Marc Beeson, Kin Vassy
Vocal Range: G#3 - E♭5



Total: 68
Average: 4.25
Std Dev: 2.52


.indulgecountry - 1
d3vin44 - 1
castleoblivion26 - 2
someguy - 2
@adam1995 - 3
fearlessarrow - 3
tim - 3
BlueShades874 - 3
BackwoodsBarbie - 4
codyj100 - 5
Troublemaker - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 6
bboat11 - 6
Cody Wants Out... - 6
kansasmeetsmo - 8
dub - 10

Leo ✔
cerulean
born


Leading off the top 3, "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town" departs the rankdown right on time. As with the previous 2 songs, this song was destined to be a top 5 contender from the very beginning. It was battling with "Swingin' Doors" for 4th and 5th place for most of the rankdown, but made it as high as #2 once, and then settled for a #3 peak at the end. Two of our biggest Sara Evans fans see their #1 leave with this song, including d3vin44 whose #1 ranking of this helped it push past "Cry on the Shoulder" to finish at #3 right at the end.

Personally, I feel like I underranked this song quite a bit... This song is literally perfect! When I first got this album, this song was my favorite by a long shot! Unfortunately that means it has not been able to grow on me through the years the way everything else has, meaning I do not listen to it nearly as much as I used to. There are days I would still say this is my favorite, and there are others when I feel like it is more in the middle of the album. So despite my low-ish ranking, I am THRILLED to see this song make the top 3!!!

Also, this song has more of that awesome rasp that I love! In the 2nd verse, "If he uses all the right words..."

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Wild Angels

[d3vin44]

I had never heard this song and I am absolutely obsessed! This song gives me the feeling that I wanted from "Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road" when I saw the song title. This is perfection. Can not wait to leave work and play it! :)

[tim]

YES! I really enjoyed this one back in 1996 (of which yours truly will be doing the rankdown for that year sometime in 2018) and it has certainly aged well after all these years.

[dub]

I just really can't follow "Phones" because the rhyme scheme and melody throws me off. Like there's a lot of words in each line of the verses.

[fearlessarrow]

I hope my #1 is #1 and my #2 is #2 so that I can have a perfect top 5!!

[bboat11]

My heart’s not ready for the rockin’ chair. 

I need somebody who really cares. 

So tired of livin’ solitaire. 

Someday I’m gonna be safe in the arms of love.

2. "Safe In The Arms Of Love

Track #2
Runtime: 3:15
Songwriters: Mary Ann Kennedy, Pam Rose, Pat Bunch
Vocal Range: A3 - D5



Total: 62
Average: 3.88
Std Dev: 2.87 (1st largest!)


bboat11 - 1
Troublemaker - 1
kansasmeetsmo - 1
dub - 1
tim - 1
BlueShades874 - 1
fearlessarrow - 2
Cody Wants Out... - 3
d3vin44 - 3
.indulgecountry - 5
codyj100 - 6
castleoblivion26 - 7
@adam1995 - 7
BackwoodsBarbie - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 8
someguy - 8


Leo ✔
cerulean
born


In the runner-up position we have the lead single from this album, which was also the second-biggest hit from the album. Peaking at #4, this became Martina's 3rd top 10 hit of her career, and 2nd top 5. It also managed to be the #1 favorite for a whopping 6 people, which is the most of any song in this rankdown!

Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that this song was our very first #1 candidate, and was in fact a lock for the top 5 from the get-go. As the lists balanced out, this one fell into the #2 spot and held on tight, while the 3 smaller singles from the album all battled for positions 3-5.

I am thrilled to see this song finish so high in this rankdown, because it is currently my favorite on the album. The production on this song is so quirky yet delightful, and the melody is infectious. I am so glad that 5 other people agreed with me!! I wish this wasn't one of Martina's forgotten hits; unfortunately the title track seems to be the only song that people ever remember from this era.








I decided to post a more modern performance of this song, since one was available. Martina always sounded amazing live, but I think that her stage presence has gotten better and better with time. So I actually prefer watching her performances in the late 00's/early '10s way more than the '90s! This particular performance is from 2012, which would be during the Eleven era.

---

Well, it must’ve been hard, it must’ve been tough
Keepin’ up with crazy fools like us,
‘Cause it’s so easy to fall apart.
We still break each other’s hearts sometimes,
Spend some nights on the jagged side.
Somehow we wake up in each other’s arms.

1. "Wild Angels"

Track #1
Runtime: 3:45
Songwriters: Matraca Berg, Gary Harrison, Harry Stinson
Vocal Range: E3 - C5



Total: 42
Average: 2.63
Std Dev: 1.96 (1st smallest!!!)


someguy - 1
@adam1995 - 1
Cody Wants Out... - 1
fearlessarrow - 1
tim - 2
d3vin44 - 2
.indulgecountry - 2
bboat11 - 2
Troublemaker - 2
BlueShades874 - 2
codyj100 - 3
castleoblivion26 - 3
dub - 3
Kanenrá:ke - 4
kansasmeetsmo - 4
BackwoodsBarbie - 9


Leo ✔
cerulean
born


As almost everyone predicted, "Wild Angels" was the Pulse favorite from this album! This song is Martina's very first #1 hit, and really did a lot to help put her on the map! I honestly remember hearing this song on the radio when I was a little kid, which is pretty incredible considering I was 2 years old when this was a hit. That's how big it was though! It was around frequently enough to make an impression on my childish brain such that I recognized the song immediately when my parents bought her Greatest Hits cd in 2001, after having not heard it for years beforehand!

As such a huge hit, it was undoubtedly the song that most people who participated in this rankdown were already the most familiar with, which undoubtedly helped its chances here. This song absolutely trounced the competition! It wasn't even close! After "Safe In The Arms of Love" vacated the #1 spot with the 3rd submission, this song took over and never looked back. It was such a clear favorite that EVERYBODY ranked it in their top 5, except for BackwoodsBarbie !

It is worth nothing that this song is one of Martina's lowest songs for her voice. She goes all the way down to E3 in the verses, which is really low for a mezzo voice type. But she does it live very easily! Just another example of how incredible she is








This live performance was from 2015, when she was in the middle of the Everlasting tour. That tour was really cool because she hired a horn section and 3 female backup singers, and jazzed up the arrangements for all of her old songs! This performance allows you to see how this song has evolved over time to include things like the a cappella finale

[castleoblivion26]

Awesome job as always bboat11! cannot wait for the next album!

Thoughts on the Top 5:

"Swingin' Doors" - this definitely belonged at #5, love the song and like it more than one of the other songs in the Top 4 but it being out first makes sense to me.

I really don't understand how anyone can dislike either "Cry On The Shoulder of The Road" or "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town" as I absolutely love both songs and it was no question when this was first announced as the album that these two songs would be my Top 2, the only problem I had was which was gonna be #1 and which would be #2. Really if you dislike either song I really implore you to really listen to both songs as they really are incredible.

The only song in the Top 5 that I feel lasted too long is "Safe In The Arms Of Love". Not saying I dislike it because I don't, I just really love the other 3 songs in the top 4 more!

Expected "Wild Angels" to win and absolutely okay with it. Was hoping for a surprise win from "Cry On The Shoulder of The Road" but I am good with this song winning if it couldn't.

[.indulgecountry]

Perfect winner! "Wild Angels" was definitely the clear victor from the start, but imo it more than deserved it. Fantastic song.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I was hoping that any other song that made it to top 5 would win but even me ranking Wild Angels low didn't help so I guess the right song won this rankdown.

I like Cry on the Shoulder of the Road a lot. I like it more and more each time I listen to it. I was surprised when I saw that this one peaked on #26 because it such a perfect country song with great melody, instrumentation and vocal performance so it would deserve better both on charts and in this rankdown.

[bboat11]

Nov 21, 2017 1:51:34 GMT -5 BackwoodsBarbie said:

I was hoping that any other song that made it to top 5 would win but even me ranking Wild Angels low didn't help so I guess the right song won this rankdown.

I like Cry on the Shoulder of the Road a lot. I like it more and more each time I listen to it. I was surprised when I saw that this one peaked on #26 because it such a perfect country song with great melody, instrumentation and vocal performance so it would deserve better both on charts and in this rankdown.

From what I have heard, "Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road" was off to a great start (I think Martina said the fastest start ever up to that point in her career), and was really acting like it would be a big hit, and then Jim Brickman released "Valentine" to AC radio and it cannibalized all the interest in Martina's current single, thereby ending "Cry On The Shoulder"'s chart run prematurely.