Posted by: Cobra I'll go ahead and say it: this song isn't half bad. It's Cole Swindell, so I wasn't really expecting much, but I was partly surprised.
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Posted by: Cobra Ever since hearing Platinum, I was really hoping this song would never be released as a single. It's the one song on the album which I absolutely do not like at all.
Posted by: Cobra Oh good Lord. Really? As if "Leave the Night On" wasn't bad enough, now for his second single, Sam Hunt has decided to release "Take Your Time" to infect country radio even more with his bullshit.
Posted by Troy Top 10 Worst Albums of 2014: This year has seen inspired and phenomenal releases from Lee Ann Womack, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Wade Bowen & as well as other artists. However, we have also scraped the bottom of the barrel with horribly overproduced subpar records that shouldn't have even been released to begin with. Sometimes the labels/powers that be shelve albums for a specific (not always a legitimate) reason. These albums should've been shelved indefinitely since they were godawful. I did a Top 10 Worst Songs of 2014, I told Cobra I'll do a companion piece to that list, so here we go.... "Neon Light", which Cobra previously reviewed. This is a disappointment compared to prior albums. He lost this fan with "Boys 'Round Here." This album? Crap.
Posted by: Cobra Today's Throwback Thursday review is on Trent Willmon's self-titled debut album. Trent Willmon lies somewhere between that realm of underground alternative country and mainstream. He had attempts at a mainstream career, but very little materialized, despite the release of four albums.
Posted by: Cobra A video for the day: Jason Eady - "AM Country Heaven" Posted by: Cobra Hope For Country Music has been busy creating and posting our Year End Top 10 Lists. While Troy has been focusing on the bad end of the spectrum, giving you the top 10 worst songs and the top 10 worst albums. On the other end, I have been writing the good end of the spectrum, giving you the top 10 best albums as well as grading the songs that went to number one in 2014.
Now, I will present you with my ten favorite songs in country music in 2014. I have not limited this list to songs that were singles. I have also limited it to one song per artist (otherwise I may have ended up populating the entire list with Wade Bowen's new album). And, whenever possible, I have posted audio and/or video of the songs represented. Read and sound off in the comments section! Posted by: Troy I don't listen to a lot of mainstream country these days, however Carrie Underwood is the exception to the rule, due to the fact that she has what a lot of folks in mainstream country do not: powerhouse vocals, actual talent, solid songwriting chops & a pretty decent ability when it comes to song selection. What actually impresses me is that she can sing her ass off without the assistance of Auto-Tune, whether she's in the studio or in a live setting. Its been over 2 years since her last record "Blown Away" was released & I was expecting another album of original material from her this year or in early 2015. However, she announced that she'll be releasing a Greatest Hits album & that she's expecting a son with husband Mike Fisher. So that pretty much killed whatever expectations I had of a new album from Underwood.
Her Greatest Hits album was released today on December 9th & it's a nice retrospective of the shy girl who covered Martina McBride & Heart songs on American Idol to the confident woman we see today. What makes this Greatest Hits album different than most is its tracklisting. It opens with two new songs: "Something In The Water" & "Little Toy Guns". Now, we've all heard "Something In The Water" & I call it an oddity on mainstream country radio because we hear so many drinking/party songs & Carrie is singing about her Christian faith without ramming ir down our throats. Personally, I like this song & it's rather nice to Carrie bringing her faith back into her music. We haven't heard this from her since "Jesus, Take The Wheel." The other new song "Little Toy Guns" is about the power of words & the effect that words have on people. Mainstream pop country artists, please take notice...you can make a catchy song that has substance too. Overall, both songs are superior to most of whats heard on today's radio & that's mainly due to Carrie's giant voice & solid songwriting all around. The other songs are sequenced in chronological order, which is great because you can hear her progression as an artist & as an vocalist. I won't bother reviewing the other songs because we've heard them all before. A few that standout to me are "Jesus Take The Wheel", "How Great Thou Art", "Two Black Cadillacs", "Blown Away" & "Undo It". She also includes her debut single "Inside Your Heaven" and her incredible duet with Vince Gill on "How Great Thou Art". You also get rough takes of songs "Last Name", "So Small" and "Mama's Song" also. Overall, this is a nice package. I would've like to see a few album cuts like "Songs Like This" or "Someday When I Stop Loving You", but its hard to complain when you have someone with the type of talent that Underwood has and a string of #1 songs to boot. This should tide her fans over until she releases a proper album of material. Posted by: Cobra As 2014 nears its close, it's also nearing the end of another year of country music. The year hasn't been all good. There's been a lot of bad music that's been released and worthy of pure scorn.
But there's also been a lot of good. Some truly remarkable albums have been released, a couple even by mainstream artists, believe it or not (though most of it has still been by alternative choices). As I compiled this list, I thought about the albums I listened to the most throughout the year. I thought about the ones that I felt had the best music, but also the ones I had a great connection to. As a result, a couple of critical favorites may have gotten left off of the list. But I'm prepared to defend each choice I've made on this list. Therefore, I present my own Top Ten Country Albums of 2014. Posted by: Troy Lee Ann Womack (who is married to Frank Liddell, who is Miranda Lambert's longtime producer) has gone to the opposite ends of country music in her career, either putting out Faith Hill-inspired pop country ("I Hope You Dance") or hard-leaning traditional country ("Prelude: Fly").
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LINKS
Here are some links to other pop culture websites and blogs worth checking out:
- Saving Country Music - Country Perspective - Farce the Music - Country Exclusive - This Is Country Music - Country Music Minds - Matt Lynn Digital Pop Culture Potpourri Writers
Cobra is a Human Resources professional from the Greater Cleveland Area with a love of good country music and a disdain for pop, rock, and rap mislabeled as country music. His favorite artists include (but are not limited to) Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers Band, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Turnpike Troubadours, Hayes Carll, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Trisha Yearwood, Dwight Yoakam, and Johnny Cash Archives
December 2017
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