New Country Releases Rankdown Thread

[Darkest Hour]

Gettin' Back up to Heaven is a solid revenge/murder story told.

Still don't think Maddie & Tae fit this particular country rock sound much. "Hot, hot, hotter than a hundred degrees/Think of the shots, shots, shots you could be gettin' for free" is a bit annoying to listen to.

Get Pour Me A Drink out before top 10 please.

[kw9461]

Oct 25, 2024 2:14:06 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Still don't think Maddie & Tae fit this particular country rock sound much. "Hot, hot, hotter than a hundred degrees/Think of the shots, shots, shots you could be gettin' for free" is a bit annoying to listen to.

Yeah, it feels like an identity crisis for them. The style that felt more natural wasn't selling, but this doesn't really work either. They're still extremely talented, but songs "Sad Girl Summer" are just hopelessly mid.

[.indulgecountry]

12. "911" - Kameron Marlowe

Total: 219

LBTrocks : 4
bboat11 : 6
wavey. : 6
.indulgecountry : 7
SHOOTER : 7
zaclord 🌈 : 8
nuggie99 : 9
kw9461 : 9
castleoblivion26 : 17
Darkest Hour : 18
tim : 20
George Strait Junkie : 24
🌺CountryLineDancer : 25
kluen : 29
Kris Kringle : 30

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Downfall
The Hill
I Don't Wanna Dance
The Little Things
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Pour Me a Drink
Set My Heart on Fire
Truck on Fire
Unbroke
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

"911" was chosen as the representation for Kameron Marlowe's sophomore set, Keepin' the Lights On. This frenetic barn burner of an album opener with equally explosive vocals flirted with top 10 briefly at times, but it settled in just below the threshold in the end. He managed to secure an impressive count of eight top 10s, though only one of those was a top 5. OTOH, he did land in last for Kris Kringle and the penultimate position for kluen.

[.indulgecountry]

11. "Downfall" - Sara Evans

Total: 206

bboat11 : 1
LBTrocks : 1
wavey. : 4
.indulgecountry : 5
kluen : 10
Kris Kringle : 11
SHOOTER : 12
castleoblivion26 : 14
Darkest Hour : 15
tim : 17
George Strait Junkie : 19
nuggie99 : 20
🌺CountryLineDancer : 23
kw9461 : 27
zaclord 🌈 : 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
I Don't Wanna Dance
The Little Things
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Pour Me a Drink
Set My Heart on Fire
Truck on Fire
Unbroke
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

In a bit of a surprise, Sara Evans is the unlucky one to narrowly miss the top 10 with "Downfall" (though "Unbroke" remains in play). A pair of #1 ranks from bboat11 and LBTrocks and pair of additional top 5s were not enough to edge it up the mere 3 points needed to reach the threshold. A trio of bottom 10s and more ranks in the teens vs. the top 10 weighed it down.

My thoughts on the song from when the album dropped:

The build on this song is really crafty. There's like almost a sense of urgency to the way the tempo moves and Sara's vocal feels frenetic in a really engaging way; it really captures an almost chaotic vibe of the tumult laid out by the lyrics. Her vocals on this one are incredible, from the vibrato to the belted moments. She just lays it all out there on this cut.

[.indulgecountry]

Top 10 remaining:

The Hill - Caylee Hammack
I Don't Wanna Dance - Kassi Ashton
The Little Things - George Strait
Man on the Moon - Megan Moroney
Oklahoma - Carly Pearce
Pour Me a Drink - Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Set My Heart on Fire - Lauren Watkins, Sheryl Crow
Truck on Fire - Carly Pearce
Unbroke - Sara Evans
You Look Like You Love Me - Ella Langley, Riley Green

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}George Strait Junkie :
Darkest Hour :
zaclord 🌈 :
castleoblivion26 :
kluen :
bboat11 :
tim :
🌺CountryLineDancer :
kw9461 :
SHOOTER :
Kris Kringle :
nuggie99 :
wavey. :
LBTrocks :
.indulgecountry :

[LBTrocks]

These results are a mess! What y'all doing lol

[.indulgecountry]

10. "Set My Heart on Fire" - Lauren Watkins, Sheryl Crow

Total: 203

LBTrocks : 2
Darkest Hour : 6
zaclord 🌈 : 6
bboat11 : 7
George Strait Junkie : 12
tim : 13
kw9461 : 14
SHOOTER : 14
Kris Kringle : 13
nuggie99 : 13
.indulgecountry : 15
wavey. : 16
castleoblivion26 : 20
🌺CountryLineDancer : 26
kluen : 26

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
I Don't Wanna Dance
The Little Things
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Pour Me a Drink
Truck on Fire
Unbroke
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

Lauren Watkins finally dropped a full-length debut in June, and the Sheryl Crow-aided "Set My Heart on Fire" was one of the standouts from the previously-unreleased material. She edged out Sara's "Downfall" for a top 10 finish, matching the finish for her Graham Barham duet from earlier this year ("Straight to My Heart") and slightly surpassing the #13 that "Settling Things" settled for a few months back, though a far cry from the win she managed at the tail-end of last year with "The Table." Still, Lauren is emerging as one to watch. She only got four top 10 ranks here (though one is LBTrocks' #2, sadly back-to-back top 2 losses for him #rip), but nearly everyone put her in the top half, with a huge swath of ranks in the 12-16 range. Yet, two outliers placed her at #26.

[.indulgecountry]

9. "Pour Me a Drink" - Post Malone, Blake Shelton

Total: 202

wavey. : 1
🌺CountryLineDancer : 2
kw9461 : 5
castleoblivion26 : 8
bboat11 : 8
.indulgecountry : 12
zaclord 🌈 : 13
SHOOTER : 13
nuggie99 : 14
George Strait Junkie : 15
Kris Kringle : 15
LBTrocks : 17
tim : 21
Darkest Hour : 28
kluen : 30

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
I Don't Wanna Dance
The Little Things
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Truck on Fire
Unbroke
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

Post Malone's pivot to country music this year has been a paramount success, and he follows his top 5 from last month ("I Had Some Help") with another top 10 in "Pour Me a Drink." This time it's Blake Shelton who takes the featured role in this uptempo summer drinking anthem. It rose to the top of wavey.'s list and landed in the top 10 for four others, and the majority once again had this one top half, save for four posters. It wasn't without its detractors, however, as kluen finally loses his #30 here, leaving only one poster with their last place rank still remaining.

[.indulgecountry]

8. "I Don't Wanna Dance" - Kassi Ashton

Total: 188

wavey. : 2
SHOOTER : 3
kluen : 4
.indulgecountry : 6
LBTrocks : 7
tim : 9
Darkest Hour : 11
zaclord 🌈 : 15
bboat11 : 16
George Strait Junkie : 16
🌺CountryLineDancer : 17
kw9461 : 19
nuggie99 : 19
castleoblivion26 : 22
Kris Kringle : 22

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
The Little Things
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Truck on Fire
Unbroke
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

Kassi Ashton delivers another toe-tapping soulful country bop in "I Don't Wanna Dance," which comfortably made the top 10 here, thanks in part to a healthy showing of top 10 ranks, which included three top 5s, led by wavey.'s #2 (leaving on the heels of his #1 loss last reveal #rip). Kassi only landed in the bottom 10 for two posters, and the #22 ranks given by Kris Kringle and castleoblivion26 is our best showing so far for the lowest rank.

[.indulgecountry]

Reminder as the June reveals are wrapping up here soon. We still have only HALF the lists compared with the June set so....

July 2024:

The Playlist: (Runtime 1 hr. 38 min.)

1. 4x4xU - Lainey Wilson
2. 28 - Zach Bryan
3. Am I Okay? - Megan Moroney
4. Bones - Russell Dickerson
5. Bottle It Up - Joe Nichols
6. Coming Home - Old Dominion
7. Cowboy Break My Heart - Tanner Adell
8. Cowboys Cry Too - Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan
9. Dammit Randy - Miranda Lambert
10. Dick in My Nightstand - Danae Hayes
11. Didn't I - Dasha
12. Free Like - Maddie & Tae
13. Goodnight Into Good Morning - Brett Young
14. Heaven by Noon - Megan Moroney
15. High and Lonesome - Mae Estes
16. Hot Rod Pipe Dream - Ashley Monroe
17. I Think You're the Greatest - Lorrie Morgan
18. Leigh - Koe Wetzel
19. Lies Lies Lies - Morgan Wallen
20. Lose You Again - Avery Anna, Parmalee
21. Miss America - The Castellows
22. More Alcohol - Austin Snell
23. New to Country - Bailey Zimmerman
24. Other Girls (Ain't Havin' Any Fun) - Kaitlin Butts
25. River Black - Dillon James
26. Somewhere with Her - Josh Turner
27. Son of a Gun - Kassi Ashton
28. Sun to Me - MGK
29. Three Drinks Behind - George Strait
30. Wild Horses - Kylie Frey

Due: ASAP

---

Previous Participants:
BB🌕 SHOOTER fearlessarrow DistrictTwelve lady𝓐fan someguy ClevelandRox .indulgecountry HeyHeyHey d3vin44 kw9461 Darkest Hour LBTrocks castleoblivion26 tim austin taylor George Strait Junkie Kanenrá:ke bboat11 gardyfan  Sambalada BackwoodsBarbie superdave3556  🌺CountryLineDancer bigfan101 Kris Kringle razorshark nuggie99  zaclord 🌈 kluen

Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor castleoblivion26 cedric HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks Crimsonio Fancy fearlessarrow hydraflare .indulgecountry Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 RobbyFlorida someguy SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy   Darkest Hour sabre14 kw9461 BackwoodsBarbie  George Strait Junkie smissy13

[.indulgecountry]

This weekend is the deadline for July. Wrap it up quick please!

July 2024:

The Playlist: (Runtime 1 hr. 38 min.)

1. 4x4xU - Lainey Wilson
2. 28 - Zach Bryan
3. Am I Okay? - Megan Moroney
4. Bones - Russell Dickerson
5. Bottle It Up - Joe Nichols
6. Coming Home - Old Dominion
7. Cowboy Break My Heart - Tanner Adell
8. Cowboys Cry Too - Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan
9. Dammit Randy - Miranda Lambert
10. Dick in My Nightstand - Danae Hayes
11. Didn't I - Dasha
12. Free Like - Maddie & Tae
13. Goodnight Into Good Morning - Brett Young
14. Heaven by Noon - Megan Moroney
15. High and Lonesome - Mae Estes
16. Hot Rod Pipe Dream - Ashley Monroe
17. I Think You're the Greatest - Lorrie Morgan
18. Leigh - Koe Wetzel
19. Lies Lies Lies - Morgan Wallen
20. Lose You Again - Avery Anna, Parmalee
21. Miss America - The Castellows
22. More Alcohol - Austin Snell
23. New to Country - Bailey Zimmerman
24. Other Girls (Ain't Havin' Any Fun) - Kaitlin Butts
25. River Black - Dillon James
26. Somewhere with Her - Josh Turner
27. Son of a Gun - Kassi Ashton
28. Sun to Me - MGK
29. Three Drinks Behind - George Strait
30. Wild Horses - Kylie Frey

Due: ASAP

---

Previous Participants:
BB🌕 SHOOTER fearlessarrow DistrictTwelve lady𝓐fan someguy ClevelandRox .indulgecountry HeyHeyHey d3vin44 kw9461 Darkest Hour LBTrocks castleoblivion26 tim austin taylor George Strait Junkie Kanenrá:ke bboat11 gardyfan  Sambalada BackwoodsBarbie superdave3556  🌺CountryLineDancer bigfan101 Kris Kringle razorshark nuggie99  zaclord 🌈 kluen

Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor castleoblivion26 cedric HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks Crimsonio Fancy fearlessarrow hydraflare .indulgecountry Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 RobbyFlorida someguy SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy   Darkest Hour sabre14 kw9461 BackwoodsBarbie  George Strait Junkie smissy13

[.indulgecountry]

7. "The Little Things" - George Strait

Total: 186

George Strait Junkie : 1
kw9461 : 2
tim : 4
kluen : 5
Darkest Hour : 7
Kris Kringle : 7
nuggie99 : 8
bboat11 : 9
castleoblivion26 : 10
zaclord 🌈 : 16
LBTrocks : 18
🌺CountryLineDancer : 22
SHOOTER : 24
.indulgecountry : 26
wavey. : 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Truck on Fire
Unbroke
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

George Strait repeats in back-to-back months with another top 10 finish, this time with the sway-worthy "The Little Things." It doesn't reinvent the wheel and is classic Strait. He picks up top 10s from two-thirds of us, including our latest #1 loss from George Strait Junkie. OTOH, four posters slotted this one in the bottom 10.

[.indulgecountry]

6. "Unbroke" - Sara Evans

Total: 179

.indulgecountry : 1
bboat11 : 2
Kris Kringle : 5
castleoblivion26 : 6
kw9461 : 6
SHOOTER : 6
kluen : 8
LBTrocks : 10
🌺CountryLineDancer : 15
wavey. : 15
nuggie99 : 17
tim : 19
Darkest Hour : 21
zaclord 🌈 : 21
George Strait Junkie : 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Truck on Fire
You Look Like You Love Me

[.indulgecountry]

Just as with last month's set, Sara Evans sadly comes up just shy of a top 5 finish; while "Sorry Now" missed by 1 point, the title cut from her latest LP misses only by 5 points. It is me this time who sadly loses my #1 ranking, though seven others see a top 10 loss as well. George Strait Junkie slotted this one bottom 5, almost in exact opposite of our rankings for the prior reveal, ironically.

My thoughts on the song from the album release:

My favorite cut on the record, hands fucking down. The melody of this is just absolutely incredible, especially how the chorus progresses, with the way she sings We all went down, like dominoes being THE moment. She couldn't have possibly nailed that line any better; it's just total money. From a lyrical standpoint, this is the pinnacle of the record, with a stop-in-your-tracks hook that really makes you think. The concept of residual trauma from hurting the ones you love because you were hurt in the past, and the idea that "nobody's heart gets out unbroke" is so cerebral and real. And again I'm not much for extended musical outros, but this is a really strong one.

[.indulgecountry]

5. "You Look Like You Love Me" - Ella Langley, Riley Green

Total: 174

nuggie99 : 1
George Strait Junkie : 2
kluen : 3
zaclord 🌈 : 4
.indulgecountry : 4
🌺CountryLineDancer : 7
SHOOTER : 9
wavey. : 9
kw9461 : 11
bboat11 : 14
LBTrocks : 15
tim : 16
Darkest Hour : 23
Kris Kringle : 26
castleoblivion26 : 30

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
The Hill
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Truck on Fire

[.indulgecountry]

"You Look Like You Love Me" has been a total surprise breakout hit for Ella Langley. A refreshing old school country song with spoken word verses recorded as a duet with Riley Green, this song has taken the charts by storm, and it snags a top 5 finish in the June set here. nuggie99 is the latest to see their #1 ousted, alongside seven additional top 10s. Only three bottom 10 ranks came in for this one, though one of them was castleoblivion26's #30 rank, the final one standing in the game up to this point.

[.indulgecountry]

4. "The Hill" - Caylee Hammack

Total: 170

.indulgecountry : 2
SHOOTER : 2
castleoblivion26 : 3
Darkest Hour : 4
nuggie99 : 7
🌺CountryLineDancer : 8
tim : 10
wavey. : 11
George Strait Junkie : 11
zaclord 🌈 : 12
bboat11 : 18
Kris Kringle : 19
kw9461 : 20
kluen : 21
LBTrocks : 22

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma
Truck on Fire

[.indulgecountry]

Caylee Hammack bows out next. "The Hill" is driven by euphoric fiddle and Caylee's full-bodied voice for an exceptional country track from the feisty redhead. She got a pair of #2 best rankings from myself and SHOOTER, plus an additional five top 10s. Only a small handful of participants ranked the song in the bottom half of their list, with LBTrocks being the lowest with only a #22, indicating a pretty overwhelmingly favorable response to this song.

[.indulgecountry]

3. "Truck on Fire" - Carly Pearce

Total: 121

Darkest Hour : 2
zaclord 🌈 : 3
George Strait Junkie : 4
SHOOTER : 4
castleoblivion26 : 4
bboat11 : 4
🌺CountryLineDancer : 6
kluen : 7
tim : 7
wavey. : 8
Kris Kringle : 9
.indulgecountry : 9
kw9461 : 16
LBTrocks : 16
nuggie99 : 22

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Man on the Moon
Oklahoma

[.indulgecountry]

The top 3 were a mortal lock in this thing as Carly Pearce's "Truck on Fire" claims the bronze title for June with a nearly 50-point lead over Caylee Hammack's song. This feisty-styled revenge song is Carly's current radio single and was already heavily favored prior to release as one of the album's obvious standouts, made all the more obvious by the fact that all but three participants here had this top 10. The lone dissenters were a pair of #16s and nuggie99 offered its only bottom 10 rank. OTOH, while it had no #1s, Darkest Hour gave it a #2 best among a sea of 12 top 10s.

[.indulgecountry]

The final showdown comes down to Carly Pearce and Megan Moroney for the win! Which one will it be? Carly is coming fresh off a win in the May set with "Fault Line," while Megan Moroney previously reigned victorious in both January and March.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}George Strait Junkie :
Darkest Hour :
zaclord 🌈 :
castleoblivion26 :
kluen :
bboat11 :
tim :
🌺CountryLineDancer :
kw9461 :
SHOOTER :
Kris Kringle :
nuggie99 :
wavey. :
LBTrocks :
.indulgecountry :

[LBTrocks]

Just ew @ "Oklahoma" being in the top 2, and likely going to win.

"Man on the Moon" is the far superior song, but I don't think it stands a chance against Carly's sadly

[.indulgecountry]

1. "Man on the Moon" - Megan Moroney

Total: 92

SHOOTER : 1
zaclord 🌈 : 1
kluen : 1
George Strait Junkie : 3
bboat11 : 3
kw9461 : 3
Kris Kringle : 4
nuggie99 : 5
wavey. : 5
castleoblivion26 : 7
Darkest Hour : 9
.indulgecountry : 10
tim : 11
LBTrocks : 11
🌺CountryLineDancer : 18

2. "Oklahoma" - Carly Pearce

Total: 110

kw9461 : 1
tim : 1
Kris Kringle : 2
zaclord 🌈 : 2
castleoblivion26 : 2
kluen : 2
Darkest Hour : 3
.indulgecountry : 3
George Strait Junkie : 5
bboat11 : 5
🌺CountryLineDancer : 9
nuggie99 : 11
SHOOTER : 17
wavey. : 19
LBTrocks : 28

[.indulgecountry]

With a nearly 20-point buffer, Megan Moroney claims her third monthly victory of 2024 with "Man on the Moon" blasting straight to the #1 spot. Carly Pearce, who is no stranger to winning this series, was a formidable foe as she doubled up in the top 3 with her pair of fan favorites from the Hummingbird LP, though the wistful "Oklahoma" was the one that clinched the silver medal here. "Moon" racked up a trio of #1 ranks from SHOOTER, zaclord 🌈, and kluen, with an unbelievably impressive stretch of ranks that had all but one poster place Megan in their top 11, and 🌺CountryLineDancer's outlier at #18 was the highest bottom rank of the month. OTOH, "Oklahoma" did manage a pair of #1s from tim and kw9461, as well as (ironically) the most #2 ranks of the game. She had a strong showing with top 10 ranks as well, but a pair of ranks in the low teens and a bottom 5 from LBTrocks effectively crippled Carly's chances of besting Megan this time around.