Album Review – Randy Houser’s “Magnolia”
Tag Randy Houser’s Magnolia as yet another entry into the evidence file that the era of Bro-Country continues to wane, and it’s slow but steady expiration has allowed the latitude of some established artists to return, giving them the ability to select and record the material of their choosing, and reuniting them with their more natural sound and their own voice instead of being tethered to keeping up with certain fickle trends infecting radio.
Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of These Wings, Dierks Bentley’s The Mountain, Blake Shelton’s Texoma Shore, and a select group of other recent mainstream releases all showed a return to the more established and natural sounds of artists, and something that’s at least akin to country music, even if this sonic shift paralleled a lull in commercial performance.
Whether you think Magnolia by Randy Houser is any good depends on your perspective. But from the perspective of an album released in the mainstream where often you’re just happy to get through most of the songs without suffering a drum machine, it’s pretty great. It’s Friday, January 11th, and the first real release day of 2019, and already Randy Houser may have put out one of the best country records you’ll hear from a major label all year. As much as a commentary as that might be on the quality of country’s mainstream these days, credit is also due to Randy Houser.
Randy was never a candidate for the second coming of Guy Clark. He’s a guy’s guy who likes to get drunk on bass boats and co-write with Dallas Davidson. “Heady” would never be a word you would use on Houser. Lest we forget, his John Hancock accompanied Jamey Johnson’s on the embarrassment that is “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” though time surely has cleansed that sin from his portfolio by now.
Randy Houser is also old enough that he comes from the era when country music singers actually had to be able to sing to sign a record deal, and sing well. You also at least had to be able to construct coherent sentences to receive a songwriting contract. Among all the other things the Bro-Country era took from us, it was the ability to hear generational voices like Randy Houser’s do their worst on songs specifically constructed to make them stand out, instead of the melody-deprived pseudo-rap exercises set to hip-hop beats that pervaded the Bro-Country era, and linger on radio today.
Randy Houser not only co-writes all twelve tracks of Magnolia, he sings the shit out of them. You’re almost caught off guard by the power, soul, and potency in his voice in songs like the emotional “Good Place to Cry.” The warble and control he exhibits in “What Leaving Looks Like” is spellbinding beyond the quality of the lyrics and story. Where the hell has this been? Why would anyone supersede this version of Randy Houser to record some B-level Bro-Country material that’s going to be unsuccessful on the radio anyway?
“I started sort of paying for the album out of my own pocket because I honestly thought that once they heard what I wanted to do that they would drop me,” Houser said in a recent interview. “Thankfully, that was not the case. In fact, the label’s reaction was quite the opposite. It’s tough to try to be everything to everybody. I think that it had to fall back down to me making music for me and for fans—not necessarily what everybody expects … It started to feel like that it wasn’t about music as much anymore as it was just entertainment. That’s not who I am. I was getting caught up in making a show bigger and bigger because that’s what’s expected on those huge tours that I was doing. I got rid of a lot of tricks, tracks, lights and stuff and just wanted to come back to the music. Let’s start it from there again and see where it goes, you know?”
That’s not to say Magnolia isn’t without material to second guess. “New Buzz” feels very much like trend chasing, even if the production by Keith Gattis keeps it grounded. “Nothing On You” co-penned with Jaren Johnston feels pretty listy and rehashed. Remember, it was guys like Randy Houser who helped set the table for Bro-Country with list-like lyrics and an over-reliance on buzzwords like “backroad” and “beer.” It’s not his fault that it all became so prevalent and overdone, but it still injures songs if they remind you of these worn out trends.
The degree of country-ness of this record is also a fair concern, not because Houser veers into the whole R&B/hip-hop territory, or comes out with blazing arena rock guitars like Jason Aldean. It’s a country record, but one that brings a lot of soul to the tracks, really centering everything around Randy Houser’s voice, which is smart with how spectacular it comes across. Consider it the Stapleton effect. The red bearded one’s non-radio success with material he wrote himself is one of the underlying reasons a record like Randy Houser’s Magnolia is able to see the light of day, and you hear those influences come through. Though this project is styled more soulfully perhaps, it’s still a Randy Houser record, at least indicative of his early career.
This record isn’t deep, but it’s deep for Randy Houser. The way he sings this record, even the simple and silly songs sound meaningful. You don’t feel stupid listening to a song like “Mamma Don’t Know” or “Whole Lotta Quit.” They’re fun.
Magnolia might not be great. But it’s great for Randy Houser, and great for a mainstream release, which means it’s great for country music, even if it may not be great for you. The trend of country music reverting back to quality continues, and now Randy Houser has contributed his exemplary voice to this movement.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7.5/10)
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January 11, 2019 @ 9:41 am
It really is a pretty damn good album. I kept being surprised with how good the singles where each time there was a release on spotify. Completely agree that there is nothing groundbreaking or amazing on here but it’s just good music.
January 11, 2019 @ 9:42 am
Badass album !!! Nice work Randy!!!
January 11, 2019 @ 9:48 am
I listened to this album this morning. It is leaps and bounds better than his last effort, however it did not do much for me. “They Call Me Cadillac” was an excellent album and my favorite of his. I was hoping he would return to a sound like that.
January 11, 2019 @ 9:49 am
I saw Randy Houser open up for Dierks once. He can’t sing a lick. He was terrible. It’s weird he’s called a “generational voice” here.
January 11, 2019 @ 9:54 am
Well, I’m not reviewing Randy Houser opening for Dierks Bentley once. I’m reviewing this record, and his voice definitely sounds “generational” here, and others seem to concur. That said, it may not be your taste, and that’s understandable. Houser certainly has given reasons to leave a sour taste over the last few years.
January 11, 2019 @ 10:03 am
I think you are in the minority that believe Randy Houser can’t sing. I heard him do his cover is “Simple Man” live once and it blew the crowd away. Its a somewhat unique voice that probably isn’t for everyone, but he is certainly one of the best singers on mainstream radio.
January 11, 2019 @ 10:36 am
That said, if you caught him during his tractor rap phase in an opening set where it’s all condensed to his radio material, perhaps you would think he’s terrible. That’s why I including that quote from Randy in this review. I think he saw himself getting away from what he does best too.
January 11, 2019 @ 10:51 am
True, luckily I saw him back in 2010 or 2011. I was curious so looked up when Dierks and him toured together and it was 2016 so thebugman10 probably did see him at his worst.
January 11, 2019 @ 9:57 am
This record really surprised me. I’ve been listening to it on repeat all morning. I’m glad to see this kind of depth from a mainstream artist.
January 11, 2019 @ 9:59 am
I saw Randy Houser a few years ago at Taste of Country, he was super late due to a bus breakdown. Showed up in a rental car with just his sound guy and proceeded to rock out a ridiculous acoustic set with no set list or anything. His voice was great and his stage presence was awesome, definitely separated him from the rest of pop country in my opinion.
January 11, 2019 @ 9:59 am
It made me genuinely happy to play this album this morning, so good to hear Randy Houser putting his voice to good use again. This is a big win for mainstream country music. While I am a little tired of the soulful sound led by Stapleton, its hardly a trend worth complaining about and it seems to be leading the genre back to greener pastures. Well done Randy Houser.
January 11, 2019 @ 10:08 am
I’d probably like some songs better with a different arrangement. His singing is great on “No Stone Unturned” but the music sounds like a cellphone ringtone.
I like this album, but not as much as his first two.
January 11, 2019 @ 10:19 am
Did you see that Earl Scruggs is featured on Google Doodle today?
January 11, 2019 @ 10:37 am
Pretty cool. Not sure what the impetus behind it is though.
January 11, 2019 @ 10:49 am
He would have turned 95 last Saturday.
Let’s say google is making up for its mistakes
January 11, 2019 @ 12:19 pm
“Let’s say google is making up for its mistakes”
That is not possible.
January 11, 2019 @ 11:51 am
Apparently it’s the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center. http://earlscruggscenter.org
January 11, 2019 @ 11:17 am
Unrelated, another notable release today is an EP by Carlton Anderson, who I had never heard of but it was on Spotify’s list of new releases so I gave it a listen, pretty solid.
January 11, 2019 @ 11:31 am
yeah …this is refreshingly different stuff in its return to roots .. ‘ Anything Goes ‘ is my personal all-time fave Houser tune ….it’s pure country narrative with his soulful stamp on it top to bottom and some of this reminds me of that sound . good on RH for making this happen HIS way .
and …yeah it is most definitely voice-centric ….and with a voice as unique and capable as Houser’s , so it should be ( reminiscent of Ronnie Dunn and Stapleton in that way .)
this stuff seems highly listenable ( how many albums have we been able to say THAT about in recent years ? )…..a good step….
January 11, 2019 @ 11:50 am
It may well not be my thing. I’d have to listen to judge for sure. I’ll get around to it.
This review is encouraging, though. Randy Houser has a fine voice; it’s just been wasted on really bad songs the last few years.
January 11, 2019 @ 12:33 pm
I loved “they call me Cadillac” back at the time and was really hoping for a Randy Houser comeback, i’ve been listening to “magnolia” just once and it didn’t impress methough a step in the right direction, but after your review i’ll give it more spins..
January 11, 2019 @ 12:57 pm
Randy Houser has a great voice. Finally he has a quality album.
Let’s hope this trend continue and others (Chris Young et al.) follow it.
Look forward to hearing this album.
January 11, 2019 @ 3:16 pm
I can’t agree with you more about Chris Young. From 2009-2012, he was hands down my favorite country artist. Some of his stuff was more on the pop side, but he was making quality music.
Today, I would rate him in the bottom ten of all mainstream artists. It’s incredible how far he’s fallen and I really wish we could get the Chris Young of yesterday back.
January 11, 2019 @ 4:25 pm
Yes, exactly! CY has the perfect country voice. I really enjoyed his early singles. Voices and Tomorrow are great songs.
Then he jumped on the trend and became irrelevant.
January 12, 2019 @ 7:43 am
The Man I Want To Be is another good one by Chris Young.
January 11, 2019 @ 1:06 pm
Sonically, yes, it’s well done and extremely tolerable.
Artistically, it’s nothing special, but certainly not horrible.
His vocal talent is obvious and impressive.
Good to hear he’s getting back to pursuing his voice and his style.
This might be the best thing on the radio today. But I don’t even turn the radio on anymore. I have multiple CDs in each vehicle, and my phone is packed with albums. I ain’t going back.
January 11, 2019 @ 1:23 pm
pretty spot on review. I downloaded 6 out of the 12 songs. It’s 50% good to me.
January 11, 2019 @ 1:34 pm
This guy along with Chris Young and Dustin Lynch and a few others are some of the most wasted voices in country music. We all know the potential these guys have, glad Randy is back to using his for the good! The song Lead Me Home from early in his career (also covered by Jamey Johnson) is an example of the songwriting chops this guy has in him.
January 11, 2019 @ 3:16 pm
100% agree with you. It’s been interesting to see the Stapleton effect taking shape. I wonder if any of the artist that dove head first into the bro era trend chasing wish they dug their heels in and wrote what they really wanted to instead. I guess now they have a more open door to do so since the bro era is almost completely dead.
Can’t wait for that douche Brantley Gilbert to fade back into being a nobody.
January 11, 2019 @ 2:43 pm
The songs on Magnolia are ok. Some are good like “Evangeline” & some are bringing the album down like “New Buzz”.
Overall the career of Randy Houser coiuld be much bigger with better songs & production.
(Much Better) New Music:
Dennis Alan – The Last Cowboy – Album – 11 Tracks – Released (01/01)
Not a big Nashville production but much better than 99% of the Music Ciry output. Just a good album.
The Detentions – Yes It Is – Album – 10 Tracks – Released (01/11)
Country, americana & two time winner of the Trop Rock Music Association Duo of the Year award (wow…). 10 relaxed slow & midtempo tracks. Male/male duo.
Chatham Rabbits – All I Want From You – Album – 10 Tracks – Released (01/11)
Husband & wife duo with bluegrass & folk songs. Not groundbreaking but very solid tracks.
Angela Easson – History – Album – 8 Tracks – Released (01/11)
2nd album for the australian singer. Mainstream-country with a couple of songs made for the australian country charts. Best track: “Greatest Unknown”.
Kevin Fowler – “Country Song To Sing” – Single – Released (01/11)
Will be a massive hit in Texas. Radio-friendly ballad.
March 1, 2019 @ 1:59 pm
Thanks for the great remarks on my Album The Last Cowboy had a great Producer in Wes Sharon and awesome musicians
Dennis Alan
January 11, 2019 @ 2:44 pm
I guess Randy Houser’s Americana now.
January 11, 2019 @ 5:18 pm
This is a really solid album from Randy Houser. He seems very much in his wheelhouse and it’s one of the more cohesive mainstream albums out right now. Really loving “What Leaving Looks Like” – was pleasantly surprised to see that James Otto is a cowriter on that one!
January 12, 2019 @ 8:24 am
For me, a good album with a couple of great songs. Comforting and natural, like an old flannel shirt. He’s not pandering, but he’s not trying to reach beyond his grasp either, and I think he’d be more interesting if he took more risks.
January 12, 2019 @ 12:02 pm
That was a good review, so I gave it a listen. I enjoyed it a lot. What a great voice.
January 12, 2019 @ 2:26 pm
I just cant take his voice & drawl….slow song or fast. He sounds to close to Bro still.
January 12, 2019 @ 7:33 pm
I lost every ounce of respect I had ever had for this guy when he defended bro-country in an interview. Nonetheless, after hearing these songs, maybe I might be able to have at least a little for him again.
January 13, 2019 @ 4:56 am
I saw Randy Houser once in concert, 2015, open for Luke Bryan at First Niagara Pavilion in Burgettstown, PA. He had the voice of a giant and although his mix was a little muddy, he sounded, his band was heavier than I thought and overall he sounded amazing. I don’t own much by him in the way of full CDs but I’m intrigued to get ‘Magnolia’ and go backwards into his past releases. Thanks Trigger!!
January 16, 2019 @ 3:10 pm
I saw Randy Houser at the Bluebird last summer. The round was with Bobby Bare, Bill Anderson, Vince Gill (filling in for Buddy Cannon) and Bobby Tomberlin. Bobby Bare pretty much sang his praises, and invited him into the round to sing a song. He played “No Good Place to Cry” and I was very impressed. He’s got a great voice.
June 23, 2019 @ 12:22 pm
It’s been a few months, but I just wanted to say that I do love this album. I agree a few of tbe songs are trend chasing, but it SO much better than the last album. His voice sounds amazing on the album. Love “No Stone Unturned.” Thanks Randy for not letting down your fans, and putting out quality songs and singing.