Martina McBride Album Series Rankdowns

[d3vin44]

I don't see why all the hate for this song. I thought it was boring, but there are a few that are more boring, and/or not up to Martina standards for me.

[fearlessarrow]

Perfect start!

I love how you have the Martina and her collaborator's vocal range in the reveal. I'm not too knowledgeable about music (I can for example tell what a C4 is for sure but music theory not really) but it's nice to see those details in there!

[bboat11]

Soooo, I'm guessing that you all had a pretty good idea that "Marry Me" would be #15, and now you have no idea what to expect for the rest of the album? Because that is honestly how I would be feeling right now if I didn't have the list in front of me. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this rankdown!

As I mentioned the other day, our only tie for the rankdown is between #14 and #13. The only reason #13 is ahead of this next one is because #13 is somebody's #1...

[bboat11]

Lord, today my heart has changed,

 And I give it to you.

14. "I Give It To You"

Track #15
Runtime: 3:38
Songwriters: Rachel Thibodeau
Vocal Range: G#3 - B4



Total: 181
Average: 11.31
Std Dev: 3.32 (3rd smallest!)

BackwoodsBarbie - 4
.indulgecountry - 7
codyj100 - 7
kansasmeetsmo - 8
born - 10
@adam1995 - 10
dub - 12
Kanenrá:ke - 12
bboat11 - 12
Cody Wants Out... - 13
someguy - 14
castleoblivion26 - 14
fearlessarrow - 14
cerulean -14
tim - 15
d3vin44 - 15

Leo ✔

Another song that never really had a chance. This one's highest point came from my vote at the very beginning! Personally I don't think this is a bad song, it is just kinda boring. It is a very unique song for Martina though, because while she has a very strong and public faith, she has never really sung about it before!





This is one of the few songs from this album that she has not performed live, as far as I can tell.

[bboat11]

Like I said, #13 is going to be somebody's #1! It shall be posted later this evening

[d3vin44]

If my #14 is next, I don't care how the rest of this goes. I'll be happy!

However, I can't see anyone picking it as their #1... 😬

[born]

Lol my #4 being the first one to be eliminated. I thought it was cute :(

[.indulgecountry]

"I Give It to You" was my favorite of the bonus tracks. </3

[codyj100]

Bummed this one is out already. This one and “Closinv Time” were my favorite of the bonus tracks.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I was afraid this would happen after reading predictions but at least it escaped the last place.
This song is amazing - instrumentation is great but what really makes me love it are lyrics. They have such a beautiful meaning and powerful message.

And for all you people who placed it in bottom 3

[bboat11]

I came with a fifty,

 Now I don’t have a dime. 

It’s closin’ time.

13. "Closing Time"

Track #13
Runtime: 4:58
Songwriters: Sean McConnell
Vocal Range: E3 - D5



Total: 181
Average: 11.31
Std Dev: 4.64 (1st largest!!!!)


@adam1995 - 1
codyj100 - 3
kansasmeetsmo - 4
cerulean - 9
castleoblivion26 - 11
fearlessarrow - 12
d3vin44 - 12
born - 13
dub - 13
tim - 14
.indulgecountry - 14
Cody Wants Out... - 15
BackwoodsBarbie - 15
someguy - 15
Kanenrá:ke - 15
bboat11 - 15

Leo ✔


This was the only song that truly gave "Marry Me" a run for last place. Which makes sense, because 5 people ranking it at #15 makes it the song with the most last-place votes! @adam1995 and codyj100 worked together to bring this from the brink of catastrophe all the way up to #13, and ultimately it was able to stay there in the end.

This is definitely my least-favorite on the Eleven album. My problem with this song is the way it is produced. This song has a LOT of potential, imo. It is supposed to sound all soulful and epic, but then they produced Martina's voice like she's singing into a pillow. Her voice is way back in the mix, and not really given a chance to reach its full power. If you spruced this song up with some vocal reverb or something, it woulds sound a lot better. The way Martina delivers the song, it would sound much more natural for her to sound like she was singing to an amphitheater crowd rather than a padded room...

The live video below is pretty poor quality, but it does a great job of capturing what it is like to be in the front-row seat of a Martina concert. Tbh I think this song is WAY better live, because it better captures the mood of the song.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I'm glad that Closing Time is out. It's the only song on this album that i don't like even a little.

[born]

Perfect ranking!

[codyj100]

I loved this song. I don't understand the dislike here. She seemed to have such a powerful vocal here, and it drew me in more than some of the other songs. Disappointed with this one. 

[Deleted]

What the Hell guys!

[dub]

I didn't know Sean McConnell wrote that. I usually like his stuff. Not that I actively disliked Closing Time, but it just didn't stand out me much.

[castleoblivion26]

"I Give It To You" is a nice enough song but easily my least favorite of the 14 remaining songs so I'm glad it is out at 14. I just could never really get into this song

"Closing Time" is a surprise to me. Don't know why but I thought it would last a little longer and I'm surprised "Ask The Boy" is higher, same with "Long Distance Lullaby". Hopefully those two are coming soon. I do like this one but agree that something is off with the production on it and she sounds better live. Wish I could have heard her sing this one live that was a great performance.

[bboat11]

I’ll ask the girl,

 The one who wasn’t complicated, 

If she’ll trade me places for awhile.

12. "Ask The Boy"

Track #14
Runtime: 3:27
Songwriters: Martina McBride, Barry Dean, Troy Verges
Vocal Range: G#3 - B4



Total: 154
Average: 9.63
Std Dev: 3.519


fearlessarrow - 3
born - 5
bboat11 - 6
kansasmeetsmo - 6
Kanenrá:ke - 8
someguy - 8
.indulgecountry - 8
tim - 9
@adam1995 - 11
BackwoodsBarbie - 11
castleoblivion26 - 12
Cody Wants Out... - 12
cerulean - 13
d3vin44 - 13
dub - 14
codyj100 - 15

Leo ✔

With this song, we see what is very likely the largest fall from grace of the entire rankdown. This song made it as high as #4 early on in the submission process! It very consistently performed in the top 5, but once castleoblivion26 tanked it back to #9, it never even tried to recover. Most of the hate for this song came towards the end of the voting period.

I am sad this one fell so far back and performed so poorly, because it has always been my favorite of the bonus tracks for this album. It sounds fairly generic at first, which may have adversely affected it because it was a first-time listen for most people. But over time I have come to really appreciate the melodic structure as well as the instrumentation. The guitar parts throughout this song are so cool!






This is also one that does not seem to have been performed live before.

[bboat11]

With that, "You're In My House Now" is the last remaining of the bonus tracks!

We also only have one more elimination before the top 10. Any predictions for which song is going to miss out?

[.indulgecountry]

Guess nobody liked the bonus tracks.

I didn't know any of them prior to this RD because I have the standard 11-track edition, but I have to say I did really enjoy this one and "I Give It to You." They were nice discoveries, and I wish they'd done a little better and landed closer to the middle. :(

Kinda funny to see the trajectory for this one and how far it fell in the second half of the submissions process, considering most songs don't move around that dramatically.

[fearlessarrow]

"Ask the Boy" did seem like a song that was going to be divisive when I first listened to it, but I really liked it! #noshame

[castleoblivion26]

I like "Ask the Boy" but it is not a favorite and I like 9 songs from this album a lot so that hurt this song and "Closing Time" from being any higher, same with "Teenage Daughters"

[codyj100]

Oh I just can’t with this song. I love Martina, but there is something I cannot pin point on here that just makes me want to skip the song. I obviously am in the minority, as it was no one else’s final choice. I wish I knew what it was that I didn’t like.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Ask The Boy is alright song but it's kind of forgetable.

I think You're In My House Now is the last song that is going to miss the top 10.

[d3vin44]

Sept 24, 2017 23:08:52 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

With that, "You're In My House Now" is the last remaining of the bonus tracks!

We also only have one more elimination before the top 10. Any predictions for which song is going to miss out?

Yay! It is by far the best bonus track. :)

"Always be this way" will miss the top 10!

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Vocal range is realy nice addition to this rankdown. How do you know in which vocal range is each song? I know you write something about her vocal range in first Martina McBride rankdown but I still have one question - is she soprano or not? The first thing I knew about Martin was that she is known by her soprano singing range (source wikipedia first paragraph :) ) but E3 seems prety low for soprano. I don't know much about singing voices and I'm sorry if this is stupid question.

[bboat11]

Sept 25, 2017 14:58:18 GMT -5 BackwoodsBarbie said:

Vocal range is realy nice addition to this rankdown. How do you know in which vocal range is each song? I know you write something about her vocal range in first Martina McBride rankdown but I still have one question - is she soprano or not? The first thing I knew about Martin was that she is known by her soprano singing range (source wikipedia first paragraph :) ) but E3 seems prety low for soprano. I don't know much about singing voices and I'm sorry if this is stupid question.

Great questions! I know the vocal ranges because a couple years ago I sat down at a piano and noodled my way through each of her songs, and kept note of the highest and lowest notes that she sang throughout each song That's why I seem to know so much about her vocal range; I just happen to be nerdy enough to figure it out on a piano...

Regarding her vocal type, she is widely heralded as a soprano...by people who have no idea about voices. They hear how powerful her voice is, and how comfortable she is in her high range once she settles into a strongly belted chorus, and they say "OMG she's a soprano because she can sing higher than me!" When in reality, she is like the definition of a mezzo-soprano. Her high end caps off around E5, whereas most sopranos can belt much higher than that, if they are well-trained. For example, Carrie Underwood is a soprano, and she belted a G#5 in her cover of "Alone", if I remember correctly. Martina, being a mezzo, can comfortably hit low notes that sopranos struggle with. She goes down to E3 or even Eb3 very regularly, and I've heard even down to a D3 once. 

Long story short, in the world of regular people, Martina's songs are incredibly difficult to sing. 98% of women in the world get in their car, turn on "Independence Day," and sound like screech owls trying to keep up with Martina! But in the world of superstar divas, her high range is pretty limited. In addition to that, she doesn't seem to mix head/chest voice very often up high, which would definitely give her a few more notes up top, which would give her pretty much the same range as Faith Hill.

Tl;dr, she is a mezzo, and I am a nerd for figuring out all of her vocal ranges for her songs

[bboat11]

Yeah, we’re all here tonight; 

Nowhere else I’d rather be. 

Feels like I’ve got it all,

‘Cause you’re all here with me.

11. "You're In My House Now"

Track #12
Runtime: 3:35
Songwriters: Martina McBride, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
Vocal Range: E3 - C5



Total: 149
Average: 9.31
Std Dev: 3.46

someguy - 1
kansasmeetsmo - 7
born - 7
castleoblivion26 - 7
d3vin44 - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 8
@adam1995 - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 9
dub - 9
bboat11 - 10
fearlessarrow - 10
.indulgecountry - 11
codyj100 - 13
tim - 13
BackwoodsBarbie - 14
cerulean - 15

Leo ✔


This song looked for most of the rankdown like it would place just inside the top 10, which is right about where I expected. Unfortunately, it got tanked at the last minute, and thanks to cerulean 's last-place vote it placed at #11, which was its lowest point! someguy loses a #1 here.

This is the second of Martina's cowrites to be eliminated from the rankdown as well. I read somewhere (I think it was the liner notes for the album) that she had been trying to write a song that could be used as a concert opener, to get the crowd pumped up and excited. "You're In My House Now" was the first attempt at a song that was supposed to fill that role, but then Martina wrote "One Night" and that one became the big new show opener, while "My House" was relegated to bonus track status. Which is a good thing, imo, because "One Night" is the much better song of the two!

I do like "You're In My House Now". It is catchy and fun. My problem with it comes down to production. To me it sounds like a demo recording... I have the same complaints as "Closing Time", where it sounds like Martina's voice was recorded in a padded room with no reverb whatsoever. While her vocal performance is as lively and strong as ever, the way it is produced totally saps the energy out of it. I can guarantee that this is a song that would sound better in a live setting!







There are no live videos of this one either, probably because "One Night" became the show opener of the Eleven tour, which was what this song was originally intended to be.

[born]

Where's that "Umbrella" song? I always thought it'd get a decent rank and I almost liked it (lol) but now I want it out.

[d3vin44]

I really liked this song. I was surprised it was a bonus track. It feels like classic Martina to me.