Megan Moroney "Lucky" RD (Aug 21 Due!)

[bboat11]

I tried to do this today, and the songs are VERY consistent in sound and quality! Lol I may need to give this one a few spins before I submit :)

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

New Deadline: October 25

Participants
1. CLD
2.ClevelandRox
3.tim
4.Darkest Hour
5.Kanenrá:ke
6.castleoblivion26
7.fearlessarrow

I did a poor job in reminding this, so I'm giving 10 more days. I am currently extremely busy, with school, work and such, and I don't think I can start the reveal until November 2, but still, it will be nice to have all the lists ready by then, so setting the deadline. I will reveal Tenille Arts first.


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 George Strait Junkie taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame James Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

Past participants:
SHOOTER Darkest Hour Kris Kringle dgarcia3377  Tylerjamesnerd


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[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Final Last Call + Pre-reveal questions

Participants
1. CLD
2.ClevelandRox
3.tim
4.Darkest Hour
5.Kanenrá:ke
6.castleoblivion26
7.fearlessarrow
8.bboat11
9.kw9461

Last call for this one. Let me know if you're still willing to participate, I can definitely wait for your lists! Maybe LBTrocks or .indulgecountry ?


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 George Strait Junkie taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame James Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

Past participants:
SHOOTER Darkest Hour Kris Kringle dgarcia3377 ;Tylerjamesnerd

Pre-reveal Questions:
1. What is going to be #1/#13?
2. Which single is going to do the best/worst?
3. What is going to be the post/least polarizing song?
4. Which album track is going to do the best?
5. Any other thought on this album, compared with their recent materials?

[.indulgecountry]

I'll do this. Gimme a day or two!

[Darkest Hour]

1. What is going to be #1/#13?
#1: Drinkin’ Problem
#13: Altitude Adjustment
2. Which single is going to do the best/worst?
Best: Drinkin’ Problem
Worst: Make a Little
3. What is going to be the post/least polarizing song?
Most polarizing: At Least You Cried
Least polarizing: Drinkin’ Problem
4. Which album track is going to do the best?
This Old Heart
5. Any other thought on this album, compared with their recent materials?
Love this album the most out of their three albums + an EP.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Reveal Time!!

Participants
1. CLD
2.ClevelandRox
3.tim
4.Darkest Hour
5.Kanenrá:ke
6.castleoblivion26
7.fearlessarrow
8.bboat11
9.kw9461
10..indulgecountry



Opening Thought:
I managed to find time between the semester end and final exam period, so I can finally get to start my reveal here! It was great to re-visit Midland's debut album, beautiful harmony and strong instrumental production, and yet, the most of the tracks have very strong melody (which I care about the most). They have a history of being qualified to be on Texas Country Chart as well. And yes, there was that "authenticity debate" was happening around Midland about the time of this album, if I recall correctly, which I didn't really care, as a fan of their sound. Got 10 participants, a little smaller than expected, but good to see kw9461 joining my series for the first time, and fearlessarrow coming back to my RD after Runaway June RD.

Let's start with a top 3 loss!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#13 "Altitude Adjustment"

Total: 98
Average: 9.8
Std Dev: 3.43 (3rd Highest)

ClevelandRox - 3
castleoblivion26 - 8
.indulgecountry - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 9
tim - 9
Darkest Hour - 12
Kanenrá:ke - 12
kw9461  - 13
bboat11 - 13
fearlessarrow - 13

The bottom spot of this RD is Altitude Adjustment. Darkest Hour correctly predicted in the pre-reveal question! kw9461, bboat11, and fearlessarrow scored the perfect rankings, while ClevelandRox had a bad start with #3 loss.

CLD's Thought
This song is not bad at all to me. Even thought it was at my #9, I still liked the melody okay. It starts sounding a bit repetitive after a while, but I do like this silly but unique lyrics. At least memorable and I can see a bit of creativity. 

[bboat11]

"Altitude Adjustment" was a clever play on words exactly one time, but hearing it repeated several times over the course of 3 minutes caused it to get old REALLY quickly, lol.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#12 "Lonely for You Only"

Total: 92
Average: 9.2
Std Dev: 2.53 (3rd Lowest)

castleoblivion26 - 6
Kanenrá:ke - 7
ClevelandRox - 7
kw9461 - 7
🌺CountryLineDancer - 8
.indulgecountry - 10
Darkest Hour - 10
bboat11 - 12
fearlessarrow - 12

tim - 13

Next up is the opening track, Lonely For You. Being the third least polarizing song, this did not receive any top 5 rankings. bboat11 and fearlessarrow scored another perfect rankings, and tim bids farewell to his #13.

CLD's Thought
I think this was a solid track, and functions well as an entrance to this album. Have a solid melody and instrumental production, sort of accurately representing what the entire album would sound like. The flip side is that this did not stand out to me at all. As this was followed by two singles with strong melodies, it was easy to forget about this song. A bit surprised to see many bottom 3 rankings, as I did not see anything so bad about this song, but yea, it was very weak and forgettable overall.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#11 "Check Cashin' Country"

Total: 91
Average: 9.1
Std Dev: 2.02 (2nd Lowest)

Darkest Hour - 7
.indulgecountry - 7
fearlessarrow - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 8
bboat11 - 8
tim - 10
ClevelandRox - 10
kw9461 - 10
castleoblivion26 - 11
🌺CountryLineDancer - 13

1 point ahead of #12 is "Check Cashin' Country". Of all the songs in the album, this is the only song written by Jess Carson alone with no co-writers. This song was also included in their self-titled debut EP released in 2016. Being the second least polarizing song, this received no top 6 rankings, while I got rid of my #13.

CLD's Thought
I found this song to be very bland, almost boring. Was not keen on the melody either. Glad that this is bowing out in the bottom 3.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#10 "At Least You Cried"

Total: 89
Average: 8.9
Std Dev: 3.57

fearlessarrow - 3
🌺CountryLineDancer - 5
tim - 6
bboat11 - 7
.indulgecountry - 8
Darkest Hour - 11
kw9461 - 11
castleoblivion26 - 12
Kanenrá:ke - 13
ClevelandRox - 13

"At Least You Cried" escaped the bottom 3 by 2 points. This was on the polarizing side, the 4th most polarizing song, so Darkest Hour's prediction for this to be polarizing was not necessarily wrong; Kanenrá:ke and ClevelandRox got ride of their bottom spot, while fearlessarrow became the second participant to lose top 3 song.

CLD's Thought
This is the first sad reveal for me. I'm with fearlessarrow here, definitely enjoying this pleasant mid-tempo tune. I love the harmony of the chorus, and even though it is in the middle of the singles (between Drinkin' Problem and Burn Out), its strong harmony and chorus melody left me a memorable impression. 

[.indulgecountry]

So far I've lost my 6-8 and 10, so not going exactly great for me... but I still have a top 5 intact, lol.

[tim]

I'm not necessarily surprised that "Altitude Adjustment" went out last given its repetitiveness. It's still a fun song though and one that tends to work better in a live setting I think.

"Lonely for You Only" has always been that one song I tend to skip over most from this album as it just kinda drags on.

"Check Cashin' Country" is another song that tends to come more alive in their live shows. That said, it's another one that I tend to skip over on the album.

I'm quite disappointed by how "At Least You Cried" performed here in the rankdown as it has always been one of my favorites. As our host mentioned, this has a great melody.

[fearlessarrow]

Noooo "At Least You Cried" is so good :'(  At least I got 2 perfect rankings out of this first set of reveals!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#9 "More Than a Fever"

Total: 80
Average: 8
Std Dev: 3.59

fearlessarrow - 4
.indulgecountry - 4
kw9461 - 4
Kanenrá:ke - 5
castleoblivion26 - 9
tim - 8
bboat11 - 9
🌺CountryLineDancer - 12
ClevelandRox - 12
Darkest Hour - 13

Kicking off the second reveal day with More Than a Fever. This was on the polarizing side; 3 of us lost their #4 rankings, while 3 participants also got rid of their bottom 3. bboat11 scored another perfect ranking.

CLD's Thought
This song was a near-miss for me. I feel like #12 was a bit too harsh, as I do enjoy the delivery of this song. I like the first part of the chorus, but not keen on how it ends with the falsetto followed by "More Than A Fever" part.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#8 "Somewhere on the Wind"

Total: 78
Average: 7.8
Std Dev: 3.08

.indulgecountry - 2
bboat11 - 5
Darkest Hour - 5
🌺CountryLineDancer - 7
ClevelandRox - 8
fearlessarrow - 9
Kanenrá:ke - 9
castleoblivion26 - 10
tim - 11
kw9461 - 12

2 point of ahead of "At Least You Cried" is Somewhere on the Wind. Received three top 3 rankings, including #2 loss, highest loss of this RD so far, by .indulgecountry . On the other hand, kw9461 cleared their bottom 4 with this reveal.

CLD's Thought
I like the tempo of this song, and this is a suitable track to end this album. The melody did not stand out as much, compared with other tracks, so this fell somewhere in the middle of my list.

#1 loss is coming up next!!!!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#7 "Burn Out"

Total: 73
Average: 7.3
Std Dev: 4.55 (Highest)
Chart History (US:#2, CAN:#29)

tim - 1
🌺CountryLineDancer - 2
fearlessarrow - 2
Kanenrá:ke - 4

Darkest Hour - 9
kw9461 - 9

ClevelandRox - 11
.indulgecountry - 11
bboat11 - 11
castleoblivion26 - 13

The first single to leave this RD is Burn Out. tim becomes the first participant to lose #1 ranking. On the other hand, castleoblivion26 got rid of their bottom spot. This is also the most polarizing song, with four top 4 rankings and four bottom 3 rankings. This was released as the third and last single from the album, and became top 3 hit in the US, while not as successful in Canada. 

CLD's Thought
This is definitely the best single from this album to me (as my #1 is not a single). From lyrics, melody, delivery to harmony, this song is amazing. To this day, my favorite single by this band. Was surprised to see so many low rankings! I'm curious to know where the hate for this song came from.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#6 "Nothin' New Under the Neon"

Total: 70
Average: 7
Std Dev: 3.40

castleoblivion26 - 2
Kanenrá:ke - 3
Darkest Hour - 4
tim - 5
kw9461 - 6
ClevelandRox - 9
.indulgecountry - 9
bboat11 - 10
🌺CountryLineDancer - 11
fearlessarrow - 11

The last song to miss the top 5 is "Nothin' New Under the Neon". This song received two top 3 rankings and two bottom 3 rankings. 

CLD's Thought
This song was alright, harmony is nice, the melody is alright. Overall, however, it was not that memorable, and gave me a flat/plain impression. Still, #11 was a bit too tough, now that I think about it, as I do enjoy the mood of this song. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#5 "Make a Little"

Total: 68
Average: 6.8
Std Dev: 3.68 (3rd Highest)
Chart History (US:#15, CAN:#12)

bboat11 - 1
ClevelandRox - 2
castleoblivion26 - 5
Darkest Hour - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 6
tim - 7
kw9461 - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 10
fearlessarrow - 10
.indulgecountry - 13

The second single to leave is "Make A Little." bboat11 became the second participant to lose #1, while .indulgecountry got rid of their last spot. Having both #1 and #13 spots, this was the third most polarizing song. This was released as the second single, and became top 15 hit both in the US and Canada.

CLD's Thought
This is a fun song, and solid choice as an uptempo song to follow-up Drinkin' Problem. Still, I prefer Mr. Lonely over this song, their other uptempo single. I do like listening to this song in a country bar or something, but still haven't added into my regular playlist, as after a while, this song starts feeling a bit repetitive. 

It was a quiet reveal day, so looking forward to seeing some comments tomorrow, before I dive into the top 4!

[castleoblivion26]

Never cared for "Burn Out" and overplay definitely did not help. While some of their songs have grown on me this song has not. Happy to see this exit before the top 5!

That said "Nothing New Under the Neon" was my favorite discovery so am sad to see that one miss

[fearlessarrow]

Lol seems like my favorites from this albums sans "Drinkin' Problem" are relatively less popular on Pulse! I love the laid-back sound of "More Than a Fever" and it has a really pleasant melody.

This album was so strong that I'm not really complaining that my favorite album tracks didn't do so well, but "Burn Out" deserved better! I love the sense of resignation/sadness that comes through in the lyrics and the vocal delivery, and at one point was my favorite Midland song. I think I sometimes have a thing for those types of songs that have this sense of resignation, lol. I wish it did better than "Make a Little" which I still believe was a misstep in single choices. I feel like the song tried to be this catchy and cute jam but it ended up feeling a little awkward musically.

[kw9461]

I see we've arrived in a good place with the 4 remaining songs, all of which I had in my top 5. Still think this is heading towards a showdown between "Drinking Problem" and "The Ole Heart".

[Darkest Hour]

I often thought the pre-chorus of "Somewhere on the Wind" soudns like that of "As She's Walking Away" lol

The high notes in the chorus of "Nothin' New Under the Neon" are smoother than those in "More Than a Fever".

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

TIE!!

#3 "Electric Rodeo"

Total: 51
Average: 5.1
Std Dev: 3.81 (2nd Highest!)

Kanenrá:ke - 2
Darkest Hour - 2
kw9461 - 2
bboat11 - 3
🌺CountryLineDancer - 4
castleoblivion26 - 4
ClevelandRox - 5
fearlessarrow - 5
tim - 12
.indulgecountry - 12

#3 "This Old Heart"

Total: 51
Average: 5.1
Std Dev: 2.69

ClevelandRox - 1
Darkest Hour - 3
kw9461 - 3
bboat11 - 4
tim - 4
.indulgecountry - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 6
castleoblivion26 - 7
fearlessarrow - 8
🌺CountryLineDancer - 10

Two songs got 51 points, and since this is within the top 5, I am calling the tie. "Electric Rodeo" was the second most polarizing song. All but two participants placed it in their top 5, while .indulgecountry and tim placed it at their #12. "This Old Heart" received one #1 ranking from ClevelandRox . Both of these songs are included in their debut EP. As Darkest Hour predicted, "This Old Heart" did great among album tracks, but got outperformed by Out Of Sight.

CLD's Thought
Love Electric Rodeo! It was not in my playlist until I revisited this album for this RD, but now on repeat. Both the verse and chorus have very strong melody, and the instrumental production is beautiful. The high-note at the end is well-done. On the other hand, I don't share the love for "This Old Heart". It's overall alright, the melody is solid, but pretty basic song to me.

[kw9461]

Whoa, didn't expect "Out Of Sight" to make the final 2 but I am totally here for it!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#2 "Out of Sight"

Total: 48
Average: 4.8
Std Dev: 3.19

kw9461 - 1
🌺CountryLineDancer - 1
bboat11 - 3
castleoblivion26 - 3
tim - 3
.indulgecountry - 3
ClevelandRox - 6
fearlessarrow - 6
Darkest Hour - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 11

#1 "Drinkin' Problem"

Total: 21
Average: 2.1
Std Dev: 1.45 (Lowest!)
Chart performance US: #3 CAN: #1

Kanenrá:ke - 1
castleoblivion26 - 1
fearlessarrow - 1
.indulgecountry - 1
Darkest Hour - 1
bboat11 - 2
tim - 2
🌺CountryLineDancer - 3
ClevelandRox - 4
kw9461 - 5

This is it! "Out of Sight" became the winner of the album tracks. Myself and kw9461 placed it as their #1, while Kanenrá:ke became the last person to fully get rid of their bottom 3 songs with this reveal. 27 points ahead of #2 is "Drinkin' Problem", as Darkest Hour correctly predicted in the pre-reveal question. "Drinkin' Problem" is their debut radio single, and biggest hit single to this day, becoming #1 hit in Canada.

CLD's Thought
Pretty predictable #1, but pleasantly surprised to see my all time fav song by Midland "Out of Sight" making it to the top 2, and to see that I was not only one who put this at #1! I adore the melody and production of this song, and it's pretty catchy, but not awkward like Make A Little. Wouldn’t been a great radio single. Drinkin' Problem is their iconic song, not my fav single by them, however. I don't love how the song starts, but overall has a great melody. I like the word-play, and my fav part is the well-made bridge between the chorus and verse "They keep on talkin' Drawing conclusions They call a problem, I call a solution".

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Closing Remark
Thank you for joining y'all!! Midland is definitely an interesting and unique band in the mainstream radio market that has a sound influenced by traditional side of country music, or Texas Country music influence (I sometimes see Eli Young Band to be described as a Texas country band, as well but their sound is definitely less traditional). Their success in the first album did not translate into those two singles from Let It Roll, and currently struggling with "Sunrise Tells the Story", so unfortunately, they are losing momentum. I am going to host Let It Roll RD for sure, so hope to see your list! This thread used to be a monthly RD, but I am way too busy now, so I am going to open the next RD sometimes early next year. It is going to be a female artist, thinking of any of Gabby Barrett, Cassadee Pope, or Hailey Whitters. 

So yes, the next RD won't come soon, so feel free to drop your thoughts on this RD!

Final Results
1."Drinkin' Problem" (21)
2."Out of Sight" (48)
3."This Old Heart" (51)
3."Electric Rodeo" (51)
5."Make a Little" (68)
6."Nothin' New Under the Neon" (70)
7."Burn Out" (73)
8."Somewhere on the Wind" (78)
9."More Than a Fever" (80)
10."At Least You Cried" (89)
11."Check Cashin' Country" (91)
12."Lonely for You Only" (92)
13."Altitude Adjustment" (98)

Perfect Rankings
bboat11 - 4
kw9461 - 3
castleoblivion26 - 3
fearlessarrow - 3
Darkest Hour - 2
ClevelandRox - 1
Kanenrá:ke - 1
.indulgecountry - 1
tim - 0
🌺CountryLineDancer - 0

bboat11 takes the crown this time!!

[.indulgecountry]

🌺CountryLineDancer um, I definitely put "Drinkin' Problem" at #1 not #5......

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Dec 8, 2021 18:34:17 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

🌺CountryLineDancer um, I definitely put "Drinkin' Problem" at #1 not #5......

Oops, fixed.
It was a simple typo, so no change in the score, but the perfect ranking stats is also updated.

[Darkest Hour]

I believe Grady Smith has praised the "She's out of sight and I'm out of my mind" line in the chorus of Out of Sight many times during that time, but I still don't really like its melody.
much. Both Electric Rodeo and This Old Heart should have beaten that. The former has a beautiful influence from countrypolitan era and the latter got a great hook.
Hard to top their breakout hit though. Absolutely like the vocal interplay between them which makes it more like a group effort.