Top 10 Least Favorite CM Radio Singles of 2009

Welcome to 2010! I told you I would make a least favorite list for 2009′s country radio singles and here it is (prolonged, yes, but it’s here). My Christmas and New Years were interesting, but good (first time my family and I have ever celebrated Christmas at a Thai restaurant – long story haha – and I also spent New Years Eve for the first time as a 21-year old in downtown Denver, which was entertaining and freezing). I’ve been lazy about going to the gym this past month, so now that this new decade is amongst us, I must partake to that healthier lifestyle again either tonight or tomorrow (probably tomorrow lol).

Keep in mind, like I said in my previous entry, I didn’t listen to a lot of country radio this year, so I am not aware of all of the bad songs from this year and I’m only going by what I hear and remember.  And the hippo? To be explained soon. Now to my list of…

Top 10 Least Favorite Country Music Radio Singles of 2009:

• 10. “River of Love” – George Strait:
  • Now you know why the top picture is hanging out there: I think that river looks filthy and those hippos are ugly, which is kinda like the song (hippos are very deadly too! – the comparisons can go on and on).  King George is my favorite artist of all time, but not even he can get away with recording a bad song.  This is one shining example. I don’t hate the song and there are definitely worst songs out there, but even with its radio success, it was an unappealing choice for a single, from an artistic standpoint and considering he had better choices from his Troubadour album.  The only sorta-saving grace of this Chesney-like downgrade is the steel guitar solo and George’s voice, otherwise, it’s just filler I try to like and occasionally sing along with, yet it’s bad stuff. This river stinks!
• 09. “Ride” – Martina McBride:
  • Another one of my favorites has found themselves on my naughty-list: Martina.  Lately, she’s kinda hit-or-miss with me, so this single wasn’t exactly a shocker.  Basically a “This Ones for the Girls” Part II-ish thing, but that’s not good.  I’m a very optimistic person, but give me a break: I guess it’s the feeling that this song is geared towards teenage girls again that gets me, and even if it isn’t, it just sounds like it. The lyrics are just weak. Vocals just okay this time.
• 08. “Sissy’s Song” – Alan Jackson:
  • I’m definitely getting burned at the stake for this one haha! I know the back-story to this and I appreciate his idea for a tribute song to her and all, but no disrespect intended, I just could never get into this one. The production, first of all, I do applaud its simplicity, however when you combine that sorta production with the melody and the vocals, it just sounds like a gnawing nursery rhyme to me. That being said, I love Alan Jackson and even though I’m not a fan of this song, I can see why people would embrace it.  Just not my cup of tea.
• 07. “It’s America” – Rodney Atkins:
  • Opportunistic. Guaranteed to be a hit because if someone says they no likey, they’re labeled as a terrorist-sympathizer lol. I love America, although when he sings about it, you almost feel ashamed haha (I’m kidding, but you know what I mean. It could have been done much better, all around – He’s only had one good single). And he needs to take off that damn cap!…

ACM’s “Artist of the Decade”: George Strait Review (Aired 05.27.09)

Rumors of my death are not clear, nor are they true.  I’ve been wanting to post but kept putting it off and did not have the time to execute it.  This review was a good way to get something in, without it being a recommendation.  I’m hoping this does not take too much time to write lol (but hopefully, still be long), so here goes!

Yeah my review is a bit postponed… it’s about a week and a half later and people probably don’t care about it anymore.  I ended up watching the tribute show the next evening after it aired because my eyes were glued to the Nuggets vs. Lakers game that night (my team lost, of course lol)…but anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this tribute show ever since I heard about it months ago.  The taping for this show took place the night after the ACM Awards in April.  George Strait is THE man and my favorite artist of all time, and it’s so cool to see this (sometimes) fine lineup of artists honoring him by performing his songs from throughout his career.  Overall, I immensely enjoyed and wish CBS would air re-runs so more people could see it.

Sugarland opening the show with their version of “Adalida”.  I usually don’t care for Jennifer Nettles‘s voice, but it worked really well here and you could tell she and the guy were passionate about it.  Though the lyrics are more suited for a male, it didn’t matter.  Love that Cajun feel!  YouTube performance video link.

Toby Keith followed with “Unwound”.  It had noticeably a slightly updated production but still kept the same basic sound, and Toby did an excellent job.  I haven’t heard his voice sound this good and spirited in years!  You don’t hear this song too often (unless you play it on iTunes), so it was a treat to hear it on here.  YouTube performance video link.

One of my personal favorites, Brooks & Dunn were next.  They chose, well Ronnie Dunn chose, for them to sing “The Cowboy Rides Away”.  This is a fine example of how well traditional country, a theme of cowboys, and B&D go together.  It even got Kix Brooks to sing along, in more than just harmony, equally on the chorus.  I really loved that, and Ronnie sang the hell out of the song.  YouTube performance video link.

The following performance was unique.  First, because the song choice is one of my least favorite Strait songs ever, and a song I don’t ever really listen to: “It Ain’t Cool to Be Crazy About You”.  The production on the original song, IMO, is so so boring and poppy, but with the second surprise, that being a duet of the song with Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, it was given new life and a more than tolerable listen.  They did a sweet job and it was nice to watch (Blake was also really funny in his opening words in regards to his Pure Country ode).  YouTube performance video link.

In a change to a non-Strait part of the evening, in a nod to past Decade Artist honorees, they added them into the show, with Keith Urban performing a medley of Marty Robbins‘s hits ["Singing the Blues", "El Paso", "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)"].  I admit that Urban’s voice sounded good, but I still don’t buy him as a country singer, so the covers, to me, felt awkward and took too long.  He did better than three other people though, so I’ll consider it “OK”.  YouTube performance video link.

iCF Single Reviews #6 (Week of December 11, 2008)

Wow wow wow.  I’m so neglectful of this blog sometimes lol.  I actually had started writing this post like the day after Christmas, but I never finished it and just kept it as a draft until now (I also erased some comments I made that wouldn’t make sense today lol – I just left the pic of Toby there).  Anyway, I’m here to review some singles I have yet to have voiced my opinion on, so far.  This is based off of the current R & R chart rankings.

10. “Down the Road” – Kenny Chesney & Mac MacAnally:

- Can’t believe I’m saying this, but this song isn’t too bad.  I like the acoustic and simplicity it has and I’m glad Kenny experimented on something kinda different here and introduced us to MacAnally.  Not an incredible song or anything, but gotta give this Jimmy Buffett-wannabe some credit (and credit for ditching the puka necklace – that was getting so old, man).  2.0 out of 5 stars.

12. “Sweet Thing” – Keith Urban:

- I kinda reviewed this in my CMA Awards reaction post, and it was actually favorable.  Urban did a solidly gripping performance of his new single and it stood out.  I would not consider it country at all, but damn, is it catchy.  I think some of the verses’ sound are reminiscent of Rascal Flatts’s (horrific) remake of  “Life Is a Highway”, but Urban is miles better than them (but just as pop, IMO) and the comparison with those songs only lies there.  This single’s chorus, as mentioned in other online reviews, is similar to Urban’s other songs, like “Better Life” and “Somebody Like You”, however it is still pretty fresh.  Surprisingly, I like the “do do do do do“s, and I think a lot of my likeness for the song began with the CMA performance, in which I first heard the song debuted.  Not country at all, but I like it, and bought the Mp3 on Amazon.com (well, I used my Pepsi free points to get it, so I don’t feel so guilty supporting him lol).  4.0 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

13. “God Love Her” – Toby Keith:

- This is actually my first time hearing this (btw, that is a nice pic of Toby above), and I don’t think it’s great or horrible – kind of in the middle.  Definitely a more mainstream-rock/poppier sounding Toby, with a similar feel of “Whiskey Girl”.  It’s catchy, though a little overproduced.  I wouldn’t call myself a Toby fan anymore, by no means (I think that shipped sailed several years ago – he just got annoying).  Nothing special here.  2.0 out of 5 stars.

14. “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” – Brooks & Dunn with Reba McEntire:

- Like I’ve said before: I’m lovin’ that B&D brought back the fiddle to their music! It’s been absent way too long.  This song is classic Brooks & Dunn, like their old stuff in the ’90s and I love it.  Bringing on Reba made it even better (though, I think this new recording sounds too “live” and it was edited in somewhat oddly).  I would comment more, but I’m considering another post on them in the future, so I don’t wanna repeat myself.  Cool music video too! 4.5 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

16. “River of Love” – George Strait:

- Don’t want to say much about this huge disappointment of a single (and a song), especially since Strait is my #1, because it’s just a bad choice of a song to record.  Nice steel guitar but not even the King could get me to like this.  Now, I really see how radio stations will play just about anything from certain people, regardless of the quality, even from some of my favorites.  This is a shipwreck, in my eyes, but of course it will be a top 5.  1.5 out of 5 stars.

51st GRAMMY Award Nominations / CMT Giants: Alan Jackson

I know I haven’t posted in a while (been busy and lazy and uninspired lol).  Since I did my afterthought review on the CMAs in November, I figured I’d do one for these two important items (as you can see from my glorious poster-like creation on the right side in this entry lol):

- The 51st Grammy Award Nominations

and

- CMT Giants: Alan Jackson

I decided to combine my thoughts into one post, since I’d rather not make two separate ones (I like them big posts!  Tags’R'Us).  Believe me, there are better ways of organizing these opinions, but I don’t feel like worrying about it lol.  They are placed in different sections.  Scroll down for the CMT Giants review.

The nomination for the 2009 Grammy Awards were announced a few days ago, and I’ve already commented on them already at a few sites, but here’s my more extensive analysis.

First of all, as I first read through the list, I was absolutely thrilled by their choices.  The Grammys has a respectable tendency in its history to appreciate and honor actual good music (well, in the country genre, at least.  I’m not sure about other genres.), and while they do have some questionable choices sometimes, they are definitely a lot more smarter and better judges when it comes to art and music than people are for say… country award shows (yeah, record sells always equal talent, don’t they Nashville?).  The Grammys enormously pleased me with the Dixie Chicks wins last time.  Anyway, like other people online have commented, the nominations for 2009 (or is it for 2008?  Whatever it is, for the upcoming awards) are really exciting and one of the best they’ve ever came up with.  I’m not going to list all the nominations or the categories, but I’ll give my opinion on what songs I want to.

Let’s start in the country genre (here’s an easy list to look at for country related noms from CU and here for the full noms), and let’s look at the nominations for “Best Female Country Vocal Performance”.   I thought they were pretty good, though I wouldn’t necessarily place Martina McBride‘s song in that category (it’s a decent song, but there are better choices).  I’ve never heard LeAnn Rimes‘s song until just right now: wow, very good vocals and not a bad song.  My choice (unsurprisingly) would be Lee Ann Womack‘s “Last Call”.  I wouldn’t mind if Carrie Underwood or Trisha Yearwood‘s songs won, because I love those ones too.  I’m glad Taylor Swift was left off.

Now: “Best Male Country Vocal Performance”… I’m not really blown away by any of those songs, but they’re not horrible horrible choices.  I gotta go with my man, George Strait, though.  I’ve grown quite a liking to “Troubadour”, as I heard it more as a radio single.

“Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals”.   Hmm… I’m gonna have to go with Lady Antebellum.  But wow, I just listened to The Steel Drivers‘s “Blue Side of the Mountain” and I love it… edgy mountain-sounding vocals with hard-driving bluegrass instruments.  Will definitely check them out!  Looks like Chris Stapleton sings for them… forgot about that.  I’d be fine if Sugarland‘s song or Brooks & Dunn‘s won too, but definitely don’t want Rascal Flatts to win a thing.

I really like the choices with “Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals”, except for the obvious song that stands apart from the rest: the Kenny Chesney/Strait duet (which is only saved by George, but is still not a good song).  You know I’m dig the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant song (more on them later), and the Strait/Patty Loveless duet (my two most favorite male and female artists singing and honoring Johnny and June Carter Cash?  Excellence-ness.  And I hope they win).  Oh yeah, I’m not too fond of “Life in a Northern Town”, like I mentioned in my song review months ago (I would rather hear Chesney and Strait’s tune, to be quite serious).  I enjoy Trisha Yearwood‘s (with Keith Urban‘s harmony) song, so if she won, I wouldn’t cry.  It’s very nice.

42nd Annual “Country Music” Association Awards

Just read some interesting live blogs (CU & The9513) covering last night’s award show and while my opinions lined up with their’s at times, I also had disagreements.  I did actually watch the whole show last night, “live” as it came to my Mountain Time home (so, in other words, an hour behind), because I wanted it to be fresh this year for me, and I know going online would mess up any surprises.  I also actually watched the live red-carpet show on CMT.  Since I did not do a live blog, I thought I might share my opinions right here as a day-after analysis.  And I ain’t gonna hold back…

(you like my picture above?  I made it green because, you know, after all is done and said, that’s what the awards were all about.  The green… and I don’t mean the environmentally-friendly kind)

On the red-carpet pre-show.  It was decent, but I was kinda wanting to see other people than the ones they interviewed. Remember, I’m going by my memory here, so I might miss out on some details.  Two things I remember: Jack Ingram‘s wife, Amy’s, oddly short dress: wow… don’t know what she was thinking lol, but no worries (I’m a guy, yes, but I thought it was a strange choice).  And I guess Alan Jackson‘s daughters are all into the pop-country craze, which I found interesting.  So cool to see him and his family, though.

For us, the awards didn’t televise until an hour after the red-carpet show, which I always hate because I wish I could see it live live.  Brad Paisley and Keith Urban started into the show with their duet, “Start a Band”, which I thought was cool that it was the first time they performed it together live, but I wasn’t too impressed, and waited for what was next.  When Brad finally performed his own song, “Waitin’ On a Woman”, it was nice too, but I wasn’t crazy for it.  Keith’s new song is anything but country, though I found myself liking it, for some reason (like I’ve noticed and posted before, I seem to like his really pop singles lol).  Not country at all but not bad.

I thought Paisley and Carrie Underwood, overall, did a fine job as hosts.  Of course, could have been done better, but it is a tough job to do, so I give them props for that.  Carrie did an amazing execution of “Just a Dream”.  I think it was a good idea to have the war widow speak before that because it gave it more meaning.  Definitely one of the best and moving performances of the night.  Also, congrats on her “Female” win.

I was stoked that George Strait won for “Single of the Year” for his excellent song, “I Saw God Today”.  I was pretty sure that “Stay” was going to win.  While we’re on the topic of King George, I gotta say his win for “Album of the Year” was even greater because I really like Troubadour and it was even more special that Lee Ann Womack got to present it to him (with Josh Turner) because they have such admiration for one another and George is one of her biggest heroes and she had won that award for the amazing There’s More Where That Came From years before.  I bet she’ll be accepting the award next year for Call Me Crazy.  Even better that producer, Tony Brown, went up there too! (he produced Strait’s & Womack’s latest projects).  Moving further in the program, honestly, George’s performance of “River of Love” was definitely not something I was looking forward to because I don’t really care for the song (too Kenny Chesney-like) but I think his vocals and the steel guitar save the song from being a total failure (in anybody else’s hands, it would be really bad).

Kellie Pickler.  I really don’t know what people see in her, to be honest.  Her personality is really cute, but dumb blondes don’t really do anything for me, unless I know the person and can’t tease them up front.  I thought her performance was the worse of the night.  I think she tries too hard and the music was way louder than her vocals.  Just a bad performance through and through.  Horrible.

Recommendation XXXIV: Sheryl Crow

All I can say to this site’s audience: thanks so much for waiting.  It means a lot to me that people still check out this site regularly even when I don’t post too often.  With my time off from school, I’ve got my good times and bad: it’s nice not having to stress over work and papers (my film class woulda been so fun though), but it is killing me not being able to hang out with my many buddies and others back there.  I feel like I’m missing out and will miss out on lots of stuff, and I’m thinking I might not be able to return in 2009.  But I came up with a plan to visit my friends early than planned before 2008 is over, so I’m excited about that (will be kinda expensive though…lol).  Anyway, I can guess what most of you are thinking when you saw the picture on the side: what’s she doing on the site?  She’s not country! I know she may not be considered “country”, but she’s done several works within the genre and she has integrated it somewhat in her style throughout her whole career.  She’s worked with Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash, the Dixie Chicks, Jack Ingram, Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, and others, and even her duet with Kid Rock (“Picture”) sounded more country than most songs on country radio, so I think she’s earned at least a recommendation (She even had another single on the country charts with the poppier single, “The First Cut is the Deepest”, if you can remember that.)

My thirty-fourth recommendation is: Sheryl Crow’s “Anything But Down” from her 1998 The Globe Sessions album.  Sheryl is one of my favorite rock/pop artists and I like a fair amount of her work.  I’d have to say that “All I Wanna Do” (the much much better of the songs with that name.  Yeah, I said it, and I do mean it, Sugarland.) is my favorite song of her’s because it’s so catchy and reminds me of the ’90s.  It’s got a slight country feel to it with the steel guitar that’s used prominently in the track, and her voice is always easy to notice.  Even when she turned pop with “Soak Up the Sun”, she was still as good as ever (though, her rockier, edgier stuff is preferred).  I remember when I was young, I confused her with Martina McBride when I saw her lol, especially with her music video for the James Bond movie, “Tomorrow Never Dies” (now I don’t really see any similarities, except that they had real short hair in the past).  My only complaint about Ms. Sheryl Crow is that she seems to kinda mumble when she performs live and while it it part of her style and isn’t done on purpose, it gets somewhat distracting.  But whatever, she’s still a great music icon.