|
|
Post by castleoblivion26 on Oct 24, 2020 3:00:28 GMT -5
Bye bye "Where I Used To Have a Heart"...
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412 
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 3:26:32 GMT -5
Um "Heart Trouble" is too low. I did lower my rankings for it compared to the first Martina RD but it's still a jam. I just grew to love some other songs more. Granted sales were much better back when Martina released Timeless than now but 200,000 copies is nothing to scoff at in any age! Ms. Taylor the sales queen remains unbothered with 582,000 copies of Fearless sold in her debut week and then Speak Now and Red both hitting 1 million copies in its debut week before moving to popYeah, even though sales were better all-around back then, I feel like 200,000 was still a bit of a flex... I don't know what average sales were or anything, but it seems like 200,000 would have been expected for an A-lister, but quite a hefty accomplishment for anybody else. It's kinda sad, Martina is never really remembered or given credit for her ability to pull those kinds of numbers back in the day :( |
|
fearlessarrow
Moderator
Now a 7x PMA winner!
Joined: June 2015
Posts: 26,226
My Charts
Pronouns: he/him/his
Staff
|
Post by fearlessarrow on Oct 24, 2020 4:31:56 GMT -5
Um "Heart Trouble" is too low. I did lower my rankings for it compared to the first Martina RD but it's still a jam. I just grew to love some other songs more. Granted sales were much better back when Martina released Timeless than now but 200,000 copies is nothing to scoff at in any age! Ms. Taylor the sales queen remains unbothered with 582,000 copies of Fearless sold in her debut week and then Speak Now and Red both hitting 1 million copies in its debut week before moving to popYeah, even though sales were better all-around back then, I feel like 200,000 was still a bit of a flex... I don't know what average sales were or anything, but it seems like 200,000 would have been expected for an A-lister, but quite a hefty accomplishment for anybody else. It's kinda sad, Martina is never really remembered or given credit for her ability to pull those kinds of numbers back in the day  So I did some digging into some albums' debut week sales from 2005 from female artists... and important to note is that Martina pulled those numbers with a covers album and not original material. Her debut at 185,000 copies is actually on par with Brad Paisley's the 192,000 debut week for Time Well Wasted, and we know Brad Paisley was on fire with hits in the mid-2000s. Faith Hill - Fireflies (329,000) Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts (315,000) Gretchen Wilson - All Jacked Up (264,000) Martina McBride - Timeless (185,000) Sara Evans - Real Fine Place (125,000) Trisha Yearwood - Jasper County (117,000) Jo Dee Messina - Delicious Surprise (99,000) |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 16:05:48 GMT -5
What an exciting rankdown! 10 songs in, and we've already lost three albums  There is definitely a hollow place left by their departure, but hopefully none of the song losses cut too close to the core so far. We'll kick off our top 40 tomorrow with a song from an album that has already seen one loss! Any guesses which one it might be?  Bye bye "Where I Used To Have a Heart"... Well, leave it to our co-leader of the Pule Martina McBride stan club to pick up on my lyrical hints!!!!
 40. "Where I Used To Have A Heart"
Album: The Way That I Am (2 of 5)
Year: 1995
Vocal Range: G3 - C5
Billboard Chart Peak: #49
Placement in the previous rankdown: 59 of 70
Placement in the album rankdown: 4 of 10**Back in the days before it even became a single!** **She randomly dusted it off in 2013 for some fan club thing. Still just as amazing as ever, despite being 20 years old at that point!** Total: 724
Average: 34.48
Std Dev: 9.54Troublemaker - 19 George Strait Junkie - 19 Ginger Spice - 19 Juanca - 23 castleoblivion26 - 24 taylor - 28 Kanenrá:ke - 30 kansasmeetsmo - 32 fireflies - 33 someguy - 33 .indulgecountry - 34 tim - 40
bboat11 - 40
Cody Wants Out... - 40toomuchboy - 42 fearlessarrow - 42 austin - 43 CoJoFan - 45 codyj100 - 46 schnetzka - 46 ClevelandRox - 46  {Songs Remaining}
A Broken Wing
Anyway
Blessed
Cheap Whiskey
Concrete Angel
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Girls Like Me
God’s Will
Happy Girl
How Far
How I Feel
I Just Call You Mine
I Love You
I’m Gonna Love You Through It
In My Daughter’s Eyes
Independence Day
Just Around The Corner
Life #9
Love’s The Only House
Make Me Believe
My Baby Loves Me
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Reckless
Ride
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Still Holding On
Swingin’ Doors
Teenage Daughters
The Time Has Come
There You Are
This One’s For The Girls
Trip Around The Sun
Valentine
Whatever You Say
When God-Fearin’ Women Get The Blues
Where Would You Be
Wild Angels
Wrong Again
Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 16:16:00 GMT -5
Kicking off our top 40 we say goodbye to the other incorrect followup single to "Independence Day". "Where I Used To Have A Heart" is a great, stone-cold country ballad where Martina sounds absolutely fantastic....but similar to "Heart Trouble" it has kinda come to sound out of place in her catalog as she established more of a signature artistic identity over time. Just like "Heart Trouble" it has also fallen completely off the map, with literally zero recurrent play, and is remembered as a huge flop; but the difference between it and "Heart Trouble" is that it actually WAS a flop.
At this point in her career, she probably didn't need to have a 5th single from the album. After the huge success of "My Baby Loves Me" and "Life #9", followed by "Independence Day" building up a ton of conversation and hype despite missing the top 10, there really wasn't a whole lot more that two entire extra singles could do at that point. "Strangers" is the only song that would have probably made any kind of lasting impact as a 4th single, but I doubt that even it would have been successful as a 5th single.
It wasn't until a couple eras later, in the Evolution era, where Martina was a big enough name to be able to get away with 5+ song eras.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 16:30:29 GMT -5
 39. "How I Feel"
Album: Waking Up Laughing (2 of 3) Year: 2007 Vocal Range: F#3 - E5 Billboard Chart Peak: #15
Placement in the previous rankdown: 46 of 70 Placement in the album rankdown: 6 of 12
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 16:43:37 GMT -5
Waking Up Laughing is the next album to lose multiple songs! "How I Feel" was the followup single to her comeback smash hit "Anyway"....but as is the theme for many of the songs we have seen thus far in the rankdown, it was the WRONG single choice!!!! "Everybody Does" was RIGHT THERE!!!!!! After a power ballad like "Anyway", the rocking uptempo energy of ED would have made such a nice counterpart, and breathed some excitement into this era that "How I Feel" ultimately helped suck out...
Granted, the big draw of this era was that it was the first album where Martina played with her writing skills. "Anyway" was the first co-write of her career, and "How I Feel" was the second. That was undoubtedly part of her excitement in releasing it as a single.
There is kind of a perception that the Waking Up Laughing era died immediately after "Anyway", but that is not entirely fair imo. "How I Feel" was technically a successful single, and its impact has not entirely disappeared yet imo. It peaked inside the top 15, which puts it right up there with several singles from the similar time period that are remembered for being decently successful hits, like "Wrong Baby Wrong", "Ride", "Teenage Daughters", etc. Hell, I even randomly heard it on the radio a couple years ago!!! I was shook!! It tends to be perceived on Pulse like it was a "For These Times"-level flop, but the song definitely deserves more credit than that!
|
|
austin
9x Platinum Member
Pulse Survivor Sri Lanka Sole Survivor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 9,362
|
Post by austin on Oct 24, 2020 18:10:29 GMT -5
I think it would have been a much better third or fourth single, after "Everybody Does" and ideally Pulse Top 40 smash "House of a Thousand Dreams" third. Whereas, the Times song had no chance of ever being a successful Top 10 single. What a weird handling of a good album.
Just my opinion, of course.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 18:29:03 GMT -5
38. "Trip Around The Sun" - Jimmy Buffett ft. Martina
Album: License To Chill (Jimmy Buffett album) Year: 2004 Vocal Range: B3 - C#5 (Martina) Billboard Chart Peak: #20
Placement in the previous rankdown: 64 of 70 Placement in the album rankdown: 5 of 40 (Martina Extras rankdown)
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 18:44:37 GMT -5
Out next, we say goodbye to the one single in the rankdown that is not technically "Martina's" single. "Trip Around The Sun" is a Jimmy Buffett single. Martina is credited, of course, since it's a full-fledged duet. Since it managed to be a top 20 hit on country radio, it very much did its job to help carry his album alongside lead single "Hey Good Lookin'", and I felt it would be very weird to rank her singles without including this one. Jimmy Buffett has had a HUGE career of his own, of course, outside of the country music world! "Margaritaville", for example, is one of those all-time classics that EVERYBODY knows! He has also had a decent turnout as a collaborator on country charts in the waning years of his career, as he picked up a couple of huge smash hits with Alan Jackson in "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" and Zac Brown Band in "Knee Deep". As far as HIS music is concerned, he also released a cover of "Hey Good Lookin'" featuring George Strait, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Clint Black as the lead single of this same License to Chill album, which climbed all the way to #8 on the country charts. "Trip Around The Sun" followed that. As far as Martina's career is concerned, this song came when she was at her most commercially valuable. She had just had her first #1 on the AC charts with "This One's For The Girls", followed by "In My Daughters Eyes" and "How Far" being substantial hits. This duet came out in the middle of her Martina album era, while "How Far" was climbing, before "God's Will" got released (Hence why it appeared between them in the track listing for this rankdown!) Shortly after this was when she pulled off her aforementioned accomplishment of selling 185,000 albums in opening week for Timeless I think Martina sounds great, and the song has a great theme, despite being kinda cheesy. Nevertheless, TWO people lose their last place with this reveal! Congratulations taylor and Ginger Spice! Sorry to CoJoFan though, who loses his first top 10 :( |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 19:02:53 GMT -5
 37. "Just Around The Corner"
Album: Reckless (1 of 2) Year: 2016 Vocal Range: E3 - C#5 Billboard Chart Peak: NA
Placement in the previous rankdown: 48 of 70 Placement in the album rankdown: 3 of 10
**Most of the live performances from the Reckless album are from the peak of her vocal problems, but she actually carries this song really well despite its huge range and complicated melody!** Total: 686
Average: 32.67
Std Dev: 8.63 (9th smallest)fireflies - 12 taylor - 12 schnetzka - 25 castleoblivion26 - 28 kansasmeetsmo - 28 George Strait Junkie - 29 codyj100 - 30 .indulgecountry - 31 CoJoFan - 32 tim - 34 toomuchboy - 34 bboat11 - 34 Ginger Spice - 36 Juanca - 37
Kanenrá:ke - 39 austin - 39 Troublemaker - 40 someguy - 40 fearlessarrow - 40 ClevelandRox - 40 Cody Wants Out... - 46  {Songs Remaining}
A Broken Wing
Anyway
Blessed
Cheap Whiskey
Concrete Angel
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Girls Like Me
God’s Will
Happy Girl
How Far
I Just Call You Mine
I Love You
I’m Gonna Love You Through It
In My Daughter’s Eyes
Independence Day
Life #9
Love’s The Only House
Make Me Believe
My Baby Loves Me
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Reckless
Ride
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Still Holding On
Swingin’ Doors
Teenage Daughters
The Time Has Come
There You Are
This One’s For The Girls
Valentine
Whatever You Say
When God-Fearin’ Women Get The Blues
Where Would You Be
Wild Angels
Wrong Again
Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong |
|
ClevelandRox
Diamond Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 13,540
|
Post by ClevelandRox on Oct 24, 2020 19:12:51 GMT -5
We're already at a point where I'm expecting my #1 with every reveal. 😓
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 19:24:08 GMT -5
We take our first bite from her most recent original studio album with "Just Around the Corner". This is a very unique song with a very complicated melody to try to sing. Seriously, have any of you ever tried singing along with this one? It's not an intuitive song at all! (I know, most of you are like 'why tf would I ever try to sing along with Martina, I'm not looking to ruin my self-esteem like that!' 😂 ) But she nails it, and owns it, despite the fact that her voice was clearly not what it used to be by the time this album was recorded. I have always particularly loved the way her vibrato sounds in the bridge of the song  It's heavenly! (On the "Yeah! Yeah!"s followed by the "A break in the clouds....one foot in front of the other" section). Also, it is really cool how much hype Martina's singles have still managed to have despite the fact that her radio days are behind her! Y'all might have forgotten, but Facebook had that 'trending' feature back in 2016, lol. When this song was announced as a single, it also came with the sudden drop of the music video, and some big announcement that Martina was headlining some big Sarah Cannon Concert against Cancer. And Martina actually trended on Facebook for a few days! In the National trending section that everybody could see, not just based on regional trending or individualized search history So the song failed to chart, because at that time only Cumulus stations were playing it, and the Nash Icon label gave it zero push whatsoever, but it still saw Martina having a fairly unexpected mini "viral" moment :) We'll take what we can get these days, tbh!! |
|
|
|
Post by tim on Oct 24, 2020 19:41:15 GMT -5
Now that we’ve made it through the bottom 10 I think that makes for a good time to catch up (plus I don't want to get any more behind than I already am!): “That’s Me” - This ended up in my bottom two because it’s rather unmemorable and also is just a snoozefest to try and even get all of the way through. “Heart Trouble” - That’s an interesting tidbit about Martina preferring to have “Strangers” released as the follow-up single to “Independence Day” and also including that song and not this one on her Greatest Hits compilation. I think most artists have at least one song that they look back on and wish the label had gone with a different single instead (George for example has always very much disliked “Down and Out”), so this just happens to be Martina’s. I’ve never really looked back on as this one being a flop, but it’s surely one of her more forgotten singles. “(I Never Promised You) A Rose Garden” - I feel like I might’ve overranked this one a tad bit as I placed it in my top 30, but as bboat11 mentioned this is a live favorite and is the one reason I look back fondly on this song. Of the handful of times I’ve seen Martina (both solo and on tour with George), I don’t think she ever excluded this song from her set and she always does a great job with it! "Where I Used To Have A Heart" - I almost forget that they went five singles deep from her sophomore album! It was great revisiting this song because honestly other than its respective album rankdown I hadn’t heard this in a long, long time as it certainly isn’t something country radio played much at the time or thereafter. “How I Feel” - Not only was this the incorrect choice as the follow-up single to “Anyways” but y’all I just can’t with her vocals on this! The way in which she sings and holds onto the final notes into That’s how I fEEEEEl just makes my hears hurt…and if I’m being honest she just doesn’t sound all that good on this. “Trip Around the Sun” - I was anticipating the exit of this at any moment as I know that it has never been a Pulse favorite, but personally I’ve always loved this song as well as most of Jimmy’s License to Chill album for that matter. I actually still revisit this song a few times each year! |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 19:41:43 GMT -5
36. "The Time Has Come"
Album: The Time Has Come (2 of 3) Year: 1992 Vocal Range: C4 - C5 Billboard Chart Peak: #23
Placement in the previous rankdown: 37 of 70 |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 19:52:21 GMT -5
The time has come for us to let go of the song that started it all!!! TTHC was Martina's debut single, and opening track to her debut album, and essentially her introduction to the world. And what a fitting title for a career-starter!
This song was not massive or anything, but it performed respectably at least. Nearly making the top 20 is much better than a lot of people's debut singles do! It didn't put her on the map (that honor would go to "My Baby Loves Me", the lead single to her next album), but it was definitely not a flop.
Honestly, I have been thinking lately that this is one that would be really well-received if she added it back into her setlist now! She has been paying her debut album dust for the majority of her career (and expectedly so, considering the fact that her notoriety really began to take off with her second album), but this one would assuredly get a pretty significant crowd response if it were to show up again. It would also be a great song for her to revisit vocally, as it is not particularly rangy or challenging to sing, and artists always need more songs like that as they get older.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 24, 2020 19:54:33 GMT -5
Bottom 15:
50. It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas (962)---Album: It's The Holiday Season---49. Silver Bells (904)48. Marry Me (887)47. For These Times (868)46. O Holy Night (809)---Album: White Christmas---45. It's My Time (779)44. I Still Miss Someone (757)43. That's Me (754)42. Heart Trouble (748)41. (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden (738)---Album: Timeless---40. Where I Used To Have A Heart (724)39. How I Feel (722)38. Trip Around The Sun (710)37. Just Around The Corner (686)36. The Time Has Come (677)Y'all better go ahead and take a breath! Out next at #35, we will be saying goodbye to our first top 10 single!!!! It also comes with our first top 3 loss of the rankdown 
|
|
|
|
Post by tim on Oct 24, 2020 19:57:53 GMT -5
Seeing how Martina debuted just at about the time that young Timmy started watching CMT, I have fond memories of seeing the video for "The Time Has Come" quite often and always enjoy getting to revisit the song. Also, for all of you Garth Brooks haters on here you at least have him to thank in part for helping to launch her career as he's the one who offered her an opening spot on his tour back when she was selling his t-shirts!
|
|
.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
|
Post by .indulgecountry on Oct 24, 2020 20:43:39 GMT -5
Why is Heart Trouble so hated?! ☹️ I don't get it either. It is such a fantastic jam. The melody and her delivery of it are so striking and catchy. It feels very Reba-sassy. |
|
Juanca
Diamond Member
Enjoying work, family/personal life with partner and doggies, and music. I couldn't ask for more :)
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 11,168
|
Post by Juanca on Oct 26, 2020 23:12:19 GMT -5
43. That's Me (43): The melody and instrumental sounded a bit too simple / boring to me. Not bad, but just not very memorable for a first listen. 42. Heart Trouble (36): I kinda liked the rocker and countrier production of this one. I didn't know she had recorded this kinda stuff, too. Much more interesting than songs I put in my bottom 10. 41. Rose Garden (44): I like the original and Kon Kan's cover  This is harmless and nice, but didn't find it different enough from the original to rank it higher. 40. Where I Used To Have A Heart (23): This was quite a nice discovery to me. I like the melody and harmonies in the chorus, including the more classic country ballad sound of it. And I really like her vocal tone here, too. 39. How I Feel (22): Another nice discovery. I like the chorus melody and instrumental. The verses are a bit weak, but in the end those strings in the bridge, the male backing vocals, her vocal ad-libs at the end, were all key reasons why I ended up placing it this high instead of the upper 20s where I had it for a good time. By the way, thanks for sharing Everybody Does. Yeah, I can that's a catchy one and more instant than HIF 38. Trip Around The Sun (13): Where did this jam come from? One of my favorite discoveries in this RD. It sounded like a classic 70s/80s tune. Very strong melody throughout the song, classic adult pop instrumental in the verses and bridge, and nice enough extra country vibe in the chorus. Her voice sounds exquisite, and Jimmy does a good job, too. I look forward to my next long drive to blast this one out :) 37. Just Around The Corner (37): I found the melody good enough to escape my bottom 5, and then it was the bridge that made me rank it at this spot. By far the best part of the song. 36. The Time Has Come (31): I like the more country feel to it. A good, compact, tune, with good energy and vocals. |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 26, 2020 23:45:35 GMT -5
By the way, thanks for sharing Everybody Does. Yeah, I can that's a catchy one and more instant than HIF Oh wow, I'm impressed you're actually listening to songs that I share!!! You're a fun rankdown participant :) "Everybody Does" finished at #4 in her album tracks rankdown, btw :) So yes, clearly a jam! |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 19:48:17 GMT -5
Y'all better go ahead and take a breath! Out next at #35, we will be saying goodbye to our first top 10 single!!!! It also comes with our first top 3 loss of the rankdown Where's all my fellow Martina fans who can decipher these hints?!
35. "There You Are"
Album: Emotion (2 of 5) Year: 2000 Vocal Range: B3 - C5 Billboard Chart Peak: #10
Placement in the previous rankdown: 44 of 70 Placement in the album rankdown: 7 of 13**Lmao this music video was scrapped, and never officially released... So I have no idea why it is now uploaded to Vevo. Most cringey video of all time!!!**
**Performance from the 2000 CMA awards. EPIC!** Total: 653
Average: 31.10
Std Dev: 13.44 (6th largest)
ClevelandRox - 1 (RIP  ) toomuchboy - 14 tim - 16 schnetzka - 16 bboat11 - 17 Ginger Spice - 17 CoJoFan - 22 George Strait Junkie - 27 Troublemaker - 33 fearlessarrow - 34 someguy - 34 Kanenrá:ke - 34 austin - 38 .indulgecountry - 38 fireflies - 40 castleoblivion26 - 42 kansasmeetsmo - 42 codyj100 - 45 Juanca - 47 Cody Wants Out... - 47 taylor - 49  {Songs Remaining}
A Broken Wing
Anyway
Blessed
Cheap Whiskey
Concrete Angel
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
Girls Like Me
God’s Will
Happy Girl
How Far
I Just Call You Mine
I Love You
I’m Gonna Love You Through It
In My Daughter’s Eyes
Independence Day
Life #9
Love’s The Only House
Make Me Believe
My Baby Loves Me
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Reckless
Ride
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Still Holding On
Swingin’ Doors
Teenage Daughters
This One’s For The Girls
Valentine
Whatever You Say
When God-Fearin’ Women Get The Blues
Where Would You Be
Wild Angels
Wrong Again
Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 20:10:14 GMT -5
"There You Are" is officially the first top 10 hit of her career to bow out of this rankdown. And as I promised, it also sees our first top 3 loss......in the form of ClevelandRox 's #1!!!!  I feel like we did this song dirty, but then again I can understand why it would be polarizing. It does not sound like a radio hit, and takes a little bit of investment to get into. But once you're invested, ooooooooh boy does it just get more and more delicious!!! This is a song that literally nobody could deliver better than Martina. Very few women have a big enough voice to carry this tune, but of the ones that do, none of them have the same ability to sustain that Martina does. Her iconic "There you aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare" at the end of the second chorus is of course one of the highlights of this song. It goes on seemingly forever. If you try to sing along with it, you will probably fail. That amount of sustain does NOT come easily, even for trained singers! And yet, there are no studio tricks here! In a live setting, not only does she sustain the entire note, every.single.time, without ever missing a beat......she GOES HIGHER AT THE END OF IT!!!!!!! Going up to a D5, which is higher than any note in the studio version. Right when everyone else would have run out of breath, she goes and makes it even more epic! If you watch the performance from the CMAs that I posted above, you'll see what I mean. Unfortunately, she is not a huge fan of the studio version of the song. Martina wrote in the liner notes of her Greatest Hits album that, even though this was the most recent hit on the album, she wishes she could redo it. She said something along the lines of how she was holding back on the recording, but felt that they had turned it into a much bigger production in the live setting, and she wishes the studio version was a little "bigger". This is also not a hit that she has dusted off very often through the latter half of her career. It kinda took a backseat to other big-voiced songs like "Where Would You Be", "Anyway", etc. But here is a rare late-career live performance. Notice that she STILL freaking knocks it out of the park |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 20:24:40 GMT -5
34. "Still Holding On" - ft. Clint Black
Album: Evolution (1 of 6) Year: 1997 Vocal Range: [Clint: D3 - G4; Martina: B3 - E5] Billboard Chart Peak: #11
Placement in the previous rankdown: 60 of 70 |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 20:32:53 GMT -5
"Still Holding On" bows out next. I have no idea why this seems to be such a forgotten hit for both Martina and Clint. It baaaarely missed the top 10, and as you can tell from the live video above, it made for some EPIC awards show performances!!! I have always felt like their voices blend together really well. You can also tell that Clint kinda steps back and allows Martina to shine in the back half of the song, which is the way it should be, because she turns in some absolutely killer vocals here!!
I suppose maybe we just kinda take the song for granted nowadays. If you think about it, at this point people knew Martina could sing because of "Independence Day", maybe "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town", etc., but they still would not have been expecting live performances quite like this. This came out right before the Evolution album, so fans had never heard the likes of "A Broken Wing", "Whatever You Say", etc. All of her biggest vocal moments came after this song.....and I think this one kinda became obsolete by comparison. Like yes, the live performances of this might have melted faces and blown the roof off of venues, but were ultimately eclipsed by the sorts of stuff she was offering soon after.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 20:42:23 GMT -5
33. "Girls Like Me"
Album: Single Year: 2020 Vocal Range: A3 - B4 Billboard Chart Peak: NA
Placement in the previous rankdown: NA of 70 Placement in the album rankdown: NA of 10
 {Songs Remaining}
A Broken Wing
Anyway
Blessed
Cheap Whiskey
Concrete Angel
Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road
God’s Will
Happy Girl
How Far
I Just Call You Mine
I Love You
I’m Gonna Love You Through It
In My Daughter’s Eyes
Independence Day
Life #9
Love’s The Only House
Make Me Believe
My Baby Loves Me
Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town
Reckless
Ride
Safe In The Arms Of Love
Swingin’ Doors
Teenage Daughters
This One’s For The Girls
Valentine
Whatever You Say
When God-Fearin’ Women Get The Blues
Where Would You Be
Wild Angels
Wrong Again
Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong |
|
taylor
Diamond Member
Pulse’s #1 Conan Stan
Best Country Poster 2023 and 2x Woman of the Year!!!
Joined: October 2019
Posts: 16,438
Pronouns: he/they/she
|
Post by taylor on Oct 31, 2020 20:54:44 GMT -5
This seems like a good spot for "Girls Like Me" to leave. It's a great song, but more than certainly does not have the ability to hold a candle to a lot of the rest of her career. Her voice in this is a MARKED improvement over the abysmal 2016-18 era. I haven't heard her on Jamie O'Neal's album yet, but I think I saw you bboat11 say that she turned in some E5's on that duet, so I REALLY can't wait to hear how she did that in 2020! And if her voice continues to go in an upward trajectory, it'll certainly make me extra excited for Album 15! |
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 20:57:13 GMT -5
The newest song in this rankdown, "Girls Like Me", bows out next. This was the song that Martina chose to record that was pitched to her by songwriter Halie on the show Songland back in May of this year. The song has done nothing on the charts so far, which is expected because Martina is now an independent artist, but it is still noteworthy for its VERY splashy sales debut!!! Not only did it sail easily up to #1 on the country iTunes sales charts for close to a week, but it also sat at #2 on the all-genre sales charts for pretty much the entire weekend following its release!
We have already talked over and over about Martina's work to revive her voice, and imo this song is a good indicator that whatever she is doing has been working! Yes she sounds a little different, but she still sounds amazing in a new way. I'm starting to get the itch for a new Martina album sooner rather than later, so I hope this Songland recording process has got her creative juices flowing!!
|
|
toomuchboy
6x Platinum Member
Joined: October 2012
Posts: 6,735
|
Post by toomuchboy on Oct 31, 2020 21:01:44 GMT -5
In regards to "Still Holding On," I find that song disappointing because I like both artists and should have enjoyed their duet. Maybe it's because Martina is singing so high, that Black had to sing higher than he normally does. I don't know, he doesn't sound too great there to me.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,412
My Reviews
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Oct 31, 2020 21:07:20 GMT -5
This seems like a good spot for "Girls Like Me" to leave. It's a great song, but more than certainly does not have the ability to hold a candle to a lot of the rest of her career. Her voice in this is a MARKED improvement over the abysmal 2016-18 era. I haven't heard her on Jamie O'Neal's album yet, but I think I saw you bboat11 say that she turned in some E5's on that duet, so I REALLY can't wait to hear how she did that in 2020! And if her voice continues to go in an upward trajectory, it'll certainly make me extra excited for Album 15! Gurl, you're still sleeping on it?!?!! Here ya go!!!!! Yes ma'am, Martina has several E5s in the harmonies of this song! Not only that, but she just hits them! Not having to work up to them or anything. It's most assuredly the product of mixed voice with a little bit of studio magic to beef it up, but still. It sounds effortless and natural! |
|
)
