Taylor Swift, "Speak Now"

Taylor's new single finds her moving outside the high school hallways, and into a different setting - a church.  "Speak Now" - the second single from the upcoming album of the same name - plays off the commonly-heard declaration of a preacher performing a marriage:  "Speak now, or forever hold your peace."  The man Taylor loves is about to marry "the wrong girl."  As she casually slips in to observe the ceremony, despite not having been invited, she imagines herself speaking out to stop the wedding, and possibly persuading her love interest to elope with her.

In some ways, this song seems like classic Taylor.  It could even be considered a grown-up sequel song to "You Belong with Me."  But somehow Taylor actually makes me care about the story.  How does she do it?  Maybe it's through the ample attention she gives to detail, as evident in her mention of the bride's "snotty little family" and of her "yelling at a bridesmaid" in a back room.  Such lines hint at the reason why this man's bride is the wrong girl for him.  Another asset is the biting wit that Taylor weaves into the lyrics with descriptions of "a gown that's shaped like a pastry" and "a song that sounds like a death march."

Using humorously stiff and formal speech, Taylor walks us through the proceedings of the unfortunate occasion.  It all culminates in the moment when Taylor seizes the opportunity to voice her objections.  The lyrics let us practically see Taylor as she 'stands up with shaky hands, all eyes on [her].'

"Speak Now" is a marked improvement over songs like "Mine" and "Picture to Burn," though it doesn't pack quite as much lyrical punch as "White Horse" and "Fifteen."  This song could be seen as a snapshot of an artist making the transition between being a teen pop-country starlet and being a mature adult artist.  With this solid single release, Taylor once again demonstrates her talent in crafting well-contructed storytelling lyrics.  This only heightens our interest in seeing Taylor grow as a songwriter.

TAYLOR'S SCORE:  7
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)

HEAR IT

Top Ten Greatest Women of the Nineties, #6 - Pam Tillis

As the daughter of a country music legend, Pam Tillis grew up around country music from an early age.  As a youth, she dismissed country music in favor of pop and rock music such as that of the Beatles.  In the early eighties, she attempted to pursue a career as a pop star, but her pop career quickly fizzled.  Eventually, her songwriting began to take on a country quality, and shifted her focus toward the country genre.  Her two-decade career in country music produced some of the greatest country music of the nineties.

After an unsuccessful stint on the country division of the Warner Bros. label, Pam signed with Arista Nashville in 1989.  She developed a style that was built on traditional country, but that incorporated outside influences of folk, pop, and rock.  In 1990, she released her debut single, the cleverly-written "Don't Tell Me What to Do," in which the female narrator upholds her right to stay hopelessly in love with her ex.  The single soon raced into the Top 5, and her debut album Put Yourself In My Place hit the Top 10, giving Pam the breakthrough she had been waiting for.  In addition, "Don't Tell Me What to Do" received a CMA nomination for Single of the Year.

Pam epitomized the sound of nineties country music with her 1992 classic "Maybe It Was Memphis" - a song that sees its narrator looking back longingly on a past relationship with a boy she met in Memphis, Tennessee.  The nostalgic Southern-flavored tune went to #3 on the charts, and went on to become one of the songs that Pam would be most remembered for.  "Maybe It Was Memphis" earned Pam another Single of the Year nomination, as well as her first-ever Grammy nomination.



In 1992, Pam released the lead-off single to her second album Homeward Looking Angel, which would become another career-defining hit.  Pam had first discovered the song after she had already spent all of her recording budget for the album, but since she was determined to include it, her voice was added to the demo track.  She deftly handled the song's cheeky subject matter, and was rewarded with another Top 5 hit.



Pam co-produced her third album, 1994's critically-acclaimed Sweetheart's Dance.  The album became the highest-charting release of her career (#6) and produced her one and only number-one hit, the fun and lighthearted Tex-Mex flavored ditty "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)."  Later in 1994, Pam took home the coveted CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year.



Pam took full producer's credit on her 1995 effort All of This Love.  She delivered another one of the finest singles of her career with her Top 10 hit, "The River and the Highway," which used rich poetic language to tell the story of two people who were not meant to share a life together, but who were still there for each other.


By 1997, Pam had earned the right to release her first Greatest Hits package, which included two new songs.  She received several CMA, ACM, and Grammy nominations for the first single, "All the Good Ones Are Gone."  In addition to going Top 5, the single helped push the album to platinum status.  The album's second single, "Land of the Living," became her final Top 10 hit.



Pam's commercial momentum slowed down in the later years of the nineties, thanks in part to record label changes.  Her 1998 album Every Time was less successful, though it did produce a near-Top 10 hit in "I Said a Prayer," and the title track scraped the bottom of the Top 40.  In 2000, Pam's contributions to country music were rewarded with an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry.  Her last album for Arista, Thunder & Roses, was released in 2001, producing her final charting single, "Please."

Pam later switched record labels, and began recording on the Epic label.  In 2002, she embraced her father's legacy as never before with the album It's All Relative - Tillis Sings Tillis, which saw her covering many of her father's classic hits.  She returned again in 2007 with the album RhineStoned, released on her own Stellar Cat record label, which featured an eclectic mix of modern and traditional country sounds.  The album received wide critical acclaim.

Pam continues to tour and to perform on the Grand Ole Opry, and is currently working on a new album.  Next year she will also star in the film The Goree Girls alongside Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Landon.

Though she is no longer in the country music mainstream, Pam's voice remains one of the finest instruments found in Nashville.  She built a career on recording high-quality material that was fully worthy of her outstanding talent.  Thus, despite being the daughter of Mel Tillis, Pam was able to establish herself as country music royalty in her own right.

Craig Morgan, "Still a Little Chicken Left On That Bone"

I just threw up... and not just a little bit in my mouth.

I am not even going to dignify this turd-pile with an elaborate appraisal of lyrics, vocals, and production.  This song flirts with the idea of having some sort of point, but goes about it entirely the wrong way with lines that do not even resemble actual thoughts.  This is a terrible song, and all who listen will be dumber for having done so.  The lyrics are stupid.  The production is loud and obnoxious, and all Craig does is shout at us.

It is songs like this that make people thumb their noses at country music.  A big sarcastic thank-you to Craig for dealing yet another blow to this genre's respectability.  I may or may not pour out my Coca-Cola, but this song is one that I am definitely throwing out.

CRAIG'S SCORE:  1
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)

HEAR IT

Album Review & Giveaway: Toby Keith - Bullets In the Gun

It's bragging time - This is my 100th post on the 1-to-10.  To commemorate the hundred-post milestone, I'm going to do a little something for you readers who have made writing this blog so darn fun.  I have three copies of Toby Keith's new album Bullets In the Gun - courtesy of Universal Music Group Distribution - to give away to three lucky readers.

One characteristic of this new album that any Toby fan will instantly recognize is the absence of any politically-charged anthems.  But while Toby does not voice his political opinions, his sense of humor is made well evident in songs like "Get Outta My Car" and the lead single "Trailerhood" - The former requires a full appreciation for Toby's humor; the latter misses the mark completely.  In addition, Toby's macho bravado resurfaces in the songs "Is That All You Got" and "Think About You All the Time."  But while we do get a good look at Toby's playful side, we are also reminded of his strong skills as a balladeer, with "Kissin' in the Rain" being one of the finest displays, albeit slightly overproduced.

On this album, Toby's vocals are reliably strong, and well-suited to the material.  The album has one notable flaw in that the production has a recurring tendency to get in the way of the songs.  While there are a few solidy produced tracks, with the catchy "Somewhere Else" being one of the best, a driving drumbeat acts as an overwhelming distraction on songs like "Ain't Already Broke" and the trucker tune "Drive In On Home."

Bullets In the Gun does not visit a particularly wide variety of lyrical themes within its ten tracks.  The most prominent theme is that of a man dealing with a breakup, which often takes a witty and snarky turn.  The album ultimately falls short of being a completely tight and cohesive collection.  But thanks to its prominent featuring of Toby's personality, his biggest fans will still find plenty to love here.

TOBY'S SCORE:  6
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)

WIN IT!  To enter the contest to win Toby's new album, just leave a comment below telling what your favorite Toby Keith song is, and why that particular song is your favorite.  When you leave your comment, send me an e-mail (ben.countryreview@gmail.com) identifying which comment is yours.  That way I can contact you to let you know if you win.  But in order for me to get the album to you, I have to get that e-mail first, so don't forget to send it!  Eligible comments must be submitted before Saturday, October 16.  Winners will be chosen at random.

Music Video Round-Up - October 2010

Here we go again!  Time to let the artists have it.  In case you were wondering, I have given up on scoring these videos.  When it comes to music videos, I'm generally pretty easy to please anyway, so let's just discuss what we like or dislike about each one.  I must say we had some good ones this month!

Carrie Underwood, "Mama's Song"

This is good... so good.  No, really - it is!  Though the lyrics of the actual song seemed generic and anonymous, the music video almost seems to fill in all the gaps.  Included in this video are, not only Carrie's real-life mother Carole, but also her husband Mike Fisher (fitting as "Mama's Song" could just as well be called "Mike Fisher's Song").  That inclusion gives the video more of a personal and authentic touch.  One of the best parts is near the end when we see Carrie riding in the backseat of a car with her husband, and that part effectively captures the comfort she has found in her marital relationship.

Even though I haven't been impressed with some of Carrie's recent hit songs, I would never deny the fact that she makes some spectacular music videos.  This is one of her best.

Rascal Flatts, "Why Wait"

I can describe this video with just one word:  wild.  The new Flatts video has a Las Vegas theme, and a bevy of celebrity cameo appearances including Wayne Newton, Penn Jillette, and others.  In a way, it does fit the theme of the song, which is running off and getting married.  What's a better place to get hitched than Vegas?  This is a pretty crazy video, and it does seem a little over-the-top at times, but it is a lot of fun. (Is there a single preacher in Vegas who doesn't look like Elvis?)

By the way, seeing as I'm not the most cultured tool in the shed, I'm sure there were some celebrity cameos that went totally over my head, so leave a comment and tell me who else you recognize.

Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson, "As She's Walking Away"

And we have another winner!  First of all, props for having Alan in the video along with Zac.  Besides that, this video takes the general storyline of the song, and builds on it.  It's cool how you can do that with a music video.  In this video, we see that the smitten young man in the song is dealing with some competition in vying for this woman's attention.  He has an opportunity to talk to her when he finds her lost necklace outside the bar.  Suspense builds as the video progresses - will loverboy be successful in scoring a date with this woman?  How does it end?  I'm not going to tell you.  Watch the video yourself, and you'll see why I'm not telling you.

I might also add that the young man in this video was very appropriately cast.  The actor is physically good-looking, but he is still able to make himself look somewhat pitiful.

POLL RESULTS
Best new music video?

Carrie Underwood, "Mama's Song" - 44%
Zac Brown Band, "As She's Walking Away" - 32%
Rascal Flatts, "Why Wait" - 24%

Thanks to the 25 readers who responded to this poll!

Album Review: Katie Armiger - Confessions of a Nice Girl

This 19-year-old pop-country starlet has been releasing music since 2007, but has yet to have a single enter the Country Top 40.  Her third album Confessions of a Nice Girl may or may not cause a sudden spike in her chart record, but it does have an undeniable charm that makes it entertaining and darn near irresistible.

First, a warning:  Elderly ones may wish to turn down the hearing aids - This album is very loud.  The up-tempo tracks feature heavy drum beats and guitar riffs, while many of the mid-tempos culminate in sweeping string sections.  The album has a sound that seems to owe more to Miley Cyrus and Orianthi than to Reba McEntire and Martina McBride.  You might be able to get past that; you'd just want to listen to this one with the volume relatively low.  Since Katie clearly has talent, she could benefit from simpler arrangements that would more effectively allow her vocals to be the center of attention.

Confessions of a Nice Girl kicks off with a bang as the high-octane pop ditty "Best Song Ever" opens the set.  Up next is the album's first single, "Kiss Me Now," which keeps up the energy.  A few of the album's best moments come when Katie injects her own flair and personality into the songs.  You can almost hear her sassy smirk in her delivery of "Nice Girl" (though the song could do without the fake giggles at the beginning).

Katie demonstrates strong vocal abilities throughout the album, and clearly shows that she knows how to have fun, but she often shines brightest on her ballads.  On the single "Leaving Home," she displays what is arguably her finest vocal performance on the album as her crystalline voice rises from its lower register to a shimmering falsetto.  She also effectively channels the appropriate emotions on sad songs like "That's Why" (written with Rebecca Lynn Howard) and the self-penned "Cry Cry Cry."

Katie wrote or co-wrote all but four of the album's tracks.  Many of the songs are clearly sung from a teenager's perspective (Example:  "Nice Girl"), but there are moments when Katie displays a notable degree of maturity.  Some of the strongest lyrics in the albums are found in songs such as "That's Why," "Scream," and "Cry Cry Cry," all of which are different portrayals of post-breakup emotions.  Though Katie shows signs of maturing in her perspective, she never crosses the line of what is age-appropriate for her to sing.  These Confessions could be seen as a portrait of an artist in transition - one who is soon to leave the high school hallways to find her place in the world.

Katie's set of Confessions includes a good mix of sorrowful ballads interspersed with plenty of fun and sprightly slices of pop-country, ripe with catchy hooks and singalong melodies.  It may not be an instant classic, but it is a thoroughly entertaining effort that is full of heart, and brimming with spunk and personality.

KATIE'S SCORE:  7
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)

Order it on katiearmiger.com

Katie Armiger Celebrates Album Release

On Wednesday, September 29, a large crowd packed into SESAC to hear Cold River Records artist Katie Armiger perform an acoustic set of songs from her upcoming third album Confessions of a Nice Girl.  She was joined onstage by several of her co-writers.  During her set, she shared several stories of how she was inspired to write some of the songs.

The event was streamed live online, and watched everywhere by fans from the U.S. to Scotland.

Katie's set list:

"Nice Girl"

"Kiss Me Now" (with Shanna Strassberg)

"That's Why" (with Rebecca Lynn Howard)

"Can You Handle It"

"Can't Keep Myself from Loving You" (with Joe West)

"Cry Cry Cry" (with Chad Carlson)

"Ain't Gonna Happen" (with Bruce Wallace)

"Best Song Ever" (with Amanda Flynn)

Rebecca Lynn Howard (left) joins Katie onstage to perform their composition "That's Why."

Katie and co-writer Amanda Flynn close out the set with Katie's upcoming single "Best Song Ever."

In between songs, Katie answered questions submitted by her fans.

What was your favorite song to write?
"I would probably say 'Best Song Ever.'  I wrote it with Amanda Flynn and Bruce Wallace.  We were, you know, in Amanda's Jeep driving through Kentucky, which is where she lives - well, she lives here, but which is where she came from.  I was so much fun!  I just never had that much fun writing a song.  We were technically on retreat, but we wrote a song during it."

How old were you when you first sang, and thought to yourself, "This is what I want to do"?
"I don't even remember.  My first memories are when I was like a teeny teeny toddler, and my mom loves to tell this story where I was kicked out of preschool, because I was not a problematic child - I was just more mischievous.  So I would get put in time-out a lot, and I would just write songs in time-out about how much I loved being there, and I would make those teachers so mad that they would be like 'We can't watch her anymore.  Send her to another preschool,' and I just always knew that I wanted to sing."


Scott Wendy reads off a list of fan questions for Katie to answer.

Where can we see you again?  Do you have anything coming up on television?
"I do!  I'm going to actually be on the CBS Early Show on October 9th.  We just confirmed it today.  We're very excited.  So you guys can watch it."

Is there going to be another tour?  Do you have plans to do dates, and travel the country so we can go out and see you live?
"Well I definitely have plans to be doing a radio tour, so we're going to try to promote this album so much, and with everything that we can, so definitely we'll be traveling around, and I'll post it on Facebook, on my web site, on everything, so you will know when I'm performing!  Just stay in touch."

When your album goes on sale on October 5th, are you actually going to go to a store and buy your own CD?
"You better believe it, yeah!  I'm gonna be that person that buys every single copy in the store.  I figure if I spend like a hundred dollars on myself, it won't really matter maybe."

Katie poses with (left to right) Chad Carlson, Shanna Strassberg, Amanda Flynn, Joe West, and Bruce Wallace.

WATCH VIDEO OF THE EVENT

Gary Allan, "Kiss Me When I'm Down"/ Jerrod Niemann, "What Do You Want"

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In these new songs by Gary Allan and Jerrod Niemann, two characters face similar situations, and give entirely different reactions.  It's a scenario not unheard of in country music.  Relationship ends.  Lover leaves.  Estranged lover keeps returning with no intention of staying, thus only inflicting further hurt.  While Jerrod is tired of being taken advantage of by his ex, Gary misses his woman so much that he's willing to let her use him.

Both songs have strong lyrics that tell their stories effectively.  "Kiss Me When I'm Down" utilizes forceful lines to pack a powerful punch ("Waste my candles, Waste my time... Kick me to the ground/ Kiss me when I'm down").  While the simpler lyrics of "What Do You Want" do not have the same poetic flair, they do convey honesty and emotion, while eliciting listener sympathy at the same time.  Lines like "You know what it does to me to see your number on the phone" and "When we hang up it's like I'm losing you again" make it hard not to feel the man's pain.

There are a few major differences between these two offerings.  Most notably, they are on total opposite ends of the production spectrum.  Here again, Jerrod opts for simplicity, settling for a primarily acoustic arrangement backed by soft keyboard notes and a subtle pulsing beat.  In contrast, Gary amps it up with a heavy rock power ballad arrangement, featuring electric guitar riffs and string sections along with some genre-pandering steel guitar fills.  The strings were probably overkill, and it is a slightly overwhelming listen.

Both vocalists earn high marks for performance.  Gary pours every ounce of soul into his delivery of "Kiss Me When I'm Down," and he flat-out sells it.  Jerrod's take on "What Do You Want" is soft and low-key, but equally believable.  He sounds run-down and tired from being repeatedly hurt so many times.  Differing production styles and vocal interpretations make these two songs sounds as different as night and day, but a major asset for both is that each vocalist sounds fully connected with the song's lyrics.

It's interesting to note how two artists can take a similar concept, and run in entirely different directions with it.  But thanks to the strong performances, both attempts are more than successful.

GARY'S SCORE:  8
JERROD'S SCORE:  9
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)

HEAR "KISS ME WHEN I'M DOWN"
HEAR "WHAT DO YOU WANT"

Top Ten Greatest Women of the Nineties, #7 - Martina McBride

In recent years, Martina seems to have slid into a safe and comfortable mode with regard to her musical style.  Her recent output has consisted largely of sometimes overwrought power ballads, as well as "I am woman - hear me roar" girl power anthems.  But back in her heyday, she provided nineties country radio with some of its most striking and memorable singles.

Martina first emerged on country radio in 1992 with a neotraditional honky tonk sound.  Her debut album The Time Has Come was met with positive critical reception, but it did not yield any major hits (though the title track reached #23, and the video for "Cheap Whiskey" received moderate screen time on CMT and TNN).

Martina's second album The Way That I Am gave her the breakthrough she was waiting for.  She scored her first major hit in 1993 with "My Baby Loves Me" - a women's bold and proud declaration of the unconditional and accepting love that she had found.  The single charted at #2, but Martina later found out three more radio spins would have propelled it to the top spot.



The album's third single barely missed the Top 10, as its dark subject matter made radio hesitant to play it.  "Independence Day" was the harrowing tale of a wife who, in order to free herself from her husband's abuse, burns the family home to the ground, perishing in the fire along with her husband.  The story was told from the perspective of the couple's eight-year-old daughter who goes down to the Independence Day fair, and returns to find her house engulfed in flames.  The lyrics cast light on the dark reality of domestic violence, while wisely refraining from rendering judgment on the situation.  "Independence Day" pushed the boundaries of what an artist could sing about on country radio, and paved the way for further artists who were willing to take similar risks.

The tragic story was vividly brought to life in the "Independence Day" music video, which was controversial due to its portrayal of domestic abuse, and its depiction of the burning house.  But Martina was rewarded for her taking such a career risk when the clip was named the 1994 CMA Music Video of the Year.  In addition, the song's writer, Gretchen Peters, received the award for Song of the Year.  In the years since its release, "Independence Day" has been remembered as one of Martina's signature hits.  It ranks as an era-defining classic, and it receives substantial radio airplay even today.



The title track to Martina's third album, 1995's Wild Angels, became her first-ever number-one hit.  It was at this point that she began adopting a more contemporary pop-friendly sound.  In "Wild Angels," the narrator gratefully looks back on a romance that has endured many difficulties only to come out stronger than ever.  They may "break each others' hearts sometimes, and "spend some nights on the jagged side," but somehow they always "wake up in each others' arms."  The woman does not dole out any superficial advice, nor does she offer any supposed secret to success.  Rather, she concludes that her relationship has survived only by blessing from above.  The songs raggedly honest lyrics combined with Martina's joyful and exuberant performance made it another one of the finest singles of her career.



After three less-successful singles, Martina returned to the top of the charts in 1997 with "A Broken Wing" - the first single from her 1997 album Evolution.  The song visited lyrical territory that was similar to "Independence Day," but delivered a different variation on a similar theme.  In "A Broken Wing," a woman escapes from an emotionally abusive relationship with a man who at times seems to love her, but continues shooting her dreams down.  The lyrics hint at the possibility that the woman committed suicide, but ultimately leave the question unanswered.  The song's heavy gospel flavoring made it stand out among Martina's late nineties releases.



In addition to her strong lyrical material, Martina also became known for a vocal style that was very new and distinctive in the nineties.  She developed a style of singing song verses in a hushed tone, and then letting her voice rise as she belted out the chorus.  Though the concept has since been beaten into the ground, it was fresh and new at the time.  The style was exemplified in her 1999 #2 hit "Whatever You Say."



Martina closed out the decade with the longest-running number-one single of her career - "I Love You," an ultra-catchy pop ditty of infatuation.  The five-week number-one smash appeared on the soundtrack to the 1999 film Runaway Bride, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.  The promotion it received from its use in the film helped spur its massive success.  It also served as the lead-off single to Martina's fifth studio album Emotion.



Since the turn of the millennium, Martina has released four more studio albums, all but one of which have topped the Billboard Country Albums chart.  Her more recent singles have not been at the high artistic standard she was previously known for.  She remains a relevant figure in country music today, and her singles have continued to receive moderate radio spins.  Still, her artistic legacy rests primarily on her classic nineties hits that will not soon be forgotten.

Lady Antebellum, "Hello World"

I wanted to like it.  I really did.  I might as well try to make myself like it, since it will soon be all over radio, and I won't be able to get away from it.  But the songwriters have made it very hard for me to like.

Given that the song's writers (Tony Lane, David Lee, and Tom Douglas) have some high-quality hit compositions under their belts, it's a surprising disappointment that "Hello World" shows symptoms of lazy songwriting.  It's about a man who feels lost in a sea of modern technology who longs to reconnect with... something.  Such a song is not necessarily pre-doomed to failure, but in this case it could benefit from a more refined concept.  The first epiphany occurs when a little girl with chocolate on her face waves at him.  In the second verse he drives by a "Little White Church" (Do I hear hand-clapping?), and knows that God is there.  Finally, he comes home to his wife and children.  Each of these instances prompts him to say "Hello World."

Our perception of what takes place is hazy at best.  What has caused him to feel so hurt and broken in the first place?  How exactly is he affected by each seemingly revealing moment?  And what does the term "world" represent in this context?

The loosely constructed lyrics coast along on a lifeless melody, and Charles Kelley's unexpressive vocals fail to breathe any life into this snoozer of a tune.  I don't like using the "B" word, but I'm just going to come out and say it:  This song is boring. 

If Lady Antebellum's hits are to continue having any impact after their radio run ends, then the songwriting and performance will have to show more signs of effort.

LADY A'S SCORE:  4
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)