Nov 2, 2010
.99 Reviews: Jason Aldean - Dirt Road Anthem
Aug 29, 2010
.99 Reviews - Rascal Flatts "Why Wait"
Jun 23, 2010
.99 Reviews - Soulja Boy "Pretty Boy Swag"
Apr 20, 2010
.99 Review: Dierks Bentley - Up on the Ridge
The People's Take:
c'mon dierks (1 Star) - sounds like all his other songs but worse. c'mon dierks, your a better artist than this
-Gliko30
New Direction (5 Stars) - Great new song from Dierks. His sound sounds great and like something he has never done before! Very bluegrass. Can't wait for the new album!!!!
-timmerwoj
My Take:
So this is the first single from Dierks' long rumored bluegrass album that ended up being consolidated into this year's regular release from him... Well since "Up on the Ridge" is neither traditional bluegrass nor typical radio country fare, I can only assume they put songs from each genre into a musical version of the large hadron collider and smashed them into one another, creating a hybrid of the two (the subsequent energy release creating a chain of seismic events that led to the eruption in Iceland).
To be honest, I hated this the first time I heard it, mostly because the first version I heard was a crappy low bitrate internet rip (remember the early Napster days with the beeps and boops and static?) - which made the chorus sound pretty much like a cow mooing (which my wife thinks Dierks sounds like anyway). So anyway, I purchased the proper single today on iTunes and was pleasantly surprised.
Lyrics aside, this is a fresh sounding song that will stand out on Clearchannel radio. It's not bluegrass, but there's plenty of plucking around. It also features a moaning, understated chorus that stubbornly refuses to jab you with a sharp hook but reels you in only after repeated listens. Doubtful you'd see most of Dierks' contemporaries go without a soaring or raging chorus.
Lyrically, it's nothing you haven't heard before - a song about taking it easy in the great outdoors - though it does hint at the usage of intoxicating substances beyond just the moonshine mentioned (and it was released on 4/20... cute).
Playing like a more laid back version of Brad Paisley's "Mud on the Tires," "Up..." is a refreshingly low key tune that should be played around many a bon/campfire this spring and summer. For a couple of reasons already mentioned, I won't swear it's top 5-bound, but commercial radio needs more songs like this.
Total Value: .84/.99
The Checklist:
Church/God
Mama
Boots
Name Dropping
Dying Person
County Fair
Lost Love
•Love
Hometown/Country Pride
Kindly Advice
Truck
•Whiskey (moonshine)
Beer
•Life Affirmation
USA
Soldiers
Pop Sheen
Star Power
Apr 6, 2010
.99 Review: Rodney Atkins - Farmer's Daughter
Apr 1, 2010
.99 Review: The Band Perry
.99 Review: The Band Perry - Hip to My Heart*
The People’s Take:
Surefire sign that the endtimes are near! (1 star) - I honestly lost faith in country radio this week when I heard this song. It’s the most trite, sorry and weak excuse for a song I have heard in my life.
- notwithstanding
As Simon would say, Simply Horrible! (1 star) - I’ve been a musician for 34 years, I’ve gone through a lot of different styles (disco comes to mind) but I can honestly say I have never done anything this bad. The lyrics are bad. They may have potential with a good writer! – javajoecool.
My Take:
Scott Borchetta already has the top “country” artist; now he’s aiming squarely at Lady Antebellum with the Band Perry for the top “country band.”
Much to my surprise, this debut single, “Hip To My Heart,” is a great start towards doing just that. It contains such cool phrases like “I like your lips like I like my coca-cola, yeah ooh how it pops and fizzes…” and “purr baby purr go ahead and say the word lets go…” but while these are clearly some of the weakest lyrics of all time, I somehow still find my foot tapping to Kimberly Perry’s kinetic Nettles-like vocal.
Despite the mandolin and fiddle fills this song is far from a country song but as far as mainstream songs go, it feels almost traditional in its arrangement and it clearly has ‘got that something’ “because brother man” The Band Perry “knows how to get hip to my heart” with this guilty pleasure.
Total Value:
.75/.99 So sue me.
Checklist:
(Checklist taking a vacation for a bit)
*Okay.... so this is obviously one of these: ****
Written by Mr. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock fame. Thanks Matt!
Oh, and this song sucks... country or not.
Feb 22, 2010
.99 Review: Emily West
.99 Review: Emily West - Blue Sky (feat. Keith Urban)
The People's Take:
AhhhMAzing! (5 Stars) - LOVE IT! LOVE HER!I live in Nashville and see so many unappreciated, amazingly talented artists that deserve to be heard...Emily West is one of them. I think her time has come and she is on the verge of being a big, big star!!!! Such a beautiful song!!! GET THIS SONG NOW!!!!! PS if you ever get the chance to see her live - GO! She is so much fun and great in convert!!!!
- Hunk Of Burnin' Love
Calm Down.... (3 Stars) - Emily West is the next Faith Hill! But she has horrible stage presence. Saw her open for Luke Bryan at Joe's in Chicago and she was extremely hard to take seriously. Amazing vocals. Just wish she'd calm down and let the audience enjoy it. Can't wait to see what she grows into though. Keep an eye on this one!
- Anonymous5124
My Take:
A new female artist releasing a sparse, sad ballad at a time when new female singers aren't exactly filling the Top 40 is a questionable career choice to say the least. Adding Keith Urban as a backup vocalist (and a prominent name on the song title) doesn't hurt prospects, but still, if it's not an exceptional song, one of this ilk would likely be on and off the charts inside a month.
Happily, this is an exceptional song, well written and beautifully performed by one of Nashville's most engaging young talents. Emily West has become known early in her career as funny and frankly honest, so one might expect her to be more suited for Brad Paisley-style laughers and chick-attitude songs. With Blue Sky, she proves to be quite adept at a tearjerker without artificially pulling the heartstrings with overdone high notes and overwritten lyrics.
Here, West informs a cheating lover that she can't be his blue sky, his happiness, anymore. Her voice also reveals that her own blue sky is now obscured by storm clouds. She wills the metaphor to sound fresh where it would have fallen flat coming from a lesser vocalist.
Hopefully, "Blue Sky" is only the beginning for Ms. West. Along with Sarah Buxton, she may finally break through Nashville's recent glass ceiling for performers of the fairer sex not named Taylor Swift.
Blue Sky isn't particularly country. It fits into the current definition of mainstream country comfortably, but sets itself apart with strong song craft and powerful vocals, making it the highest rated single thus far on "Ninety-Nine Cent Reviews."
Total Value: .86/.99
(Foregoing the checklist for this edition)
Jan 17, 2010
.99 Review Quicktakes
Jan 11, 2010
.99 Review: Jessie James "My Cowboy"
Nov 29, 2009
.99 Review: Bucky Covington "Gotta Be Somebody"
Nov 1, 2009
.99 Review: Randy Houser
Oct 21, 2009
.99 Review: LoCash Cowboys
Sep 30, 2009
.99 Review: Tim McGraw "Southern Voice"
Sep 29, 2009
.99 Review: Kingbilly "Waiting on You"
The guys (there are six of them, overwhelmingly metrosexual in appearance) deliver a competent enough performance, which is even an improvement over some artists currently on the radio (read: Rascal Flatts). The production is pretty good, with some actual instruments audible. The harmonies are fine. So really the burden of suck falls squarely on the song itself, which isn't just outwardly boring but even nonsensical by its own internal logic: why would a guy's current girlfriend want a detailed description of his first encounter with another girl (crying and all), such as he offers in the first verse? “We both were breathing like we were in a race/Her hair was hanging down in my face”? Really?
What's she supposed to say to that? Why is he getting such a kick out of telling her? If she's turned on by hearing of his romantic escapades with other women, are there enough Kleenex at home to last through the steamy night ahead?
In summary, blech.