Kenny Chesney’s “The Big Revival” is a Big Letdown
All we’ve been hearing from Kenny Chesney in the run up to the release of his new album The Big Revival is how badass it is going to be because he took an entire year off of touring to focus on it, at one point scrapped an entirely completed album awash in beer and tailgate songs to make it, and did some serious soul searching about the direction he wanted his four-time CMA Entertainer of the Year-winning career to go before carefully selecting songs and getting into the studio to really craft an album that would have a paramount impact on country music and Kenny’s career arc. And what do we get after all of this hype? A straight ahead rock album and songs about beer can chicken. Apologies to Mr. Chesney and the No Shoes Nation, but I’m not feeling this one.
“It’s everything I wanted to feel when I decided to back away, but that all had to start with the music,” Kenny Chesney told The Tennessean recently. “I had to protect that investment with the fans and this wonderful connection that we have. I think (time off) really allowed me to make a record with a clear head, with a new energy, with a sense of grabbing my audience by the hand and bringing them along with me to places I wanted them to go.”
Producer Buddy Cannon explains, “He called me up and he said ”¦ ‘This isn’t the record I want,'” speaking about the album they threw on the trash heap supposedly. “Red dirt, tailgates, he didn’t want to do it. He and I both love great songs, and they are hard to find…”
This all sounded so promising, like we had something really huge in store; the “big revival” of Kenny Chesney’s career. And the album starts out somewhat interesting with the title track. It’s not particularly special, but it’s just weird enough with its snake preacher setting to get you intrigued at what might be forthcoming like a good opening song should do. From there however you get one song after another that is simply a refugee from the implosion of mainstream rock radio. Similar to Eric Church’s The Outsiders, The Big Revival is a rock album through and through, but at least Eric had some boldness and a few good songs mixed in. There may be some acoustic moments you could stretch to call country, but overall The Big Revival is right out of the arena rock playbook.
In fact there’s a song on the album called “Rock Bottom,” and it speaks specifically to being in a dour mood and purposely skipping country albums because apparently they’re not the “good stuff” to instead find your emotional respite in AC/DC riffs.
I tried to hang but the Hank wasn’t tough enough Couldn’t twang the pain with the Flatt & Scruggs I had to keep on drinkin’, keep on sinkin’ down down down to the good stuff ‘Til I hit rock bottom… This old hillbilly playing Stardust Willie ain’t even getting off the ground Tried to hang with the Hag but I had to stop Got shot with the J. Cash needle drop I couldn’t Walk The Line, so I just kept shinin’ down down down ‘Til I hit rock bottom…Yes ladies and gentlemen, I think this is a new low for country, where you have a country star name dropping past legends to then turn around and say their music isn’t as effective as screaming Marshall stacks. They aren’t “the good stuff.”
I just kept waiting for that one song that would show me what Chesney was talking about by grabbing the audience by the hand with great songs. Somewhere I expected to run into some emotional love ballad at least that would afford something a little deeper to latch on to, but the closest thing we get is an ode to Chesney’s tour bus in “If This Bus Could Talk,” which is actually one of the better songs on the album. Another much ballyhooed point of marketing emphasis for The Big Revival was the song “Wild Child,” which Chesney presented as a polar opposite to the objectifying songs of Bro-Country.
“In the last several years, a lot of the songs about women have been written in kind of an objectifying way,” Chesney told radio.com. “‘Wild Child’ is telling some girl out there that’s got dreams, that’s a free spirit, who’s smart and interesting, that she has a chance. That she is worthy.”
What a load of garbage that is. This is Kenney Chesney trying to throw his hat in the ring in this whole anti Bro-Country realm, but this isn’t Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song.” This isn’t even Brad Paisley’s “Shattered Glass.” This is a song about some loose groupie being passed from tour van to tour van that Chesney’s trying to tout as inspiration for female self-worth and free spirited-ness because he thinks it’s expedient and will woo critics. “She’s Penny Lane in a Chevy van. She loves to love,” the lyrics say. The song actually presents an interesting female character and is kind of fun, but talk about an oversold misnomer.
“Drink It Up” and “Save It For A Rainy Day” are just fatuous drinking songs at their core. “American Kids” is an audio curiosity shoved down the throats of America so hard is sprouted a hit single, and “Flora-Bama” is a boring account of someone sitting in a tourist trap and describing what they see.
The song “Don’t It” does have a little something, but the presence of a cajón threw off the grit the song tries to convey, and “If This Bus Could Talk” as mentioned before is not half bad. And it must be said that there’s no rapping here, no Bro-Country in the stereotypical sense at least, and no EDM intros to songs like what pervades the mainstream these days. But should we be handing out brownie points for things that a few years ago we would have never dreamed of hearing in country anyway? The appearance of steel guitar, banjo, and fiddle on this album is somewhere between anemic and non existent.
In what feels like a period where country music is trying to improve its image and depth, and especially with all the rhetoric ahead of this album’s release, The Big Revival comes across as a big letdown, despite what some critics who get swept up in the marketing might say. Though maybe the joke’s on us for ever believing this album had a chance in the first place.
1 1/2 of 2 guns Down.
September 25, 2014 @ 9:26 am
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the title track, which focused on snake handling in church and the tone with which Kenny Chesney takes it, which could easily be seen as glorification (which is a little unsettling in its own right).
Otherwise, you’re right on the money, Trigger. I wouldn’t quite say it’s a total bust, mostly along the lines of the songs you pointed out, but yeah, I’m not feeling it either: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYqRAmOcYRU
September 25, 2014 @ 10:20 am
I didn’t really delve to deep into it, but I did mention it.
“And the album starts out somewhat interesting with the title track. It”™s not particularly special, but it”™s just weird enough with its snake preacher setting to get you intrigued at what might be forthcoming like a good opening song should do.”
I don’t know if I would characterize it as “glorification.” It just felt more out of place than anything, especially by the end of the album.
September 25, 2014 @ 8:06 pm
It would be more interesting if Montgomery Gentry hadn’t done it better six years ago as the lead track on “Back When I Knew It All”.
September 28, 2014 @ 1:51 pm
I actually really like the song but that’s because John Anderson, Joanna Cotten, and Montgomery Gentry all did great versions of it. When I heard Kenny Chesney of all people was covering it I knew it wasn’t going to live up to the other versions. They all had the attitude needed to sing it, Kenny sounds lifeless in comparison.
September 25, 2014 @ 9:29 am
The lyrics to Rock Bottom are downright disrespectful, if not offensive. Kenny should offer a public apology to the legends and their fans he insulted.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:18 pm
It strikes me that the lyrics of “Rock Bottom” are precisely the inverse of “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” by Alan Jackson.
“Dont rock the jukebox, I wanna hear some Jones
Cause my heart ain’t ready for the Rolling Stones
I dont feel like rocking since my baby’s gone
So dont rock the jukebox, play me a country song!”
September 25, 2014 @ 6:53 pm
I thought about Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound.
“Play me some songs about a ramblin man
Put a cold one in my hand
Cause you know I love to hear those guitar sounds
Don’t you play, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Cause I’ll get all balled up inside
And I’ll get whiskey bent and hell bound”
September 25, 2014 @ 10:03 am
Eh, it’s Kenny Chesney. As I’ve said before, this guy single-handedly killed beach music for me. However, I was (like everyone else) slightly intrigued by the rhetoric Kenny was spewing before release date. Another thing I found interesting is that the title track is the same song that’s been covered by Montgomery Gentry, Joanna Cotten and originated with John Anderson in 2000. I thought Kenny’s “Big Revival” tune would be different given the cover art, but I guess I was wrong.
Also, given that they share a release date, are we getting a Big & Rich review, Trigger? Their album was mostly overshadowed by Kenny’s.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:23 am
This Tuesday was arguably the biggest release date all year. I’ve been doing an album review a day trying to cover all the releases, and that doesn’t count the releases I’m already running behind on from earlier in the year. I’m sure Big & Rich will get their turn here soon.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:29 am
I had noticed that you’ve kicked the reviews into overdrive as of late. Sorry if you’re running yourself ragged, but it’s nice to get so many at one time 🙂
September 26, 2014 @ 12:44 pm
I wasn’t impressed enough by “American Kids” to spend time listening to the album. Instead, I’m spending my time this weekend writing a review of the new Josh Abbott Band EP.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:07 am
Three thoughts on Rock Bottom:
First, the ‘kick kick kick drum’ in the course reminded me of the looped ‘red red red redneck’ from Shelton’s Boy Round Here. That was all she wrote for me. I never what to listen to any of that schlock again.
Second, it should come as no surprise that country music doesn’t work for Chesney because, well, he is not country. At all.
Third, Rock Bottom can’t hold a candle to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ee83r9bdQ4
It actually makes you feel something…
September 25, 2014 @ 10:15 am
When has Chesney been country? He has always been a mix of bad Buffett, over played Brooks, and the father to ” bro-country”. He is not a great singer, rarely writes any of his songs, and his tours are all about partying. Only one song he put out in the last decade has been of value- ” You and Tequila”- which Grace Potter- a rock singer- helped showcase. No Chesney is no country singer. He can’t even produce a good country record with Willie. He is just a 46 year old man whose touring fame has long ago overshadowed his limited talent. At least his friend, Tim McGraw, really tried to make a good album. Chesney has always been at the mercy of his greed, his hidden demons, and his limited knowledge of how to connect with adult emotions and stories. Maybe he should stop touring to grow up. You can’t live in a Cancun state of mind forever. And if his concerts are any indication his fans can’t live in that mind set without leaving a mess. That’s what happens when you party with children.
September 25, 2014 @ 11:39 am
Kenny’s first two albums “In My Wildest Dreams” (1994) and “All I Need To Know” (1995) are surprisingly good and surprisingly country. Seek out songs such as “Fall In Love” (his first hit from 1995) and you’ll be surprised how much twang he had in his voice back then.
“Fall In Love” (1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UeDK_HTP8Q
September 25, 2014 @ 7:09 pm
“I Will Stand” was a pretty good album too in my opinion. He put a very good acoustic version of “When I Close My Eyes” on that one. Another good track from that album is “From Hillbilly Heaven to Honkytonk Hell”. It was a collaboration with Tracy Lawrence and George Jones.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:14 pm
Good observation about “You and Tequila.” That’s the only Kenny Chesney song I’ve heard in the last decade that struck me as being decent.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:41 pm
Here’s another good one, from about a couple years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2HpOr8dmbU
September 26, 2014 @ 7:12 am
I’ve always loved “Better As a Memory.” It’s one of my favorite country songs to have reached #1 in the last 7 or so years.
Singles like “You Save Me,” “Don’t Blink” and Down the Road” have also impressed me and became big hits. Plus he usually has some good album cuts. “Somebody Take Me Home” and “When I Think About Leaving” are both great cuts from a couple albums ago. I guess I’m more of a Chesney fan than most people on this blog.
September 29, 2014 @ 2:38 pm
As far as “Somebody Take Me Home”, all Kenny Chesney did was shit on a great Randy Rogers song.
September 25, 2014 @ 8:08 pm
He was very much country pre-2000. In fact, his first Greatest Hits album is a pretty good point to split his career between the country stuff and the stadium rock/Buffett wannabe stuff.
September 27, 2014 @ 6:59 pm
Good one. You’ve written what I’ve been thinking in the back of my mind for years and years. It never really added up anyway.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:16 am
I didn’t get as angry listening to this as you Trigger, but I just thought it was a boring and vanilla album, especially the songwriting. I expected better, but not a great album. And really he had nowhere to go but up after that abomination of an album in Life On A Rock. He also got away from the beach at least. It was just a really forgettable album with two good songs.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:52 am
How can you say that’s not country when he CLEARLY names SEVERAL country singers AND uses the work “hick” several times?
September 25, 2014 @ 11:40 am
that means nothing if he’s basically insulting them
September 25, 2014 @ 9:46 pm
I think you missed my sarcasm there mystery stu… 😀
September 25, 2014 @ 11:18 am
The careers of Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith are quite similar. Both were pretty great artists until 1999, when each had singles that boosted their popularity while setting the trajectory of their future singles: “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” and “How Do You Like Me Now?!”. In some ways, Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith were proto-Bro-Country, where most of their post-1999 releases revolve around partying, drinking, and women. Their factory-type output smacks of the Bro-Country Machine that finally reached critical mass this year. After 14 years of simmering in the Bro-Country Crock-Pot, Kenny and Toby will need a major change of winds to become standout artists again.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:04 pm
While that’s a fair assessment, I think you’re selling Toby a bit short. I think a lot of his best material came after 1999. For instance, “Beer For My Horses”, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” (which despite being overly jingoistic I enjoy), “American Soldier”, “I Love This Bar”, “American Ride”, “Bullets in the Gun” and particularly “As Good As I Once Was”, which is probably one of my favorite songs from last decade.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:23 pm
You are definitely correct that Toby Keith has had some good singles since 1999. “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” and “American Soldier” encouraged many people in the aftermath of 9/11, and both “Beer for My Horses” and “Bullets in the Gun” have vibrant storytelling that’s missing in modern country music. “American Ride” is a humorous, accurate commentary on the health of the US, and he does connect with listeners through humor with songs such as “I Love This Bar” and “As Good As I Once Was”. Toby’s music videos, both pre- and post-1999, also tend to be great, and they accurately recreate the feelings and environments of his songs (i.e., no lazy concert-style videos, usually!). It’s just sad that he can be such a hit-and-miss artist. He’s capable of music with substance, but he seems to take the lazy way out.
September 25, 2014 @ 4:38 pm
Bullets in the Gun is a good song because it was stolen from Robert Earl Keen’s The Road Goes On Forever.
September 25, 2014 @ 4:44 pm
I much prefer Charlie Robison’s version. However, I’ve always been partial to Chesney’s “Demons:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKe-btbUSBI.
September 25, 2014 @ 11:30 am
Kenny Chesney is a classic case of that country cutter who has a knack for selecting great songs (Anything but Mine, Somewhere With You–my two favorites) every now and then, but otherwise loads his albums up with upbeat filler, some of which finds radio and stays forever (if I hear Pirate Flag one more time, I might just threaten my local stations). Unfortunately for me, my AM Country Heaven stations are overrun by certain things that make it hard to listen to them, 24/7. One forces Christian rhetoric down my throat (I don’t need to hear that shit all the time. Nobody does), not to mention it’s primary daytime DJ is rermarkably misogynist. The other is essentially an Ag and Sports channel that plays Classic Country in between talk and sports broadcasts. Anyway, I’m stuck with a lot of mainstream country stations or sports talk radio, which I mostly listen to. Most of Chesney’s songs are either instantly forgettable or remarkably irritating. Why he can’t release more songs like “The Good Stuff” or “Don’t Blink” or even “Come Over,” I’ll never know. As some have mentioned, most of his pre-TractorSexy material was very solid, but we don’t hear a lot of that, anymore.
September 25, 2014 @ 11:38 am
Dang Trig, I know you feel a duty to review these big name albums, but I hate to see you waste your time on them, unless they ever become worth listening to again. Personally, I wish you’d just do rants for all these albums, and skip the reviews.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:06 pm
Yeah. Why bother offering anything resembling wholesome criticism or thoughtful journalistic contributions when we can just bitch about everything in the mainstream that varying degrees of people don’t like? Sounds good.
September 26, 2014 @ 8:50 am
Oh yes, how on earth would I ever be able to fathom your employment of adolescent wit and desperate insults? We all know that God sent you forth to proclaim what real country music is, but He apparently forgot to give you the proper means to do so. As such, we’re left with someone who thinks whining, vulgarities and bullying those that don’t share your opinions is the proper way to save country music. You’re a discredit to this site and your own cause. Why would anyone ever listen to you if all you can do is lash out at others and complain because things aren’t going your way?
(On that note, it seems your original response to me has been deleted. Gee, I wonder why?)
September 26, 2014 @ 10:31 am
Desperate insults? Aww A/D, don’t cry little buddy. That comment was meant to be a humorous dig at your love for all things Big & Rich, not a “desperate insult”. I can’t believe the Trigmeister censored that one. You spoke to me first when you went off about a comment that wasn’t even directed at you.
And no, it wasn’t God that sent me. It was actually the ghost of Roy Acuff. He woke me up in the middle of the night 7 years ago and told me that I was the only one left that really knew what Country music sounded like, and that I had to take up this mission. And yes, I have at times felt compelled to implore whining and vulgarities along the way; desperate times call for desperate measures. I am offended however, that you’d accuse me of bullying A/D. I’m the one who GETS bullied on here.
I’m an asset to this site. On a site called Saving Country Music, where probably fifty percent of the commenters are pseudo-intellectual hipsters like you, I’m one of the few on here that grew up on Country music, and has listened to it all his life. I have almost an encyclopedic knowledge of Country music history. If anyone is a discredit to this site, it’s you and your kind. Those who came of age after Country music was already dead, and thus have an extremely skewed view of what should be called Country. Having said that, I agree with your opinions on occasion.
September 26, 2014 @ 11:03 am
Yes, YOU get bullied. That’s cute. Could it be because, I don’t know, you’re openly antagonistic to everything and everyone that you don’t agree with? And that you look down your nose at those same people? For instance, I’m a pseudo-intellectual hipster? Is that what they call using philosophy and facts to ground your opinions now? I hate hipsters, which is probably why you called me one. I’ve made no secret of that in my comments. Consider us even on the offended part. You’re apparently a professional victim that lacks enough self-awareness to fathom that it’s your own behavior that causes you to be reviled around here. And yes, I did talk to you, just as you’ve called me out before on other articles. The only difference is that I think bitching about what Trigger reports about and how he chooses to do it is a cancer to this site. I’m not saying don’t complain; I myself have done so many times in the past. But you, you’re never satisfied. If it’s not synonymous with your elitist country music opinions you complain (which, if you haven’t noticed, is pretty much every time you comment).
So you think you’re a victim? So you think you have knowledge that others lack and aren’t appreciated for it? So you don’t like the way Trigger governs his own damn site? Quit bitching and go somewhere else, then. Aww, you grew up with country music? So did I and probably 95% of the rest of us here. But apparently you and only YOU know anything and everything about this genre. It’s such a shame that your genius goes unappreciated. Side note: people like you is why we have people like Blake Shelton calling older country music fans old farts and jackasses. Perhaps instead of funneling your genius through an asshole filter, you should try applying some intellectual prowess. You might be surprised how much less you get “bullied” if you quit acting like nobody else knows what they’re talking about.
September 27, 2014 @ 6:20 am
Yes A/D, I get bullied. I have only been openly antagonistic to two commenters, and one of them was Lil Dale, so I”™m not sure that even counts. Most of the time, somebody attacks me because they disagree with my opinions, as you did, and then I respond. And there seems to be a mob mentality here, because my attackers almost always get double digit likes for their comments.
A/D, this website is called SAVING COUNTRY MUSIC. It”™s a place where Country music fans are free to give their opinions, even when those opinions differ from the author”™s. Trigger has even stated more than once that he encourages dissent. You”™re right that I disagree with Trigger more than I agree, but I can”™t help that. Yes, I am very bitter that I can”™t enjoy the radio anymore. I make no apologies for my complaints or my “bitching”. Everybody”™s got different opinions, and everybody”™s got a right to state them. If you don”™t like that, you”™re the one who needs to go somewhere else. Korea maybe.
I would like to apologize for calling you a hipster. I misspoke there. You”™re into too much pop-”country” to be a hipster. You are a pseudo-intellectual though. I actually laughed out loud when you implied that you”™re a philosopher. But, I don”™t look down my nose at you. I”™ve liked a lot of your comments. You”™re one of the last people I ever thought would accost me like this. I actually feel a little silly arguing with a petulant 20 year old kid.
What is a “professional victim”? I”™ve got plenty of self awareness. If by my “behavior”, you mean my opinions, then yes, I”™m very aware of why I”™m “reviled”. I”™m the polar opposite of “elitist”. I didn”™t decide what Country music was. That was decided long before I came around. I simply refuse to compromise by calling something Country, when it”™s not.
No A/D, I don”™t consider myself victim. I never even used that word. But yes, I unquestionably have knowledge that others lack. Whether I”™m appreciated or not is irrelevant to me. All I meant, is that this site, and the fight for Country music, needs a lot more people like me, and less people like you. You were NOT raised on Country music A/D. You were raised on bastardized pop music recorded in Nashville. Ninety-five percent is an outrageous number. If you”™d read more comments, you”™d know that over half the commenters on this site discovered Country music later in life after being raised on other kinds of music. I don”™t look down my nose at them either. I”™m glad they discovered Country music. I do feel that those people lack the deep rooted love and cultural connection that I have though. You referring to it as a “genre” is proof of that.
I couldn”™t care less why Fake Shelton said what he did. Why would I compromise my beliefs or opinions to please someone I don”™t like or respect. He”™s a sellout hack who speaks and sings with a fake drawl.
Maybe you”™re right though A/D. Maybe I should try applying some intellectual prowess, then someday I”™ll become a wise philosopher like you.
September 27, 2014 @ 11:41 am
I don’t personally think that there’s a “mob mentality” around here. I think you just say a lot of things that piss people off. However, you seem unaware as to why for some reason. Yes everyone has different opinions and has a right to state them. That said, the reason I was implying that you should quit visiting this site is because you never seem to agree at all. What is the basis for your visits if you don’t seem to get anything out of it? I visit here because I enjoy Trigger’s articles about mainstream country pop and also to find new, independent country and americana that I hadn’t previously heard of.
I’m actually sorry about accosting you as such. Really; I’ve given it some thought and it was wrong of me. Perhaps your bitterness has informed your comments and that seeps into what others read, hence the “mob”? I don’t know. Obviously this is the internet and there are more assholes than saints. Also, I wasn’t implying that I was a philosopher. I myself enjoy speculation and much speculation is based in philosophy as it is a debate of ideals more than stone cold facts. I love speculative debate. On that note, I’ll admit that I don’t know how to argue without sounding irritated and pretentious, for whatever reason. And actually, I’d say that a lot more people that are bitter and accept no compromise isn’t going to help anything for this site or country music. I try to keep an open mind; notice I haven’t been telling you what you do and don’t know, I’ve just been sarcastic about what you claim to know. YOU on the other hand keep trying to tell me the extent of my own knowledge about country music just because I like an duo that you hate. Gee, forgive me if that sounds more like a butt-hurt bias than objective truth.
My grandfather whom just passed away two months ago was 96 years old. He was born in 1918. He was for and raised outside of Fordyce, Arkansas with a dirt poor family, alcoholic father and twelve siblings. He was country/southern to the core and loved his culture. He liked quite a bit of the mainstream country music that was released up until about 2007 when Taylor Swift got big. Does that mean he wasn’t raised on country music, either, by your approximation? That was the basis of my Fake Shelton comment, not the fact that you or any of the rest of us need to please him. On a side note, why is his twang “fake”? Just because his music isn’t to your liking?
Who said I was raised on “bastardized pop music recorded in Nashville”? Is liking one or two artists that you don’t personally like grounds for damning everything? I’ve admitted that I’m in my 20s, I never said I was 20 with a zero. But since you were there, do tell me what music I was raised on? On that note, since you presumably weren’t around when Hank Williams was alive, does that mean you weren’t raised on country music either? As for the “genre” designation, I call it that because that’s what it is. If I call Die Hard an action movie does that suddenly mean I have no appreciation for films? Country music is one of just two types of music that I love. I don’t care whether you think my perception of it is skewed or not; you don’t know me and I don’t know you. It’ll never mean to me what it does to you and it’ll never mean to you what it does to me. The fact that you’re discounting my opinions with straw man arguments and fallacies as opposed to facts is a discredit to your love of the music and supposedly extensive knowledge of its history.
Again, though, let’s let this go. If we don’t, Trigger will make us. Even then, I don’t want us to be enemies, but some of your comments irk me. Just a thought, but maybe if you didn’t act so bitter in your comments it wouldn’t be reciprocated by so many others? Instead of telling other people what you think they don’t know, why don’t you respect what they DO know? It’s not my fault I’m younger than you and I don’t deserve to be cast out because of it, nor anyone else. You’d almost certainly have opinions vastly different from those a generation or two before you. Does that mean you don’t know anything? But again, this is it. In the future I’ll not be so venomous if I happen to feel the need to disagree with you if you can do the same. I’m sorry that I acted this way this time.
Trigger, please don’t delete this comment. It’s my last one on this topic and my attempt at making amends.
September 25, 2014 @ 3:08 pm
How do we know if they become worth listening to again unless we give them a chance? This album is not bad enough to deserve a rant. I cover these albums to bring a measure of objectivity to the mainstream where it is severely lacking. I listen to a ton of music, and I never know what is going to hit me to review or not. Sometimes there’s albums I love but don’t know what to say about them. Sometimes there’s albums I hate but don’t know how to express it.
September 26, 2014 @ 7:58 am
You just keep right on reviewing, Trigger. I trust your ear, and you have always tried to be fair to artists and writers. Even when you think something is crapola, you still at least try to find some good in it when you can. Keep it up.
By the way, here’s a new anthem for your traditional country readers:
Play Me A Cowboy Song
Your band is good, and they”™re dancin”™ to all of those new country tunes
About parties and tailgate romancin”™, under that silvery moon
You probably think that I”™m crazy, askin”™ for songs such as these
But if my request could be granted, you”™ll bring back some sweet memories
Chorus
Cross The Brazos At Waco
The thunder of hooves on the ground
El Paso, Ghost Riders, Big Iron
Don”™t Take Your Guns To Town
I know that it”™s not what you”™re used to
But please, it won”™t take very long
And if you could do me this favor,
Play me a cowboy song
Verse
Play me a cowboy song, the stories I heard as a kid
The kind sung by Marty and Johnny, the kind that old Roy Rogers did
The ones done by Waylon and Willy, if I have to, I”™ll wait all night long
So, if you would do me a favor, play me a cowboy song
Chorus
Cross The Brazos At Waco
The thunder of hooves on the ground
El Paso, Ghost Riders, Big Iron
Don”™t Take Your Guns To Town
I know that it”™s not what you”™re used to
But please, it won”™t take very long
And if you could do me a favor,
Play me a cowboy song
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
So, play me a cowboy song
Best wishes to all. Bob.
September 26, 2014 @ 8:00 am
I didn’t say don’t listen. You’d have to listen to do rants. Unless they start recording Country music again, they definitely deserve rants, not reviews.
September 26, 2014 @ 8:58 am
Why don’t you start up your own site? It’ll probably end up looking like a YouTube comments section, but who knows? Perhaps with all of the complaining and mindless vitriol you might end up with something worth reading.
September 26, 2014 @ 10:37 am
Because I don’t know how to start a website; that’s why.
Besides that, I’m too busy going to my full time job, and making love to my smokin’ hot Spanish wife, to have time to operate a website.
September 26, 2014 @ 9:10 am
Also, to followup on your Big & Rich-tinged insult (which I originally responded to above), listen to this song and tell me it ain’t country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0L-zJNx080.
(Disregard the description in the video. I don’t think they’re the “best thing ever” in country music, I just like them).
September 26, 2014 @ 10:40 am
One Country song doesn’t make up for the rest of their horrible music.
September 26, 2014 @ 11:13 am
“Because I don”™t know how to start a website; that”™s why. Besides that, I”™m too busy going to my full time job, and making love to my smokin”™ hot Spanish wife, to have time to operate a website.”
Maybe you should figure it out. There are probably filters that could deny any pseudo-intellectuals or anyone with a different opinion from yours….. sorry….. anyone with that wants to “bully” you, from entering. So basically you’d be the only one that could garner access. On second thought, why have a website at all? You could just write your own articles on your computer, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself how right you are and how ignorant everyone else is. At least then the rest of us wouldn’t have to read it. As for your wife, good for you. Why is it that if you’re so much more knowledgeable than the rest of us ignorant types, that the only defenses for your statements that you can drum up involve some sort of sexual connotation or curse words? Has your brain communicated to your word processor that you’re as much of a genius as you are? It sure isn’t coming out that way.
“One Country song doesn”™t make up for the rest of their horrible music.”
Yes, and hearing four singles doesn’t mean you know anything about the rest of their music. Go listen to their five studio albums and seven extended plays and then your opinion might have a little weight. Be careful, though: they have certain opinions that they put across in their music so guard your ears. I’d hate for you to feel like you’re being bullied.
September 27, 2014 @ 6:18 am
You’re cracking me up A/D. I’m laughing at you, and you’re in a blind rage. If you don’t want to read my comments, then STOP READING THEM! Seriously, the next time you see my name, just keep on scrolling.
September 27, 2014 @ 7:28 am
“You”™re cracking me up A/D. I”™m laughing at you, and you”™re in a blind rage. If you don”™t want to read my comments, then STOP READING THEM! Seriously, the next time you see my name, just keep on scrolling.”
Actually I’m completely calm. Pointing out facts doesn’t tend to piss me off. I don’t particularly like talking with unfriendly people online, but that’s the nature of the beast. But you have a point about not reading comments.
September 27, 2014 @ 7:43 am
You pointed out a fact or two I guess, but mostly all you did was make a bunch of sarcastic exaggerations.
By the way, I responded to that other, longer, hate filled comment you sent me, but my response is still awaiting moderation, so you’ll probably never get to read it. That’s unfortunate.
September 27, 2014 @ 8:07 am
That’s it. No more. Either you Clint or Acca Dacca leave another comment on this thread or any other of your back and forths, and ALL OF THEM GET DELETED. Bitch about censorship all you want. People do not come here to read your back and forths. It’s over.
September 26, 2014 @ 9:15 am
I didn’t start listening to Country until the early 2000s. So, I find it helpful in understanding the history of country. It’s good to see the alternative view of these albums compared to mainstream media.
September 26, 2014 @ 9:16 am
And I find the rants less productive.
September 25, 2014 @ 4:36 pm
I’m confused about everything. He tried to hang with Hank. Then he tried to hang with the Hag, and eventually he got shot with the J. Cash needle drop? He’s 5’2″, high-and-tight with a cowboy hat on and now only rock and roll has the energy to get this guy up? I don’t know anything about him – only seen him, but if there was ever a time to judge a book by it’s cover. I’m sure he’ll sell a lot of tickets.
September 25, 2014 @ 4:50 pm
Not too surprised at your review Trigger …although I haven’t heard the record . The single was just a rap song looking for any semblance of a melody -unsuccessfully , in my opinion .
Country music can’t keep up with what they perceive as ‘trends’ any more than pop music can . Six months ago , pop was supposedly embracing and utilizing every traditional acoustic instrument it could lay its hands on . Bin there done that ……now what ? Country has had its bro-blinders on and forgot how to spot “fresh” . Now they have to learn again and find a new cash cow cuz man …the ship is going down down down …( see Billboard album sales ) and its way too late to be rearranging deck chairs like Kenny is trying to do with this , from all accounts.
Maybe all of this under-written over produced stuff is helping matters in a back-assward kinda way . While the big labels and not-so-big stars are tripping over themselves trying to ‘keep up’ , the REAL writers and singers are walking the straight and narrow and sticking to their traditional guns , for the most part ..( Musgraves , Simpson , Hayes Carl etc.. ) and , thankfully , not treading too close to the ‘Riverbank’ .
September 25, 2014 @ 7:56 pm
You all are making a big deal that this album is a “letdown”. This is TEXTBOOK, “straight down Broadway” Kenny Chesney. Sorry boys and girls. If you were “expecting” anything other than Kenny being Kenny, you have been duped.
It’s like when an interviewer called out AC/DC saying that they made the same album 17 times. AC/DC’s response? “That’s bullshit! … We’ve made the same album 18 times!!”
Kenny’s doing the same thing. I’m not saying it’s good or bad. It’s the same.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:19 pm
Looks like there are two Erics here…
I think we need to come up with a method for distinguishing ourselves.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:34 pm
Perhaps a psychiatrist?
September 26, 2014 @ 2:40 am
Strange comment. Care to elaborate?
September 26, 2014 @ 4:34 am
Which Eric said that?
September 26, 2014 @ 5:08 am
Me, the one who made the second comment.
Some identifiers:
– I have been posting on SCM since roughly August 2012, except for a long time off for the vast majority of 2013 due to fallout from an argument with Trigger about punk in roots music
– I am (or at least was) a big fan of Taylor Swift, and I have defended her multiple times on SCM
– I enjoy discussing socioeconomic and political topics (some of my recent conversations have been exchanges with fellow San Francisco Bay Area resident Adrian).
September 26, 2014 @ 7:54 am
‘Looks like there are two Erics here…
I think we need to come up with a method for distinguishing ourselves.’
How are we the reader to know this is two people and not just one person dealing with a burgeoning multiple personality disorder?
Hence the need for psychiatric help.
September 26, 2014 @ 10:37 am
Eric September 26, 2014 at 5:08 am
“Me, the one who made the second comment.”
That would be a good new name – “Me, The One”
September 28, 2014 @ 9:47 am
Hey Eric,
To make things easier, I’ll distinguish myself with a “B” after my name. Hopefully YOUR last name doesn’t start with it!
More to distinguish. I’m pretty new to this site and listen to all kinds of music from the Temptations and the Beatles to Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet for My Valentine. I love traditional and contemporary country music (within reason of course). I come to this website because, unlike others, it shows a completely unbiased opinion of anything that has to do with country music. It also introduces me to great music, and that’s why I continue to come back.
P.S. The whole “alter ego” thing that other dude eluded to made me actually”laugh out loud” haha
Happy listening
September 25, 2014 @ 11:39 pm
I understand what you’re saying with the AC/DC analogy, but I wouldn’t say that all of Kenny Chesney’s albums sound the same.
” If you were “expecting” anything other than Kenny being Kenny, you have been duped.”
That was kind of the entire point of the review. In fact that is the reason I decided to review this album was because the marketing behind it as being some groundbreaking release was so big.
September 26, 2014 @ 8:54 am
I suppose if we’re being technical not all of AC/DC’s albums sound the same, either, but that’s getting away from the point of the article 😛
September 26, 2014 @ 4:06 am
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but when did the beachcomber’s life become inspiration for “country” music? If it is about trying to sell records to young adults pining for a permanent Spring Break, then yeah, I can see it.
September 26, 2014 @ 4:39 am
I haven’t listen to Chesney for years. Really not keen to start again!
September 26, 2014 @ 5:28 am
Rock bottom, indeed.
First Chris Gaines comes back from the dead, now the latest turd from this lamebrain. Lamestream country music just got unlistenable again.
There is a less than 1% chance that KC will ever release anything even remotely decent. But I was hopin’ anyway–cuz whatever he squirts out is gonna get the shit played out of it. Argh!!
==—-( 0 0 )– (<–that is me jabbing an ice pick through both ears)
September 26, 2014 @ 6:44 am
I wonder how much it will get played. Has his time “in the sun” past for the younger people? Are the FGL fans going to get excited about this release?
September 26, 2014 @ 6:39 am
Not kicking down any doors in the creativity department, but a fun album none the less.
I mean – did we expect something like Metamodern Sounds? Come one. Once a guy reaches the levels that Kenny has reached, you know what we are getting.
Perspective is everything – mid divorce right now and I’m listening to positive up beat songs. This album hits right in the wheelhouse.
Big Revival – I think it was Montgomery Gentry who did that song in the 2000’s
Drink. It was okay then, it’s okay now.
Drink It Up, Til It’s Gone, Beer Can Chicken, Rock Bottom, Don’t It, Save It For a Rainy Day, all songs that made the “Divorce” playlist.
Flora-Bama – meh – but it’ll sell and that’s what this is after all – a business.
American Kids – See above
Bus Could Talk – Pretty good song. Seems like a personal song for him and I’m cool with that.
Wild Child – Simple – smooth song. Like it.
No rapping, no hip hop influences. Just Kenny being Kenny. Thanks for not falling into the trap.
Well done Kenny.
September 26, 2014 @ 6:55 am
“Once a guy reaches the levels that Kenny has reached, you know what we are getting” That’s part of the problem, it’s exactly what one would expect from Mr Chesney. Maybe if he actually tried to do something along the lines of “Metamodern Sounds” ….. it might be worth exploring!
September 26, 2014 @ 8:18 am
Believe me when I say that I am in no way defending Kenny Chesney. However, your calling the album’s country presence “anemic” because of a lack of banjo, fiddle, and steel guitar is a bit unfair. It isn’t the first time I’ve seen you criticize an album for this “anemia.” You heap praise upon Sturgill Simpson, yet none of those instruments are to be found on his latest album. Many of the famous “Outlaws” eschewed those instruments for an electric guitar and a good groove on some of their best songs. You can’t really measure how “country” an album is by the instruments that it features.
September 26, 2014 @ 9:03 am
Using the instruments to judge a song is a problem I have as well. Even then, it’s a necessary evil. After all, with an auditory art form, how else are we to judge what makes a song? Without it, pure hip hop might as well be called country. It’s an imperfect science but ultimately a good bottom line to start at.
September 26, 2014 @ 2:02 pm
This is a fair point, and I agree that the presence of fiddle, banjo, or steel guitar does not make something country, just as the lack of presence doesn’t mean it is not country. However traditional country instrumentation is one way to gauge if an album should be considered “country” or not along with many other factors, and this is why it was mentioned here.
Furthermore, just because something is country doesn’t necessarily make it good, just as just because something is not country means it’s bad.
Unfortunately for Kenny Chesney, most of these songs are not only not country, they’re not good.
September 29, 2014 @ 4:13 pm
people on this site already know kenny cheesey is crap, thats why we’re all here. Now where thes GOOD new releases?
September 29, 2014 @ 4:48 pm
“people on this site already know kenny cheesey is crap, thats why we”™re all here.”
This is incorrect. The majority of people who come to savingcountrymusic.com every day have never been here before, or at least have not been here before in the last 30 days. They don’t come here directly, or from Facebook or Twitter. They come from Google or other search engines while looking for information. That is why preaching to a choir would not only be fool hearty, it would be ineffective.
If I gave an opinion on Kenny Chesney’s new album that was in effect, “We know Kenny Chesney is crap” without listening to the actual music, then would merit would that opinion have? I would simply be admitting to my closed-mindedness. Kenny said that he scrapped an entirely other album and engaged in soul searching before releasing this album, and so I wanted to see what the result of this was. Ultimately, the result was something that is not very good, but it would be unfair, and more importantly, unhelpful for me to give that opinion without listening to the music.
“Now where thes GOOD new releases?”
Well there’s two on the home page that you would have had to pass up to navigate to this one:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/sweet-ga-brown-proves-hes-a-wordsmith-in-new-album
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-whiskey-shivers-shine-in-new-self-titled-lp
If you took both of those album reviews and combined how many people read them, it would still equal about 10% of the people that read this one. So you are not the only one who selectively overlooked them.
Also in the last week I posted a positive vintage album review:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/vintage-album-review-weens-12-golden-country-greats
And another positive review for an important album from Lee Ann Womack:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-lee-ann-womacks-the-way-im-livin
Saving Country Music is deeply committed to covering worthy music and helping to spread the word about it, and has been posting more album reviews than ever in its 7 year history. The problem is because this commitment is not being reciprocated by readers at large, it is reviews like this one that every one focuses on, while the others are ignored. My commitment however remains steadfast.
December 2, 2014 @ 12:30 pm
I gave this album a fair chance and listened to it for several weeks. It just sounds like a lot of prefabricated pop garbage. Nothing original or worth listening to . I cant believe several music critics like Allmusic gave it high marks. Big letdown
May 14, 2015 @ 7:01 pm
It’s all about expectations. Anyone looking for a real Country, (or blues, or rock, or jazz) album should not be expecting it from a mass produced, 3 minute, 3 chord commercialized product. The real music comes from the passionate aritists in small clubs, online, and other non hypermarketed label. The Big Revival is a good album if you are on a boat on the lake with a 12 pack and burgers on the grill. But I would never call it a deep well thought out and recorded album. Actually, I would classify only a handful of albums like that recorded in the last 20 years.
September 5, 2015 @ 5:43 pm
Kenny Chesney is the best ballad singer of our time. 55th and 3rd and Always Gonna Be You are two of the most beautiful songs ever. His voice range is amazing. I was at his last concert in Detroit and he had the place in the palm of his hand. He is an amazing talent.