Album Review – Dierks Bentley’s “Black”
At the 2016 CMT Awards, when they needed someone to walk out to center stage and give an all-too-brief, but nonetheless meaningful tribute to Merle Haggard, they chose Dierks Bentley for the task. Why? Because of all the attendees present at that made-up awards show, with the exception of maybe Chris Stapleton, nobody else had the street cred to go out there and pay tribute to a legend without it feeling like a clashing of two worlds. Today’s artists regularly trounce on what an artist like Merle Haggard stood for. Dierks regularly gets a pass from even some of the staunchest purists.
Over the years, it’s been well documented that Dierks Bentley has been mainstream country’s consummate good guy. From his bluegrass leanings early in his career, and then on his album Up on the Ridge, to a generally more favorable and substantive legacy of songs compared to his peers, he’s one of the few mainstream artists left most everyone can get behind, even if some of his recent lead singles have left much to be desired. Dierks always comes back around on his albums, rest assured. He won’t let you down.
Until now.
Dierks Bentley’s new album Black is pretty terrible. Though I can’t say I’m intimately familiar with all of Dierks’ early albums, I feel confident in saying this is his worst record ever. At least I hope it is. Because if there is something worse out there, I don’t want to hear it. In a nutshell, Black is a Bro-Country record with the edges shaved off. It’s all the creepy sexual references, but without the panache and throbbing beats of the bros so it’s not even infectious. It’s like adult contemporary schlock aimed at young adults. Yes, most tracks are played with real instruments, but that’s one of the few saving graces. Black is way too stylized, and way too whitewashed to accomplish anything but a disappointment in Dierks.
We’ve always known that Dierks will release a terrible song on you, but then he’ll turn right around and atone almost immediately. On Black, you keep waiting for this atonement, you keep waiting for things to turn around as track after track rolls by, searching for that distinctive Dierks song that’s sensible and pragmatic, but still really says something. And it never really comes. This is not the Dierks Bentley that Cody Canada named his kid after, or even the Dierks of his last record Riser. This is the realization of Dierks Bentley the Music Row tool.
– – – – – –
“You know, my hands they know where to go, to find your finger tips
Trace them back to your lips, take you on a trip, flip that switch
Like your dress on the floor, yeah the one you don’t need anymore,
Black like a sky with no stars, just find me and fall into my arms”
– – – – – –
This is not the Dierks we know and love. This is a Dierks record where he says “girl” 30-something times, and the perspectives of the songs are told from behind a smartphone. “Somewhere On A Beach” is insufferable. Dierks’ monotone cadence on “Roses And A Time Machine” is like corkscrews in the ears. I get a sense that somewhere out there is a discussion about how his duet with Elle King called “It’s Different For Girls” is all wrong, while another side is saying it’s supposed to be taken sarcastically. But cast my vote for the song being wrong-minded and presumptuous. And just because a song is about a breakup doesn’t immediately make it deep, especially if it is done in a douchebag perspective perpetually stuck in 22-years-old like so many of these songs.
There are some exceptions to this negative take, but it’s a case of too little, too late. The song with Maren Morris, “I’ll Be The Moon” has a really interesting perspective, and the songwriting deserves praise. But the production is terrible, and is made worse by the context of this album. The final two songs “Light It Up” and “Can’t Be Replaced” are pretty good, but not great, and are penciled in at the end almost as an admission of guilt.
Black is Dierks Bentley trying to chase trends, but with only one foot in the race. They tried to make a trendy record, but sensing it might not go over well with his constituents, they kind of chickened out, so you get a record that is nether fish nor foul; it’s just sort of blah. Nothing on this record will in any way add to Dierks Bentley’s legacy, at least positively, and it certainly won’t lend to the legacy of country music.
I would lump Black in with recent albums from Keith Urban, Randy Houser, and Chris Young. All the songs just feel so generic, they run together. The producer Ross Cooperman just got way too involved here, and all these songs with three or more songwriters suck the life out of the inspiration. It really took five songwriters to compose “Somewhere On a Beach?”
If you happen to like Black, that’s all that matters, and you shouldn’t let some jaded critic sway you from the enjoyment of music. But as someone who’s apologized for Dierks often, and defended him just as much, Black is a big ol’ disappointment, and a blemish on his musical legacy that no street cred can erase, and no excuses can explain away.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:17 am
And this is one of the reasons why I’ve not lifted my embargo on Country Radio yet (and probably never will at this point)
June 15, 2016 @ 8:27 am
I finally got my mp3s organized and onto a USB stick for the car–25 GB worth. Just need to tweak the organization a little.
Country radio can kiss this old boy’s ass.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:18 am
It’s a huge disappointment. Riser has been a consistent listen for me these past couple of years and I was hoping for more of the same mature songwriting. But other than “I’ll Be The Moon” this is just 2nd rate Bro-Country. He’s so much better than this.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:25 am
Thank goodness for Friday’s release of “California Sunrise.” For the record, the album is on Touchtunes already, and the songs I played last night (the title track and She Ain’t in it) are absolutely great. I don’t hate “Black” by any means, and would give it a solid 5-6, but he’s so much better than this.
I’m really interested to eventually see your take on Frankie Ballard’s new album. I think there are a couple great tracks but other than that it’s forgettable, even if he was well-intentioned with it.
As for the songs I like from Black, I do like “Different For Girls” and “I’ll be the Moon.” I don’t hate either “Black” or “What the Hell Did I Say.” A few others are passable. “Somewhere on a Beach/Bitch”–yeah, Dierks. We caught the play on words and it’s fucking lame. It has to be the worst song released in his career, and it’s not close.
I think where you and I differ is that I buy that he had good intentions with this record. I think it was meant to explore the dark corners of relationships. I just think he could have used traditional instrumentation and it’d have been much, much better.
June 15, 2016 @ 4:30 pm
i saw jon pardi in january at a club in houston and he did a few songs from the new record and they all sounded great live really looking forward to california sunrise especially since he recorded it with his road band as for black i don’t hate it either but after how much i loved riser and just about everything else dierks has released throughout his career it’s disappointing that he went with a more radio friendly sound on this record but i do like different for girls and mardi gras (really hope mardi gras ends up being a single cause those horns and slide guitar on the track sound like a breath of fresh air and made the sound of the rest of the album all the more disappointing)
June 16, 2016 @ 4:43 am
“She Ain’t In It” is the best song I have heard this year, which I know isn’t saying much but still. Phenomenal song.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:33 am
Dierks Bentley’s new album Black is pretty terrible. Yes, most tracks are played with real instruments, It’s all the creepy sexual references, I just can’t get enough of this web page +1!
June 15, 2016 @ 8:52 am
I’ve been huge DB fan my whole life. I’m 22, so I’ve grown up listening to him since his first release. To answer the question about his early albums, they are some of his best, in my opinion.
As for Black, it’s by far his worst release yet. I was very disappointed, especially since I pre-ordered it. The production of this album did it in for me. I really wish Brett Beavers was still producing his albums as opposed to Ross Copperman. Copperman’s work sounds to mainstream, and he doesn’t even have a background in country music.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:54 am
Too*
June 15, 2016 @ 9:04 am
DB has always been one of the mainstream acts I’ve still somewhat enjoyed. But, just by simply previewing the tracks, I’m out. Hard to believe this guy did Up On the Ridge and shared the stage with the likes of Cody Canada and Wade Bowen.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:05 am
this album is a total failure. ‘I’ll be The Moon” and ‘Can’t be replaced’ to me are the best songs. I agree that ‘Different for Girls’ sounds stereotypical, but I give it a pass because I think its intent was to talk about a girl in particular: it tries to draw comparisions to ‘She Don’t Love You’ by Eric Paslay but ultimately falls short.
The rest of the album feels so generic it hurts. These damn rock/pop sounds are annoying as hell, which is strange because Dierks used to balance a little bit of country rock with neotraditional sounds: think about How Am I Doin’, In My Head, Soon as I Can and others. Even the slower songs don’t work well: the title track is not that bad but it sounds so forced and quite generic, moreover it’s nowhere near ‘Breathe You In’, ‘Come a Little Closer’ or ‘Say You Do’.
The instrumentation is gone: no steel guitar, no fiddle, just some digitally-edited banjo and dobro sounds here and there.
Leave “I’ll Be the Moon’ and “Can’t Be Replaced” alone and there’s no rawness, and Dierks’ rawness is what made him great in the first place: songs like Draw Me a Map, Hurt Somebody, Damn These Dreams, Trying to Stop Your Leaving have that kind of magic.
Today’s mainstream country is a desert, it seems like we just can’t trust anybody anymore.
I’m sure Maddie&Tae, William Michael Morgan, Josh Turner, Jon Pardi, Alan Jackson, Mo Pitney and George Strait will still put out great efforts, but what really scares me is that I was sure about Dierks as well. I was sure about Easton Corbin. I was sure about Chris Young. I was sure about Brad Paisley. I was sure about Joe Nichols. I was sure about Gary Allan. But Mainstream Country music never fails to baffle me.
June 16, 2016 @ 7:06 am
I agree with what you’re saying, except for the “I was sure about Brad Paisley” ? Personally, I think he’s one of the few artists who in unaltered by the latest trends. You always hear steel and fiddle on his records, and he’s been electric guitar driven since album 1 so that’s not new. That new Demi Song is eh but his records never dissapoint me
June 16, 2016 @ 7:23 am
I mentioned Brad Paisley because I was a little disappointed by Moonshine in the Trunk. It sure was a country record, but it was not a great album. Brad has recorded some of my favorite mainstream country albums (This is Country Music, Time Well Wasted, Mud on The Tires, Who Needs Pictures, American Saturday Night) and he always stayed true to the country sounds, but Moonshine in the Trunk felt like he really had no idea where to go musically and lyrically.
I’m confident he will come back roaring with a great album soon!
June 17, 2016 @ 12:49 pm
He almost completely lost me with Wheelhouse. Not only was that on not country, it wasn’t really that good, either, IMO.
June 17, 2016 @ 2:21 pm
personally I find Wheelhouse to be very good. I hated it at first and it’s totally outside Brad’s comfort zone, but after a few listens it really grew on me. It’s well done pop rock with country instrumentation. But if you don’t like that kind of music I totally feel your frustration.
June 17, 2016 @ 3:24 pm
No, I like plenty of albums that could be categorized as such. I just think that Wheelhouse is misguided, overwrought and inconsistent. I’ve always likened it and Eric Church’s The Outsiders as very similar. Both try to be all artsy and whatnot, but neither has a cohesive theme save for “be different.” Self-indulgence is the name of that game, and both even feature superfluous backup choirs during the songs. It’s not so much that they’re not country that gets to me, it’s that I don’t think either succeeds at what they set out to do.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:22 am
Dierks Bentley’s early albums were the soundtrack for some of my fondest memories.
I agree, “Black” should’ve been called “Blah”
But, I’m staying optimistic. I’m hoping he did “Black” because he knew it would be successful, and allow him to do what he wants next time around, like another bluegrass record (Dierks has been saying he wants to do another) or a Hot Country Knights record. I’m not ready to call him a sellout just yet.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:23 am
The mainstream producers are sucking the life out of country music. Different for Girls is just offensive, period. But some of the other tracks might’ve been decent with different production. Basically though mainstream male country music is just bad. This album is basically Dierks’ attempt to get to the next level star-wise, maybe on par with Urban, and he basically made an album that sounds like everyone else’s. But Dierks doesn’t have the charisma or personality to pull off blah music (unlike say Blake or Luke).
So of course this album has sold significantly better than Riser, which means we’ll get a lot more like it.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:31 am
I hated this album so much. A few of the songs wouldn’t be so bad if they were the “pop country” single releases on an otherwise solid record. But the entire album feels like pop country single material. Can’t Be Replaced is definitely the best song on the album, and it’s probably a 6 out of 10. And it’s the last song on the album. By the time I got to it I was so frustrated with the album that I couldn’t enjoy it. I was so disappointed by this record.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:35 am
Good review Trig. I thought the same thing going into the record. The first few songs on radio were….whatever. I figured, like Dierks usually does, the overall album would save it from the singles that had been released to radio.
Listening to it this past week, I just kept waiting for those tracks that make me stop what I was doing and sit down and listen. It never happened….like it did with Brandy Clark’s new album.
I’ll give Dierks a 4/10 on this effort, the extra point just being because he brought Duncan Keith from the Blackhawks on stage with him when he was in Chicago last month. That was pretty cool. Beyond that, looking forward to the next album from Dierks, and him redeeming himself and showing us the artist that we all know he is.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:38 am
I think to compare Black and Ripcord to Randy Houser n Chris Young’s foolish albums is insane. That’s just me.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:52 am
I’m not comparing those albums across all measurables. I was comparing them in the way that all the songs seem to just run together and sound the same. There’s just no body to these albums because they never create any “moments.”
June 15, 2016 @ 12:09 pm
I guess thats a fair statement.
June 15, 2016 @ 9:48 am
This guy is married. He has children. I KNOW he has more to say than this. Textbook definition of the phrase ‘phoned it in’. And he’s been my radio country guilt free listen for a long time.
June 15, 2016 @ 10:08 am
I think it’s more “waving the white flag” at Capitol and Clear Channel/Cumulus than it is “phoning it in.”
June 15, 2016 @ 10:05 am
I do really like the Maren Morris duet, but I’ll like never be a single since it’ll draw attention away from her solo work. Isn’t it common practice to not release a solo single by an artist the same time a duet they’re featured on is also climbing the charts or vice versa?
The references to modern technology – the whole ‘blowing up my phone’ crap that makes me want to puke – got me more than the sexual overtones.
June 15, 2016 @ 10:29 am
Yeah… so disappointing because he’s one of the guys on contemporary radio with the chops and understanding of what makes a great song. I was talking with a publisher-type the other day who told me that if I wanted to hear a good example of great contemporary country music to check out Black. I had already checked it out at that point and so was again hit over the head with the fact that the people running the show do not understand what good is… or even what music is. Of course that same person mentioned the new Blake Shelton album. We’ve gone from Bro-Country to something probably worse… the same happy-go-lucky inane lyricists trying to wax poetic. Yuck.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:53 pm
“…….and so was again hit over the head with the fact that the people running the show do not understand what good is… ”
And THAT really is the story in a nutshell . The powers that be understand one language only …..$$$$$.
If its makes money ..it MUST be good !
June 15, 2016 @ 10:31 am
Disappointing. I really want, almost need, a good country rock album right now. I also loved the Dierks could mix rock and country with ease, but this sounds too poppy for my taste. I was hoping it was closer to the recent works by Church and Brothers Osborne.
I may still listen out of respect for Riser, but I’m disappointed by this review.
June 15, 2016 @ 11:18 am
I was so excited when I got this a few weeks ago cause I about wore riser out. That was a solid record with the exception of drunk on a plane, pretty girls, sounds of summer and chillin on a back porch which 25% of a record being not good is great by today’s standards. I went into it being cautious as the less single was a joke but I was still being optimistic as is the case with and Dierks record. Well I was completely let down. About the only song I really liked was can’t be replaced. The others were head scratchers. It was a waste of $10. Dierks is was better than this as he has shown us countless times. Nothing about it sounded like him. I’d like to believe that he didn’t wanna do this type of record. It seems Capitol gave him the reigns in riser and with 2 fabulous country songs (riser&bourbon in Kentucky) failing to crack the top 20 it seems they took it away. I sure hope in 2 years we have better things to say about Dierks record. At least Jon Pardi’s new record finally comes out this week!
June 15, 2016 @ 11:35 am
I’ve been a Dierks fan for years and have all his albums but won’t be buying this one. When “Somewhere on a Beach” was released, it was probably the biggest song disappointment by an artist for me. Really, I hoped that this was some sort of mid life crisis for him with “Somewhere on a Beach” but sadly after listening to this album, I really think that this is Dierks reaching for that Country Music A lister status that his buddies Luke and Aldean seem to have acquired putting out the same kind of generic mainstream bland popish songs.
As for “Somewhere on a Beach”, it raced up the charts and radio (who absolutely love Dierks….which I used to be okay with) have over played that song to the point that it may drive me to insanity if I hear it again. Truly I was excited when it got to #1 because that meant that maybe a new single would come out and I’d never have to hear it again. Well that doesn’t seem to be the case so far. As for the new single, I was really hoping for “I’ll be the Moon”. It sounds closer to the Dierks I’ve listened to all of these years and it was a duet with someone at least classified as a country singer. The new single is questionable and is a duet with a pop singer who I can barely understand when listening to the song.
Love you Dierks, but can’t buy into this album. He is such a likeable guy in the industry, but I think that his career has become something that just isn’t about the music anymore, and once you hit that, not sure if it can change. So for now, “I’ll hold on” to my old Dierks albums and hope that in two years the music that I’ve loved from him the past 10 years will not be completely lost while he is trying to keep up with this new modern mainstream drive for success.
June 16, 2016 @ 7:59 am
I completely agree with this. I was still holding out hope and was SO disappointed. I still hope he will come around, and I don’t just mean make “not terrible” music. But I very strongly get the feeling that he is chasing popularity. He wants to be Luke Bryan, but to pass total garbage off as “substance.”
And whenever I hear that voice (I know some criticize but I really like his voice) singing such pandering meaningless tripe, I feel vaguely betrayed.
June 15, 2016 @ 12:05 pm
I have every one of his CDs, apart from this one, and I can confidently say that this is his worst.
June 15, 2016 @ 12:14 pm
There’s no question that “Different For Girls” plays into blatant gender conventions — the same ones acts like Elle King herself have been trying to dismiss — but its intentions are pure enough that I won’t call it “offensive” or anything like that.
I do, however, scoff at those who are selling it as some sort of “mature” or “much-needed” look at humanity. It’s not that at all.
June 15, 2016 @ 1:23 pm
Dierks Is a puzzle to me. I watch Country Family Reunion on a regular basis and they had a bluegrass special with Dierks on it. It also had Ricky Skaggs, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Dailey & Vincent, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Mac Wiseman, The Whites, Rhonda Vincent, and more, so he was a bit outclassed.
But to sit there for 4 or 5 hours listening to a bunch of old guys tell old stories and play old music indicated he really understood and cared about bluegrass. He sang his unremarkable song in an unremarkable fashion, but I give him credit for respecting this music and its champions.
However by then he had already put out a number of questionable songs and I can’t reconcile the range of goodness and badness/mediocrity in his music. Does he not know good songs, is he desperate for a number one, is he easily led. He seems like a humble and kind type of guy, so it’s more pity than anger for me towards him.
June 15, 2016 @ 1:55 pm
I agree with you……it makes me sad, because I know what he can do. I remember an interview that he did a couple of years ago when he talked about how his career sort of stalled after he put out the blue grass album. He watched his buddy Luke Bryan suddenly surpass him and rise to fame while he still continued at a slow pace. I guess I felt during that interview that he just wanted to keep up and that is what is he is doing now. I think that he wants to stay what he considers “relevant” but the dream that he is chasing may cost him some of his long time fans. I’m still holding on but it is frustrating and sad at the same time.
June 15, 2016 @ 5:09 pm
Yeah I believe I remember that interview. And that was even before the whole bro thing blew up, I’m pretty sure. It hit me we were never going to get another “Up on the Ridge”, but I wasn’t expecting things to get this bad. Well, not until “Drunk on a Plane” anyway.
June 15, 2016 @ 5:54 pm
Crazy that I didn’t care for Drunk on a Plane when it came out, but now I’d take that on the radio any day over Somewhere on a Beach. Last year, I went to see him in concert, which is only 10 minutes from my house and couldn’t wait. This year he is coming in a month and I’m probably not even going to buy tickets. What a difference a year makes:(
June 15, 2016 @ 2:17 pm
I lean towards the country-rock artists and I love me some Dierks. Have every single CD and have enjoyed him in concert. What I love about his music is that he could sing silly songs that I could dance to at our local country bar, but then the next song on the CD could hit me straight in the heart. He does both well. His albums to this point seemed to actually fit with his lifestyle…you can feel the general progression of paying his dues, being a single guy, and finally settling down and having children.
Where in the hell does all this immature relationship crap come from? It is forced – and I hate that. I like Sturgill singing about missing his son and wife when he is on the road or being in the Navy, or Eric Church singing about what he learned from his 3-year-old or going home to North Carolina. Hell, ‘Damn these Dreams’ is probably one of my favorite Dierks songs – it’s real and aching and it makes you feel something. ‘Somewhere on a Beach’ was plain disappointing and the rest of ‘Black’ is the same way. I can’t stand all the references to cell phones – why?!? The only song that even sounds like a “Dierks song” is ‘All the Way to Me.’ That and ‘Mardi Gras’ are the only songs that really even made an impression on me.
I have to believe Dierks knows this album is garbage, right?!
‘Gonna get there Someday’ stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. It still gets me to this day. What happened to the same artist that put out ‘Distant Shore’, ‘Breathe You In’, ‘Settle for a Slowdown’, “Bourbon in Kentucky’, ‘Draw me a Map’ etc. etc. Even mainstream ‘Tip it on Back’, ‘Home’, ‘I Hold On’, ‘Lot of Leaving..’ are better than anything on ‘Black’. Sad.
June 16, 2016 @ 8:06 am
The immaturity and shallowness is the most maddening part.
June 15, 2016 @ 2:46 pm
Why Dierks why? Such a talent, WASTED. Loved the early stuff and especially “Up on the Ridge” Take control of your career. F the label. Do your own thing. We’ll buy it, because it’s quality.
June 16, 2016 @ 8:09 am
I think he wants to sell out big stadiums. I saw him a couple summers ago with Luke Bryan. luke filled soldier field and Dierks seemed to genuinely be awestruck playing that show.
June 17, 2016 @ 3:26 pm
Is that the one where you said he started playing some older stuff and you overheard people asking “when’s he gonna play “Drunk On a Plane”?”
June 17, 2016 @ 5:22 pm
Lol no actually. The show he did with Luke Bryan was very very good. Drunk on a Plane was just coming out then if I remember right. Then by the next summer, last year, he seemed to be chasing the bro fame and the show kind of sucked. In fact I enjoyed the opening acts more. The Cadillac three and Maddie and tae.
I know I’m a broke record, lol.
June 15, 2016 @ 2:48 pm
A few years ago you made the case that Dierks Bently and Jason isbell were really not that different from each other as artists. Man how things have changed.
June 15, 2016 @ 3:33 pm
At first listen I did not like it. But it has grown on me. I get what he is trying to do even though I do think it has little to do with country. Once I got over the notion that it wasn’t country I just sat back and tried to enjoy it. And I do. It’s been in my car since I got it about 2 weeks ago.
I’m no critic but I know what I like. For me the only album of his I don’t like in its entirety is Home. No way is Beach worse that 5-1-5-0. I hate that song!
So though I may be disappointed that it’s not country I will still be listening. He still gets a pass from me because I just like the guy. I look at Ridge as a sort of vanity project (a perfect one), so I guess I will classify Black as one as well. Great? No, but I like it. I do understand why so many dislike it.
For what it’s worth…..
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dierks-bentley-on-new-album-black-ive-claimed-the-right-to-be-me-20160527
June 15, 2016 @ 4:16 pm
I had the misfortune of also thinking Dierks’ first singles weren’t indicative of his albums. I liked Riser, Ridge, etc overall. So I bought 2 tix to go see him.
Then I heard the album (streaming). Then I found out Houser is direct support. Then Dierks gave his Drumpf comment. And finally, to add insult to injury, his team & Ticketmaster FORCED u to buy his album in your ticket price!
Man, thank God Whitey & Jinks just announced a show here…
Anybody want to tickets in exchange for some Taco Bell???
June 16, 2016 @ 4:37 am
Forced you to buy the album in the ticket price? I’ve seen where buying the album gets you early access to tickets but never that you had to buy the album. Is this a new thing?
June 15, 2016 @ 5:04 pm
Really too bad. His case of selling out bothers me far more than it has with anyone else. Especially because I could feel it coming. I used to be a big fan and always recommended his music to people trying to get into country. I always thought it served as a good entry point, particularly for northerners not yet used to the sound. He’s had some great deep cuts that really had an affect on me in my teen years. I’ll listen to them from time to time, but count me out from paying attention to much in the world of Dierks for a while.
June 16, 2016 @ 9:07 am
“Northerners” know about country music just as much as anyone else in America, Al. They hear the exact same songs on the radio. Dierks hasn’t done a thing for me since 2009 (aside from ‘Up on the Ridge’). Looks like he’ll keep on that path.
June 15, 2016 @ 6:39 pm
I’m a pretty big Dierks Bentley fan, but this album is such a disappointment. This is by far his worst! He usually has 3 or 4 pretty terrible songs on each album and the rest are great. The only song I really like on Black is Can’t Be Replaced. That song is classic Dierks. I’ll Be the Moon is pretty good also. All the Way To Me, Roses and a Time Machine, and Mardi Gras are not terrible, but I can’t see myself ever really wanting to listen to them again. I hope Dierks will make good music again someday, but I have a feeling it might be a few albums away based on this album and things he’s been saying lately.
June 15, 2016 @ 8:48 pm
This is one album I don’t need to hear to imagine how bad it is . I used to think Dierk’s recorded some of the better mainstream songs going back 10 years or so . Lately his albums have been getting progressively less focused and for a guy who ( in my opinion ) is far from God’s gift to vocal performance , he’d better have GREAT material and some great productions and picking . His records of late have had none of the above and , in fact , sound like they were made up on the spot in a jammy kinda way with not a lot of emphasis on songs or production . I’ve become so not interested in DB that I can’t even muster up the time to care about much less listen to where he’s gone to now . Thanks for the heads -up Trigger .
June 15, 2016 @ 10:05 pm
This record is da shiz. Shame on you Trigger for being such a dumb pussy.
June 15, 2016 @ 11:12 pm
i like different for girls but when you cut a song about a break up from the female perspective you know it’s sad when lady antebellum did it better (no not need you now) there’s a song on their golden album called it ain’t pretty that’s written better and is more emotional and real
i believe martina mcbride cut it for her most recent album also
June 16, 2016 @ 4:49 am
His first couple albums were awesome. I love “Domestic, Light, And Cold”.
June 16, 2016 @ 6:42 am
Life long Dierks fan, seen him live a bunch of times including 2 summers ago when he was in the opening slot for Luke Bryan – I don’t doubt Luke (and others) rise to fame got Dierks thinking and frustrated. He’s made so much heartfelt, good music only to see marketing creations like Luke and Aldean pass him by. Sigh.
He has a long list of excellent songs that never were singles or they didn’t blow away the charts. People have rehashed many here already – bourbon in kentucky, gonna get there someday (beautiful, haunting), most anything on Long Trip Alone, Better Believer, and on and on. Thoughtful, meaningful music.
And then…he hits it big with a fluky song Drunk on a Plane – a song not offensive on first pass as you listen to the album, but gets worse given its sucess (and now closing with it on tour?! yikes). This invariably led to chasing that trend with Somewhere on a Beach, a disaster thru and thru. Disaster Dierks. He’s worn some of those awful flatbill hats lately and poor Dierks just ain’t what he used to be. But hey, he’s selling lowest common denominator stuff so if thats what he wants and desires to chase then good for him as he loses the fans who appreciated his actual talent and ability.
June 16, 2016 @ 11:02 am
The flat bill hats, the tight jeans, the ripping his shirt off during a concert to show off his six pack…….it’s not just about the music anymore. Maybe that is the problem today……the younger generation are more fixated on image (hottest country artist of the year awards) biceps, tight jeans etc, and the music is secondary. I was at a concert recently where the main act was introducing the openers and actually introduced one of the openers as the “eye candy” for the show. Of course a few hundred women screamed at that moment, but I guess that is what is selling in today’s music world.
June 16, 2016 @ 8:32 am
Must be nice not to be responsible for your actions n blame it on the people lol http://theboot.com/blake-shelton-cowboy-hat-acts-bro-country/
June 16, 2016 @ 2:09 pm
Blake is a piece of shit. He’s the master at manipulating the masses and lying, twisting shit around. Where do I begin. He knows better, and he doesn’t care. He was never married to Miranda or Kaynette, actually. He’s always been married to money.
June 16, 2016 @ 11:44 am
So disappointed. Dierks was the one mainstream guy in the last 10 years that was not only worth listening to, but one I thought was a truly talented writer. I have seen him live several times over the years (not so much recently) and his show was always excellent. This almost makes me want to throw his early stuff away. I don’t think I have ever felt more betrayed by an artist. This can’t be the same guy who was on the High Times and Hangover’s Tour back in the day with Cross Canadian Ragweed. Dierks my friend, I can’t support a sellout. Thanks for turning me on to CCR though. Which in turn lead me to find other bands, and this website. I realized I didn’t need mainstream radio. If only you would do the same
June 16, 2016 @ 2:42 pm
Okay, no more ranting about Blake, country music’s Antichrist. (Scott Borchetta, eat your heart out). This is a blog about Dierks. I have not listened to the album yet but it’s amazing how I’m pretty much on almost the exact same page as everyone else. He has definitely been a favorite of mine in mainstream country. Riser was brilliant- I still can’t believe the song didn’t reach #1. It absolutely would have in the 90’s or even early 2000’s. But Kick the dust up does? H.o.l.y? Came here to forget? Wtf? I’m sorry Dierks that radio is controlled by dumbass corporations with brain-dead and soulless people because I loved Riser. Wtf. Dierks is a smart one and it looks like he has some choices to make. I prefer he not sell out but has been stated before, everyone else in country radio has. Whether it’s Carrie wearing a creepy demonic dress at the Cmts or Keith singing with pitbull or the barrage of dumb ass songs on the radio, it looks like almost everyone is selling out. Well Dierks, if you decide to leave your older fans are still here for you. But the money might not.
June 16, 2016 @ 2:55 pm
This album feels like a bad joke. You know the kind that just sort of hurts. I have been a fan since “Don’t leave me in Love.” This Album is very very very bad. This is Brad Paisley bad. This is Luke Bryan bad. Last night I saw an old Austin City Limits that had Brad Paisley and Dierks from 2008. I forgot that Brad Paisley actually had a few good songs then. Dierks was the first concert my wife (then girlfriend) went to. Well he opened for King George. Dierks has always been a subpar singer, but he made up with it by cutting good songs (Modern Day Drifter Album, Long Trip Alone, even Riser). I want my money back. Huge let down. Jon Pardi coming out tomorrow though.
June 16, 2016 @ 4:54 pm
Long time reader, first time poster.
But I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with a review more than this. Up on the Ridge was spectacular, and Riser was really good too for the most part. I was really disappointed in Black, with like you said, the last two songs being the best two on it.
June 16, 2016 @ 11:05 pm
People are greatly overreacting. The dude has been making music for 15 years now, he has enough leeway with me to do things like this every now and then. There is not a single artist in music history that has a perfect release record and hasn’t experimented every now and then. If his next album comes out, and it’s the same, then you have every right to complain. I’ll admit that I was disappointed in it, but when he’s shown that he’s capable of releasing albums like Riser and Up on the Ridge, the guy gets some slack from me. Then again, I’m just a fan of good music in general while half of the people on this site act like a song is automatically awful unless it sounds like Momma tried.
June 17, 2016 @ 8:53 am
I’ve been waiting for this review for a while. Mainly because I’m a huge Dierks fan. We have seen him play at least a dozen times. Met him a handful of time & hung out at the bar with him after the show. I was hoping that you would have something to say that would make me look at it a different way, but you think it’s a big of a steaming pile of crap as I do. It’s a shame, because the guy is a great songwriter.
June 17, 2016 @ 11:02 am
I’m never happy to be right when I’ve correctly predicted the worst case scenario (and thankfully, I’m also frequently wrong), but I assume you recall me telling you this on the Randy Houser review, and also even before Dierks officially announced this album. Metrobro or whatever you want to call it is just too powerful; if bro-country was a demon and torturing everyone, metrobro is the Devil incarnate, whispering in the ears of both the sinners and the saints. What’s even sadder is that I got the impression that this song was named after Dierks’ wife, Cassidy Black, whom appears in many of the album’s photos. Apparently not, since it’s mostly just breakup or hookup songs.
As for Dierks’ other albums, he never really had a stinker until now:
Don’t Leave Me in Love (2001, independently released) – decent to good
Dierks Bentley (2003, “official” debut album) – good
Modern Day Drifter (2005) – good to great
Long Trip Alone (2006) – great, and my pick for his best
Feel That Fire (2009) – decent to bad, but with a few good moments
Up On the Ridge – great, only second to LTA if not even with it
Home (2012) – good
Country & Cold Cans (EP, 2012) – decent to bad, too short to redeem itself
Riser (2014) – good, if not all that country
Black (2016) – bad, not many redeeming moments (if any)
Here’s a brief and goofy analogy that’s related to my avatar: in Jurassic Park, mathematician and Chaos Theory proponent Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is sitting in one of the green land cruisers with Alan Grant (Sam Neill) when the power is shut off and the T. Rex breaks out (an iconic scene that most are probably familiar with). Malcolm, having pointed out all of the park’s issues and artificial systems of control, says “Boy, I hate being right all the time.” The park is country music, we’re the scientists and the Tyrannosaurus is pop country. If you want to take it one more step into meta territory, pop country fans are the ones watching the actual movie and enjoying the violence perpetrated against the people in the movie (the bastards) 😉
June 19, 2016 @ 8:09 am
It is sad, of course. But at this stage of the game, is it really surprising? They all sell out at some point or another these days.
December 13, 2016 @ 12:39 am
Mark Chesnutt . Best REAL country album by anyone in years .Called “Tradition Lives”. No sellout here .