Kelsea Ballerini - "kelsea"

[.indulgecountry]

I guess everyone forget to make a thread for this album, so here we go:

[.indulgecountry]

Personally, I think this album is a pretty solid step up from Unapologetically. This one just feels tighter, stronger, and more interesting to me. I know its early still, but I feel like it has more replay value for me already and I find myself not wanting to really skip anything. There's still a couple songs on the album I'm not too big on, but it just has a more cohesive feel to it than the last one, and the highs here are really high imo. "Bragger" is a huge standout to me and as of right now is likely my favorite on the album. The stretch of that song, "Hole in the Bottle," and "Half of My Hometown" is easily the best part of the record for me. Those along with the lead single are my top tracks. Also really enjoying the Halsey duet, "Needy," and "A Country Song" as well.

For remaining singles, I'd do this:

2. The Other Girl
3. Hole in the Bottle
4. Half of My Hometown

Could also see "Needy" or "LA" being options, but I definitely think "The Other Girl" and "Hole in the Bottle" are the perfect 1-2 punch and the smashes she needs right now after HQ? sadly plateaued both in country airplay and in sales/streaming effect (it was doing well in 2019, but the past few months it stopped selling as well).

[raylatch98]

I actually prefer Unapologetically over this one. This album is not bad by any means, but besides "Half Of My Hometown", "LA" and "Homecoming Queen" I don't find a ton of songs here having replay value, mainly due to the production, because my goodness some of the production choices are a bit much especially on songs like "Club", "Bragger", "Needy", and "The Other Girl" especially where it feels like the production is kind of drowning her voice out a bit much and some of the backing vocals are also a bit unnecessary (this is the same problem I had with most of her debut album singles sans "Peter Pan") because I do think Kelsea Ballerini on her own is a good vocalist, I just think her production choices is inconsistent at best and kind of frustrating.

[recordyear]

HDD's final chart has this at #11 with 14,513 pure sales and 28,572 SPS.

[musicspy]

Wow, HQ? really hurt her momentum, didnt it..

[.indulgecountry]

HQ? did probably not set her up for the best debut here, but her album was also being launched right as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to reach the stage of 'stay home and only buy essentials.' It sadly would not surprise me to see basically any album released over the next few months yield poor numbers. It was just mentioned in one of his threads that Luke Bryan's new album might not even be on store shelves come release date, and that's pretty huge for someone of his star level. Kelsea's numbers were likely impacted by her lead single sputtering out over the past few months, but I think it's only the 2nd biggest factor here.

[lady𝓐fan]

Numbers have been down for country albums since last year. Sales have just completely collapsed, and streaming isn’t enough to make up for it. kelsea is looking at a 30k debut, which is on the same level as Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, and Lady A’s 2019 albums.

[Deleted]

This album is good. Barely country. While I thought Unapologetically was her stopping being country, she went in 'somehow' a different direction. She made some songs much more pop than I would have expected, but others sound more country-lite. Which I suppose it's an improvement from her last album (but still poppier than her debut). I am liking the album in general, there are more songs that are memorable, and regardless of genre, I hope she gets success with it, cause there are great songs here.

[austin]

The album is pretty good and the highs are very high but the lows are super boring.

Bragger is one of the best things she’s ever done. Hole in the bottle and half of my hometown are also gems. LA also really works and I am finding myself coming back to overshare quite often.

I really don’t love the Halsey duet and don’t think country will do much with it...I wish that was a pop single and she sent HOMHT to radio second.

I don’t see this being as commercially successful for her as her first two albums. But she may not care.

She is still a great talent.

[Sugar Rush]

I actually found this song, pretty-solid... every single track.

'Needy' is meh, but I can say this is probably the first album since St. Vincent's self-titled, or Carrie's 'Blown Away' where I don't skip a single track. Favourite ones are 'Bragger', 'Love Me Like a Girl', 'Half of My Hometown', 'Bragger', 'Club' and 'The Other Girl' ..... even my overtly masculine twin who is always 'bro country' loved this album.

[tim]

I had to give this album more than one listen before even thinking of commenting because on my first go I wasn’t impressed. “Homecoming Queen” was one of my favorite songs from last year and so I had probably set my own expectations a bit too high. That said, some of the songs have grown on me quite a bit since my first listen while a few others haven’t. As others have already mentioned the Kenny Chesney duet “Half of My Hometown” is a hit waiting to happen along with “Hole In the Bottle” (this just also happens to be my own personal anthem lol!). The one song that I keep coming back around to, though, is “Love and Hate”. I have no idea if this’ll even be considered as a single, but it’s fast becoming one of my favorites. The only other song I really enjoy is “Needy” but that will for sure remain an album track.

With all that said, I’m not a fan of “The Other Girl” and so I’ll be sitting this one out hoping for some better single choices. Speaking for myself, Kelsea is very hit or miss with me and this album is no different. While there is some potential here for some commercial success, I just don’t think this is going to be an era that elevates her career as far as accolades are concerned.

[taylor]

oh i like this album!!! there's a couple songs that i'm not fond of at all but for the most part i can't find a skip! i will say that this one is quite poppy; to the point that this sounds like kelsea ballerini's Red era. i still love "homecoming queen?" and "la" and there's quite a few favorites on this record for me; i'm glad i finally gave it a spin! i do also love how open she was about her life on this record; i mean she even wrote a couple love songs which she apparently hates to do. if "half of my hometown" isn't a single during this era i am going to riot.

if i was her a&r this is how i would do her era:

1. homecoming queen?
2. the other girl
3. half of my hometown
4. hole in the bottle
5. club (this is if we get lucky enough and i don't think we will)

overall, this is a great album imo!

my favorites: club, homecoming queen?, the other girl, love me like a girl, love and hate, hole in the bottle, half of my hometown, needy, a country song, la

[Deleted]

I have been listening to this since release day, and it is a no-skip record for me. There were a couple songs I had to warm up to (“bragger,” “the way I used to”), but overall I think it’s a cohesive project. Unlike other posters, I do hear country elements coursing through the pop influence. Some songs are decidedly pop, others country; however, Kelsea is still a country artist and she makes that clear in her commitment to the genre. This is a great record.