Album Review – Great Peacock’s “Forever Worse Better”
It’s too infrequent these days in the Americana world that a record just allows you to lose yourself in it. Too many are out there trying to pen the next version of Jason Isbell’s “Elephant,” or so roiling us up with vitriolic angst for the state of the world, you end up more agitated than sated after listening. Nothing wrong with that material at all. There’s a time and place for everything. But that enterprise too often saps the joy out of the musical experience as melody and bottom line appeal get suppressed for overwrought artistic expressions.
Sometimes you just want to listen to something to help pass the time on a long drive, or to chill out to, but something that is still smartly composed. That’s what you get from Great Peacock’s latest album Forever Worse Better. Reminding you of all your old favorite alt-country records from folks like the Drive-By Truckers, Old 97’s, and Reckless Kelley where the songs just work, this album takes well-written lyrics and pairs them with sensible affects from across the country and rock realm to make an enjoyable and widely-appealing experience.
One of those bands that maybe you’ve heard of or maybe you haven’t, the Nashville-based Great Peacock has been logging some 100 shows a year, performing what you could characterize as Southern rock, Americana, or alt-country, not because its rendered indefinable, but because it will find appeal across all of these genre lines. Great Peacock likes to say that it’s a Southern approach to heartland rock, which may not be a bad definition. With such quality melodies and song ideas, call it what you want. It’s just good.
Consisting of frontman and guitarist Andrew Nelson, guitarist and harmony vocalist Blount Floyd, and bass player Frank Keith IV, the trio has been hacking away at it for over half a decade. Producing Forever Worse Better themselves, they laid down most of the basic tracks at the Sound Emporium in Nashville, but then ponied up for their own sound equipment to do overdubs and such at home, allowing them the patience and flexibility to get the right takes on the right songs without being rushed, which you can hear in the finished product.
Joining the trio was Sadler Vanden of Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit, helping to give the album that quintessential contemporary Americana flavor. They also brought in steel guitar Adam “Ditch” Kurtz, best known recently for working with American Aquarium, though Adam has played all over the place (and incidentally, has been releasing his own songs, and a fun steel guitar Randy Travis tribute called Storms of Steel). Some steel and fiddle on the album give Forever Worse Better just enough country flavor to keep it honest and grounded.
This is one of those records you cue up and don’t skip a track. Written by Andrew Nelson mostly while traveling on the road, many of the song have that in-transit feel to them, filled with the introspective thoughts that fill one’s head while on a long haul. Sure, there’s probably no equivalent to Isbell’s “Elephant” to be found here. But on the song “High Wind” when Nelson sings, “I ain’t afraid of dying. I want to ride that high wind. I’m afraid of barely being alive,” you feel that.
The final song “Learning To Say Goodbye” tricks you into believing it’s going to be a sedated, acoustic ender, but becomes arguably the most immersive track on an immersive record. Everything’s in the right place here, and even when they go out on a limb with a certain guitar tone or take that may not fit your ear, you’re more apt to forgive it than have it ruin the moment because everything is so well-blended, from how the lyrics match the music, to how the music strikes the intended mood.
Forever Worse Better doesn’t try to change music as we know it. And thank goodness for that. It’s just good American-based roots music that takes little effort to enjoy even though a lot of effort went into it, reminding you why you became a dedicated music fan in the first place.
8/10
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Purchase from Great Peacock
Purchase from Amazon
Nicolas De Vos
October 30, 2020 @ 8:14 am
I honestly think there should be a re-evaluation of the rating system. If this band came out with this album in 2005, and had 8/10 in SCM, I’d be scooping it up for sure. Now it seems like every week there’s 3 albums with a 7 – 8 rating (which I know is not true, but it feels that way).
I know the original rating system is important, and more good music means more good ratings. But for readers looking for the cream of the crop, this works negatively. I, for instance, don’t even take it seriously anymore because I cannot differentiate anymore between an end of the year winning album and another good album. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing.
But for the purposes of running a website that has been reviewing forever, it might be interesting to reassess your ratings. There’s more good stuff and the ratings should reflect that, in case you want people to keep reading the articles on separate reviews. If you keep this score, I think most people will just come back for the end of year albums.
Just my two cents.
PS – I’m sorry Great Peacock for doing it specifically on this review. But it’s been bugging me for a while now.
PSS – Go buy the album.
Trigger
October 30, 2020 @ 9:02 am
Hey Nicholas,
I appreciate the feedback.
There’s a lot to unpack here. First off, you’re presenting a problem here that has no solution, aside from not using ratings at all, or posting less reviews. I promise you, I thought about the amount of 8/10 reviews I have posted in a row lately before posting this review. But I’m not going to lie about my feelings about Great Peacock just to break a streak. This is what I feel the record should be rated. I’ve received feedback often about how most of my reviews fall between 7.5-8.5. The reason for this is because these are the albums worth reviewing. If you have an independent band with a record I would grade between 0-7, that just doesn’t add a lot of value to either the band, or the public. Usually when I do review records with lower ratings, they’re from the mainstream, because it’s not like my review is going to ruin their careers. I’ve also been doing less negative reviews this year, because there’s enough bullshit going down, I don’t want to add to negativity unless it’s truly necessary. It won’t always be this way. It’s a dedicated effort to read the room, and try to offer folks a break from the bullshit.
A rating is literally four characters. My reviews are always at least seven paragraphs. It’s the review that reflects the opinions held on the album. I hate having to post ratings. The ONLY reason I post them is because I receive more complaints if I don’t than if I do. But now I’m receiving more and more complaints about my ratings. So I’m screwed either way.
The biggest piece of feedback I receive about the site it that I need to post more reviews. The major criticism regularly brought against Saving Country Music is that I’ve sold out because I will post coverage for the mainstream when I should be featuring independent bands (as if I don’t do this enough). There is nothing that takes more time to compose than an album review, regardless of the length. So much time is spent listening, vetting submissions, researching, etc., and they’re the extremely difficult to write, because album reviews are inherently cliche. I know that to readers, it looks like I’m just posting 2-4 album reviews a week, and it’s just a portion of my coverage. From my side of the computer screen, it’s what I devote 90% of my time and energy towards. It’s also the least-trafficked content on the site, despite everyone saying they want more of them, and regularly complaining, “how can you say you’re saving country music when you didn’t review so and so’s record!” It’s a problem. There are many people who think SCM rarely or ever posts album reviews, unless it’s for mainstream acts. Because that’s the only time they ever see them in their social media feeds, because those are the only ones that garner reactions, because everybody ignores my independent album reviews, while professing to want more of them. It’s virtue signaling.
You have a solution, I’m all ears. But my plan is to just keep on featuring important artists and bands who deserve in-depth reviews and critical coverage, and hope enough people read them to keep the lights on.
JF
October 30, 2020 @ 10:38 am
I like your current approach and think most readers understand that you only post reviews of the good stuff. So naturally they are all 8-10. As you say, no reason to dog a band. Give the space to something you think is good. I hope you do not change this approach.
Trigger
October 30, 2020 @ 11:37 am
I do believe it is important to offer strong artistic criticism, even to independent artists. And every blue moon, I will offer a neutral or negative review, especially if I think an artist is being overhyped and an echo chamber is forming around them. But for the majority of this year I have tried to focus mostly on positive stuff, and that’s the reason it seems like everyone is getting the same basic score. I understand what Nicholas is getting at, and I’ve seen others share similar opinions. I just don’t know that there’s anything to do about it.
Scott S.
November 7, 2020 @ 6:49 am
Since reviews take a large amount of time, yet you want to let you followers know of new music coming out, have you considered maybe a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, mini review post where you showcase 3 or 4 new albums with a short summary for each album? Here’s what’s new this week you might be interested in.
That way you could fulfill some of the requests for a little attention to bands that people are always asking for in the comments, and leave more time for reviews of albums you deem essential to your viewers. Not trying to tell you how to run your site, just a suggestion to that might save you time.
Robert
October 30, 2020 @ 11:18 am
I love the reviews. That’s how I find a good chunk of the music I listen to. Thanks for your hard work.
Roger M
October 30, 2020 @ 6:40 pm
It’s hard work reading your reviews trigger, I can’t imagine how long it takes to write them! I like listening to the albums first then reading the review as they help you gain a deeper meaning from music and maybe think about it in a different way. They also often suggest reasons why I like that album which makes it easier to find other music that I like! They’re the best reviews around and I definitely prefer your quality over quantity approach. I mean who cares if you don’t review a particular artist I like? I learn loads about country music from the reviews you do do and don’t want you to reduce the quality of these just to fit everyone in.
Anyway, I ignore the ratings. I see why some people might want to just listen to the reviews with the highest ratings but then you’re going to miss stuff aren’t you because every album (bar a few mainstream) that trigger reviews are quality albums and then it all comes down to personal opinion. The essential albums list article for each year is the best resource – maybe trigger you could promote those articles a bit more – maybe you could put the links for every year’s article in the menu of the website (like an archive) so people can find them easily. Or maybe you could just encourage people to search for the essential album’s list for each year in the search bar.
People need to wait for the essential albums list if people want to know what you think the best albums each year are cause you can’t really make a judgement until the end of the year can you? Or people just need to at least give a listen to every album when you publish it and make their own opinions. Your way makes perfect sense to me – having a strict number scoring system is just confusing and then it becomes like a competition between albums. You should just enjoy each album you’re listening to and not discard albums just because it didn’t quite get the top rating. Having a strict number system would fuel this addiction some people have for ranking everything rather than just enjoying what they’re listening to at the moment.
Nicolas De Vos
October 31, 2020 @ 12:13 am
I’m happy that my post started this very meaningful conversation about the importance of reviews. And I’m thrilled that it didn’t bog down to negativity and name calling, which it could easily have done. I hope Trigger got some good feelings reading the positive comments as well. Your reviews matter, that much is certain now.
As promised, I was going to come back to this. I think a lot has been said already by other commenters here. I don’t want shorter reviews, more is fine though. I also don’t mind reading a negative one about a mainstream album either. Virus or not, there is a place to be honest (I wouldn’t use the word negative like you) as well. It also give the spectrum a bit more realism, not only 8+ albums.
I think my biggest concern, which I will repeat for clarity, is not the length of the reviews nor the amount of them (I’m not a big fan of bite size information, I like to delve in). It’s the change of the landscape in the last 10 something years. A point based system (I know you hate them, but they have their value!) only works if you take into account the whole set of values. In this case it’s well made country music. The bad mainstream ones can be an example of very low numbers, but let’s be honest the entire system is geared towards rating the good country albums. There are simply too many of them now, in comparison to 10 years ago for the same number based system that you used to have. I think giving an album a 6 or 7, would now be a good album. Going towards 8 are already cream of the crop albums. Anything above that would be end of year albums. I think if you look at all your reviews over the last year, a lot of them fall into the 8 – 10 category. If this was 2005, all of them would be considered end of year albums. If you would list all of them now, I think the list would be too big to make any sense for readers. And yes, you can filter them out in the end according to your taste, but that defeats the purpose of the original number system. That would be my four cents on that matter.
As for the traffic question, that’s not really my cup of tea but I can give it a go. I think you already do pretty well. I don’t see a website mentioned this often by other good country outlets, even artists use this as a standard. You do mainstream articles rarely, so I don’t see why people comment on that. I’m sure that brings in the clicks though, so that’s definitely okay by me. You can always chose NOT to read an article. If people don’t get that, they’re idiots and should not be taken into account. So keep doing them. But the truth is, your die hard fans come here to discover new good music. And they have been doing that for a damn long time. A lot of us are indebted to you for discovering these good artists and bands. And a lot of artists and bands became well known because of you. You might even say you did save country to a certain degree. And that happened BECAUSE OF THE REVIEWS. So yeah, they are important. Essential even. They might not get as much clicks because of the amount of idiots nowadays who just want to fight on the internet, but the reviews are your lifeline, your raison d’être. So I’m happy you spend 90% of your screen time on them. And thank you for that. Change the number system though. 😉
Complaining about not reviewing a record is a personal problem, and you should not be concerned with that.
Blockman
October 31, 2020 @ 1:30 am
My only suggestion is doing ‘feature’ or ‘spotlight’ reviews which would be the same as your current reviews and then maybe a bi-weekly or monthly ’round-up’ where you have smaller bite sized reviews of albums that have been on your radar but don’t have the time or words to dedicate a full length review on.
Big Cat
November 1, 2020 @ 5:46 am
You do an incredible job in your reviews. I look, and read, around the web a lot for new music. This is honestly the best site I have found for such.
The content of your reviews, your understanding of music and production are all top notch.
As far as ratings, I do sympathize with the critique to some degree but find your explanation understandable. I’ve learned when you review an album and it’s a 8/10 I’m downloading it.
My only feedback would be don’t afraid to rate something higher at risk of people jumping down your throat. Ex: No one is stuck up Sturgill’s ass but Cuttin’ is better than all the 8’s you give.
But who cares about ratings you do an incredible job and I appreciate all the hard work you put into it. There are tons of fans of yours that use this site and never post.
TaterBoy
November 1, 2020 @ 8:19 pm
Rising above the cliches is why I read every review. Love the backstory in the reviews. And this site has been really valuable to me in terms of finding good music.
ddymac
October 30, 2020 @ 11:11 am
Trigger includes songs with the review, listen for 15 seconds and you can decide if you like it and want to listen to the rest of the album or not. I love trigger but he doesn’t decide what I like or don’t like. He just helps introduce me to artist and albums, and wait for it…..”his opinion”. Less than 1 minute of listen time can confirm if you agree or not. No one will ever 100% agree with his opinion and I doubt very much that is his goal.
Travis
October 30, 2020 @ 2:22 pm
Haha, I thought the same thing when I saw the score, but it took all of a few extra seconds to think why that’s happening, and since Trig already posted a detailed response, I certainly don’t need to add anything. This site isn’t like others where there are multiple reviewers and they can review the bulk of the promo that is sent. It makes sense that Trig wants to highlight the albums he thinks should be shared.
Allison
October 30, 2020 @ 3:02 pm
I agree with your comments on the lyrics being “well-blended” and “how the music strikes the intended mood.” I often listen to “Heavy Load” on the way home from work and find myself crying. During “High Wind” I begin to smile, roll down my windows and believe I have the power to accomplish anything. And when I hear “Learning to Say Goodbye” at the end of the album, I’m struck by how they have managed to hit me in the chest again with such a powerful ballad. It encompasses all the emotions I have felt during this unbelievably insane year.
Well done Great Peacock.
Nicolas De Vos
October 30, 2020 @ 9:29 am
I’ll come back to you, I’m on the other end of the pond and it’s Friday night here. So even with a COVID lockdown coming, we still try to reserve this night for positive things.
Quick answer: you made yourself known outside of the bubble of “posts”, and maybe you should go back to that. So the ratings don’t get as many hits, who cares? It seems like your last paragraph is a defence according to trafficked-content and comments by social media sites. Those are usually toxic, and a detriment to a website. Your regulars make your website, not the one clickbait people. I know there probably a monetary aspect to this as well, but I’m not privy to that. I joined this community because of the lack of good country music, and the honest reviews that led to new discoveries. That is no longer the reality. The reality is that we now have much more good music to choose from. I think your reviews (please more, and don’t stop doing them) should reflect the new landscape.
As for the solution to the other problems. I’m not a professional website blogger, so I can’t be aware of all the problems you’re facing. But I’ll try to make an effort in answering your other questions tomorrow. If that’s alright with you.
Tom Smith
October 30, 2020 @ 9:36 am
Enjoyed these two songs — going to check out the album. Seems like it would pair well with Hill Country.
albert
October 30, 2020 @ 9:42 am
I’m totally on board with a band / artist who records songs that give a lyric room to breathe . these tracks , at least , do just that . it tells me that the band really has something to say and want you to hear it . they aren’t using lyrics as simply grunts to keep time in an overly and unnecessarily syncopated arrangement to please this week’s conditioned mainstream listeners. these music tracks are supportive of the lyric-writing and melody by STAYING OUT OF THE WAY and allowing the song to get through ….not the trend . really liked the posts above …very refreshing in the ways i’ve mentioned and highly listenable because of it . solid review again , trigger . although i hear and respect the opinion of the previous poster i for one am just fine with the high ratings coming from you as I think you’ve proven yourself as a credible ‘ filter’ time and time again . loving this band and its approach .
Brent Johnson
October 30, 2020 @ 10:07 am
I enjoyed those songs but imo, Turnpike Troubs and Reckless Kelley are the best at this so I doubt this would get many listens. Maybe with more listens it would grow on me, I’ll give it a chance.
Jasper
October 30, 2020 @ 11:12 am
Great stuff. I agree it is evocative of the old Alt-Country stuff. However, I’m getting more of a Ryan Adams sonic vibe than anything else.
Clifton Worley
October 30, 2020 @ 12:18 pm
I agree the sequencing on this album is pretty good. It’s almost like the album starts out in a place of uncertainty and inner despair and ends on an uplifting note. I’ve been following GP since their beginning and this is their best work to date, sonically and content wise. Hope to see more from them in the future.
Paddy
October 30, 2020 @ 12:26 pm
Sadler VADEN also has an album out at the moment. Deserves an 8 at least.
Rachel
October 30, 2020 @ 12:28 pm
Such a great album by a killer band
Blackh4t
October 30, 2020 @ 12:38 pm
Liking the sound, as someone earlier pointed out, pairs with Hill Country (or whatever they call themselves). I bought it.
As for reviews and ratings. I get where you’re coming from about spreading good vibes, BUT its actually easier to bond over ridiculing an album that no one likes, than to try to work out why I can’t stand an album that you gave 9/10. Like that goddam terrible Steak Night album.
And yes, i get the problem that its too easy to get clichéd.
So, how about this: short reviews unless they have a really interesting story to go with it.
Reviews have become somewhat superfluous in an era where we can listen to the songs instantly for free, so unless there is a reason, 2 paragraphs is fine.
And, as counterintuitive as it seems, reviewing a few more 2.5 albums would make everyone a bit happier knowing that its not just their life that sucks.
Trigger
October 30, 2020 @ 1:01 pm
I don’t write short reviews, and I would rather write no reviews than short reviews. I don’t think reviews have become superfluous. I think they’re more important than ever, especially in a news byte world where major events are given 30 seconds in the news. I want people to slow down. I’m looking for people who like to read about music, and think about it and discuss it. Since I don’t do interviews, my reviews are my features on artists speaking more deeply about their careers and their place and impact in music. Whether people want to read them or not is kind of unimportant to me. The only reason why I point out so few people read them is the emphasize the hypocrisy by people complaining I don’t do enough of them.
To the vast majority of people, Saving Country Music is the place than rants about Florida Georgia Line. That’s all I ever do, and all I have ever done. They have no idea that I post reviews, because they never see them.
Again, there has been a concerted effort over this year to post less negative reviews. And frankly, there’s been less stuff to write negative reviews for. I just don’t see how slagging some mainstream album in some way will add value to my Great Peacock review, or the rating of it. The Great Peacock review is the Great Peacock review. I believe it deserves an 8/10. But more importantly, I spent hours listening and reflecting on this work, and painstakingly putting my thoughts in written form. If people don’t want to read it, no worries.
Mike W.
October 31, 2020 @ 7:55 pm
I completely get the urge some people have at savaging a FGL (or insert 5:00 shadow/ball cap Country singer), but reviews like this are why I come to this website. I had never heard of this band before your review and have been peeling through their album all-day since I read your review.
There are sadly very few websites doing the kind of coverage of independent Americana/Country bands & artists. Let Wheeler Walker Jr. savage FGL on his YouTube channel or one of the thousands of people who try and trigger their moronic fanbase on Twitter. Just my $0.02.
JB-Chicago
October 30, 2020 @ 2:04 pm
I know you didn’t just say “Like that goddam terrible Steak Night album”? Even if you don’t like it like many/most of us do, it certainly doesn’t deserve to be thrown in this argument. Mike and The Moonpies are literally in a class of their own and prove it time and time again working harder or as hard than any band out there for very little. Equal to Whitey & the 78’s in work ethic. Show a little respect. That is all……… carry on.
Blackh4t
October 30, 2020 @ 4:13 pm
I bought that album because everyone was raving about it. It cost me money. And i can’t stand it, i think i once managed to listen to it.
They are not in a class of their own, and i don’t care how hard they work. I work hard all day as well and I don’t make you waste money on my terrible music. And yes, I do make terrible music.
Sorry, every time I hear that album being praised it makes me think the world is in opposite day.
P.s. if any of the band is reading this, respect you all as musicians, keep up the good work, this is just my opinion.
mouths of babes
October 30, 2020 @ 7:22 pm
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I’d like to point out that, in this case, your opinion is wrong. Steak Night is perfection that won’t be topped. Even the band realized that and took a different direction.
Jason Smith
October 30, 2020 @ 12:47 pm
This is great. Thanks for taking the time to review folks that don’t always equal clicks – really love hearing about new bands on this site.
Bryan Ringham
October 30, 2020 @ 1:00 pm
Nice review. Agree, you can listen to every song and equally enjoy. No songs sound the same. You can hear the influences, but they still have their own sound. Very nice to hear something in the Americana genre that isn’t more of the same boring folk music.
Colonel Dewhickey
October 30, 2020 @ 1:30 pm
Great band! Thanks for recording me this album!
Jeff Zimmer
October 30, 2020 @ 1:31 pm
This is Great Peacock’s best record to date! Last track Learning To Say Goodbye is killer followed closely by Old Man.
Tim Worley
October 30, 2020 @ 1:51 pm
This is probably the best album I’ve heard this year so far, and the best Great Peacock has put out to date. There’s a maturity to the songwriting, musicianship, and arrangement that really sticks with you. It’s also an album that manages to feel simultaneously weighty and joyful. The weighty songs never despair, and the joyful songs evidence a hard-won joy on the other side of pain.
Travis
October 30, 2020 @ 2:28 pm
Sorry to go off topic, but I feel like complaining about Trig’s website like other people (sarcasm). Another Halloween coming and going without a Halloween playlist from Trig :(. I always loved those, and even if it only resulted in one or two bands that I hadn’t heard, there was always something I liked! I guess I’ll just give Rachel Brooke’s new album a listen-through, although I understand from that review it’s more on the traditional side and less gothic Americana like some of the other stuff she’s done.
No need for Trig to respond. I mentioned this last year and he noted why he didn’t do it; although he said he may put one together again in the future.
Trigger
October 30, 2020 @ 2:36 pm
I was really wanting to get a Halloween Playlist up this year, but with Jerry Jeff, and then Billy Joe dying, it threw all my plans this week for a loop.
If anyone wants to check out my previous Halloween playlists, they’re still up on Spotify. Here’s a link to the latest:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37BC987rwV0LsWNpUWtrhs?si=LehsT-7fR0S48dINL6mX1g
albert
October 30, 2020 @ 4:11 pm
”I think they’re more important than ever, especially in a news byte world where major events are given 30 seconds in the news. I want people to slow down. I’m looking for people who like to read about music, and think about it and discuss it.”
this ….100% this quote above from trigger .
” I know what I like ” is fine as a music review from a casual listener .
but what about ” I know WHY I like something…..? “..or WHY YOU should like something .
for many years now I’ve tried to be an advocate of quality music / songwriting / productions /TALENT etc., (granted, as MY experience has informed me ). my opinions or trigger’s or anyone’s don’t have to matter to anyone . BUT if someone takes the time to listen and appreciate something and learn to appreciate WHY it’s considered quality they not only open themselves to some unique musical experiences but will hopefully keep the inspiration found in quality stuff alive and thriving for the next guy …the next generation …the next artist .
I think that it has never been more important to music and the gifted artists to do our parts in making sure they are heard above the din and appreciated . the commercial end of the business works the opposite side of the street . quality is nowhere near as important as $$$$ . they do a great job of selling an inferior product …..so do the fast food chains. but ”healthy ”, ”quality ”, ”inspiration ”and ”talent” are a harder sell to the masses . that’s where the caring , educated open-minded music lover comes in . if we’re in that camp I believe its incumbent upon us to spread the word and save not just COUNTRY music but the good stuff overlooked in all genres.
its tough enough to make a go of it in the music biz these days . the ‘ product ‘ has been devalued , dumbed -down and given away for a pittance . add covid and its nearly impossible to make a living . and to stay true to your muse and your vision and your unique gifts . music needs the help of folks who CARE more than ever . there is more GREAT stuff around than , perhaps , ever…and yet too much of it flies under the radar . I don’t wanna see another generation growing up believing that Taylor Swift or Luke Bryan are the best their respective genres have to offer just because it makes money .
Roger M
October 30, 2020 @ 7:03 pm
Very interesting thoughts Albert I was thinking along the same lines but hadn’t quite thought of it like that. Short reviews would ruin this website for sure eventhose more people would read them. Yes it can take a good 10 mins to read a review from trigger and think about it but then you get much more out of it than just ‘I like this music and so does this guy so it must be good!’
DJ
October 30, 2020 @ 4:24 pm
I can’t imagine spending the amount of time Trigger (or anyone else for that matter) takes to listen to a whole album, repetitively, AND then spend the amount of time it takes to write a review for the whole project- and I like good music- I’d not buy anything based on anyones opinion but my own and if that means I like only one song, so be it.
Keep doing what you do Trigger. The world needs your intellectual honesty.
Colleen Orender
October 31, 2020 @ 7:16 am
I LOVE this record! I became an instant fan 🙂 Hope to see them live soon!
Judy Blank
November 2, 2020 @ 9:36 am
I love, love, LOVE this album so much. Had straight on goosebumps while listening to the last track for the first time: ”Learning to say goodbye”. Such incredible warmth and honesty in that vocal performance. Love how raw, yet fresh this album sounds. Well done, Great Peacock! 🙂
Shaun Sloan
November 2, 2020 @ 8:42 pm
Thank you Trigger for doing this review. Great Peacock has been making great music for years, but this album is on a whole new level. It’s easily the best album I’ve heard this year and probably better than anything I’ve heard in the last 5 years.
For the record, I’m totally fine with the current state of the scoring system and appreciate all of the work that goes into your reviews. Regardless of the score an album receives, if Trigger reviews it… I’m gonna check it out regardless. Of course, I should expect a high number of positive reviews, Trigger has great taste in music!
Let me close with this… This album by Great Peacock is a solid 8 or 9 (a perfect 10 for me). Trigger’s review captured the feel of this album perfectly. I’d love to see more reviews of Independent Artists. I appreciate that Trigger has made a concerted effort to be less negative on his blog. Well done!
HankThrilliams
November 6, 2020 @ 6:30 am
They sound a bit like Half Ketchum & The Heartbreakers, so that’s a pre order for me
Carter Wilson
November 6, 2020 @ 9:23 am
Listening to it, if you had told me this was a new Ryan Adams or Whiskeytown album I would 100% believe you.