bboat Reviews Country Albums

[bboat11]

Unbroke - Sara Evans

Well here's all kinds of data-filled goodies for people to study if they should feel so inclined, lmao. With one of my faves releasing a new album last week, I figured it was about time to try adapting this rating system to a whole album to see how it goes!

So I went through Sara Evans' new album several times and gave a rating to every song. Then for the album's final score, I averaged the scores of everything.

The end result, as you can see, is a very easy A grade! Which is exactly what you would expect from a Sara Evans album. She is easily one of the most consistent album-artists in the business. Not so much in a cohesive sound or cohesive theme context, but in terms of overall quality. She has a real knack for choosing songs that are just plain damn good songs on their individual merits, leading to albums that are enjoyable from beginning to end even if they do not follow a consistent sound or theme. (I remember back in the good old days when Tenpoundhammer would rail against Sara all the time for being a "schizophrenic" artist, lmao!) He definitely had a point if you focus purely on sonic perspective. But the one thing that she has NEVER compromised is the overall song quality.

That being said, Unbroke is one of her more cohesive efforts overall. She put this album together with a narrative thread that is supposed to represent the transition from heartbreak to happiness, as she was initially going through a separation when she started working on it, and ultimately started working things out with her husband and becoming much happier again in the second half of the process.

This was SO CLOSE to having every song get into the A range!!!!! I honestly have listened to the entire album probably 12 times over the past week, and changed my ratings slightly every time... Early drafts of these ranks had every song in the A-range, but after letting the songs sit with me for a week and being fully honest with myself, "Better Than This" did end up falling back down to the B+ range. It still has a chorus melody that will draw many people in. I did give it a 3.5 in its hit potential, after all! I just feel like it is clearly the weakest lyrical effort on the album, especially with all the repetition in the title (which isn't quite obvious until you write it out), ultimately causing this to feel like filler compared to the other songs on the album. Of course, Sara Evans' filler is a LOT higher quality than many artists' average non-filler songs, so take all criticisms with a grain of salt!

Overall, the biggest fault I can give this album lies with the production. So often through the years, Sara has absolutely nailed the production, to the point where all her music from her heyday still sounds fresh and new! But with Unbroke, it's all a little bit muddy. I fault modern production trends more than anything else, tbh. Modern music in general it is getting harder and harder to pick out specific instruments inside of the wall of sound. Compared to a lot of other modern music, this production is amazing! But compared to Sara's standard, it is a bit on the cluttered and muddy side.

Otherwise, this album deserves so much praise!!!! There is not a single skippable song in the bunch. She sings the hell out of everything, from beginning to end, and her voice is still incredible. She is definitely doing something different here vocally. schnetzka called her voice gritty, and I would have to agree, but definitely feel like it is an intentional artistic choice. It's almost like her voice sounds minimally-edited, causing everything to have more of a live-from-the-studio vibe, slight imperfections just making it all more authentic. On top of that, her voice is definitely becoming brassy with age, and that leads to songs like "Pride" and "Mask" being a little shocking on first listen compared to what you might be expecting...but it works so incredibly well on songs like "Downfall" and "Sorry Now"!

If you're looking for country vibes, this album has it in spades! "Cleaning Out Your Closet" and "I Wanna Be Wrong" are right up there among the countriest songs she's recorded in the last 15 years. "Unbroke" feels like something that would have been a neo-trad smash for her around the Real Fine Place era. And speaking of RFP, "Heartless" reminds me a lot of "Tell Me" for some reason. They both have vibes of being the unassuming underdog of the album or something. Excellent songs, but permanently stuck in the shadows of the heavy-hitters, lmao. "Gypsy Ways" has the sort of folksy-country vibes that could have helped it to be right at home on one of the Dixie Chicks' first three albums, imo. And finally, "Mask" feels a bit like a standard pop-country ballad at first glance, but when you listen closely to the arrangement it actually has more country instrumentation than anything else on the album, save for "Closet".

If you're looking for innovation, Sara still brings that with this album too. "Downfall" and "Sorry Now" are the dynamic duo that gives this album its creative heartbeat, imo. They are both uptempo and catchy as hell. What they lack in traditional country elements, they make up for in melodies and overall musicality. Not to take any credit away from "Downfall", of course, as the entire first half is largely acoustic-guitar-driven. But once the full band kicks in, it's mostly electric guitars. "Sorry Now" is like a 70s classic rock song, lol. And yet still somehow feels like it could be a hit on country radio in a perfect non-sexist world. Major kudos to Olivia's harmonies in that one!

As far as how this compares to the rest of her recent efforts... It's hard to compare to Copy That, but I think most people will agree this one is better. I feel like the highs are not quite as extreme as those of Words, but there are also much lower lows on Words as well. Unbroke is probably solidly in the top 10 of the Words album. Unbroke has a lot more country vibes than Slow Me Down, although probably of similar quality overall. I'd definitely say it's a better album than Stronger too. Lol I should do this for all of her albums so I can use statistics to rank them........ It's soooooo hard to evaluate her albums objectively, when I am so used to loving every track...

So there you have it! If you are looking for some good music, you will not be disappointed with Sara's new album Unbroke!

In a perfect world, my single choices would go:

1. 21 Days

2. Unbroke

3. Sorry Now

4. Downfall

5. Mask or Cleaning Out Your Closet

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castleoblivion26   kamala 2024 truther   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[schnetzka]

You should definitely do more album reviews bboat11. Absolutely love your writing style. Also, love the shout-out lol.

[kamala 2024 truther]

I am SO HERE for the Boaty Album Reviews. What a great way to kick the new feature off!!

[.indulgecountry]

Omg yes!! I love this! Please do more album reviews like this because the stat nerd in me loved seeing this, and the Sara Evans stan in me especially loved seeing this. 🤣😍

[bboat11]

Jun 16, 2024 7:02:59 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

You should definitely do more album reviews bboat11 . Absolutely love your writing style. Also, love the shout-out lol.

Jun 16, 2024 9:40:03 GMT -5 kamala 2024 truther said:

I am SO HERE for the Boaty Album Reviews. What a great way to kick the new feature off!!

Jun 16, 2024 15:26:37 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Omg yes!! I love this! Please do more album reviews like this because the stat nerd in me loved seeing this, and the Sara Evans stan in me especially loved seeing this. 🤣😍

LOL I'm just sitting here like wait a minute, you all actually read all that 🤣🤣🤣 I'm so glad to see the interest, so I'll definitely do more!

I don't totally know if this system "works" yet since I've only done one album, so it will be interesting to try a few more albums and see if I am satisfied with how the rankings turn out. So far this one seems to have turned out good and reflected my overall tastes!

[bboat11]

I just edited the above album review to add a Standard Deviation. That way I will have a way to keep track of how "inconsistent" I consider an album to be based on how much my ranks for each song deviate from each other. I thought that might be super interesting data to have, especially if I rank several albums over time, I will be able to average those to provide an actual numeric score to how consistent (or not) an artist is when they make albums!

Unbroke gets a 4.81%, which strikes me as super consistent! That indicates a really small difference between song quality. Whereas if there's an album with a few songs in the A range and a few in the C range for example, it would have a much larger deviation.

[bboat11]

Take Two - Terri Clark

Sara's not the only one of my faves to put out a new album recently! Those who know me at all know that Terri Clark is also one of my all-time top artists. I figured if I'm trying to calibrate my rankings system and make sure it is working properly for albums, I may as well do her new album next!

Take Two is an interesting album to rate though... This album features most of her biggest hits, re-recorded in the modern day with a variety of duet partners. So in one sense, it is a bit like a Greatest Hits album! But in the other sense, it is entirely reimagined from how the hits were in their original form.

So is it an original album, or is it a hits album? Well, thinking about it in the latter context is why it scored an A grade! But thinking about it in the former context is why it is ONLY a 93%, when a collection of these songs in their original forms would easily be scoring an A+.

As an original album, this collection is plagued with some glaring issues. Most notably, the production value of this album is horrendous. Terri is in a similar place as Sara Evans in that all the music from her heyday usually nailed the production to the point where it still feels fresh today. But Take Two falls into the same trap that several aging artists stumble into when re-recording their old hits with a presumably smaller budget. That being, the production is bombastic and cheap.

Some individual songs are a lot better in that regard, however! For the most part, this album soars or stumbles depending on the production quality and arrangements of the songs. "I Just Wanna Be Mad", "Now That I Found You", and "If I Were You" have really creative arrangements and duet integrations, and the production also enhances them nicely. But the songs that are least innovative (i.e. wall-of-bombastic-sound-with-few-distinctive-instruments) tend to have the worst production issues, which is unfortunately obvious on "Better Things To Do" and "I Wanna Do It All."

"Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" and "Girls Lie Too" are the two songs on the album that somehow manage to rise above their un-creative arrangements and be fun listens because the vocal chemistry between Terri/Lainey and Terri/Carly is so good!

Of course the final song, "You're Easy On The Eyes", is a live recording from her recent tour with Paul Brandt, and it is easily the best-produced song on the album because it is just them and their acoustic guitars, and their chemistry is great! But I feel like Paul Brandt turns in the weakest vocals of the entire album, which holds back my enjoyment of that song a lot. Plus acoustic versions are never as good as full-band songs. I said what I said.

So yeah, take this A grade with a grain of salt. Some people might walk away from this album thinking that it is awesome because every single one of these songs are objectively incredible songs! Terri was always one of the most consistent-quality hitmakers of her generation, imo, and these are all those same songs! But many others might get bogged down in the production issues and somewhat cheap arrangements and be underwhelmed. For me, as a Terri Clark superfan, I am okay to be in the former category. I will gladly keep listening to this album! Buuuuut.....there is not a single song here that is improved from its original version. None of these reimaginings are straight-up BAD either! I would say this album is worth checking out, but if it ends up not being your thing then absolutely go check out her actual Greatest Hits album from 2004 instead.

My last takeaway is, why tf is this so short?!!!?! She could have easily included "A Little Gasoline", "When Boy Meets Girl", "Emotional Girl", "No Fear", "Three Mississippi", "She Didn't Have Time", etc. and as a result have a lot more people's faves represented, potentially increasing the foot traffic who will randomly check this album out, and then hopefully go back and check out her back catalog!

My final ranking:

1. If I Were You - w/ Kelly Clarkson

2. Now That I Found You - w/ Ben Rector

3. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me - w/ Lainey Wilson

4. I Just Wanna Be Mad - w/ Cody Johnson

5. Girls Lie Too - w/ Carly Pearce

6. Better Things To Do - w/ Ashley McBryde

7. I Wanna Do It All - w/ Lauren Alaina

8. You're Easy On The Eyes - w/ Paul Brandt (Live)

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castleoblivion26   kamala 2024 truther   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97 Kanenrá:ke

[bboat11]

I'll take requests for which album to do next!

[kamala 2024 truther]

Jun 17, 2024 3:56:50 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'll take requests for which album to do next!

Dying to know what you think of Carly’s hummingbird tbh. And I’ll also put in an advance request for Whirlwind 

As for Take Two, I find that I agree overall. I found myself rather underwhelmed with the project as a whole, but came away with one or two songs that Terri absolutely nailed, both in production and duet partner. “If I Were You” is naturally my top favorite of the bunch as Kelly Clarkson could sing the ABCs and send it to the top of just about anyone’s playlists. That is the one song on the record that I think is better than the original. I do also love “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” as I could probably be considered a big Lainey Wilson stan on Pulse at this point and love the vocal chemistry she and Terri share on the song. Everything else can be found in much better quality on their respective original albums imo.

PS. I SO agree with “She Didn’t Have Time.” When I first saw the tracklist to Take Two I was quite disappointed to not find that song anywhere on the tracklist as that is by FAR my favorite Terri song and one of my favorite country songs of all time. I kinda feel like—and this would’ve likely been a tall order—Dolly Parton would’ve been an exceptional duet partner for that one.

[.indulgecountry]

Jun 17, 2024 6:21:01 GMT -5 kamala 2024 truther said:

Jun 17, 2024 3:56:50 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'll take requests for which album to do next!

Dying to know what you think of Carly’s hummingbird tbh. And I’ll also put in an advance request for Whirlwind 

I was going to suggest both of these before I even saw you already had, lol.

I'd also toss out Gabby Barrett's Chapter & Verse into the ring as 1) it is my favorite country record of 2024 thus far and 2) judging by bboat11's ranks for various songs from it in the New Releases RD over the past ~9 months or so, it seems like one that you'd enjoy as well!

[schnetzka]

Well Boaty, given you are our resident Martina stan - I will be the first to request reviews of any (and all) of her albums when you find the time!

[kluen]

Jun 17, 2024 15:51:47 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

Well Boaty, given you are our resident Martina stan - I will be the first to request reviews of any (and all) of her albums when you find the time!

Yeah,I would vote for Wild Angels or Waking Up Laughing to start with 

[bboat11]

Jun 17, 2024 6:21:01 GMT -5 kamala 2024 truther said:

Jun 17, 2024 3:56:50 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'll take requests for which album to do next!

Dying to know what you think of Carly’s hummingbird tbh. And I’ll also put in an advance request for Whirlwind 

As for Take Two, I find that I agree overall. I found myself rather underwhelmed with the project as a whole, but came away with one or two songs that Terri absolutely nailed, both in production and duet partner. “If I Were You” is naturally my top favorite of the bunch as Kelly Clarkson could sing the ABCs and send it to the top of just about anyone’s playlists. That is the one song on the record that I think is better than the original. I do also love “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” as I could probably be considered a big Lainey Wilson stan on Pulse at this point and love the vocal chemistry she and Terri share on the song. Everything else can be found in much better quality on their respective original albums imo.

PS. I SO agree with “She Didn’t Have Time.” When I first saw the tracklist to Take Two I was quite disappointed to not find that song anywhere on the tracklist as that is by FAR my favorite Terri song and one of my favorite country songs of all time. I kinda feel like—and this would’ve likely been a tall order—Dolly Parton would’ve been an exceptional duet partner for that one.

The fact that I knew hummingbird was going to be the first request before I even asked!!!

I'll start with that one, and then I'll do Gabby's too .indulgecountry. I have listened to them both already and thought they were really good! But it'll be neat to see how the numbers shake out in the ranking system

As far as Martina's albums go....if y'all wanna see me passing out A+'s like candy, you know I am happy to do that!! 🤣🤣🤣 Hahaha but no, I agree it would be really cool to do all of hers as well! It would be awesome to try to apply some data to her career to represent like which albums I think are most consistent and stuff like that... I mean, I have my opinions already, but to be able to quantify them would just be kinda cool 🤣

I'll do hummingbird after I do a few more single reviews. After all, that is still going to be the bread and butter of this thread, and I kinda fell behind again the last couple weeks with the school year ending...

[bboat11]

hummingbird - Carly Pearce

Alright kamala 2024 truther, here ya go!

Carly Pearce's new album hummingbird is a banger!

The first thing I will say about this album is that this is BY FAR the most consistent sonic effort I have heard from a country artist since George Strait's last album. Every song is just dripping with fiddle, which gives this album a very unique vibe on its own. But then there's the dobro as well, which is also featured prominently on every song, and at this point has very much become Carly's calling card as an artist. The omnipresent dobro makes this album hers, while the dobro/fiddle combo work together to give this album its signature personality. You can also see that I gave every song credit for having piano as well, but that was a bit less prominent. This is overall a rather stripped back album, and tbh every song sounded like it had a piano in the background supplementing the chords. While the piano only takes center stage a couple times, I still felt its distinctive fingerprint in the background quite a bit. If I'm wrong about it being in every song, so be it, but I definitely listened closely enough to convince myself I heard it in every song ;) Either way, every song is undeniably 100% stone cold country, and I give Carly major props for that.

From a quality perspective, this is not quite as consistent as Sara's new album. As you can see, the ranks are equally split between the B range and the A range, giving this a standard deviation of 6.88%. But for me personally, this is Carly's most consistent effort yet! While this album doesn't really have as many extreme highs as 29: Written In Stone or Carly Pearce, it also doesn't really have any lows. The result is an album that is enjoyable from beginning to end, even if every song doesn't scream "HIT".

The fact of the matter is, this album definitely focuses on sonic consistency over hit potential, which is going to bum some people out who are looking for smashes that will bring Carly to the next level of fame. That's not to say it's entirely devoid of potential though! There are several songs that I would love to hear on radio! There just aren't any "What He Didn't Do"s or "It Won't Always Be Like This"s on the album that are going to unite nearly everybody in her corner. That being said, this album offers plenty of witty lyrical quips and mostly solid songwriting all around.

Here are my thoughts on each grading tier:

A+ Tier: First of all, "truck on fire" is the immediate standout smash of this album. The fact that it was just announced as the next single TODAY is just such perfect timing. I am completely here for it! "oklahoma" has one of the best hooks on the album, with the zinger "I might be in Oklahoma, but I'm not OK." It could potentially be a hit too if you ask me, as it is probably the ballad on this album with the most engaging melody and most clever lyrics. Finally, "fault line" is my random favorite on this album!! This song is so clever, so catchy, and just pretty much perfect from beginning to end! I'm not sure that it has hit potential, but I personally can't get enough of it! While some metaphors wear thin after a line or two, I feel like this one is effective from beginning to end.

A Tier: "rock paper scissors" - If you're looking for energy, this song is where you're most likely to find it aside from "truck on fire". It's a rollicking good time with clever lyrics and overall infectious energy. "my place" is a classic country double entendre hook where she laments that it is not really her place to wonder about her ex and how he is doing since their breakup, because his house is not "her place" anymore. She sees all the signs of a new girl, and is watching from outside the house, Toby Keith's "Who's That Man"-style, although in ballad form. While this album has a lot of ballads that can kinda blend together, "trust issues" is the one who's melody has stayed with me the strongest. I really love the lyrics to this one, especially the opening line about her mother not recognizing her daughter with her guard down. I would love to see it become a hit, but it's probably a long shot.

A- Tier: The only song here is "pretty please", a song about a woman who wants to feel wanted. She is out at a bar hoping to find some attention that her husband will not give her at home. Although it doesn't come across as a cheating song as much as a heartbreak song. She is devastated by the lack of concern that her husband has for her, and just wants somebody to tell her she's pretty. It is a heartbreaking song, that she sells well. Made even better by the fact that LBTrocks would hate it due to the lack of a comma in the title.

B+ Tier: "still blue" is the uptempo song on this album that is almost TOO country to have any hit potential! It is catchy as hell, and thematically basically an uptempo "For My Broken Heart". But Country radio would never touch this with a ten foot pole, lol.  "we don't fight anymore" has grown on me a little more since I first gave it a B upon its release! But my general assessment is still the same. I love the verses and the instrumentation, but the chorus plods and drags. I can hear the hit potential, but definitely was not up for the job of the lead single.... "things I don't chase" has a beautiful performance, but at this point we are definitely in the realm of ballads-that-completely-blend-together.

B Tier: "country music made me do it" is a song that has some hit potential, in my opinion. But it is also probably the most cookie-cutter song on the album. Country pride songs too often have a tendency to become laundry lists, and this song is no exception. Carly's performance also feels a little detached. But the melody is still solid, and the arrangement definitely helped! It sounds a lot better in the context of this album than it did as a pre-release track, imo. "hummingbird" is the lyrical masterpiece of this album! Soooo many incredible metaphors! But has very little mass appeal. While this will have some big fans because of its writing and its artistic cathartic sound, it is probably the least hooky song on the album, which will hurt my desire to revisit it.

B- Tier: Finally we get to the bottom of the album. "heels over head" is a real disappointment because of its lyrics. It tries its best to be clever, but unfortunately the entire "cleverness" is wrapped up in sexism and slut-shaming. Sure, you have every right to think "I bet he's only with her because she puts out", but it's not exactly the kind of thought that you write an entire song around..... Which is too bad, because this arrangement is sooooo incredible, with all the banjo and dobro and a rare glimpse of the steel guitar! It tries to sound so fun and upbeat, when in reality it's a really low blow that frankly a male artist would not have gotten away with. And last but not least, we have "woman to woman". To me the melody is pretty clunky, which prevents me from wanting to listen to it more. The double entendre hook is rather clever, but tbh the entire thing was done better by Tenille Arts a couple years ago with "Girl To Girl".

There you have it! My thoughts on this incredibly solid album!

If I was in charge of the singles, they would probably be:

1. truck on fire

2. oklahoma

3. rock paper scissors

4. trust issues

5. fault line (for fun right at the end of the era, where it flopping won't matter!!!)

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castleoblivion26   kamala 2024 truther   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[.indulgecountry]

Wow, your review was almost spot-on as far as how I feel about the tracks! "Heels Over Head" and "Woman to Woman" are at the bottom for me as well, and for the same reasons. Glad I'm not the only one who thought "Heels" was cringey and corny from a lyrical standpoint. And we agree on the majority of the standouts as well as my runaway top 2 are "Truck on Fire" and "Oklahoma," lol.

I knew dobro was Carly's calling card and she uses it all the time, but I hadn't even put together necessarily that it's present on literally every song on the record.
It's definitely a gorgeous and sadly underutilized instrument in country music. I wish other artists would pull it out more!

[bboat11]

Chapter & Verse - Gabby Barrett

I have finished my rankings for Gabby's new album! Just as .indulgecountry predicted would happen, I loved it

I have always liked Gabby, but one of my biggest issues with her has been that her voice is frequently produced in a way where it sounds extra reedy and thin. Like, almost artificially so. There are moments on her first album where her voice sounds so overproduced and thin that she may as well be a random Garageband sound.

So heading into this second era, it was very clear to me what changes needed to be made. And guess what?! She made them all! Like 10/10, no notes, shattered my expectations in every way! Her voice is so much warmer and richer on this album, from beginning to end. Of course her timbre will always have a natural reediness to it, but that is not inherently a bad thing. Here it is put to good use and she plays into her strengths with almost every song. Even when she ramps up the power and starts belting, it feels a lot smoother and more supported than any of the glory notes on her last album did. Through a mix of warmer production and more controlled vocals, she has arrived at a much more consistent and pleasant midpoint for this sophomore effort.

On top of that, she cranked the country elements up a few notches too! Where her first album was filled with crossover potential, this one feels firmly rooted. It's not a traditional country record by any means, but definitely feels like a step in that direction. And in terms of what she stands for as an artist, you can tell that family and faith are both important to her, and she makes that abundantly clear on this album without being preachy or in-your-face about it. (I guess some may feel that she comes close by literally including "Doxology", LMAO. But to me it is tastefully done and feels authentic coming from her.)

Where people may criticize this album is its overall lack of tempo. As you can see, the average speed is only about 78 BPM. Compare that to hummingbird, which is more like 97 (and Take Two is 113, LOL). This has a lot of ballads. To me personally, they are each distinct enough to stand out on their own, but some people are definitely not as kind towards ballads as I am. So that's something for new listeners to be aware of. But in contrast to hummingbird, where some of the ballads blend together and feel less important than others, I feel like each of these stands out in some way.

A+ range:

-"The Chapter" is technically the fastest song on this album, which is a surprise to me! "Off The Highway" and "Glory Days" both feel more uptempo because they have more energy. But either way, it's just a nice solid album opener, helping you know exactly what this album is all about. The idea that life can be broken up into chapters, and they are not all wonderful, but they have all lead her to be exactly where she is right now is well written, and her gratitude for her current chapter is palpable. And I love the way the chorus starts rather low-key and then builds up to the "I'm finally letting go of things that don't really matter" line. Our narrator is constantly growing and improving, and grateful for her life.

-"Cowboy Back" is probably the weakest song on the album lyrically (it's just her being thirsty for her man, lol), and her enunciation isn't the greatest in the chorus, but damn is it catchy! The fiddle and steel are ON POINT, and make this clearly the countriest song on the album. I want to hear this on my radio so bad! It's a shame that her real husband is too busy worrying about his perm to be able to wear a cowboy hat...

-"Had It All": "The House That Built Me" teas?!!! The lyrics are among the strongest of this album, talking about the house she grew up in, and how things may not have been perfect, but since her family had each other they had everything they needed. The song says it so much more eloquently though with a clever turn of phrase. "We didn't have it all together, but together we had it all." I guess it's also like Martina's "House of a Thousand Dreams"! But either way, Gabby's vocal is incredible here, and the melody is one of the strongest ballad melodies on the album. Definitely a hit!

-"Off The Highway" is the immediate catchy standout on this album! Send this to radio immediately!

-"You're My Texas" another solid ballad. Simultaneously an ode to a lover and an ode to Texas, this also feels like one that could get some enthusiastic fans.

A range:

-"Grow Apart": The way the bridge builds is EVERYTHING! The one song on the album where I can't get the bridge out of my head!

-"All Of My Life" - This is a ballad where I feel like Gabby's delivery choices alone take it to the next level and make it as incredible as it is. Like, the first time I heard it I was like "Why did she sing it like that?!" when she went, "The way that you're my everything, the way that I'd be lost without YAAAA". But now it's one of those little moments that I look forward to the most on this album, lol. She made this song distinctly "hers", and it's one of those songs that allows her artistry to shine through.

A- range:

-"Glory Days" - Like I said when it was released, this song almost feels like it was manufactured specifically to be a hit. It fits well in the context of the overall album, and is one that I have grown to love, but does feel slightly "lesser-than" for some reason. Also, this is the song where her voice comes closest to sounding artificial and overproduced like it did on the last album.

-"Hard to Read" - Okay these lyrics hit HOME to me, an INFJ. I'm like so even-keeled no matter what, leading to muted reactions even when sad, happy, etc. Finally a song describing people like me in relationships?! Hahaha. It's a unique take! Also has some of the sloppier production on the album, leading to Gabby's voice being slightly overproduced, but not to the extent of "Glory Days".

-"Jesus On a Train" - Catchy, but also probably the closest thing to "filler" on this album. She really reminds me of Carrie Underwood on the chorus to this song. I could totally hear modern Carrie doing this as some random track buried in the back half of Denim & Rhinestones! (It would be filler for her too, but would be just as good!)

-"God, Money & Love" is beautifully performed and cleverly written. It may not be a ballad with much hit potential, but still gets this high on the strength of Gabby's performance.

B+ range:

-"Growin' Up Raising You" - I know this is the "viral" song of the album, but tbh it's one of my least favorites... I feel like this is an "In My Daughter's Eyes" type of situation, where some people will REALLY connect with it and some people will actively not connect with it at all. If released to radio, it may get her a hit, but I worry that it would be a slightly negative influence on her mass appeal as an artist. Especially coming after "Glory Days", which is like a more universally-appealing version of a similar theme.

-"Doxology" is so beautifully done here!!! I could listen to this all day! Ultimately it is held back a bit in my rankings because it has literally zero hit potential. But the harmonies and the vocals are SERVING!!!

B range:

-"Dance Like No One's Watching"... Of COURSE they would release the worst song on the album as the next single Keep in mind this is still getting a B, so "worst" is a very relative term. But overall, while the sentiment of the love between father and daughter is sweet, this has easily the least engaging melody on the album, and will not hold up well to the kinds of mass overplay that it would receive as a hit. It's still good, but definitely not my choice for radio!

The singles, if I had my way!

1. The Chapter

2. Cowboy Back

3. Had It All

4. Off The Highway

5. All Of My Life

It really is a shame that it feels like this album has absolutely no hype for some reason. There is definitely hit potential here!!!

---

castleoblivion26   kamala 2024 truther   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[.indulgecountry]

The glowing review that I expected you to give it. I'm so glad I recommended you do this because I KNEW you'd love the album!

This is hands down my favorite album of 2024 thus far and I cannot get enough of it. It's just banger after banger. Solid country production. Fantastic lyricism. And Gabby's voice remains one of the best in the genre from the new girls. She can SANG. I'm absolutely gutted that she delivered this masterpiece of a record only for it to be paid total dust thus far. I really can't believe that she's suffering a sophomore slump with such an excellent album stacked with hit potential. Granted, she maybe could've angled to get something with crossover success here and she admittedly does the absolute bare minimum when it comes to traditional promo since she's always pregnant and puts family above her career, but there's just so many bops being wasted here. This is the kind of record that deserves a run of 3-4 top 20 hits, at minimum. 🔥🔥🔥

She also gets paid dust on Pulse and I know it's largely because her hubby is a weirdo, which is valid, but I fear a lot of people miss out on some great music because Gabby's just doing it better than many of the new girls.

For me, singles-wise:

1. The Chapter /or/ Glory Days**
2. Cowboy Back
3. Had It All
4. Dance Like No One's Watching /or/ Growin' Up Raisin' You
... literally have like ~3 other songs that I'd KILL to have be singles, too, lol.

**hindsight says GD maybe wasn't the best pick (since it missed top 20) but on paper it reads like a great lead single and I still maintain that it's a total earworm jam


My least fave on the album is "Off the Highway" because it feels the most generic and filler-ish, like it could've just as easily gone to another artist whereas everything else on the album feels very "Gabby" to me. I still like it, but it'd probably be my one B-tier song. Also "Doxology" doesn't get a lot of replay for me and I sometimes just end the album on "All of My Life" because it's something I have to be in the mood for. I do like the inclusion of it though as a nice endcap and agree the vocals are chef's kiss!

[bboat11]

I decided I'm going to make a separate thread for all the album reviews I've been doing lately, so they don't clutter up the modern country radio review thread!

Edit: And of course ProBoards automatically sorted them all in front of this post because chronology. Lol don't mind this pointless OP!

[schnetzka]

Of course I want to be tagged in this thread as well lol. Gotta support our country album reviews too!

[bboat11]

Dead Girl Walking - Lorrie Morgan

I wouldn't be surprised if anyone following these reviews so far has been like "Oh my gosh he's so easy to please. He just gives everyone an A!!!!" And I admittedly wouldn't blame you for thinking that! After all, it appears to be the truth, based on the data that is currently available to you 🤣🤣🤣 But you see, we kicked things off with a couple of my untouchable all-time faves, and then a couple more albums that people requested because they are among their favorites of the year. So if the sample size consists of only A-list material, then that's what my ratings are going to reflect!

That streak ends now. Lorrie Morgan is also one of my favorite artists, and especially in the last couple years I have been listening to her incessantly. I even started my review journey by reviewing her career....(an endeavor that I have only made it like 1/3 of the way through at this point in time, LMAO!) Now that I have developed this new album-based review system, I'll see if I can't get each of her albums reviewed eventually, so we have some closure on her overall series. It's definitely a much more realistic way to work through someone's career!

But yeah, as much as I love her and was looking forward to new music, I figured there was very little chance she'd be walking out of here with an A on her new album... And I was right. I love Lorrie, but her voice is definitely not where it used to be, and this album also has super poor production quality. Those two factors combine to make sure most of these songs have no hit potential whatsoever. However, like I said, most! I'll break down the highs and the lows in more detail in a second.

This album also scored the worst standard deviation score out of all the albums I have reviewed so far, at 10.73%. That is mostly because of the opening and closing tracks, which do the crime of not fitting with the rest of the album, AND not being very good while doing so... The other songs are much closer together from a quality perspective. But they run the sonic gamut, with some tracks sounding like they belong in 2024, and others feeling like they belong in 1978. Some of the more consistent elements ended up being overall net negatives too, like incredibly cheesy orchestra flairs that sound like they were taken straight out of Reba's failed '70s singles, and random xylophones and stuff that will just overall leave country fans scratching their heads. On the other hand, there is literally nothing else that this album could be besides country. Some of these songs are classic country through and through, leaving the listener wondering why the quirky jazz moments and glockenspiels and weird production choices were necessary.

Let's break down the highs and the lows!

A range:

-"Days Like These" is one of the most undeniably modern-sounding country jams on the album, mostly thanks to the dobro being front and center driving the arrangement. The melody is ear candy, with delightfully tasteful harmonies throughout. It also perfectly fits Lorrie's modern voice.

-"I Think You're The Greatest" - This is sure to cause some tears!! Such a unique song! Lorrie is putting herself in the shoes of a dog expressing love for their owner. It's very simple, and very cheesy if you choose to look at it that way, but she SELLS it. This is by far her best vocal on the album, and the song that I see as most likely to pick up a cult following.

B+ range:

-"Dead Girl Walking" - The title track is awesome! The arrangement is innovative and quirky, but it works. The song feels like a logical step forward for Lorrie at this point in her career, and it has an unassuming melody that is way more hooky than you expect at first glance. I could see it being played on radio if it had better production and had to face off against less ageism/sexism!

-"I Think It's Jesus" - Also one of the most modern arrangements on the album, with a hooky melody. The biggest problem with this one is that the arrangement doesn't try to do anything at all. It is just a poorly produced wall of sound. If it had the care put into it that "Days Like These" did, I'd put them side-by-side in terms of catchiness and modern hit potential.

B range:

-"Mirror Mirror" - I have NO IDEA why she recorded this song for the third time on this album. It's not bad, but let me just remind you all that my review of the original version on I Walk Alone had above 100%.... This song is an absolute lyrical masterpiece, but this arrangement is just so clumsy and even clunky with its cheap production and its awkwardly placed pizzicato strings. It's definitely not the standout here that it historically has been for her.

-"What Will I Do" is an interesting song. It's one of those songs I alluded to earlier that feels more like it belongs to the '70s (which is odd because it's a cover of a song from the '90s, sooo......I think Lorrie's cheesy orchestral ditties aged the song, lmao). But no, it's an interesting song because when it starts you're like "okay this is kinda boring...", but then just when you start to zone out she launches into that chorus!! The head voice she hits you with in that moment is piercing and powerful and surprising and makes you sit up a little straighter! That's actually one of my favorite vocal moments on this album, lol. Lorrie sings the hell out of this chorus, and it prevents this song from being as boring as you might initially expect it to be.

B- range:

-"Me and Tequila" is another straightforward country song. The melody is pretty average, the arrangement is pretty average, and Lorrie's vocal is a pretty average effort as well. It has a little big of hit potential in the modern era, if it were to fall into the hands of someone like Lainey Wilson, Catie Offerman, etc. I feel like Lorrie didn't unbox this song's full potential.

"I Almost Called Him Baby By Mistake" is another song that feels older than it should, but it has a really nice build to it. The way this song grows from beginning to end helps it to be a lot more engaging of a listen than you might be expecting at first based on its quasi-50s vibe.

D range:

And here we are at the bottom...

-"Hands On You" is the Ashley Monroe cover that nobody needed or wanted. Lorrie turns this into a jazzy number that she would have undoubtedly been able to pull off with a smoky, sexy vibe when she was younger. But now, between the horrible vocals and the insanely weird production choices, this is pretty terrible imo.

-"You Send Me" has a much better arrangement to me, like the jazz vibes are actually immaculate, especially when it comes to the bari sax! This song's major downside is its horribly repetitive lyrics. The whole "honest you do, honest you do, honest you do" thing is grating af to me, so I will not be revisiting this one much.

Shame that the two worst songs on the album are the two that have bari sax in them!! My baby deserves better!

I know that any talk of singles is a total wash at this point in her career, especially on an album with very few modern vibes, but if I were in charge of trying to maintain a successful radio run for this album, it would go:

1. "Days Like These"

2. "Dead Girl Walking"

3. "I Think You're The Greatest"

4. "I Think It's Jesus"

---

castleoblivion26   kamala 2024 truther   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[bboat11]

I tagged the whole tag list for this first review in the new thread, but from here on out I will only tag those who express interest in being tagged!

Edit: schnetzka yaasssss

[schnetzka]

I gotta be honest, I've never really listened to Lorrie Morgan. It definitely doesn't help that several of her albums are missing from streaming. It's like her team or whoever doesn't want people to discover her lol.

[bboat11]

Jun 30, 2024 14:12:18 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

I gotta be honest, I've never really listened to Lorrie Morgan. It definitely doesn't help that several of her albums are missing from streaming. It's like her team or whoever doesn't want people to discover her lol.

She's so good! She used to have such a fire in her voice that was perfect for sassy uptempos! Here's a great example if you're interested!

But yeah, it's obnoxious that the albums from the later part of her hitmaking years are so hard to find. I hunted them all down on Amazon and Ebay and stuff a couple years ago, so I now own all of them, but it was a chore even finding some of them...

[kamala 2024 truther]

Naturally gonna keep my name in the tag list lol.

[kluen]

heels over head may be slut-shaming but I don't think that's the thing that turned people off.
I think it is the blatant sexual innuendo that makes some people uncomfortable.
But I like it and I think it is sassy and fun.

I think it could be compared with Janie Fricke's She's Single Again or Loretta Lynn's Woman of the World(Leaves My Man Alone)
The line on Loretta's song
I wear more in swimming
Than you wear to parties where you go
If you think deep about it it is definitely slut-shaming but the line or the thing she referred to is remotely as blatant as heels over head

Anyway,like it or not
I think we should give Carly a novelty and boldness nod for releasing songs like this

[.indulgecountry]

Got around to listening to Lorrie's new album and once again your review is spot-on! She is definitely far past her prime and there's times where her voice just doesn't cut it anymore, but the album is still overall a decent B-level effort despite its shortcomings. My top 2 tracks were the same as yours as well. "Days Like These" is a total bop and she sang tf outta I Think You're The Greatest." Both sound like something she would have had easy top 10 hits with in her 90s prime.

[bboat11]

Jun 17, 2024 15:51:47 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

Well Boaty, given you are our resident Martina stan - I will be the first to request reviews of any (and all) of her albums when you find the time!

Jun 17, 2024 20:10:45 GMT -5 kluen said:

Jun 17, 2024 15:51:47 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

Well Boaty, given you are our resident Martina stan - I will be the first to request reviews of any (and all) of her albums when you find the time!

Yeah,I would vote for Wild Angels or Waking Up Laughing to start with 

Alright, you guys asked for it!! ;)

---

Wild Angels - Martina McBride

I mean, is there any surprise at all that this album is the first album in this thread to get an overall A+ ranking? I think not. But is it deserved? Abso-freaking-lutely!

Martina has always been an extremely consistent albums artist. Not necessarily in terms of a unifying topic thread, but in terms of finding good songs and being listenable from front to back. Filler is usually minimal on a Martina album. And yet, Wild Angels somehow takes that consistency to an even higher level, because it is one of her most sonically-consistent efforts in addition to the song quality. There is just something about the fingerprint of this album that is so unique to this set of songs. Every song stands on its own, and yet also feels like it thoroughly belongs to this album. Whereas a song like "Anyway" could have come from pretty much any point in her career, every single song here has a unique vibe that places it directly at a specific place in her career. (And that's no shade to "Anyway", which is pretty much a perfect song imo! I'm just throwing it out there as a counter-example to what makes this album so special!)

This is Martina's third album, and the one where her career really started to take off. Accordingly, it has a sort of maverick energy that can only come from a superstar-in-the-making. If you threw this album on for the first time, having no knowledge of Martina, you would hear the one-two punch of "Wild Angels" and "Safe In the Arms of Love" and just automatically know those are two of the biggest hits of her career. And yet you might get those same vibes from "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town", or "A Great Disguise," or "Swingin' Doors", or "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road", and be shocked to learn that they were NOT big hits for her! In fact, three of them were even released to radio and outright flopped.

My opinion of this album is, while country radio at the time was not exactly predictable, Martina did her absolute best to bring them quality material. The result is this! An album where song after song sounds like a potentially career-defining hit, even if country radio did not make it so. And the fans definitely noticed! While her previous album The Way That I Am put her on the map with the success of "My Baby Loves Me" being her first top 2 hit, "Life #9" following it to the top 10, and "Independence Day" connecting in a big way with the general public and becoming her quintessential career song, Wild Angels successfully captured that momentum and turned her casual supporters into a lasting fanbase. This album made it clear that she was somebody with not just a powerful voice but also a cutting artistic vision. It was on the strength of these two albums that she ultimately broke through to superstardom with her next era, Evolution, which finally brought hit after hit after hit in the way that you might think Wild Angels deserved to when you listen to it!

That's not to imply that this album is without any filler, of course. A song like "You've Been Driving All The Time", for example, might be seen as plain straightforward '90s country filler in a way that it could belong to any artist rather than being uniquely Martina. "Beyond the Blue" will undoubtedly attract some fans, but is also stripped back in a way where it might feel like an incomplete shell of a song to other listeners. "All the Things We've Never Done" is a beautiful ballad about two people in a happy marriage celebrating their anniversary, but is probably also one of the least radio-friendly songs on the album.

But overall, this album makes its artistic acumen known from start to finish! The arrangements are top notch and creative. Just listen to the ICONIC drum fill kicking off the title track, the groovy bass in the intro of "Safe in the Arms of Love" (and the way the background vocals switch from speaker to speaker, giving the song a unique sense of movement) (Edit: AND the creative pairing of mandolin and fiddle for the instrumental solo!!), the rollicking uptempo reinterpretation of Delbert McClinton's "Two More Bottles of Wine", the incredible call-and-response harmonies at the end of "Born To Give My Love To You", etc. On top of that, all of the production still holds up and sounds great today. This album is a steel guitar lover's dream!

Of course, one of my very favorite things about this album is Martina's voice. She has always been one of the best vocalists in the business, but there was a unique fire in her voice with this album that she has not quite replicated since. While her tone has always been clear as a bell, there are some moments on this album where she sounds downright ragged, just for a moment, and it always makes me perk up a little bit. Listen to the way she sings "If he uses all the right words" in "Phones are Ringin'...", or "Steel guitar on the radio" in "Cry on the Shoulder...", or "I was racin' time, my momma said" in "You've Been Driving...".

I have only heard that rasp show up a couple times since then, but every time I hear it I want more of it!!!!

Tl;dr - This album has TEMPO, it has sonic consistency, it has incredibly strong production, it has a clear artistic vision, it has pristine vocals, and it has huge hits and plenty of other songs that sound like they should have been huge hits. And to top it all off, you can just tell from the vibes that all the musicians and artists involved were having a lot of fun while making it. What more could you ask for!

So there you have it! My first Martina album review! Hopefully it lives up to expectations

They pretty much nailed the singles from this album imo, even if they were not all successful, but here is how I probably would have done it:

1. "Wild Angels" (Was going to be HUGE whenever it was released)

2. "Safe in the Arms of Love" (Went top 5 as the lead single, but I think may have been more likely to follow the title track to #1 if they were flipped)

3. "A Great Disguise" (This is the hit that got away from this album, imo!)

4. "Cry On the Shoulder of the Road" (Wildly popular fan favorite, great country tune, even if it's a little bit of an artistic risk)

5. "Phones are Ringin' All Over Town" (May have been better closing off the era in hindsight)

---

castleoblivion26   kamala 2024 truther   🌺CountryLineDancer   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[kamala 2024 truther]

The only shocking thing about this review is that you did not give the album a perfect 100, lol. I saw the 98.91 and almost gasped   but I attribute that to the songs that you perceive as Martina’s version of filler tracks.

Love this review though, Wild Angels is easily top 3 in her discography. Such an iconic moment of the 90s country era.

[bboat11]

Jul 25, 2024 14:56:34 GMT -5 kamala 2024 truther said:

The only shocking thing about this review is that you did not give the album a perfect 100, lol. I saw the 98.91 and almost gasped   but I attribute that to the songs that you perceive as Martina’s version of filler tracks.

Love this review though, Wild Angels is easily top 3 in her discography. Such an iconic moment of the 90s country era.

Hahaha at the very least, it would have been awesome to see it be one of those incredibly rare albums where every song is deserving of an A!!! But I have to be honest with myself about not using "Beyond the Blue" as much as all of the others

[schnetzka]

Okay so I love Wild Angels overall but I have to admit, it's not one of my favorite albums by her. Outside of the singles and a few album tracks, it's not one I return to very often. But a great start nonetheless and an A+ write-up as well. I am going to enjoy this journey!