2022 Country Rankdown (Revealing!)

[.indulgecountry]

This is infinitely better than "That's What Tequila Does."

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

If Jason Aldean keeps releasing these weak singles, I might as well see him going away. It’s just a waste of room on the chart.

[bboat11]

82. "Love Talking" - Eli Young Band

Billboard Peak: #47

Total: 2455

Average: 70.14

Std Dev: 24.94

nathanalbright - 12

kw9461 - 24
SHOOTER - 24
LBTrocks - 30

nuggie99 - 38

312999 - 44
HeyHeyHey - 49
austin - 50

raylatch98 - 53
khan - 55
zaclord 🌈 - 57

bboat11 - 63
CoJoFan - 65
superdave3556 - 65
castleoblivion26 - 66
Fanstar1 - 66
wrip - 67
Fire - 69

lady𝓐fan - 78

gardyfan - 85
wavey. - 86
Troublemaker - 87
Kanenrá:ke - 87
fireflies - 90

zdm1998 - 91
Darkest Hour - 91
George Strait Junkie - 91
tim - 92
taylor is terrified - 92
fearlessarrow - 94
bigfan101 - 94
🌺CountryLineDancer - 96

someguy - 101
.indulgecountry - 101
bigd79 - 102

Cody Wants Out...

Gonza'90

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}5 Foot 9
7500 OBO
All Too Well
At The End Of A Bar
Back Then, Right Now
Beers On Me
Best Thing Since Backroads
Brown Eyes Baby
Bye Mom
Can’t Do Without Me
Catching Up With An Ol’ Memory
Circles Around This Town
Crazy One More Time (2022)
Damn Strait
Dates In Pickup Trucks
Doin’ This
Doing Life With Me
Don’t Come Lookin’
Down Home
Downtown Baby
Drinkin’ It Wrong
Everyone She Knows
Everything She Ain’t
Fall In Love
First Taste Of Gone
Flower Shops
Gave It Back Broken
Ghost Story
Giving You Up
Good Day For Living
Half Of Me
Heart Like A Truck
HEARTFIRST
Hell Yeah
Holy Water
Human
I Bet You Think About Me
If I Was A Cowboy
Joy Of My Life
Kissed Me Like That
Last Night Lonely
Learn From It
Like I Love Country Music
Missing One
My Bar
Never Say Never
Never Til Now
Never Wanted To Be That Girl
New Truck
No Hard Feelings
Note To Self
Pick Me Up
Right On Time
She Had Me At Heads Carolina
Should Have Known Better
Slide
Slow Down Summer
Something In The Orange
Son Of A
Son Of A Sinner
Songs About You
Strange
Sunrise Tells The Story
Take My Name
The Kind Of Love We Make
The Last Time
Til You Can’t
Truth About You
Wasted On You
Wastin’ Whiskey
Water Under The Bridge
We Did
What A Song Can Do
What My World Spins Around
While You’re Gone
Whiskey On You
Wild Hearts
Wilder Days
Wishful Drinking
With A Woman You Love
You Didn’t

[bboat11]

I keep forgetting that Eli Young Band exists and then being surprised when I make these year-end lists that they had a song chart within the past year! In my mind they disappeared in like 2017 and haven't been heard from since, lmao.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

EYB has some good outputs, but this was just meh. I’m afraid their career is dead at this point.

[bboat11]

81. "Drinkin' It Wrong" - Adam Doleac

Billboard Peak: #50

Total: 2425

Average: 69.29

Std Dev: 24.78

bigd79 - 11

Darkest Hour - 28
wrip - 29

nathanalbright - 36
fireflies - 39

bboat11 - 42
zaclord 🌈 - 43
castleoblivion26 - 44
George Strait Junkie - 50

bigfan101 - 52
zdm1998 - 54
nuggie99 - 55
LBTrocks - 58

austin - 62
khan - 64
SHOOTER - 70

312999 - 72
Kanenrá:ke - 73
Troublemaker - 79
taylor is terrified - 80

gardyfan - 81
someguy - 82
wavey. - 87
🌺CountryLineDancer - 87
kw9461 - 88
Fire - 90
fearlessarrow - 90

HeyHeyHey - 94
Fanstar1 - 94
CoJoFan - 96
raylatch98 - 97
superdave3556 - 98
tim - 98
lady𝓐fan - 100

.indulgecountry - 102

Cody Wants Out...

Gonza'90

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}5 Foot 9
7500 OBO
All Too Well
At The End Of A Bar
Back Then, Right Now
Beers On Me
Best Thing Since Backroads
Brown Eyes Baby
Bye Mom
Can’t Do Without Me
Catching Up With An Ol’ Memory
Circles Around This Town
Crazy One More Time (2022)
Damn Strait
Dates In Pickup Trucks
Doin’ This
Doing Life With Me
Don’t Come Lookin’
Down Home
Downtown Baby
Everyone She Knows
Everything She Ain’t
Fall In Love
First Taste Of Gone
Flower Shops
Gave It Back Broken
Ghost Story
Giving You Up
Good Day For Living
Half Of Me
Heart Like A Truck
HEARTFIRST
Hell Yeah
Holy Water
Human
I Bet You Think About Me
If I Was A Cowboy
Joy Of My Life
Kissed Me Like That
Last Night Lonely
Learn From It
Like I Love Country Music
Missing One
My Bar
Never Say Never
Never Til Now
Never Wanted To Be That Girl
New Truck
No Hard Feelings
Note To Self
Pick Me Up
Right On Time
She Had Me At Heads Carolina
Should Have Known Better
Slide
Slow Down Summer
Something In The Orange
Son Of A
Son Of A Sinner
Songs About You
Strange
Sunrise Tells The Story
Take My Name
The Kind Of Love We Make
The Last Time
Til You Can’t
Truth About You
Wasted On You
Wastin’ Whiskey
Water Under The Bridge
We Did
What A Song Can Do
What My World Spins Around
While You’re Gone
Whiskey On You
Wild Hearts
Wilder Days
Wishful Drinking
With A Woman You Love
You Didn’t

[SHOOTER]

*goes back to catch up on reveals*



Ok I’m caught up! And of course one of the songs I actually still remember and liked is out. Mess!

[bboat11]

I had never listened to "Drinkin' It Wrong" before doing this rankdown, but after discovering it I actually consider it to be a lot better than I expected! This is a catchy, sing-along sort of song that to me hits the energetic sweet-spot that stuff like "Party Mode" missed. It's fun without feeling vapid.

[taylor is terrified]

“Trouble With A Heartbreak” is one of Jason’s better songs, and was a smart follow-up to IIDLY. One of the better sets among the rare one-two punches in his singles catalog.

But he’s also a transphobe, and a whole other list of things that add up to being a stain on society, so you didn’t hear any of that praise from me. Especially right as Transgender History Month is about to start, lmao.

[SHOOTER]

DIW is catchy and I’d probably like it more if the whole song wasn’t set to TEN.

[Fire]

jason aldean is a horrible artist but trouble with a heartbreak is pretty good tbh

[bboat11]

This is where I will pause for the night and let people catch up before we continue tomorrow.

Here is a recap of the bottom 30:

110. EASY TONIGHT - Niko Moon (3274)

109. She Likes It - Russell Dickerson ft. Jake Scott (3266)

108. Beach Boys - LOCASH (3200)

107. Come Back As A Country Boy - Blake Shelton (3026)

106. Country On - Luke Bryan (2990)

105. If I Were Rock & Roll - Chase Rice (2959)

104. Country'd Look Good On You - Frank Ray (2942)

103. County Roads - Elvie Shane (2869)

102. Fill Them Boots - Chris Lane (2863)

101. That's What Tequila Does - Jason Aldean (2802)

100. Soul - Lee Brice (2802)

099. Steal My Love - Dan + Shay (2789)

098. You Proof - Morgan Wallen (2785)

097. You - Dan + Shay (2780)

096. Up - Luke Bryan (2701)

095. Pass It On - Ryan Hurd (2684)

094. Keys To The Country - Chris Janson (2664)

093. Party Mode - Dustin Lynch (2649)

092. Salt, Lime & Tequila - Ryan Griffin (2568)

091. Take It Slow - Conner Smith (2566)

090. AA - Walker Hayes (2564)

089. You Ain't Pretty - Nate Barnes (2537)

088. Man Made - Matt Stell (2509)

087. Love Is Real - Morgan Evans (2508)

086. How You Make A Man - Craig Morgan (2501)

085. Out In The Middle - Zac Brown Band (2493)

084. Growing Old With You - Restless Road (2470)

083. Trouble With A Heartbreak - Jason Aldean (2461)

082. Love Talking - Eli Young Band (2455)

081. Drinkin' It Wrong - Adam Doleac (2425)

[SHOOTER]

Hopefully my 101 goes out in the next set; I will not be surprised if my 104 makes the top-half. And I already know my 106 will massively overstay its welcome.

[bboat11]

Oh and a hint for #80

[LBTrocks]

This is what I get for going to a bar on a Monday night (a good friends bday, no regrets lol) but bboat11 does mass revealing while i'm gone

Two or three things first before i catch up later lol

Also i'm a little buzzed

"Salt, Lime, Tequila" deserved WAY better! It is so catchy and fun! But not to the point where it is just a trendy mess that sacrifices all quality... I genuinely enjoy it.

Glad "Out in the Middle" is finally out. Zac Brown is just screaming at us the whole time with his ugly af vocals. The instrumentation/production are also extra ugly, and the melody sucks. Hard pass!

I'm glad "Holy Water" outlasted both "Out in the Middle" and "Come Back As A Country Boy" cuz it, like those two, does have the swampy almost southern gothic type of feel but it is the FAR superior song melodically, production wise, and vocally. I don't expect it to crack the top 50 here or anything, but I'm glad we are getting rid of a lot of crap first.

[bboat11]

Feb 27, 2023 23:40:05 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

I'm glad "Holy Water" outlasted both "Out in the Middle" and "Come Back As A Country Boy" cuz it, like those two, does have the swampy almost southern gothic type of feel but it is the FAR superior song melodically, production wise, and vocally. I don't expect it to crack the top 50 here or anything, but I'm glad we are getting rid of a lot of crap first.

Gurl it's basically blaspheme for you to even mention that masterpiece in the same sentence as those other crusty cum socks...

[LBTrocks]

Feb 27, 2023 23:43:34 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Feb 27, 2023 23:40:05 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

I'm glad "Holy Water" outlasted both "Out in the Middle" and "Come Back As A Country Boy" cuz it, like those two, does have the swampy almost southern gothic type of feel but it is the FAR superior song melodically, production wise, and vocally. I don't expect it to crack the top 50 here or anything, but I'm glad we are getting rid of a lot of crap first.

Gurl it's basically blaspheme for you to even mention that masterpiece in the same sentence as those other crusty cum socks...

Oh trust me, I feel the same way... but, technically, they are all dark rock-leaning country songs. It's just Michael Ray got it right, and ZBB and Blake got it so WRONG.

[LBTrocks]

Feb 27, 2023 23:43:34 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Feb 27, 2023 23:40:05 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

I'm glad "Holy Water" outlasted both "Out in the Middle" and "Come Back As A Country Boy" cuz it, like those two, does have the swampy almost southern gothic type of feel but it is the FAR superior song melodically, production wise, and vocally. I don't expect it to crack the top 50 here or anything, but I'm glad we are getting rid of a lot of crap first.

Gurl it's basically blaspheme for you to even mention that masterpiece in the same sentence as those other crusty cum socks...

You calling it a masterpiece

[LBTrocks]

Feb 27, 2023 22:34:40 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

85. "Out in the Middle" - Zac Brown Band

Billboard Peak: #12

tim - 25

You on the other hand loving this flaming pile of trash, while not liking "Holy Water" (even tho you initially said you did   ) has me like

[bboat11]

Feb 27, 2023 23:57:16 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Feb 27, 2023 22:34:40 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

85. "Out in the Middle" - Zac Brown Band

Billboard Peak: #12

tim - 25

You on the other hand loving this flaming pile of trash, while not liking "Holy Water" (even tho you initially said you did   ) has me like

I mean, you might wanna see where he ranked "Holy Water" before you go dropping accusations like this!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Hope to see non-event single of the year Best Thing Since Back Roads leaving in the next set of the reveal.

[LBTrocks]

Feb 28, 2023 1:53:49 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Feb 27, 2023 23:57:16 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

You on the other hand loving this flaming pile of trash, while not liking "Holy Water" (even tho you initially said you did   ) has me like

I mean, you might wanna see where he ranked "Holy Water" before you go dropping accusations like this!

Lol just going off of his negative commentary about it in it's single thread in the country forum, that he made sure I saw, cuz he tagged me in it 

[austin]

Feb 27, 2023 22:17:33 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Former Mr. Ballerini is just... not very good. Not surprised he failed to latch on. "Over for You" is the best thing he's done to date but even that I've kinda soured on recently, especially after Kelsea dropped her EP and exposed his ass, lmao.

He’s handsome enough and his voice is OK/solid but his songs are entirely mediocre, including his one big hit. He doesn’t stand out AT ALL.

[Darkest Hour]

95. Weird single choice outside of HARDY being a songwriter of it because the style is definitely not his.
94. On the other hand, this is in his wheelhouse but it's the more annoying side of him. Also he really made a video for his collab with Eric Church and never pushed it as a single...
93. At least it didn't sound as bad as his earlier hits, but that chorus is lol
92. Eh this doesn't sound that bad to be bottom 20. The familiarity bias strikes again.
91. I didn't expect to rank this so high but this rankdown doesn't give me much to work with. Just feel kinda there when listen to this tbh.
90. Just like Fancy Like in last year's year-end rankdown, this barely escaped bottom 20. Expected but still disappointed.
89. I don't like the motif and I think it's overused at this point especially from even lesser efforts.
88. Hate the motif and Matt Stale's vocals are bland as usual.
87. He always sounds like a budget Keith Urban to me. At least he doesn't indulge in pop influence too much, but Keith Urban is still decently popular now and he is going to be overshadowed by him.
86. I feel I should have lowered my rank for this because the message is borderline sex stereotype and his vocals sound too much like Ronnie Dunn and Randy Houser for me to fully get into, but I get the conviction from his demographic sometimes.
84. Dan + Shay, but the "+" is also a person.
83. Actually my favorite Macon/Georgia era single, especially the chorus. Kinda samey from him as always but he has worse before.
82. I hate the key this song is set in. They can stay being flops.
81. Makes zero sense that this is out already lmao, especially I can name at least 10 songs, noticeably Bitchell Tenpenny's, that should be out before. Now this is the fun song that y'all should have boosted, attempted cool solo is solid.

[Darkest Hour]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Rankdown closeness (110-81)}1. fearlessarrow 10.2
2. castleoblivion26 12.13333333
3. lady𝓐fan 12.46666667
4. tim 14.3
5. Darkest Hour 15.66666667
6. Fanstar1 17.06666667
7. taylor is terrified 17.93333333
8. wrip 18.1
9. .indulgecountry 18.13333333
10. 312999 18.46666667
11. zaclord 🌈 18.6
12. Troublemaker 18.73333333
13. Fire 19.73333333
14. Kanenrá:ke 19.96666667
15. bboat11 20
16. austin 20.2
17. wavey. 20.33333333
18. kw9461 20.53333333
19. gardyfan 21.2
20. zdm1998 21.73333333
21. SHOOTER 22.36666667
22. LBTrocks 22.73333333
23. bigfan101 22.96666667
24. CoJoFan 24.56666667
25. bigd79 25.16666667
26. HeyHeyHey 25.36666667
27. fireflies 25.66666667
28. khan 26.2
29. 🌺CountryLineDancer 26.43333333
30. someguy 26.56666667
31. George Strait Junkie 27.5
32. nathanalbright 28.4
33. raylatch98 30.63333333
34. superdave3556 31.16666667
35. nuggie99 32.93333333

SPOILER: Click to show

{Perfect rankings (110-81)} bigfan101 3
tim 3
.indulgecountry 2
312999 2
castleoblivion26 2
gardyfan 2
austin 1
Fire 1
HeyHeyHey 1
khan 1
lady𝓐fan 1
nuggie99 1
SHOOTER 1
someguy 1
Troublemaker 1
wavey. 1
🌺CountryLineDancer 1

[fearlessarrow]

Feb 27, 2023 21:34:08 GMT -5 bigfan101 said:

Had to rank Party Mode at #69.

Yes I’m a child.

We already knew that.

Feb 27, 2023 21:53:48 GMT -5 🌺CountryLineDancer said:

Haters can hate, AA is a bop.

"AA" is better than "Fancy Like" or whatever "Y'all Life" was ("Fancy Like" 2.0 but without the catchiness) but then I get to the bridge and his vocals sound like a dying horse to me 

Feb 27, 2023 22:15:32 GMT -5 HeyHeyHey said:

“Prayed For You” and “Everywhere But On” are both really solid but I kinda just kept forgetting about “Man Made”. “If I Was a Bar” is still, by far, my favorite Matt Stell song.

"If I Was a Bar" was SUCH a missed opportunity, I don't know why they went with "That Ain't Me No More" over it. Maybe it was the age of the track but we're talking country radio where songs take so long to climb the charts anyways...

Feb 27, 2023 22:46:54 GMT -5 Fire said:

was colder weather just a fluke of quality or some shit i feel like every single zbb song i've heard after that is just awful lol

The ZBB you should listen to is actually their first two albums (The Foundation and You Get What You Give, the latter of which has "Colder Weather" on it). There's the famous "Chicken Fried" but stuff like "Highway 20 Ride", "Whatever It Is", and "As She's Walking Away" I highly recommend. But not "Toes", that's a miss (and it blocked the much better "Welcome to the Future" from #1, which ended Brad Paisley's then record streak of #1 songs). After those two albums in my opinion they've gotten more spotty in terms of quality even though they still have songs I've enjoyed like "Sweet Annie", "Homegrown", and "Heavy Is the Head" (the latter of which is hard rock as opposed to country). Granted "Colder Weather" is one of ZBB's best if not their very best so you can't really go higher from there.

[nuggie99]

Feb 28, 2023 9:48:35 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Rankdown closeness (110-81)
35. nuggie99 32.93333333

Am I out of touch?
No, it's the children who are wrong.

No, I am out of touch, get off my lawn.

[Fire]

Feb 28, 2023 9:56:03 GMT -5 fearlessarrow said:

Feb 27, 2023 22:46:54 GMT -5 Fire said:

was colder weather just a fluke of quality or some shit i feel like every single zbb song i've heard after that is just awful lol

The ZBB you should listen to is actually their first two albums (The Foundation and You Get What You Give, the latter of which has "Colder Weather" on it). There's the famous "Chicken Fried" but stuff like "Highway 20 Ride", "Whatever It Is", and "As She's Walking Away" I highly recommend. But not "Toes", that's a miss (and it blocked the much better "Welcome to the Future" from #1, which ended Brad Paisley's then record streak of #1 songs). After those two albums in my opinion they've gotten more spotty in terms of quality even though they still have songs I've enjoyed like "Sweet Annie", "Homegrown", and "Heavy Is the Head" (the latter of which is hard rock as opposed to country). Granted "Colder Weather" is one of ZBB's best if not their very best so you can't really go higher from there.

oh yeah ik highway 20 ride from the decade-end country rd lol i forgot about it but i rlly liked it

[Fanstar1]

Kinda beats me how some songs that are just fine go out this early while some obvious stinkers are still in, but that's how these go sometimes.

[LBTrocks]

"Party Mode" is mind-numbing, it took how many writers to come up with that chorus?! Lol pass.

I can't hear "Take It Slow" in my head rn. Totally forgettable song. Conner Smith is adorable, but his music is meh.

"AA" never clicked with me thankfully lol

"You Ain't Pretty" is aight but I have no desire to purposely revisit it.

"Man Made" sucks as a song, don't care for it musically or lyrically. I adore Matt Stell and his is better than Granger Smith's obviously, but still, hard pass on the song.

I always forget I like "Love Is Real" until I listen to it, lol. Still, his best song is his pre-debut called "Like A Tornado" and when I met him a few years back, I told him it should be put on his debut record but obvi it wasn't lol.

"How You Make A Man" was a chore to get thru for me, but it is not a terrible song and I do love Craig Morgan. Definitely not something I'd listen to tho.

Restless Road sounds like a lame Christian band to me, lol. They're clearly talented but ain't my thing, "Growing Old With You" is such a wimpy song.

"Trouble With A Heartbreak" is better than "That's What Tequila" does but it is still incredibly meh.

"Love Talking" is one of the few Eli Young Band songs I actually enjoy. It's catchy and has a great melody.

"Drinkin' It Wrong" is kinda catchy but the production does it no favors. I agree it is unnecessarily noisy. Not something I'll be adding to my playlist.