Another One Bites The Dust: Eric Paslay Sells Out with “High Class”
I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the heart. All the ink spilled for this guy as one of the good ones who happened to find himself on a major label roster, all the plaudits for his song “She Don’t Love You,” including putting it on the short list of 2015’s best so far, all the talk about pragmatism in country music, and trying to find common ground with artists like Paslay that can bridge the differences between mainstream and independent, classic and contemporary. And this is how all of that praise, that hope, that loyalty in this artist given to him by thousands of fans is rewarded?
I am embarrassed to even own a website with the word “country” in the title for fear it may be inadvertently regarded as having anything to do with a song like Eric Paslay’s “High Class.” The release of this song is nothing short of a devastating development in the effort to save country music, and a disturbing sign for the future of decency on the public airwaves. Beyond being disgusted and angry, I’m heartbroken, and regretful for the positive words offered previously in Eric Paslay’s regard.
When the hints began to drop days before the release of “High Class,” showing images of Paslay dudded out in a black suit, you immediately knew where this was headed. This whole Metro-Bro mess is like the zombie apocalypse of country music, sparing not a single soul, and instead of turning its victims into flesh-eating undead, it turns them into blazer-sporting, martini-sipping, cocaine club douche rockets with their manscaped bodies quaffed in Axe, and racked with a raging, incurable case of shallow, self-absorbedness.
“High Class”? Try bottom-feeding on the dreck of moralistic depravity and the absolute evisceration of scruples this song evidences in spades from Eric. The words of this song are slop, purposely dropping essential consonants and vowels to invigorate its appeal to the idiocy of the drooling mass consumer. References to Escalades, VIP lists, DJ’s, and Timberlake prove what terrible atrocities Paslay is perpetrating against the integrity of country music, while promoting this song as a single is like videotaping your crime spree and then dropping the tape off to the police. Too bad there’s no pigs in the poke, and as long as Paslay and his label are getting paid, the crimes against country will go uncontested. It’s anything goes these days, and when those asshole bloggers start chirpin’, just call it evolution.
Paslay does the unthinkable with “High Class,” not just because it’s so bad, but because it will make you second guess rooting for the good guys in the future, it makes you wonder who will be next to fall, and most unfortunately, it makes you lose faith that a righting of the ship is anywhere in the offing. “High Class” you say? I say it’s a classless act of selfish money-grubbing from a bright and talented artist who knows better.
Rubbish.
September 21, 2015 @ 7:59 am
Who would have thought the writer of “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” would put out a bad song.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:52 am
I didn’t listen to his first album because his first two singles (Friday Night, Song About a Girl) were terrible. Then he put out She Don’t Love You, which is a great song.
I was hoping for more of that from Paslay, but I’m definitely not surprised by this. His track record does nothing to make me think he’s one of the “good guys” who sold out. This is just the type of music he puts out. Oh well…
September 21, 2015 @ 5:53 pm
I thought he sucked from the get go. “Song About A Girl” was just dreadful, so that scorned me from ever listening to him by choice. Well said, I think this is the type of music he puts out. He really never sold out.
July 5, 2016 @ 6:45 pm
you are entitled to your opinions, but on the other hand,I’ve liked his songs,but especially”HIGH STYLE”
September 21, 2015 @ 8:09 am
wow that song is GARBAGE. im shocked. I always enjoyed Paslay and never imagined him selling out. seems like everyone has copied Zac Brown Band…..this is the year of selling out a d im afraid no ones ever going back to even the somewhat country sound of bro country. Ive said it before and will again, I miss bro country because it actually sounded a bit like country music and even the lyrics felt country. im sorry but bullshit like this isnt country music Eric has lost my respect. I knew when Brett Eldredge and Thomas Rhett sold out earlier this year (not that they were country music gatekeepers to begin with or anything) that it was just the beginning of the sell out trend.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:10 am
Is the country music industry so insecure that it doesn’t want to make actual country music? Is there any artist out there who has even a tiny shred of dignity to say “No, I’m NOT going to record this, what the hell are you thinking?!” I can’t wait for the mainstream press to fawn over this and call it brave or inspired or unique or god forbid, an evolution.
Country music hasn’t just jumped the shark, it’s reached escape velocity and is heading out into the solar system.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:20 am
I’d like to know what is so “country” about sippin’ Martini’s in a club while the DJ plays hip hop. These are the kind of things Randy Travis used to chastise. It’s only “country” because these douchebags say it’s country and the gullible masses eat it up like pigs eating slop. Other than that, what can I say that hasn’t been said a million times? I’m getting tired of repeating the same argument over and over, hoping it will somehow make any difference. I’m sick of this. This is just pathetic.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:26 am
I gave it 18 seconds. That’s more than generous, I think. It doesn’t even sound like the same guy that did “She Don’t Love You.”
I know it’s something you say on here all the time so I’m just restating the obvious, but… I don’t know why they can’t just call it EDM or pop or whatever and leave country music out of it. If it’s “evolution,” okay, you’re a new species. So change your name.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:48 am
I think it’s because:
1. The country format is where the money is.
2. This stuff is too milquetoast for the other formats
September 21, 2015 @ 9:21 am
Not sure I agree with your first point, cause if that’s where the money was then they wouldn’t all be trying so desperately to get out of it.
Second one is spot on though. Eric Paslay is never going to out-Maroon-5 Maroon 5. His career would be over before it began. The same goes for Sam Hunt, etc etc etc…
Which is really saying something, cause Maroon 5 are pretty freaking milquetoast to begin with!
September 21, 2015 @ 10:04 am
Right, but they’re still releasing singles like this to mainstream country radio. That’s really all I meant by the “country format.”
September 21, 2015 @ 12:45 pm
The reality is the modern Country format is the most popular current genre of music in America. Yeah, it sucks, but none of the other big genres can claim the type of concert sales, record sales (digital and physical) that the Country genre can and it’s really one of the only genres that the iHeart and Cumulus corporations seem focused on expanding.
Sadly this also means the Country radio has become total crap, but that’s to be expected when you have two mega corporations who don’t really give a crap if the genre goes the way of nu-Metal in a few years if it can churn a higher profit for investors today.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:40 am
(0/10) is quite a distinction. The sad thing is, when I find myself trying to listen to one of these young country artist and saying “This ain’t so bad,”. What I actually mean is ” This sucks but not quite as bad as Sam Hunt.”. On radio, there is virtually nothing good, only some artists that suck less than others. No in a 1-10 scale, 10, of course. is rare…it’s classic. My fear is that whatever kids listen to High Class have never heard a 10…or a 6,7,8 or 9. What they call a 10 on the relative scale may be actually only a 4 on the absolute scale. That being said, 0 is low in any scale. Eric Paslay may never recover!
September 21, 2015 @ 8:49 am
As a “kid listen[ing] to “High Class”, could I have some examples of “10/10s”?
September 21, 2015 @ 8:58 am
Here’s 150 of them:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-greatest-songs-of-all-time
September 21, 2015 @ 8:59 am
Fair enough 🙂
September 21, 2015 @ 11:05 am
I actually thought “Burning House” by Cam was excellent, and that’s the first time any song on the radio has gotten close to that distinction for my ears in years. Trigger wasn’t wholly impressed by it, but I think it’s fantastic. If you haven’t heard it seek it out and see what you think. It might have been just that I was impressed by hearing something so understated and meaningful on country radio at ALL, but I like it. I don’t care for him at all, but props to Bobby Bones for giving the song airtime when pretty much no one else will.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/song-review-cams-burning-house
September 21, 2015 @ 2:48 pm
Agree. Heard it this morning and thought I was on the wrong station.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:41 pm
I have also been really pleasantly surprised by that song, and more so by the fact that I’ve been hearing it quite a bit on one of the local country stations.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:45 am
I don’t know if I can call this a sell-out. I don’t know, maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it seems like Paslay wrote this with a bit more self-awareness than we’re giving him credit for. I’ve seen Chris Young’s “Aw Naw” analyzed similarly.
When Paslay says that “just for tonight”, he’s “high class”, it makes it sound like he’s giving this metropolitan sound a try to just to see what he thinks…and he thinks it’s kind of fun, “a good old boy could get used to this” he says. Will he stay “high class”? Well…we’ll have to wait for his next album to find out about that.
Further, that “we ain’t on the list, but we on the list when you look like this and you walk like that” could be a nod to just how many artists who know better are giving into the metro-bro sound, even though they really aren’t metro at heart.
And, I mean, just how seriously can you take a song with lines like “I heard he taught Timberlake” and “Cadil-up-this-lac”? Don’t get me wrong, I’m as ticked off as anyone that Paslay’s releasing this as a lead-off single…but I’m not willing to call him a sellout just yet. This is too much of a novelty.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:52 am
…And, at the same time, also too self-aware to be a sellout.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:00 am
As old as selling out is, so is saying “Oh, we’re just kidding, it’s meant to be ironic blah blah blah.” The listeners on country radio won’t take it that way, and you don’t release joke songs as singles. This is a total cash grab by Paslay, no matter how he tries to sell it.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:03 am
Mm…perhaps. I understand that country radio will take it at face value, but I’ll hold out on throwing Paslay under the bus until that second album.
September 21, 2015 @ 11:07 am
Wasn’t “Red Solo Cup” a joke song? Or was it just a song that was a joke? I honestly couldn’t believe my ears the first time I heard it, but after a few listens I came to appreciate the unabashed stupidness of the tune (if only ever so slightly).
September 21, 2015 @ 8:48 am
Well, that’s great, a mainstream country star turns out to be a clown with no artistic integrity. Wake me up when something unexpected happens. Anyways, I found an autographed Janie Fricke cassette yesterday, so while this comment section explodes with people listening to (and hating) this song, I’m going to enjoy some quality music and just ignore the problems of the radio.
September 21, 2015 @ 1:56 pm
I have Janie Fricke’s autographed record “Labor of Love” LP.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:48 am
I wasn’t real familiar with Paslay other than hearing the name, and I haven’t been following you long enough to read what you wrote about him before, but I listened to both songs just now. Wow. This is about as shameless as selling out gets.
I know a lot of people are going to say you should quit covering the mainstream artists at all at this point, and that we should all just enjoy our Americana and Texas Country stuff and leave whatever is called mainstream “country” to its own devices. But to heck with that. This genre belongs to the Country fans and the musical heroes who built it. Never surrender it to these jackasses who are destroying it.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:08 am
I’ve got to fight the fight that is presented to me. And right, now, this is where the fight is. What is going on right now in “country” music is a historic whitewashing of the genre, and in my opinion, we have to be vigilant in the opposition. If people don’t want to read this stuff, I totally understand. They don’t have to.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:50 am
This is brutal and as much as I am looking forward to Mo Pitney’s release I am starting to get a bit worried. I hope Mo is allowed to keep it real,
September 21, 2015 @ 9:13 am
Say it ain’t so, Mo!
September 21, 2015 @ 8:51 am
That delta blues intro pisses me off.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:05 am
Guys, even I, a russian country lover, cannot call this country. No. No way.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:27 am
Speaking of a Russian country lover, you just reminded me of Minnie Driver singing Stand By Your Man in Goldeneye. Classic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNMcZxyuf8Q
…still more country than Sam Hunt.
September 22, 2015 @ 1:17 am
Ha ha, I got it. Now this is what I call country: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VciXOd-dc8k. The funnу thing about that song is that it seems to be written by a Russian. Lonesome Wyatt is the man, we like his attitude.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:13 am
I’m glad I already stopped listening to shit like this.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:27 am
Mark? Mark Grondin? Of Spectrum Pulse? What say you now? Your golden boy has flown the coop.
On the other hand, only one of Paslay’s first three singles was any good, so what exactly was the surprise here? He’s probably just going the Tim McGraw route: terrible first single for attention, pretty good followups. As for who’s next to board the sellout train, I’m waiting to hear Dierks Bentley’s next single.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:34 am
…I have nothing to say about this. Trigger’s not wrong, this song is a blatant sell-out and not even a well-produced one. What the hell is going on the background melody with those painfully thin horns, or that bridge? Even when you look at it saying he’s just going ‘high class’ for tonight, it’s also a clear sign he should probably never do it again.
But I’m also not that surprised by this either – you go back to his self-titled debut he’s got his songs that are more on the adult contemporary side, and with more country trying to cater to an aging audience that’s terrified of aging and wants to still party (I live in Toronto, I see this way too often), this doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t really offend me either, because at least the song is marginally self-aware, but there’s not much to excuse it either. In any case, not a good sign for that upcoming album, and as a guy who considers ‘She Don’t Love You’ his favourite country song of 2014, that’s disappointing.
September 21, 2015 @ 10:24 am
Sorry, didn’t mean to be a dick about asking for your opinion. Nonetheless, I’m becoming so disillusioned with country music that I can’t even listen to the stuff I actually like and consider authentic without annoyance and regret.
In other (slightly related) news, I enjoyed your cameo in Rocked Reviews’ Regretting the Past vid for Creed’s Weathered. Concerning that, I was perusing Scott Stapp’s Facebook page this morning and lo and behold, a picture of him with Luke Bryan popped up: https://www.facebook.com/ScottStapp/photos/a.10150542661623866.404031.5753328865/10153621914833866/?type=1&theater
I’m going to crap a brick if Scott “goes country,” and this is coming from a Creed/Scott fan (we talked previously about them on your review of Nickelback’s No Fixed Address as I recall). There are even fans telling him NOT to do that in comments, but given that his solo career is low level and Creed isn’t getting back together any time soon, I fear this might become a reality. Let’s hope given his questionable PR that he knows better. Excuse me while I go find a nice razor to slit my wrists with.
September 21, 2015 @ 11:59 am
Do you really think Dierks will sellout?
September 21, 2015 @ 2:37 pm
Well, as has been maligned here and elsewhere, there’s been a lot of that going around lately. Perhaps I’m not giving Dierks enough credit, but he seems to straddle the line a little closer than the other “good guys” of the mainstream. So much so that some don’t even consider him one. When you have guys with mostly nice things written about them like Gary Allan and Easton Corbin going south, along with legends like Alabama, I don’t think I’d count Dierks as above this trend.
I think urbanpolitan is going to prove more damaging in the long term that bro-country could ever dream of being. At least the bros tried to pretend they were country and didnt affect too many artists that weren’t already making that type of music. Urbanpolitan, on the other hand, is taking EVERYBODY, which is an anomaly. You’re telling me you held out through the bro phase only to sell out to a trend that is somehow less country than that was? Are you kidding me? It’s taking no prisoners, and that’s the biggest problem.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:32 pm
That ship has already fuckin sailed. I think it’s in Fiji by now.
(I meant that in response to “will Dierks sell out?” By the way.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:37 pm
I saw Dierks this summer, I’ve been a really big fan for a long time and have seen him live before. I was really disappointed. I even brought a friend who’s not into country and promised, Don’t worry, it’s not like most of the crap on the radio. Well. First he was clearly intoxicated. from his song catalog, he chose mostly his cheesy, bro-iest songs. When they finally played Up on the Ridge (yay!!!!) everyone standing near me looked around confused and said “when is he gonna do Drunk on a Plane?” Those seem to be his fans now, and he seems to be all for it.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:32 am
Found this line in of all places a Field and Stream blog that talks about the Turnpike Troubadours’ “The Bird Hunters.” Applicable as can be for this review: “Country music, at least the kind you hear on the radio, is no longer real country. It has become Red State Pop and is, to me, largely unlistenable. Real country songs are written for and about adults. They are usually about wrecked relationships or other grownup problems. Many have drinking in them, and it is rarely happy drinking.” That just about sums it up for any mainstream release these days.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:37 am
I feel like Dierks Bentley is the only good guy in country music to not release a horrible single in the last year or two (Drunk on a Plane was somewhere between bad and average for the radio). ZBB, Gary Allen, Easton Corbin and now Eric Pasley all have put out bad albums or songs to the radio.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:50 am
A lot of what gets released south of the border from us up here in the Great White North doesn’t seem to make it to Canadian radio playlists. Certainly our CRTC laws are mostly responsible for that . But I have to say that after reading Trigger’s reviews on so many shitty releases from so many U.S artists who are not making country music whatsoever , I’m pretty happy about that ruling by the CRTC ( 30% Canadian content ) in these times. It wasn’t always thus ,however . I used to cringe when I listened to the crap Canadian radio was forced to play- yes FORCED by law ( how ridiculous is that ? ) . In the past 5 or so years , however , as REAL country music has been hi-jacked , bushwacked , mutilated,infiltrated, masqueraded and grossly OVERRATED , I’m thinking that law isn’t such a bad defense. t. Yes we still suffer through the Sam Hunts , the Blakes and the Lukes that fly unquestioned and seemingly unmonitored through our air space . But so many of the artists releasing this pap to the south don’t get a sniff of Canadian radio . I’m gonna consider that a blessing …….for now .
September 21, 2015 @ 12:01 pm
On the other hand we have Dean Brody’s “Bring Down The House” which is easily as bad as anything coming from the States. We’re not immune to this shit, unfortunately.
September 21, 2015 @ 3:55 pm
Agreed ….I do notice the Canadian artists employing much more pop/edm/r&b productions on stuff . These artists want ( NEED ) desperately to make some kind of impact in the U.S. and its frustratingly difficult , if not impossible , for 95% of them . “Tayloring” ( pun intended ) their sound to fit the commercial formats in the U.S. is , unfortunately , a necessary evil if they are to stand a snowball’s chance. Sad cuz we have some terrific ” rootsier” artists with lots of character and distinction they will need to sacrifice .
September 21, 2015 @ 9:55 am
Also Trig, I recently made the switch to The Highway from normal FM stations, and they actually do a good job highlighting some good country songs. “Stay A Little Longer” by Brothers Osbourne, “White Lightning” by Cadillac Three and “Can’t Get Away From a Good Time” by Logan Mize are all on their regular rotation, and are country songs that actually sound country and are about something. Granted their by C list mainstream acts, but its better than 80% of the top tier artists current singles
September 21, 2015 @ 11:12 am
The Highway has a little more autonomy to play a generally wider playlist since they are mostly free of the IHeartMedia / Cumulus oligarchical control, and since most SiriusXM subscribers tend to be a bit more active listeners, they can play some deeper cuts and not lose audience.
SiriusXM is also given credit for launching the careers of Florida Georgia Line, Chase Rice, and others, and specifically being the origination point of FGL’s “Cruise” being one of the biggest hits of this generation. Ironically, their openness is what allowed them to be able to pick up the song (from at that time an unknown artist) before everyone else.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:59 am
It’s like Walking Dead year in country music. Who’ll turn into a metro zombie next? Stay tuned!
September 21, 2015 @ 10:10 am
So Trigger is our Rick Grimes? 🙂
September 21, 2015 @ 3:56 pm
“It”™s like Walking Dead year in country music. Who”™ll turn into a metro zombie next? Stay tuned! ”
LOL….LOL
September 21, 2015 @ 10:29 am
Awful.
September 21, 2015 @ 10:37 am
I thought he sold out with “Song About A Girl” and “Friday Night.”
September 21, 2015 @ 10:57 am
Wow. I think he just out Hunted Sam Hunt. My god.
I feel like I constantly repeat myself on here, but seriously, *who* is the market for this stuff?
As much as I can’t stand them, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Easton…whathisface, whatever, that party-bro stuff, I can understand the appeal. It’s Party-rock hair metal with a twang, and their looks & voices make 35 year old white women pretending to be 24 moist. It’s got a beat, it can be “danced” to after a few beverages, etc Fine, is what it is. But this stuff? Seriously, who does this appeal to? It’s not catchy, there’s no hook, no edge, no beat, no…nothing. It’s like lame trend chasing crap a 45 year old suburban housewife would listen to, or an ABC Sitcom would play in a promo.
I just don’t get it.
September 21, 2015 @ 11:06 am
That’s the thing: a lot of these songs are flopping. Gary Allan’s flopped. Eli Young’s flopped. That’s what makes this trend even more insane. You have country guys trying to beat Sam Hunt at his own game, and they’re losing.
September 21, 2015 @ 11:28 am
And so is Reba, Jake, Randy Houser, and Tyler Farr bad songs flopped but not Keith’s new song. Live Forever by the Band Perry is growing on me.
Trigger what do you think about the song “Honey I’m good”.?
September 21, 2015 @ 5:24 pm
If that is the case, though, then why do they keep releasing songs like this? I would think that despite the lack of artistic talent in the country music industry, at least there should be plenty of bean counting talent…
September 21, 2015 @ 7:54 pm
Because these guys haven’t gotten past the Feudal Ages… Before Joan of Arc the brilliant military strategists all agreed that a general should get as many soldiers as possible and stampede the opposition, and that’s what country radio is doing, trying to win through sheer weight of numbers… never mind training some quality soldiers if we have enough of them, never mind quality songs if we have enough of them.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:25 pm
Country can’t help but to be a copycat genre. They don’t know any different. Sam Hunt is having tremendous success, and so they think if they just release the right song, maybe they’ll go to #1 too. One or two might, but the vast majority have failed so far.
September 22, 2015 @ 4:55 am
My guess is songs in the pipeline, already paid for, so they are trying to recoup something at least. I remember saying months ago that someday people would look back on some of the bro country fondly. Seeing that here already, if only due to the fact that this new stuff is utterly unlistenable.
September 21, 2015 @ 6:22 pm
I would like to emphatically state that I know just as many men in their 30s and 40s listening to this crap.
(And whoops, I accidentally liked my own comment while trying to press edit.)
September 21, 2015 @ 7:57 pm
Are you sure they’re men?
September 21, 2015 @ 11:23 am
What worse could happed? Who’s next? this song sucks big time 2 guns down indeed?
September 21, 2015 @ 11:41 am
I’m not going to listen to this, but I assume it’s still more country than Sam Hunt. I happened to flip to a station one night and I honestly thought I was hearing a parody or some weird commercial. Nope, it was a talking/rapping section of Sam Hunt’s new song. I have to take back what I said about Chase Rice’s “Ready Set Roll” being the worst song in history. That honor goes to Sam Hunt’s “Breakup in a Small Town,” if that’s the name of that one.
September 21, 2015 @ 11:48 am
“This whole Metro-Bro mess is like the zombie apocalypse of country music, sparing not a single soul, and instead of turning its victims into flesh-eating undead, it turns them into blazer-sporting, martini-sipping, cocaine club douche rockets with their manscaped bodies quaffed in Axe, and racked with a raging, incurable case of shallow, self-absorbedness.”
This just took the lead position in my list of the best Trigger quotes of all time. And it is a distinguished list. Well said. And yeah, it is not like this plan is working out for anybody. Not sure why all these idiots think chasing a losing trend is worth alienating your entire existing fanbase.
September 21, 2015 @ 12:18 pm
Someone was jealous of Thomas Rhett…
Seriously, what the hell is this? At first, I was excited; the song started out well enough, but it just went straight to shit when the drum machine kicked in. This awful trend was started by Sam Hunt and it hasn’t worked for anybody else (save for Luke Bryan who could sing the phone book and people would buy it). I have no clue why artists are still doing this.
September 21, 2015 @ 12:20 pm
Can’t say I’m all that surprised here, frankly.
Lest we forget, two of three singles from his debut album were weak tracks that kept “Eric Paslay” from being an outstanding debut album as opposed to the damn solid one it is. “Friday Night” made my ears bleed as to how frickin’ loud the production is and how shouty Paslay’s vocals are, while “Song About A Girl” is also mostly loud, shouty and is a pitiful attempt at subverting bro-country stereotypes yet………………well……………..basically rattling them off like you wouldn’t even notice. Thus, he has already proven he is capable of both delivering home runs as well as strike-outs.
“High Class” happens to be a strike-out.
*
One thing I will compliment about “High Class” is its use of, albeit non-country, eccentric instrumentation.
No, really, don”™t mistake what I”™m saying with the production (which I”™ll get to). The instrumentation is actually pretty neat here: from the liberal use of slide guitar that drives the melody line, to the rattling of tambourine that accentuates the otherwise stiff percussion, to the trombones that spice up the chorus”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦they actually had an idea that exhibited true potential with the instrumental track.
But that leads us right into the production: which just stifles all these contributions. The percussion is absolutely stiff and distracting, where it tries so desperately to pass off as organic with a hand-clap like cadence but instead sounds jarring in the mix. And as much as the brass ensemble do their level best to liven up the chorus, it nonetheless comes across mostly as another generic wall-of-sound chorus with an uninspired paint-by-numbers style. It”™s like the equivalent of renovating a local Church”™s or Popeye”™s fast-food chicken franchise to where it looks like a gourmet dining experience. It may have stylish packaging, but it”™s the same old MSG and other questionable ingredients.
And that vocal production”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦.oh, it”™s painful. “I Can Drink To That All Night” was the first track that popped in my head for comparison. Obviously Paslay”™s producers don”™t abuse the Auto-Tune quite the same way here, but make no mistake: they still abuse it. Paslay”™s vocals sound too tinny throughout the verses, then Paslay strains for unnecessary shouting highs in the chorus: which he just doesn”™t do well. But the worst part with regards to Paslay”™s vocal performance resides in the bridge: beginning with an embarrassing attempt at aping Justin Timberlake or Nick Jonas in emulating their suave hip-hop informed vocal registers to no avail (the cover photography of “High Class” is obviously desperately trying to Xerox Justin Timberlake”™s image), and then following up with the cringe-worthy “Ha ha, ha!” interjection at the 2:29 mark. =X
*
Finally”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦those lyrics.
Uh no, Paislay! You don”™t move like Timberlake! We ain”™t gonna cadi-up-any-lac here! And what”™s the point of wearing shades all night indoors? (Unless, of course, you”™re like Eric Church and have sensitive eyes to light! 😉 )
This is yet another EDM carpe-diem ditty masquerading onto country radio. But here”™s the thing: it not only fails miserably as a country song, but also an EDM song. I love my share of EDM just as I do country, and this also fails as a potent EDM song in that it lacks a propulsive melody as well as a cathartic beat. And it obviously fails as a poor man”™s Timberlake song as well because”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦let”™s face it”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦Paislay does not have the stage presence and charisma of Timberlake and never will, and his producer lacks the ear for opulence and spaciousness of Timbaland.
*
In the end, this is being spared from the ultra-dubious 0/10 distinction: only because I genuinely think it at least offers some worthwhile ideas with the instrumentation that kind of work.
But make no mistake: this is NOT good at all, and I can only hope”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦.much like “Friday Night” and “Song About A Girl” proved to be the outliers of his debut album”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦.that “High Class” will be the outlier of an otherwise compelling sophomore Paslay album.
As a country song, this fails obviously on all counts. As a song in its own right, I”™m thinking a Light To Decent 2 out of 10 here (really only because of the instrumentation).
*
September 21, 2015 @ 12:25 pm
I listen to George Strait’s 50 #1 hits last night and it was good quality country music than listen to this crap on so-called country radio.
September 21, 2015 @ 12:40 pm
I’m not shocked. For one, while “She Don’t Love You” is a truly great song, it was also about the only standout song on that entire first album. The rest were pretty much middle-of-the-road, generic modern Country pop songs.
This is obviously awful, but I can’t say I’m shocked or even disheartened by Paslay doing this. Like I said, dude has ONE good song on his album.
I was much more pissed off when David Nail shifted to quasi-bro country with his last album and current single. Hopefully Jon Pardi resists going down this road because he is really one of the few remaining young artists who has a ton of potential.
September 21, 2015 @ 1:59 pm
Must they always look like douches?
September 21, 2015 @ 3:16 pm
Just a quick question. Does anyone know of any stations on the radio that play Americana only?
September 21, 2015 @ 3:33 pm
I feel like my ears just stepped on a burning bag of dog crap.
Nashville is dead folks. I don’t think it can recover from the run of the last five or six years.
September 21, 2015 @ 4:06 pm
Mainstream Country music won’t recover/is truly dead. I try to hold back on the Nashville is dead thing though, just because so many of the still great Country and/or Americana artists live and record in Nashville.
But yeah, mainstream Country music is pretty much dead. Only way I see it coming back is if the genre just collapses in on itself and the big money decide to move onto the next genre they want to suck the life out of.
September 21, 2015 @ 4:05 pm
The amazing and unavoidable conclusion with ALL of the people ( artists, producers, labels ,writers etc.. ) behind these releases is that NO ONE knows a good song from a bad song and so the only recourse they seem to have is to keep throwing shit at the wall and crossing their fingers it sticks . THIS is a sad and unnecessary circumstance with so many incredibly gifted and proven writers and producers sitting on the sidelines . There IS a solution but NO ONE seems the least bit interested . I think attitude and ego has gotten in the way of clear thinking and expertise . These times should be the BEST times musically with so many people able to be involved due to the low cost of affordable technology , the raft of experience , teachers , guidance , track records etc… . And yet it has turned out to be the WORST musical era ever . Quite an interesting state of affairs .
September 21, 2015 @ 5:32 pm
Here’s a question for you, Albert. How much do you think that the current state of country music has to do with the Great Recession, which regular (middle-class and poor) people still haven’t recovered from yet in the US? I have heard that during the Depression, music was generally light, upbeat, and lacking in substance, and I wonder if you could confirm whether or not that was the case.
September 21, 2015 @ 6:38 pm
How old do you think Albert is?
Personally I don’t think the recession has had much to do with the change in country music I just think a whole bunch of factors all converged to make it happen. Start with the death of rock radio which disenfranchised a large number of mostly young males who flocked to Aldean and the like and with this came a whole bunch of radio and label people that were suddenly in need of a job so of course they go country and bring their pop/rock tastes with them and have zero equity in the traditions of country music so that makes it pretty easy to buy into FGL and Sam Hunt. And then throw in the fact that so many younger musicians were raised on a much wider variety of musical styles and seem to not have any interest in respecting musical genres.
Could probably name a few more reasons also like the utter dominance of two radio conglomerates and the loss of the local radio programmer to the regional or national guy programming dozens of stations at once hence the loss of any local flavor to the music played on the radio.
September 21, 2015 @ 7:01 pm
I doubt that the radio conglomeration was the major factor behind bro-country, since that effect was already fully in place by the early 00s. On the other hand, the rock radio to Aldean shift is absolutely one of the factors that led to a grassroots movement toward a rap/hard-rock style of “country” music. Still, the suddenness of the bro-country onset is something that I still find surprising.
As for Albert: based on his comments, he is an early Boomer (born around 1952). That would mean that he likely had parents who had clear memories of the Depression. In addition, he is a music teacher who has done some research on jazz, and of course the Depression was the height of the Jazz Era.
September 21, 2015 @ 7:17 pm
The one thing that did happen because of the recession was the big radio conglomerates like Clear Channel (as it was then known) suffered huge losses and they underwent massive cuts and in those cuts were the local radio people that used to make individual markets unique. Now we get much more syndicated stuff like Billy Bones and the like whereas before the recession even though these big companies existed they allowed more local control of their individual stations.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:03 pm
My thoughts: The Depression Era may have had some upbeat music, if records by Uncle Dave Macon or the Skillet Lickers is any indication, that’s the gospel truth. BUT the musicians who came OUT of the depression were the storytellers. Haggard, Jones, Stringbean, these were the people who EXPERIENCED adversity, and negative things in life. The great recession wasn’t even a drop compared to the ocean that was the depression, and I don’t think we should really even make that a factor. the factor is that all these pretty boy-band dropouts had money and education out the wazoo, they literally only know fun, and the most serious thing in their life is a breakup… I mean the fanbrats will tell me about Brian’s dad in the heli wreck or Luke’s family, but really, that isn’t bagels compared to dying of cancer, frostbite, starvation, or living with hobos and fighting over a moldy crust.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:07 pm
Yes, but Haggard and Jones were born during the Depression. It is no coincidence that the Golden Age of country music took place in the 60s and 70s, when the genre was dominated by the Silent Generation. Hopefully, the generation being born today will have the same effect on country music 3 or 4 decades down the line. My question, though, was more about the style of music that was popular during the Depression itself.
September 22, 2015 @ 8:08 pm
Depression ? …Great Recession ? I’m 60 ….not 90 ….!
Here’s what I think . The country music marketing demographic (” And then throw in the fact that so many younger musicians were raised on a much wider variety of musical styles and seem to not have any interest in respecting musical genres.” ) is a demographic that is growing up with a constant barrage of sights , sounds , games , viewing and music options , current events from every corner of the world , social mores changing faster than they can process them, information, infromation and more information . They are addicted to cell phones and internet access ( yes …’ addicted ‘ is the accepted and correct term . PLEASE don’t ask me to cite research studies Eric . Ok …here’s the results of one study . University professors were questioned about the effects of cell phones-texting – internet access by students. They were almost unanimous in their response. It was increasingly harder to maintain attention and interest of students . They decided that the students NEEDED their cell phone / text ‘ fix’ to keep their anxiety at bay in lectures …it was glaringly obvious that after about 20 minutes , interest waned dramatically . The compromise was to allow students 5 minutes of texting on the half hour , or something similar , in exchange for turning the phones off completely while the profs lectured . They realized that they were fighting a losing battle …a battle with an addiction that was more powerful than anything the profs could fight it with . They give the students their ‘fix’ at regular intervals and report that its easier to maintain attention over a maximum 30 minutes because of this ….but I digress bigtime ) This ‘ generation / demographic does not have the attention spans people once did. They don’t completely understand or can’t completely process things previous generations did . More noteable ,I think , is that they don’t realize this and , consequently , things do not have as much meaning …profound or otherwise . This includes the arts and , in particular , music . I don’t believe that most people in this new country demographic even see and ‘ issue’ with things at all . Because they don’t need to or want to . They are ready for the next thing and able to adapt to it more readily . This is a great thing in these times …adaptability to an increasing rate of change .. Unfortunately , for many if not most , it means forsaking a deep knowledge or interest in meaningful artistic endeavors by themselves or others.
I have several piano teacher friends …one with an academy and 15 teachers under her. She tells me that enrollment is WAY down and has been going that way for a number of years. Her take is that kids have too much on their plates and are not interested in committing to the effort required to succeed musically .
I think kids are bombarded with ” stuff ” and just can’t find a way to emotionally invest in things the way previous generations may have . They are tougher , hardened , less empathetic , overall , and are basically in survival mode at a younger age in terms of thinking about a livelihood and being able to afford all of the things society tells them they NEED to be able to afford. I think that music has become wallpaper to all the other stuff they are trying to keep pace with and as such they have little concern over whether country is really “COUNTRY” , whether Sam Hunt is a good songwriter or not , etc. Ok …my time’s up and I’m going to get clocked by the Ramble Police if I continue .Bottom line ….they are far more accepting of anything and are duped more readily because of that.
September 22, 2015 @ 10:22 pm
Look, I know that you disdain the younger generations. I have no intention of rehashing this topic. I know for a fact that older generations made similar claims about over-reliance on technology, lack of focus, cultural dysfunction, criminality, etc. about your generation. The only difference was that members of your generation started their careers in a time of abundant middle-class jobs, whereas the current young generation is much more like the World War II Generation was, from an economic perspective.
Going back to the my original question: why was there a sudden transition in country music around 2011? Up through that year, the sonic style stayed thoroughly melodic (despite the fact that the country instruments had largely been replaced by rock guitar) and the lyrics were grounded in storytelling and deep emotions. What phenomenon gave sudden rise to the beat-based, unmelodic, shallow-lyrics style of country?
September 23, 2015 @ 7:08 pm
I think technology has something to with that… Consider this: I got high speed internet in 2009, only two years earlier… Before that time I had to go to the record store and individually buy what I wanted, sometimes without a test listen… You know what that made me do? It made me consider my music buying more heavily… I couldn’t get a 99 cent song, I had to pay thirteen to twenty bucks for ten of them, quality mattered because it was expensive… Then Mr. “Let’s rip-off Wozniak” Jobs comes along and makes music a one dollar one song type of bullcrap with his magic little pocket device and then quality stopped mattering to so many people because it was so affordable it didn’t even matter if they liked it they could delete it and get another one, and they could only get the songs they liked and never have to listen to an album…
I had maybe fifteen CD’s in 2009, because they were the only ones I liked, and I didn’t have access or patience or money enough to try finding new music like I do now, so I listened to the radio, I found great songs from Trent Tomlinson, Steve Holy, the virtually unknown Dierks Bentley, and the most gorgeous song in almost ever by Kenny Chesney “Who You’d Be Today.” I don’t need radio anymore, nobody does! Now I have hundreds of CDs and probably as many tapes! Quality doesn’t matter if it’s cheap! (point I’ve been trying to make this whole time) That’s why nobody complains that McDonalds is greasy and gross!
September 24, 2015 @ 7:01 pm
iTunes began in 2004, long before bro-country. What changed around 2011 that affected country music so drastically?
September 21, 2015 @ 4:11 pm
Tonight we high class with some high class grammar. And uh DJ… LOL! We have strayed so uh take me home country roads cause I entered some weird discotheque in Kansas I think.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:29 pm
I think bro-country is the music of high school douchebags whose only concern is partying, drinking Fireball and picking up random semi-drunk chicks.
This new metro-bro is the music of when said douchebags go to college at an SEC school and join a fraternity. They now where suits and sunglasses on campus to impress the ladies on nights when their frat is having a party. They now think of themselves as “men” with “swagger” and “class.”
They have traded in their dirty high school football T shirt for a pastel colored Southern Tide T shirt that cost $40. They occasionally splurge (and by this I mean spend their parents money) on Grey Goose because they have “class.”
They never realized how sexy they were until sorority girls started throwing themselves at them because they like the letters on their shirts. In their eyes, they are as irresistible as Justin Timberlake.
And thus, we have metro-bro. Because all bros must eventually join a fraternity.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:38 pm
Interesting theory. The continuity in the lyrical style is probably the best proof that metro-bro is just a spin-off from bro-country.
The real destruction of country music happened with the rise of bro-country, as it represented a fundamental lyrical, musical, and therefore demographic shift in the genre.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:41 pm
As long as we’re talking about sell-outs, I’m disappointed with Joe Nichols’ latest album.
September 21, 2015 @ 5:44 pm
Simply terrible song.
In his zeal to sell out his fans, Paslay apparently forgot the English language:
“Tonight we high class.”
I’ll buy a verb for $100, Alex…
September 21, 2015 @ 6:38 pm
These guys need to listen to something REAL with GREAT vocal performances and songs that cover all the bases . Songs that are superbly crafted lyrically , songs that are fun , provocative , emotionally charged, instrumentally dynamic with a sonic palette they didn’t know existed ,songs with real instruments played by REAL players and produced by a guy who LISTENS to what his artists want and delivers on THEIR vision ( …yes ..its also good to HAVE a vision if you are going to call yourself an artist )
If these bro boys were serious about the above , they only need to START HERE with the new album by Maddie and Tae . This thing is a clinic in how to incorporate the right amount of everything and still totally keep it country . Easily one of ( if not THE) best commercial radio releases ( along with Pageant Material ) I’ve heard in a long while and the more I listen the more I stand behind that . These young ladies NAILED it top to bottom with this record and man , if THIS doesn’t encourage REAL country music fans in these times nothing will.These girls are doing it THEIR way and their way is working when it comes to saving country music on the airwaves
September 21, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
What is it with this tux/suit crap? Just two years ago it was all “country boy” this and “blue collar” that. Fuck these trend chasing, spineless assholes.
September 21, 2015 @ 6:48 pm
Not just a suit but then throw in the generic black baseball cap. What kind of an idiot wears a baseball cap with a suit?
September 21, 2015 @ 6:44 pm
Oh yeah and BTW …what a huge turd of a tune ( and I use the word ” tune ” loosely ) this Pasley shit is . There’s gotta be 100’s of these stupid , generic , thoughtless crap-piles floating in the sea of Bro-lution the industry has helped create and every one has , no doubt , been rejected 50 times over . What a waste of the world’s time .
September 21, 2015 @ 7:38 pm
Speaking of crap Luke Bryan “Strip it down” just hit #1 on Hot Country Songs chart.
September 21, 2015 @ 7:54 pm
Believe it or not, I’m actually conflicted in my view of “Strip It Down”. The lyrics are dumb just like his other hits, but the music is quite melodic and soothing.
September 21, 2015 @ 8:17 pm
Oh great.
September 21, 2015 @ 9:14 pm
Eric Paslay?? Good heavens. How many men with the namePaisley/Paslay does Country music need? It reminds me of the late 90s when there started to be an inordinate amount of men named Tracy or derivative thereof (Trace). I suppose we’ll have a Tracy Pasley next up with the “Watermelon High Class Badonkadonk Crawl”
September 22, 2015 @ 8:52 am
very funny and creative
September 21, 2015 @ 11:17 pm
Escalade these what? Cattle up this lac? He’s not referring to women as cattle is he? I want to think it’s Caddy but it sounds like cattle and Jesse Frasure is a writer.
Another act tossed into the monogenre blender resulting in another overproduced, synthesized, generic, cheesy, fake pop mess worse than anything in real pop. Another dude with a mindless pop party song because radio doesn’t have any of those. Paslay wasn’t distinct before and sounded like any other mediocre singer with a mediocre boring album. High Class makes him completely indistinguishable. If you’ve never heard this song and it came on the radio how could anyone know who it is? Jason Aldean thinks this sounds different from Syn Thesizer? Drum Loop? Thomas Rhett? Brett Eldredge? High Class is the opposite of what country music is and represents, the opposite of Friends In Low Places and every country song. More posing.
Tonight we high class and this song sucks bass.
September 22, 2015 @ 5:22 am
Yuck. “She Don’t Love You” was such a good song…this kinda breaks my heart. Greed poisons everything.
September 22, 2015 @ 9:32 am
Song fails for “Cadi up this lac” all by itself. To be honest I thought “She Don’t Love You” was kinda meh, but it was miles ahead of this for sure.
Colbert Goes Big on Country Guests; McGraw, Strait Songwriting Credits; Paslay and Rhett Get Panned | Country California
September 22, 2015 @ 10:01 am
[…] Country Music rated the Eric Paslay single “High Class” 0 out of 10, writing: “This whole Metro-Bro mess is like the zombie apocalypse of country music, sparing not a single […]
September 22, 2015 @ 3:43 pm
Eric has I good song which was his last single “She doesn’t love you”.
September 22, 2015 @ 3:44 pm
I hope his has better songs in the future. carry on
September 23, 2015 @ 10:56 am
In first seeing Eric Paslay around town at songwriters rounds and showcases, I had great hope that he, along with Chris Stapelton, was the type that could bring a lot more depth to the genre and help get it out of this horrific cycle it’s been in. This song choice clearly shows the labels power in changing a potentially influential artist into someone who must have to follow along in order to play at that level nowadays.
September 28, 2015 @ 11:56 pm
Lyric video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5mXuZxCv7Q
Note the women shown as “CATTLE UP THIS ‘LAC” is displayed. So as I suspected, he is referring to women as cattle. My God, that’s worse than just about every other bro-country lyric objectifying and degrading women. The whole video shows how stuck in the past today’s bro-“country” and metro-bro is.
July 5, 2016 @ 6:54 pm
Sorry,sort of, i like this song, if you saw me move to it, it might strike you different! I want to go “HIGH CLASS”