ALBUMS Carrie Underwood: "Play On" 19/Arista  "Play On when your loosing the game, Play On cause your gonna make mistakes, its always worth a sacrifice even when you think you're wrong... So Play On." What a great song to sum up not only Ms. Carrie's career but this 3rd album. With Play On I was very worried that Carrie wouldnt be able to wow with the album based on all the anticipation and the success of Some Hearts & Carnival Ride. The album was very, very good and I enjoyed it. The album is so versitile and has a different taste of style in songs from the sassy Cowboy Casanova, Undo It, and Songs Like This to the love ballods like Someday When I Stop Loving You, Look At Me, & What Can I Say through the songs of hope like Change and many more great songs. With the 1st single, Cowboy Casanova already a Top 3 smash and the kick off track to the album it shows the Carrie sass to start the album that has many different flavors to it. To the following track, Quitter just is a fun love tune and it makes you think about who you love and have fun with it. Mama's Song is a very well written ballod. The song talks about a Mom letting her girl go to someone else after everything she had done for her. Change is such a lifting song to let you no you can make a difference no matter what you do and dont listen to people who say you cant. Undo It brings back more sass and it is such a fun song but it also a kinda mean song as your saying I wish I never met you kinda song but its all Carrie. Look At Me & This Time are what I call 'filler' songs but still very very well. For any other artist those songs would be a masterpiece but when it comes to Carrie they are just another song. Unapologize is another well written great song. I love the song how you can feel sympathy for someone and be all sorry and when your sick of it you want to take that apology back. What Can I Say is a great love collaboration. It showcases Carrie's vocals and writing ability. Someday When I Stop Loving You is one of the strongest tracks on the album. It talks about your leaving and you no you cant stop loving this person until somethings happen to the world that are way out of reach in the sense of you'll never stop loving. Play On is an uplifting, great song to end the album. They couldn't have picked a better closing song. Play On no matter what you go through. Carrie has done it once again! An amazing album and probably her strongest to date. Good job to Miss Carrie and this album will be another hit and I think will out pass Carnival Ride. This gets said a lot with Carrie reviews, but Carrie has a way that many artists wish they had and dont. Carrie knows what songs will sell and how to grab someone's attention! This is a gold mine for Carrie! Grade: A ***** Shawn Carter CEO, All About Music Tim McGraw: “Southern Voice” Producer: Tim McGraw, Bryon Gallimore  Tim McGraw, one of
the most successful country music starts, is back in the spotlight with this
new record. He has always had his own touch to his songs, a unique Tim-touch!
Not to forget, his voice is distinct, which can be recognized very easily. The title track does not have the Tim-touch; it is an effort that you might expect from a new comer on his debut album! The melody is one that has been repeated constantly by many other men lately, including Brooks & Dunn. Absolutely nothing new in the song. What is more of a repellant factor is that McGraw is highlighting the factor that he has a “southern voice”. Tim honey, you have been in the music business for about 17 years now: we get that! “Forever Seventeen” is an absolutely beautiful song that lacks a little of a country touch, but Tim’s emotion-filled voice fills in the gaps. Lyrically striking with, yet again, McGraw’s story-telling tone, “Love You, Goodbye” dips you into an emotional sea of tears. One of the most compelling songs on the album is “You Had to Be There”, describing a son’s life without his father, his mother trying to raise him on her own; upon the father’s stepping-into-the-picture, the son accuses him of leaving his mother and himself a long time back. “Mr. Whoever You Are” is simply an artistically written song, a narration of a woman who is involved in marital relations with every man she gets on her hands. Another song (“Still”), that describes a person’s ideal place to be, the perfect ‘heaven’, has nothing very special about it considering the topic, but it’s just the magic in the artist’s voice that hits you. However, there are a few weak tracks on the album like “I Didn’t Know It At The Time”, that lack a bit of creativity and the professional talent that Tim possesses. This also included the album-filler “Good Girls”, which could have been a fun and upbeat song. The record on the whole lacks some of the country spells that Tim’s music has had. But at the same time, it might also be brought into consideration that times are changing a bit in the country music world. So with that in mind, McGraw has made a tremendous effort on this album, still having his voice ripe with passion and sentiments that make all songs marvelous. Fantastic! **** Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master Miranda Lambert Producer: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke  Before going any
further, it is a must to mention that Miranda Lambert has truly polished her
writing skills. The lyrics to all songs are just a spoonful of honey! Extremely
wonderfully written songs with the perfect Texan-vocals to along with them! With Kerosene and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Miranda was definitely producing music that was true to the country genre, but with Revolution, she has definitely put a firm step into the concrete of country music. Let’s go about the songs randomly. Jumping onto “Heart Like Mine”, it is one of the songs that could be considered as an example of daily life: no one would be very confident to say that Jesus drank wine and that smoking cigarettes was parallel to that. Miranda has perfectly molded her sensible lyrics into conveying that such activating including getting tattoos is a perfectly normal thing to do. “The House That Built” is a beautiful slow song which is one of Miranda’s finest masterpieces! Her vocals are rich with the feeling that the lyrics contain. It revolves around having past-memories from a house that she lived in her whole childhood, the very house that has constructed her personality, and just after stepping out of it how the world around her swept her away with it, changing her into a completely different person. One of the country-rock songs on the album is “Sin For A Sin”, describing a man’s adultery towards Miranda, witnessed by her own sight! It shows Miranda as the angry woman, yet also the one who is repenting her own doings with the man in the past. All elements such as “Fire and brimstone/ dirt and headstone” are symbolic to chaos and anger. “Airstream Song” is one of my favourites! Miranda showcases her inner feelings of wanting to try out different things in life such as wanting to be a gypsy or drink from a stream instead of a fountain! A truly innocent song that represents peoples’ desires to do what they have always wanted to. Then comes “Only Prettier”; again, this is skillfully written, and one of the best songs of the year! It’s a Gang of Girls versus another Gang of Girls; they have a lot in common but Miranda’s group is just a little more prettier than the others. Amazing! Other songs include “Makin’ Plans” which is about a couple making future plans (even though this song is the weakest in terms of lyrics). The first two singles from the album “Dead Flowers” and “White Liar” are, too, two of the best songs off the album… Why do I keep saying that?! ALL songs on the album are fantastic! Listen to the songs, read the lyrics, and you’ll get goosebumps! Surely one of the best albums of the year! ***** Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master |
SINGLES
Zac Brown Band Producer: Keith Stegall  By the name itself,
one might say that Zac Brown Band has released yet another upbeat, fun song
that talks about driving fast in a Mercedes with a bunch of friends on Highway
20. But as soon as the song starts, it surprises one to be a ballad. It’s lyrically a little different, revolving around an issue that many, many people face everyday: finding it hard to get along with the in-laws. Well ofcourse that does come along with a few other problems too. And as the Band shows in their song, there are no such solutions to such situations. In the first verse, Brown addresses his wife, about how devastated he is to leave her, just because of his mother-in-law. In the second one, he talks to his son, apologizing about leaving due to forceful circumstances. Lyrically being beautiful filled with regret yet a pressurized state, the Band also deliver a melancholy vocal that make the audience quite mellow. Moreover, the violin in between just hits your heart right. The last time such a beautiful violin was heard was when the Dixie Chicks used to play it in their songs, which always did its magic of capturing the hearts of people. The Zac Brown Band
has done a clever job, keeping people waiting for a unique turn! Simply
brilliant! Grade A+ Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master Brad Paisley Arista  Purely Brad Paisley Brad is back and follows up Welcome To The Future. This song is definately the sound of Brad Paisley that we all love. American Saturday Night talks about just a fun American Saturday Night and it is such a fitting album title and such a fun song. Brad can take his music wherever he wants. Back Then, to the Future, and right in the present with a Saturday Night. Brad is definately a deserving winner of his latest CMA trophee. Its songs like this that define Brad Paisley and make everyone love him even more. The writers did a great job and Brad sings it great as well. Perfect! Grade: A Deena Callister, President All About Music Keith Urban Capitol  Keith Urban returns with his 4th single off Defying Gravity. 'Til Summer Comes Around is a fitting ballad to be released at this time of year. This Keith Urban ballod talks about the story of a love gone bad and having to wait until summer and memories are still with you. Keith is known for his fun songs and now 2 ballods back to back the next one definately needs to be fun. In this stort review, Keith releases another good single. I wouldnt say it is a great single like Once In A Lifetime, Kiss A Girl and others. This is not Keith Urban at his best but he still shows his vocal ability and it will be a Top 10 smash. Grade: B Charlie Baker, All About Music Executive Manager Bucky Covington: "Gotta Be Somebody" Lyric Street  Trainwreck! That was the first thought that came into my mind when I heard that Bucky Covington has covered my favorite Nikelback song to date. Wouldnt you think that too when you have a Southern Country boy taking that on? Now, trainwreck! Was I right? No, I was not. When I heard Bucky's taking on this song I thought he pulled it off very, very well. Better than Nikelback? No. But very rarely do you come across something that the remake is better than the original. This song talks about a guy who hasnt had luck in love and he knows there must be somebody out there. It is a very good song and the writers did a very fine job. With all this said, a short review ended in saying that this is Bucky's bets single to date! Covering a well known rock group song and pulling it off will get him known by many more fans even outside of Country music. Grade: A- Charlie Baker, All About Music Executive Manager Phil Vassar: "Everywhere I Go"  Phil Vassar has released much better songs than this one. With this latest poor-choice-single, one can do nothing but be too under-impressed by this man. It might come into wondering what went wrong with him this very time. How could the people who heard this song approve of it to be a single? It won’t be taken as an offense if the song was to be simply on the album to reach a track-limit. But It is hard to believe that this was the only “best” choice left. Vassar’s over-powering vocals in the chorus are of no use. One might think that it would create a very passionate effect, but it is more like a bad actor standing up on stage trying to sound passionate yet choking on a piece of broccoli. They fall off key, and to be honest, there are only a few artists who can master such powerful vocals. As for the lyrics, there is nothing very impressive about them either. There is no ‘art’ in them, nothing different. And the music to go along: it sounds as if everything is being played on broken instruments. All instruments simply do not co-ordinate with each other, and the overall sound is very stiff. Hopefully, Phil Vassar shall release songs with more quality and material in them rather than those made just for the heck of making a song. Grade D- Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master George Strait "Twang" Producer: Tony Brown  A very George-Strait-like song! It is definitely country with George’s solid, heavy voice. It typically describes a hard-working man spending some time with his friends, having fun. But there is nothing about Strait’s voice that shows emotion related to the story. It lacks expressions and has a melody that is seemingly composed just out of laziness. The song is quite weak! The composition along with bland vocals does no good. It’s as if they wanted to add another track to the album and without having any other choice, they out this one. Moreover, the way the title is sang everytime breaks the flow of the whole song. It is suitable for the first time, but not continuously. There were plenty of other songs that would have made a good single. It is disappointing to see one of the weakest songs that lacks quality was selected to fire up the charts. Grade D Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master |
MUSIC VIDEOS Darius Rucker: "HIstory In The Making" Director: Shane Drake  Darius Rucker nails video #4! History In The Making is a great follow-up to CMA New Artist, Darius Rucker's Alright. This song is a ballod with some tempo on just love and how these memories will make your history of what you remember. The video hit right on the point of the song. Now, of course the video could have been a lot more but for budget reasons they pulled this video off pretty well. The director really just caught moments of a couple that we're living their history. The song tells it in its own. This was probably a really easy video to make and it was still a good one. Not the best Darius video, but all of his have been really simple and maybe thats how he likes it. Darius has sure paved his path in Country music with golden diamonds. What a great star he is and he will do just fine in the industry. Grade: B+ Deena Callister, All About Music President Jason Aldean: "The Truth" Director: Deaton-Flanigen  Aldean does it! The video starts off with Jason Aldean sitting on a bench, with a paper in his hand and waiting for a bus to arrive. Upon its arrival, he climbs into the almost empty bus, watching couples sharing intimacies. Then, reaching his destination, he checks in into a motel, throws his bag in his room and walks towards the swimming pool where children are cheerfully enjoying their childhood and a laughing couple coming by as well. But even though he is around such joyful and happy people, Aldean maintains an almost expressionless face, which signifies melancholy, almost as if he did not want to ‘escape’ his everyday world but had to due to pressurizing circumstances. The video on the whole is very satisfying, with constant chain of events and every scene offering something new. However, the end may be considered a little drag, that is, when the storm comes. But at the same time, the increasing intensity of it might be taken as a symbol of sadness, depression, or whatever other words can be associated with it. Moreover, if you come to think of it, if there would have been another event in the video, maybe another couple enjoying some time with their kids, that might have been just a filler, without having any such use, leaving the video somewhat open ended. Great work! Grade A+ Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master Blake Sheton & Trace Adkins: "Hillybilly Bone" Director: Roman White  Not an ideal video! When both men march in the restaurant, catching all eyes from around them, one gets the impression of ‘Ok, this is going to be a fun video!’ Til the first chorus, the video is enjoyable: the way both men are taunting the people around them, and how the people are eyeing them, thinking, ‘Who are these men?’ They both casually have a conversation with each other. But after that, when we see that they are still on their own table, talking to each other, it is very clear that the whole video will be dragged against the desert rocks! There is nothing but sitting at the table, drinking wine, and the eyes of women and men around them. And the ending: very typical! Everyone starts enjoying the music and get up to dance. It wouldn’t have mattered to have a typical ending if the whole video itself would have some movement in it, some more creativity as to what all the actors and actresses can do to make this music video an interesting watch. Yet again, we find ourselves watching a video where the director had run out of ideas and could not even relate with the lyrics of the song. Grade D- Momin Masood, All About Music Site Editing Master Toby Keith Director: Michael Soloman  Since this video arrived so quickly we never got single review on this so we will collide them into one. Crying For Me is a very good song as he pays tribute to Wayman Tisdale. The song is an emotional missing you type song. With this video, Michael Soloman hit it spot on into all you could do for a tribute. The video was phenomenal and brought tears to my eyes as I watched both Toby and the clips of Wayman. I dont know what else to say in this review! The video was amazing and it was Toby at his emotional best!! Toby has nothing to fear. Releasing songs like this will always mean more forever than songs about getting drunk. This is the Toby I love, and this was amazing! Grade: A+ Deena Callister President, All About Music Gloriana Director: Kristin Barlowe  Gloriana is definately a Country sonunding group and there is no doubt when it comes to that. There songs so far have been hits and it is very deserving for them. How Far Do You Wanna Go is another fun, fun song from Gloriana and this review is going to be left short based on empty mind. But the video could have showcased more. It was a very cheap video as they were just performing and showed two drivers. Next on the agenda for Gloriana needs to be a ballad released if they want to last in Country music. So far, i think they will be fine and they are great. Grade: C+ Deena Callister President, All About Music Taylor Swift Director: Roman White  Taylor Swift has a huge fan base that some understand and some completely don't understand. My problem with Taylor is all of her songs are the same. Teardrops On My Guitar, Picture To Burn, Should've Said No, White Horse they all have the same story to them Our Song, Love Story, You Belong With Me basically all the same song. Having said what I said, with Fifteen the music video, Roman did such a creative job. The video was so interesting to watch. You have it in an animated setting but Taylor and Abigail are not animated at all. The video is very good and creative and we all know that's how Roman is. I believe this is Taylor's best music video to date. Taylor & Roman did very well with the video. Having the tear hitting the rose, and the rain it all fit. So as I may not be a fan of the song and I want a change from Taylor Swift the video can stand on it's own. To hit high recognition Taylor needs to change up a little bit and not have all of her songs sounding the same.
Grade: A- Charlie Baker, All About Music Executive Manager |
||||
|
||||||
