Album Review – Post Malone’s “F-1 Trillion” (with Song Reviews)
Post Malone’s foray into country couldn’t have started off more promising. He first signaled his interest in the genre by wearing Colter Wall and Tyler Childers T-shirts, hyping up Billy Strings, and covering Sturgill Simpson during the pandemic while collaborating with Dwight Yoakam’s backing band.
Post Malone seemed to have formed strong friendships with Dwight Yoakam, Sturgill Simpson, and others, and was caught covering classic old country songs countless times. Leading up to the release of his country album F-1 Trillion, the set lists from Posty’s festivals appearances were mostly stuff like Tyler Childers, or songs from the ’80s and ’90s from George Strait, Hank Williams Jr., and Alan Jackson.
But these influences seem to have been mostly left on the sidelines in the writing, recording, and production of his country album F-1 Trillion. Is there steel guitar and fiddle in many of these songs? Yes there is, though this isn’t the marvel it was just a few years ago from mainstream releases. Is some of the writing of the album indicative of classic country? Yes, some of it. Can you select certain songs out and hold them up as indicators of real country music? Absolutely.
But taken as a whole, F-1 Trillion is much more of a contemporary version of pop country than it is anything else, with committee-written songs, little heart, substance, or soul, and it misses the mark when it comes to really espousing the virtues of country music to a wider population, or even representing Post Malone’s influences from the country genre like it could have. It just feels like the process got in the way, and it misses the mark for what it could have been.
All that said, what you can’t overlook here is that Post Malone is not looking to make the classic country album that purists may want him to, or that would allow him to circumvent “gatekeepers” to widespread critical acclaim across the country genre. He’s a fun-loving, easy-going guy who ultimately was just looking to enjoy himself and collaborate with some folks that he finds cool in country. This is supposed to be a “fun” album, and from that perspective, Post Malone succeeds.
Ahead of the release, songwriter and performer HARDY praised Post Malone’s writing process for the album by saying, “He immersed himself into the songwriting culture of the town, and I respect that a lot. He didn’t care about who anybody was, he just wanted to get the best song, and so he pulled in the best people for that job and made a great record because of it.“
This was Post Malone’s first mistake. As opposed to this album forwarding Post’s own original expressions or feelings in song, he became immersed in the Music Row sausage making process that massages sometimes decent songs into mass produced product, and you hear this in the results. There isn’t a song on this album without four songwriters. The average song on this album has seven songwriters. So much of the soul of each creative expression gets squeezed out through this process. Nothing feels personal, vulnerable, or intimate.
At the same time, HARDY’s brag that Post Malone came to Nashville, immersed himself in the culture, and F-1 Trillion is the result is patently misleading, primarily because the producers for the album were exclusively pop, namely Louis Bell and Ryan Vojtesak (a.k.a. Charlie Handsome). As opposed to soliciting the services of Dave Cobb, or Sturgill Simpson who’d said previously he’d love to produce a Post Malone album, or even someone more customary like Buddy Cannon or Jay Joyce, Post went with two pop guys.
Beyond the songs themselves, beyond the studio performances that are all fine, and beyond the instrumentation that is generally solidly country, where F-1 Trillion fails too often is the heavy-handed, and sometimes outright catastrophic transmogrification of vocal signals that utterly undermines the listening experience. We’re not just talking about Auto-tune here. A toxicology report of the cocktail of enhancements that results in the outright evisceration of all human feeling in these vocal tracks would find such terminal levels of digitization and overworking, it’s criminal.
The whole point of collaborating with so many country stars is to hear the unique timbre of their voices brought to Post Malone’s songs in a collaborative effort. Sometimes it’s okay, like the Blake Shelton song “Pour Me a Drink.” On the tracks with Dolly Parton and Brad Paisley, the production absolutely destroys them, and in such an unnecessary, unforced error sort of way. Post Malone is not a bad singer, nor is Dolly Parton. But with producer’s ears so immersed in the heavily processed and digitized world of pop that attempts to get everything perfect, nobody threw up red flags during the rendering of these songs.
“But hey, what about the nine songs on the deluxe edition, F-1 Trillion: Long Bed? Aren’t they better?!?” Sure, generally speaking they are better. But relegating these songs as “also rans,” it’s like when mainstream country calls actual country “Americana.” There’s an othering aspect to adding these tracks to the deluxe set as opposed to the proper release, like they knew these songs wouldn’t resonate with the wide audience so they threw them in as an afterthought. And notice that arguably the two most country songs of the entire project were placed at #26 and #27 of the 27-track deluxe edition track list.
In the end, F1-Trillion feels like the same song rendered 20 different ways, and then six or seven actual country songs thrown in. Most everything is mid tempo. No song is over 3:42 long in the standard version. It all sounds the same thanks to the vocal treatments and the heavily processed production that also saddles the country instrumentation rendered in parts by top notch players including steel guitarist Paul Franklin, guitarist Brent Mason, and fiddle player Larry Franklin.
Though the intent may have been to make this album seamless, the approach gives F1-Trillion a soupy aspect to it where the songs just sort of fly by and blend together. There’s very little contrast or variety. There’s no acoustic ballad, no true blazing country shit kicker. Even most standard issue pop country albums these days touch on more moods in 12 to 14 tracks than F1-Trillion does in 18.
A strong case could be made that if Post Malone had simply focused on a dozen really good songs mostly from his own pen, he’d be better off. Instead, he did what many top performers in mainstream country do—take songs sitting on the shelves of professional songwriters, added enough words himself to earn a credit, and darted into the studio to cut it. Only three songs on the deluxe edition were written by Post Malone “solo,” though once again the two producers get writing credits on everything. These also happen to be three of the best, and three of the most country tracks on the entire album.
In the end though, none of this is likely to matter when it comes to commercial performance. F1-Trillion is the activation of the top resources from the pop world mixing with the top resources from the pop country world to render a product that will dominate both genres for the foreseeable future. It is a juggernaut, a behemoth, and from a commercial aspect, admittedly kind of genius.
But when considering it as a work of country music, it feels like a complete distraction at a time when country is finally on a big winning streak on its own. Now we’ve got to contend with pop superstars wanting to soak up some of the popularity built off the hard work of country artists. It’s no longer about country music needing Post Malone to hype it like when he was wearing Tyler Childers T-shirts, it’s about Post Malone needing country to hype him. And that’s what’s happening at the expense of all the great music coming out right now that is native to country as the media and public gravitate towards the shiniest object—or in this case, the one with the most face tattoos.
All around the United States and world, young boys and girls from all regions and of all ethnicities get inspired at a tender age to play country music, some as side players, some as solo artists, and some that just want to be songwriters. Then they set out towards that goal as their life’s purpose, never taking their eye off that mark, or waffling from that objective, often sacrificing, sometimes struggling in obscurity to make that dream happen. Some feel like they were born to do it.
These are the performers who should be country music’s center of attention. As great as it is to see so much attention being paid to country music these days, it’s important that attention goes to the right places. And as much as outside media loves to say that country music needs performers like Beyonce or Post Malone to be relevant in the modern entertainment landscape, country music should only focus on being country. Let the popularity come and go, and let the creatures of pop be the ones to obsess over world domination.
Post Malone’s F1-Trillion is country enough not to be offensive, and it appears he at least tried to do the right thing before getting sucked up in the Music Row machine. And as was said before, we can’t discount that F1-Trillion’s ultimately goal was to have fun while collaborating with folks from the country world, which it appears Post Malone accomplished.
But there’s so much better stuff out there right now in country music proper, including in the mainstream that doesn’t deserve to be shaded out by a project like F1-Trillion.
– – – – – – – –
F-1 Trillion Rating = 5/10
F-1 Trillion: Long Bed (Deluxe Edition) Rating = 8/10
Overall F-1 Trillion Rating with Long Bed Deluxe Edition = 6.1/10
(ratings based off of averages from the song reviews below)
Song Reviews:
1. Wrong Ones (w/ Tim McGraw) – 3/10
In many respects, this song is a microcosm of this whole album. The underlying premise and lyrical hook for the song are great—a guy who keeps looking for the right woman, but the wrong ones keep looking at him. But the verses are straight Bro-Country. Luke Combs is one of the biggest contributors on this album with five co-writes and two appearances. This feels like a Combs song that he decided not to cut, and for good reason. And even though there is banjo, steel guitar, and fiddle in this song, the signals are so muddy and blended, the whole thing just sounds like a bad cacophony at the end.
2. Finer Things (w/ Hank Williams Jr.) – 7/10
This song is pretty ridiculous, but it works. And if you’re going to do a super braggadocios song, who better to do it with than Hank Williams Jr., who does little else than braggadocios songs these days. Yes, a lot of empty calories in what is basically the title track of the album. But it’s country, and fun.
3. I Had Some Help (w/ Morgan Wallen) – 7/10
Though this is straight pop country, it’s perhaps one of the best songs on the album. The production is passable, if not good. It feels like it fits with Post Malone’s and Morgan Wallen’s vibe. It’s fun and catchy. Part of the problem with some of F1-Trillions songs is they’re pop songs trying to be country. “I Had Some Help” just tries to be itself and nothing more. That’s why it works, and is one of 2024’s legitimate “Songs of the Summer.”
4. Pour Me a Drink (w/ Blake Shelton) – 7/10
A fine song, though rather pedestrian modern pop country that doesn’t really contribute much. Unlike some of the later tracks, the vocals sound just fine, and the production works.
5. Have the Heart (w/ Dolly Parton) – 2/10
This really is the song from the album that is completely ruined by whatever is going on with the vocal tracks. It’s unlistenable to anyone with a refined ear, and inexcusably so. The premise of this song co-written by Lainey Wilson, Brad Paisley, and Ashley Gorely is good, and recorded by either Lainey or Brad, it could have worked well. Instead it sounds like a catastrophe. How did a track like this make it on the final album?
6. What Don’t Belong To Me – 2/10
This is not a country song whatsoever, and doesn’t even try to be except for maybe somewhat in the writing. It’s simply a Post Malone song, which is fine, and it’s a fine song. But it sticks out like a sore thumb on this project, and probably should have been left off the album. It will feed the constituency that will call Post Malone a carpetbagger.
7. Goes Without Saying (w/ Brad Paisley) – 2/10
Aside from the Dolly Parton song, this is the track on the album that is utterly destroyed by the vocal production in an inexcusable manner. You can tell that Ashley Gorley, Josh Thompson, Chase McGill, and Joe Reeves put a lot of effort into writing a clever song, but the production failed everyone involved. And why not have Brad Paisley sing the song he co-wrote (“Have the Heart”) as opposed to this one? It just underscores how these songs got passed around and scribbled on with so many cooks in the kitchen, nothing really sounds personal to anyone writing or singing them.
8. Guy For That (w/ Luke Combs) – 6/10
An inoffensive song, but completely forgettable with a lyrical hook that just doesn’t land. “Guy For That” features Luke Combs, and he’s also one of the songwriters. It feels like a song that was left on the cutting house floor from a Combs album for good reason that Malone picked up to fluff out the track list. The biggest question is why did this song make it onto the main track list while much better songs on the “deluxe edition” didn’t, just because Combs is on the track?
9. Nosedive (w/ Lainey Wilson) – 6/10
This is supposed to be one of the album’s slower and meaningful songs. The writing is fine (another Luke Combs co-write), the instrumentation sounds good from what you can make out, and Post Malone and Lainey Wilson do their best with it. But this is one of the songs on the album where the production, mixing, and mastering just really weigh down the listening experience to where it’s a song you don’t hate, but are unlikely to revisit.
10. Losers (w/ Jelly Roll) – 6/10
Like the Hank Williams Jr. collaboration, this song works well with Jelly Roll as the collaborator. It fits his style of song, though like most of the guest singers on the album, he didn’t write it, which means it really doesn’t come from a lived experience. Like a lot of Jelly Roll songs, if you don’t like Jelly Roll, you want to hate it, but he makes it hard to. If you are a Jelly Roll fan, this is exactly what you want from him. You can’t help but here the cadence of Jim Carrey’s “Ace Ventura” in the way “Losers” is annunciation in the song.
11. Devil I’ve Been (w/ Ernest) – 6/10
You were really hoping for more from the Ernest track from the album since he’s one who will write, sing, and record a traditional country song. Instead, this feels like one of the many pedestrian tracks on the album. Lots of heavy handed Auto-tune on the vocals of this track, and the opening sounds like a Styx song or something.
12. Never Love You Again (w/ Sierra Ferrell) – 8/10
One of the best songs on the album, one of the most country songs on the album, with one of the best collaborators on the album. The fact that everyone wants to work with reigning Saving Country Music Artist of the Year Sierra Ferrell is a good sign, from Zach Bryan, to now Post Malone. You appreciate the waltz beat, and this is one of the few understated and intimate moments of the entire album. But it’s also the only collaboration where the featured artist is basically buried and doesn’t take a verse. Unless you look at the track list/liner notes, you would never know Sierra is here, in part because once again the vocal tracks are so processed, it takes those signature inflections and imperfections out of the signal, which also works to take the emotion out of the performance.
13. Missin’ You Like This (w/ Luke Combs) – 6/10
This is the track when you realize that a lot of the filler on this album must come from the leftovers from Luke Combs. Combs is sort of the king of recording and releasing songs that are always okay, never great, but never offensive where they make you turn the dial. This album is filled with those, and this is the fifth co-written by Luke.
14. California Sober (w/ Chris Stapleton) – 7/10
Pretty fun song, even if the “California Sober” term feels like it’s run its course. There’s a great little acoustic guitar hook here and a cool bridge that allows this song to build and bring you in. Once again the production and mixing is less than ideal, and like so many songs on the album, the steel guitar is purposely muted, perhaps not to offend the song’s pop sensibilities.
15. Hide My Gun (w/ HARDY) – 1/10
This song is seriously messed up. When HARDY released “Wait in the Truck,” the revenge fantasy aspect of the song was obvious, but you had to tip your hat at him doing something edgy and thought-provoking in the mainstream. Now after numerous songs like this, it’s clear he’s got some weird hero/gun fetish leading to a fantasy to kill somebody. This song doesn’t comes across as “sweet.” It’s a total creep fest that leans into the premise way more than anyone should be morally comfortable with. This song should have never been recorded.
16. Right About You – 8/10
Great little song here, and we shouldn’t be surprised that some of the best songs on the album are ones Post Malone performs by himself, that he writes with Ernest, and that come near the end of the album. Great lyrical and instrumental melody. And though it may be a little too “inside baseball” with it’s writing, “Right About You” might be the best track on the standard album.
17. M-E-X-I-C-O (w/ Billy Strings) – 8/10
Another really solid track near the end of the album. Excellent instrumentation of course, but just like the rest of the record, the steel guitar break is ridiculously and obviously muted, obfuscating a great solo. So many of the tracks are held back from graduating from good to great by production decisions. The drums are too loud here, and we need more instrumental separation.
18. Yours – 3/10
This song feels like a swing and a miss. This “she’ll always be my little girl” is certainly a country music trope. But the way it’s rendered in this song seems excessively possessive. It’s supposed to be sweet, yet just like the HARDY murder song “Hide My Gun,” the lyrics are just way too heavy handed to feel sentimental. This is one of the songs Post Malone showcased before the album release, and says it’s about his daughter. But if I were his daughter, I would want pops to tone down the rhetoric.
Long Bed Deluxe Edition Tracks:
1. Fallin’ In Love – 7/10
Better song than many on the proper album that really shows off what Post Malone does best vocally. Good melody, good country instrumentation. Simple love song that works.
2. Dead at the Honky Tonk – 7/10
On F-1 Trillion, Luke Combs got five co-writes. On the deluxe edition, Ernest got five co-writes, including this one, and it shows in the quality of the tracks. It also helps that it’s only Post Malone’s voice to focus on, since mixing multiple voices was the biggest challenge on this album. Solid country song here, though nothing exceptional.
3. Killed a Man – 10/10
Astounding country song, but one with a signature touch from Post Malone. This is what we were all hoping for when Post announced that he would be recording a country music album. And unlike the rest of the album, the watery nature of the vocal signal works on the track as opposed to getting in the way. The co-writers are Geoff Warburton, Joe Fox, and Jimi Bell.
4. Ain’t How It Ends – 6/10
This is the weakest track on the deluxe edition, and it’s still better than many of the main album songs. The cliché lyrics try a little too hard to tie into an eternal country music theme of heartbreak, which reminds the listeners how little heartbreak happens on F-1 Trillion. But you give this one bonus points for trying something clever and different in the writing, even if it doesn’t land perfectly.
5. Hey Mercedes – 8/10
There’s quite a few folks out there saying that the deluxe edition tracks are the ones where you find the actual country music on this album, and the best songs overall. “Hey Mercedes” flies in the face of the first statement, but affirms the second. This is a country pop track despite the great steel guitar underpinning the melody. But it’s also just a great, catchy song. This is better than 90% of the songs on the album proper, and probably more radio friendly. So why is it down here?
6. Go To Hell – 8/10
The only true honky tonk song on the entire album, and it’s a good one. At this point it sounds like a broken record, but the steel guitar solo is so muted here, it’s outright insulting. Why even have a solo if you’re going to bury it in the mix? You appreciate the breakdown at the end, and on an album where no other song stretches over four minutes, this one adds some much needed instrumental breadth.
7. Two Hearts – 9/10
This is probably second best-written song on the album thanks to Dean Dillon and Jessie Jo Dillon making appearances in the credits, and the arrangement is perfect. Post Malone sounds so good without being loaded down with digitized enhancements. Why couldn’t F-1 Trillion have more songs like this? This is country music.
8. Who Needs You – 8/10
Great little Western swing-inspired track with Ernest as one of the co-writers. Excellent instrumentation and production. This is what this album could have sounded like with tasteful echo/reverb on the fiddle and steel guitar solo, though just like every steel guitar solo, it’s still curiously low in the mix.
9. Back To Texas – 8/10
It’s ironic that the very last song on this album is from a Texan lamenting how everything seems fake outside of Texas, and one of the biggest issues with this entire album is how fake everything was rendered because it was written and recorded in Nashville. Nonetheless, this is a cool little country song, and a solid way to end the album, or at least, the “deluxe edition.”
August 19, 2024 @ 9:13 am
A doom metal only buddy of mine asked me my opinion. He said “if he made a doom metal album, you would want to know my take”. I gave each song about 10 seconds and tapped out. Aside from all trigger had written there, I just can’t deal with someone in “country” that annunciates words like the kids do these days. I simply can’t get past it. I was hoping there would be some gems to get excited about, but I found none.
September 5, 2024 @ 3:23 pm
Sadly you are forgetting his die hard fans… I don’t care what he is singing, I’m listening! He said in his 20s he would do a country album before 30… he did it! Is it pure country, NO. It it fun, lighthearted and pretty damn good, YA! I wish HE had wrote more of the songs without all the music row mush, but at the end of the day, it’s Posty- so I’m listening!
August 19, 2024 @ 9:17 am
I honestly enjoyed this album more than I thought I would.
P.S., would love to see a review on Muscadine Bloodline’s new album. I’m loving it so far!
August 19, 2024 @ 9:23 am
It’s such a shame that Muscadine are going to get a million fewer listeners that this album will. It’s a superlative album, again.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:03 pm
It’s got some bangers!
August 19, 2024 @ 9:21 am
Well I gave it a chance. There are definitely some good songs but also a major issue that I couldn’t cope with. I don’t know if it’s his vocal limitations or something he thinks sounds good, but that wobbly thing he does with his voice on almost every track makes the whole thing unlistenable to me.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:40 pm
I think that wobble thing is auto tune. I agree that it’s annoying.
August 19, 2024 @ 5:49 pm
I’ve always been confused whether thats a choice he makes or if it’s auto tune
August 20, 2024 @ 1:44 am
It’s both. Digitally altered vocals have been cool in pop for years. Fans accept them, and their presence on a given song doesn’t mean the artist is incapable of carrying a tune. Country fans aren’t as tolerant.
August 20, 2024 @ 4:54 am
exactly, his singing voice is really weird! Why is he so famous around the world?
August 21, 2024 @ 5:32 am
He sounds like a sheep. And as pointed out in the review there’s very little range for such a long record. Nothing about the meh-ness of this project is surprising. He’s a popstar out of his mileau.
August 27, 2024 @ 12:50 pm
It’s just his vibrato, Josh Groban is a very popular and celebrated singer and his vibrato is the same way. Most singers have slower vibrato than Post and Groban, but it is natural to happen. It might sound weirder due to autotune but it’s definitely also just what some voices do.
August 19, 2024 @ 9:22 am
Superlative review, even if I disagree with the criticism of Hide My Gun.
Well spotted too that Nashville is hyping him, a sort of corporate capture that you reflect well in the poppy production of the album. Watch out for his Nissan Stadium show in the middle of October that might be his Opry debut.
Maybe he’s got an ‘Americana’ sequel ready to go for Thanksgiving. This won’t be the only 27 tracks(!) we’ll hear of Posty in country.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:49 am
For the record, Post Malone made his Opry debut last week.
August 20, 2024 @ 12:24 am
Rats, I didn’t check over that sentence. Might be ‘Opry debut redux’ is what I meant,
August 19, 2024 @ 9:29 am
Pure garbage, not a redeeming moment on this bud-light commercial in album form.
August 19, 2024 @ 9:52 am
My younger brother is a fan of Post Malone and sent me a link for the youtube video of M-E-X-I-C-O on Friday, which I really enjoyed. I guess listening to the song through laptop speakers, I didn’t hear the issues with the production. I’ll have to check it out on headphones. I haven’t heard anything else other than the I Had Some Help, which I’ve heard on the radio. Not the worst thing on the radio, but I wouldn’t go looking to listen to it. Seems like a big stretch to call that a 7/10 and the track w/ Billy an 8/10, but I guess when reviewing I Had Some Help as a pop country track and grading it as such, it makes sense.
August 19, 2024 @ 10:32 am
In the scope of the original release, the project was pretty underwhelming.
Was hoping we’d get more of the Long Bed tracks on the actual album. It just feels like such a cop out to add those tracks to a Deluxe album. Some of which are great. As Trig noted, “Killed a Man” is probably the best track on the whole album, and it gets shelved on the Deluxe edition so that he could get duets with Hardy and Brad Paisley in the original runtime?
There was just no reason to load this album up with features unless it truly was a pet project of Post’s that the Row realized was very lucrative, and that appears to have been the case.
It has to be said too, who TF listened to that Dolly song and greenlit it? I love Dolly. Everyone loves Dolly. But I have no idea how the reaction to that track is anything other than “Eww, dude.” The right time for her to have been the choice for that feature ended 20 years ago.
August 19, 2024 @ 10:44 am
It’s interesting to me how this album is for some people like the issues trigger has had with say little big town or maren morris. Basically there’s a discourse that rap music gave post Malone his career and built him a fanbase and profile. And once he had that he abandoned the genre to pursue his real passion of playing guitar based songs. Much like what trigger has said from the other perspective the argument is made rap needs to gatekeep out insincere performers and give its limited resources and attention to performers who actually love rap music and won’t do what post Malone has done.
August 19, 2024 @ 10:53 am
The album is….. ok. M-E-X-I-C-O is my favorite, but nothing really else got my attention. Back to Colter Wall for me.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:06 am
I liked it. I went in with low expectations and thought it was good for a pop country album with some songs that are solid, mainly the Sierra Ferrel and To Kill a Man. One thing I’ve seen is people convinced Dolly was using AI for her contribution which I dunno
August 19, 2024 @ 11:54 am
The simple fact is that a lot of these “collaborations” these days are done remotely. Few if anyone is getting in the studio together to make the collaboration organic. It’s studios sending audio files to each other. This often results in subpar performances. We all know Dolly Parton can sing. I doubt she sent her audio file over sounding like that, and the way the vocals on the entire project are so worked over, my guess is it’s on Post’s producers who really felt like they have to massage things until Dolly sounds like she’s singing through a Speak and Spell.
If something is going to turn out this bad, just shelve the recording. You had nin better ones in the deluxe edition.
August 20, 2024 @ 11:02 am
https://www.tiktok.com/@dollyparton/video/7403893131738893611?lang=en
August 20, 2024 @ 11:50 am
Well that shows them meeting. It looks like a live rehearsal space, or a photography studio. What would be more interesting to see is them both singing side by side with a piece of plexiglass between them.
Hey, maybe they did record it together. Either way, whatever the producers did to Dolly Parton’s sainted voice is criminal, and I can’t believe it made it onto a major release such as this.
August 20, 2024 @ 6:56 pm
It’s pretty shocking to think that he would be in the same space as Dolly and not sing with her.
August 20, 2024 @ 7:35 pm
Maybe they did sing together. I’m not in a position to say one way or the other. I can say with complete confidence that the track became an abomination at some point in the mixing and mastering process to the point that whoever was responsible for it probably should be fired.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:14 am
I was suprised that the album contains a few tunes I actually liked! Hey, three good songs is better than none!
August 19, 2024 @ 11:24 am
I love this album. It won’t be for everyone. I wanted a few things production wise, that just weren’t there. He seemed to have more respect for the Opry & country music/artists, than Bey & Ballerini. I am glad he had such a good experience in Nashville. I am also glad he had Paul Franklin playin’. And I honestly, love the song with Dolly.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:28 am
Your friends at Whiskey Riff posted an article about how Post Malone could be the bridge to bringing country music back to the Super Bowl Halftime Show. I’m convinced this is what will happen. Post Malone bringing several of the featured artists on stage for a medley of the songs.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:58 am
Have not read the article, but that is an interesting idea. Unfortunately though, since Jay Z’s company “Roc Nation” is the one that produces the halftime, if it’s going to be a superstar going country in 2024 to take the field during the Super Bowl, it very well might be Jay Z’s wife, whose album this week fell from #79 to #88 on the Billboard 200.
August 19, 2024 @ 1:38 pm
She already did the SB in 2013. She also crashed the Coldplay performance with Bruno Mars in 2016.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:33 am
I am not sure what is wrong with me, but I played and enjoyed this album. IDK how many listens it will get, but listened all the way through and enjoyed it.
I was looking for something else from it initially.
I guess it is what it is.
IDK some artist are just relatable no matter what they do..
I think that is Post.
Its a damn good Pop Country album. Although, I don’t really listen to PoP Country. So what the hell do I know.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:39 am
Honest and thorough review here. I’m not mad at Austin for loving and leaning country music. He didn’t start the pop country trend . However , his album continues to highlight the enormous rift between authentic country music and this new age what they try to call country. I believe it’s a simple fix Texas has a hold on the genre and if they passed legislation requiring songs to have acoustical instruments, otherwise they won’t be able to label themselves country. I know you can’t legislate problems away. But mainstream country is not apples to apples with actual authentic country played by real artisans that learn their craft, rose to the top of their field , and can play better than any 808 machine. It’s funny to see Garth Brooks getting mad about it though
Which brings up songwriting. Most of the hits that we know from Garth Brooks, we’re just rubber stamped with his name on it. It’s so easy to write a third verse when you already have the groove the key and the main hook.
I hope that Post Malone can find his way towards more authentic country. Brent Mason is a great step. He plays on my somgs ans just about every hit that we all know. Either way, the song in my opinion is the most important thing. You can’t polish a turd . A song , It’s like a baby. you have to give it nutrition and a foundation before you send it out into the world. Don’t let your Debut album be a premature crack baby.
August 23, 2024 @ 9:07 am
It’s a bit wild that a kid named Austin who grew up in TX went so aggressively Nashville with this album.
August 23, 2024 @ 9:08 am
…especially when you listen to the last song on the deluxe edition.
August 23, 2024 @ 9:19 am
I’d love to see Bruce get him on The Next Waltz!
August 19, 2024 @ 11:40 am
I’m wondering if the quote calling the Malone and Wallen song one of 2024’s legitimate “Songs of the Summer” is the moment this site jumped the shark.
August 19, 2024 @ 12:02 pm
Brother, that’s not a Saving Country Music allegation.
It’s just reality. Song has been a #1 hit single since it was released. It’s doing 90s Garth numbers on the charts.
https://www.billboard.com/charts/summer-songs/
August 19, 2024 @ 12:04 pm
Ha! Beat me to it Hank.
August 19, 2024 @ 12:12 pm
“It’s fun and catchy”. “That’s why it works”.
They’re your words, and words I suspect you’ll come to regret.
I genuinely can’t see how you’d crap on that Cole Swindell song and praise this. It may be the song of your summer but it sure ain’t mine!
Has the site been hacked again and this is all an elaborate prank?!
August 19, 2024 @ 1:09 pm
Hey Dennis,
I feel like you’re completely misreading the situation here. I gave the song a 7 out of 10 and said that as a pop country song, it’s not a bad one. This is far from a ringing endorsement.
I am not saying it SHOULD be the “Song of the Summer.” It is not my pick as the Song of the Summer. I’m simply saying that while trying to approach this album from a objective perspective, I see why people enjoy this song and why it’s resonating.
Sometimes a song is being enjoyed and resonating and I don’t see why and I think it’s objectively terrible like “Fancy Like” by Walker Hayes, for example. But this one, I see it as a mostly harmless pop song. If people enjoy it, so be it. There are bigger fish to fry.
August 19, 2024 @ 12:02 pm
I’m not really making some bold or autonomous proclamation here. Billboard has a chart that literally measures the “Song of the Summer,” and “I Had Some Help” has led it all 11 weeks in 2024 and is currently #1.
https://www.billboard.com/charts/summer-songs/
There are still a couple of weeks to go and Shaboozey could make a strong move at the end (“A Bar Song” has been #1 for a few weeks), but I’d say it’s almost a forgone conclusion “I Had Some Help” is the “Song of the Summer.”
August 20, 2024 @ 5:05 am
yeah, that song is so big that you can hear it on italian radio as well!
Can you imagine Morgan Wallen on Italian radio???
Finally i can complain that radio sucks like my american friends!!!
August 20, 2024 @ 10:18 am
It won’t allow me to reply to your comment this applies to so I’m having to reply to this one. Whether an album or a single, marks out of ten suggest something of comparable quality. That you have given I Had Some Help the same score as Zach Bryan’s untitled album is just something I’m afraid I can’t get my head around.
August 23, 2024 @ 9:13 am
Ratings are always against what a piece is trying to do.
Had Some Help is getting a 7/10 as a fun summer pop-country song, Zach’s Self-Titled is rated 7/10 as his attempt at Nebraska.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:44 pm
That song is catchy and it is catchy as a whole and not just the 30 seconds for a Tik Tok video. I recognize it’s appeal however I would not willingly play the song.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:45 am
This is about the score I thought you’d give the album and as someone who loves Post Malone, country music, and the album, I thought it was a fair review. Honestly thought there was more traditional country moments on the album than I thought there’d be based off the singles and perhaps that left me pleasantly surprised with the record.
And while I agree that the album is over-produced in spots, I honestly loved most of the songs. It’s fun, like you said, and catchy. It’ll be on repeat for me but definitely not country album of the year by any means. IMO, I think Posty didn’t feel quite ready to come in and make an album like Colter Wall, Childers, or Sturgill (even though I think he’s capable of it), and that’s why it had more of a country-pop vibe. That might be a bad take, but just a thought of mine. Overall, enjoyed the album and your review.
August 19, 2024 @ 11:49 am
“Killed A Man” is a good song, but I feel it’s wasted on Post. In the hands of an actual country singer, it could have been killer. But hey, good for the writers for landing a cut on this collection.
August 19, 2024 @ 12:14 pm
27 songs? Come on. How many classic albums have more than 12. Seven co-writing songwriters? Sounds like the whole concept is a cynical corporate exercise. I’ll stick to Zephania O’hara’s two brilliant records.
August 19, 2024 @ 12:16 pm
“Finer Things” is fun as heck.
The song knows it is ridiculous and owns it.
August 19, 2024 @ 12:45 pm
While I enjoyed the Sierra Ferrell & Billy Strings songs, I totally agree that this album is way over produced – when it didn’t need to be. The muted peddle steel is criminal! Mostly pop music masquerading a country once again.
August 19, 2024 @ 1:07 pm
I agree that Sierra seems buried, similarly to the way I felt with Zach Bryan’s “Holy Roller”. Not sure why she doesn’t get a more substantive feature like she gets on Hogslop String Band’s “Oldsmobile”.
August 19, 2024 @ 1:20 pm
this the guy that looks like he just got let out of a Mexican prison right? generic pop country from what I can tell. Another interloper with no real authenticity. I’m more annoyed by the artificial prompting by the media trying to normalize this weirdo than I am by any of his music. it’s mostly just boring and contrived.
August 19, 2024 @ 8:20 pm
Agree about the normalization of this guy being annoying…it’s kind of surreal that we’re just supposed to pretend not to notice. But I’d have to disagree about what’s worse…his voice is grating and unlistenable.
August 19, 2024 @ 1:36 pm
I have not listened to every track yet but Post has a waltz on this album (Never Love You Again)
As far as I am concerned the dude has a blank check to keep doing country.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:55 pm
I want to clarify that I am not a fan of Post Malone, and I do not find his homeless drug tweakin’ aesthetic charming or cute. (His face looks like the rim of my toilet hours before a dry spell is set to end on a cold Feburary night) I do however recognize that Post’s “take” on Country is closer to real country than what his contemporaries are doing.
When I say he has a blank check to keep doing country it’s because his output is better than his peers – somehow.
F-1 Trillion is a dumb album name. I don’t understand the point of the vocal warble. It’s a shame that sonically this is what the masses want. I think it’s just a side effect of the “dumbing down” of the culture. I saw a post online of the summer movies and I’m not kidding that everyone single one was either a remake or a superhero movie. If you are dumb enough to like superhero movies you probably think Post is great.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:03 pm
The best album released Friday was The Coastal Plain. Please review that.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:15 pm
Overall I found the album easy enough on the ears with only a few instant skips. I liked the “side 2” much better than the main album. I think the collaborations mostly went along with how you feel about the collaborator. I agree something was off with the production of the Dolly song that ruined it which was disappointing. Overall the whole project feels like a Nashville psyop to rope in new listeners and I think it will probably be successful. Maybe some of those folks will find themselves on a path to a real country album at some point. I don’t hate it but the best of country music is not coming out of Nashville these days.
August 20, 2024 @ 10:32 am
It was filtering Dolly through auto tune. She doesn’t need it and it is happening far too often now. Just record her voice as is. She’s older and we know it.
August 19, 2024 @ 2:25 pm
“…it’s clear he’s got some weird hero/gun fetish leading to a fantasy to kill somebody.”
Maybe Garth Brooks just hides and buries the bodies that Hardy kills…
August 19, 2024 @ 7:13 pm
These days I think Hardy is eating the bodies
August 21, 2024 @ 9:50 am
Trigger, could you give us a column or post explaining this comment? Not saying you’re wrong, but if it isn’t on the radio or I don’t stumble across it on YouTube it generally doesn’t exist for me so if HARDY has a ton of songs about gunning people down, I’ve missed it.
August 21, 2024 @ 10:08 am
“Wait in the Truck” with Lainey Wilson was a 3X Platinum, #1 song on radio that was nominated for numerous awards as well. So that’s a pretty glaring example. There was also another song whose name escapes me at the moment, it might have been with or performed by someone else where the protagonist is regretting that he did not kill some home intruder because he was not home. If someone remembers the name, please pipe up. There are other examples as well. I’m not sure HARDY’s murder fetish deserves a whole article, but I will consider it.
August 21, 2024 @ 10:37 am
If HARDY has a murder fetish, so did many country music stars, including Cash and Waylon. The murder ballad was commonplace.
August 21, 2024 @ 11:17 am
“Hide My Gun” is not a murder ballad. It’s just plain creepy. “Wait in the Truck” was, and I praised it initially.
August 21, 2024 @ 2:55 pm
Thanks! Wait in the Truck I knew about, but as they say it takes two points to make a line. Sounds like this is at least three songs at this point.
August 23, 2024 @ 11:01 am
Probably “Jesus loves you” with Cody Johnson
August 19, 2024 @ 3:33 pm
Well i took a listen. Thought i might like the one with hank but the production made it hard at first to know it was hank if i didnt already know. The one with wallen is ok, i dont love it but thats ok. In fact the only song on first side i liked is one you didnt, Yours. I loved it. The second side is def where its at though. While its all ok, 4 songs stood out to me. Killed a man, hey mercedes, who needs you, and Back to texas which may be my favorite. None of them are must listens but as a whole, it isnt a bad album. I probably wont listen to it again though i will listen to a few of the songs.
August 19, 2024 @ 3:41 pm
I just can’t bro. I really like Post but as a dude, not his music but every time I see him I like him more. He’s obviously talented. But this is just too polished and pop.
But that tune Go to Hell, they tear stuff up. That’s a good tune.
August 19, 2024 @ 4:37 pm
I appreciate the in depth review. Honestly, I thought this was a fun album, not perfect in any way, but much better than I thought it would be. This is not a serious album, but rather something that I would just put on and let play. Good vibes throughout.
Most of the songs are pretty good, although some are def not country (What Don’t Belong to Me is not country, but still good). The worst song on the whole album is with Dolly. Honestly, that was a complete disservice to her and was cringe AF. (“Want to hear something sexy?” No. Not at all.)
The thing that I liked the most is that it seemed like Post used the collabs to highlight the other artists and not to lift himself up.
All in all, a light hearted and fun pop country album.
August 19, 2024 @ 4:49 pm
I can’t get past feeling that the guy playing country singer dress up.
August 19, 2024 @ 5:20 pm
Shew, that’s an awful album. Do kids these days like when people sing like goats bleating? This was my first time listening to Post Malone and it’s nothing but vocal effects and endless autotune and again what’s up with the goat bleating vocal effect? It’s audibly disturbing. Hide My Gun was hard to listen too, I gonged it 45 seconds in. Hide this album is what people should be doing.
August 19, 2024 @ 5:46 pm
Was initially bummed that Dwight Yoakam didn’t have a feature on this album after being so involved with Post before and after this whole thing started, but I’m actually relieved now. I have no doubt it would have been one of the better songs on the album but at what cost? I can’t imagine ruining Dwight’s voice by running it through some of the same tuning as the others. Atleast Post clearly looks up to him and maybe has been able to expose Dwight to some people that had never heard of him.
August 19, 2024 @ 8:25 pm
Is that singing for real or is he trolling? I couldn’t make it through one verse, let alone a song.
August 20, 2024 @ 12:03 am
…quite agreeable for the most part, but really exiting it ain’t in any part.
August 20, 2024 @ 1:54 am
Post Malone I had heard of but did not really know him. His PR people have been in overdrive as it has been hard to escape him in recent months. he seems to have been everywhere and sung with just about everybody. He has a ‘frightening’ look about him, which some might not like but maybe it is a case of don’t judge a book by its cover! It was an album I was not going to give a listen to but as there has been so much said about him, I thought I would give it a listen. The album proper is not really country and much more pop and the production is poor. There is no heart and soul in it. Very little to go back to. Its not bad but I think Jelly Rolls recent album is much better. However, overall its not bad, with some good moments. Maybe more background music. Nothing special. The Deluxe version is so much better. He has a decent voice, the music is country and there are some really good songs. I can see me returning to the extra tracks much more than the main album. It was after giving it a listen a few times, I saw your review and in my opinion you have the review spot on. The extra tracks are by far the best and show what this album could have been.
August 20, 2024 @ 3:38 am
You really have issues pal. I listened to “ Have The Heart” expecting something god-awful. Instead I heard a pretty terrific trad country song. Yeah, the harmony with post Malone isn’t perfect but it sounds genuine and Dolly is a legend who always sounds sweet. Even though I can hear the auto tune on her voice, what do you expect! She is like 80, right ??? This song was way better than anything Zach Bryan has ever done yet you think he is the second coming of Beethoven the way you revel in his “genius”…. I rate Have the Heart a solid 8/10…
August 20, 2024 @ 5:19 am
Love those song by song reviews and i would like to have more of them ( expecially for serious albums like Ben jarrell’s) but i also understand they require a lot of time to compose.
On a side note i wrote a song many years ago with my old band A Modern Safari called ” Back to Texas” feat. Tommy Alverson:
https://youtu.be/g0l_8rtFowo
August 20, 2024 @ 6:19 am
Country needs something to siphon some share from Swift..is this the best they could do?
August 20, 2024 @ 6:33 am
This turned out pretty much like I thought it would back when everyone was begging for a Post country album after the Yoakum videos. Post is a likable guy, but this is just more of the over processed vocals and music that he usually releases. Just with some countryish instrumental accompaniment and a few country guest stars.
Honestly don’t know why country music artists continue to contribute to this stuff. Every pop and rap star want’s to make a country album now. Even Chanel West Coast has announced her new country song coming out. I’m sure that will be a joy. Country music artists and the industry as a whole need to stop contributing to the homaganzation of the genre.
August 20, 2024 @ 7:36 am
I tried. I really did. But this ain’t for me.
August 20, 2024 @ 7:44 am
For pop country I’d say that it was an ok album, no one was expecting a Post version of Metamodern Sounds. The main album had way too many features. Out of all the Friday releases, I’ve listened to Josh Turner’s the most. I hope it doesn’t get lost over all the Post hype.
August 20, 2024 @ 8:27 am
The new Josh Turner album cooks!
“Unsung Hero” is Song of the Year material.
August 20, 2024 @ 9:53 am
The one track from this album I was looking forward to hearing was the Sierra Ferrell collaboration. What a disappointment. Its such an insult to her. Post malone gets to some “cool/alt country” references on his record sleeve while basically not really featuring her at all. Her backing vocals are mixed so low it could be absolutely anyone. This is poor stuff from Post Malone, his producer and his team. It doesn’t make sense given what an amazing vocalist she is.
Sierra Ferrell has had so so many great collaborations over the years, she is almost the queen of the Americana/Country Collab. Here is my top 10 Sierra Ferrell features
1. I was born to love you – Ray Lamontagne + SF
2. Ready of Not – Shakey Graves + SF
3, Rain on my Mind – Paul Cauthen + SF
4. Real Low Down Lonesome – Early James + SF
5. Holly Roller – Zach Bryan + SF
6. Change of Heart – Margo Price + SF
7. Tried to Ruin My Name – Cory Walker + SF
8. Moon + Stars – The Mavericks + SF
9. 93,500 Miles – The Resonant Rogues + SF
10. Charleston Girl – Tyler Chilers + ; )
August 20, 2024 @ 10:23 am
I was listening to the song with Chris Stapleton and it just feels like he’s not even there?
Like they recorded their vocals separately and added in post….
Although it’s normal nowadays, it feels bad in this one
August 20, 2024 @ 10:41 am
15. Hide My Gun sucks because HARDY already has too many songs about guns.
Sounds like these “gatekeepers” you were talking about was you the whole time.
August 20, 2024 @ 1:57 pm
Boy you sure butchered my opinion with your paraphrasing. I didn’t say that HARDY had too many songs about guns. Note that my nickname is “The Triggerman.” What I did say is that after the third song where HARDY directly fantasizes about killing someone to become a hero, it’s seems like he took the premise of the song way too far. He could have left “Would you hide my gun” as a lyrical hook to tie it back to love, loyalty, and the iconic scene from “Goodfellas.” Instead he took the premise way too far and made this song creepy. In my opinion.
August 23, 2024 @ 9:17 am
Same vibe as the job interview scene in Observe and Report, haha!
August 20, 2024 @ 1:50 pm
Yours ” song is excessively possessive”
You do not hate these people enough…
August 20, 2024 @ 2:24 pm
I know it’s a ton of songs, but by my count you rated 15 songs a 7 or higher. Not bad for a person just switching to country. I agree that I wish he didn’t go for mass appeal. Long Bed with a few additional songs (Right About You, etc) could have been a heck of an album by today’s standards. Drop the collaborations (even though I liked California Sober and Never Love You Again). Turn down the effects and aiming for acoustic perfection. If he stays in country, plenty to build on. I do think he’s being himself on the album.
August 20, 2024 @ 2:34 pm
I’ve heard the feedback on “Yours”. I see it, but I also think you have to look at it through the lens that he’s writing it about his 2 year old daughter. Of course it’s going to come across possessive and protective. Any father of a young daughter dreads the day that he’s no longer the main man in her life. However, then the mindset evolves over the course of the daughter’s life.
August 20, 2024 @ 9:42 pm
This is a really thoughtful and good, honest review. I wanted to like this release, but I think it’s just okay. Thanks for the work you do Trig
August 21, 2024 @ 5:50 am
Go To Hell & Killed A Man are the only two Post Malone songs I think are decent.
Finer Things is fun because of Hank, Jr. I’ll probably never listen to it again.
August 21, 2024 @ 10:50 am
I think your review was very fair. I’ll probably word this poorly, but to me pretty much all of the ‘featuring’ songs just sounded like they were Posty joining with that an artist on a song typical for that artist, like Disc 1 was like a buddy movie version of a country album. So, I felt about each song about like I typically feel about songs from those artists (mostly neutral, really liked a couple). I thought Disc 2 was fantastic.
The main reason I’m fully here for the Posty country era is because he seems like a good dude who is having a good time. Maybe he doesn’t look like someone I’d want to bump into in a dark alley, but every single interview/clip I’ve seen of him speaking to or about people in country music has been full of (what sound to me like genuine) yes ma’ams and no sirs. He comes across as appreciative, polite and like he’s trying to honor the genre and the people who live and work in it full-time. I thought he was downright charming on the Opry. I can’t speak for all his handlers, but I don’t get the vibe he’s just doing this to make a buck.
August 22, 2024 @ 9:06 am
Right About You , great song!
August 22, 2024 @ 11:07 am
It’s ridiculously mixed. The best tunes have such a loud drum sound that it’s even distorted, the bass have a bad tone and as you said, the steel guitar solos are lower than anything else. Also, I can’t stand his “vibratos”, even more with those characteristic Nashville’s overproduced lead and backing vocals.
August 22, 2024 @ 8:40 pm
Honestly I liked Post Malone’s music, Better Now was great and he had some other great hits. I don’t understand why he’s even messing with country? There has to be a bunch of pop writers in LA that would help him write personal songs more in his style. I’m not getting why Nashville has been so friendly towards him or some more writers didn’t try to help him write something personal. Great album review I agree with a lot of it. My final thought is that he should give us more hits like “Better Now” and some of his earlier stuff.
August 24, 2024 @ 4:58 am
When George and Allan sang about sang about Murder on Music Row…
But someone killed country music, cut out its heart and soul.
They got away with murder down on music row.
August 24, 2024 @ 3:35 pm
I really like the melody of “hide my gun”…
August 26, 2024 @ 9:44 am
Bang-on review. Who Needs You is the only track I’d really ever listen to seriously. The two singles are catchy, they’re alright. He did a lot of old school name-droppin and celebrating of genuine authentic country music history in the lead up to this turdpile. Not sure why he bothered to lead on like that. What a shame.
August 30, 2024 @ 3:49 pm
The only real problem I have with the album is they mangled that fine bumpside Ford for the album cover. Very sad
August 30, 2024 @ 5:30 pm
I have sampled a few songs. They seem fine enough. But I just cannot handle that vibrato thing he does with his voice. I don’t know if that’s his usual vocal style or if he thinks it makes him sound “authentic”. But for whatever reason, it’s prominent in the three songs I tried, and I can’t handle any more of it.