Martina McBride Does What She Wants with “Everlasting”
With Martina McBride at the crossroads that every big country music superstar knows they must ultimately face at some point in their career, where their radio relevancy is slipping through their fingers and the industry is slowly relegating them to the ranks of legacy acts, Martina does something very, very curious: she releases an album solely consisting of soul and R&B standards.
It was only a few years ago when Martina McBride was one the names on the list of nominees for the ACM and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year on a perennial basis. When her name slipped from those lists, that is when we entered this almost comical round-robin era we’re currently in, exemplified by shoehorning names into that fifth spot like Kelly Clarkson who isn’t country, Sheryl Crow who just recently turned country, and Kacey Musgraves before she even had released her first major album. After winning the CMA Female Vocalist three consecutive years between 2002 and 2004, if they could in any way justify McBride’s name being on a nominations list, it would be. Hell, it seems like just yesterday she was performing her big sentimental Cancer hit “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” on the CMA Awards. Now she seems like refugee of the country music industry.
This isn’t the first time Martina has done an album of standards. 2005’s Timeless featured McBride performing 18 classic country songs. Martina’s last album, 2011’s Eleven was championed by the Scott Borchetta imprint Republic Nashville. Borchetta has made a mint picking off aging talent from other labels, including Tim McGraw and Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, and Rascal Flatts. However Everlasting was released through Kobalt Music Services, which by looking at their roster, specializes in being a safety net for aging talent and boasts about allowing artists to retain their rights. That’s all well and good, but it leaves Martina without the mainstream industry she’s enjoyed for nearly 20 years. Martina’s name still held enough strength to see Everlasting debut at #1 on the country charts, but with only an anemic 21,000 albums sold. I remember when Toby Keith once won the dubious distinction of having the lowest-selling #1 ever when his 2010 offering Bullets In The Gun sold 71,000 copies. My, how the times have changed.
Country music needs Martina McBride—or at least it did need her. With the showing of women in country in nothing short of a crisis, and Martina still possessing one of the most powerful female voices the genre has ever witnessed, it would have been nice for her first album in three years to be a retrenching; to bring some worthy singles to the table to at least challenge country radio’s male-dominated oligarchy to consider them. You can’t fault Martina for doing what she wants to do, though. Pardon me for mentioning a lady’s age, but she’s 47-years-old now and has been playing the game for many years. If Everlasting is the album she wanted to make, then that’s all the justification anyone should need. “You have to follow your instinct and your creative voice, and my creative voice was saying, ‘This is what you need to do at this time,'” Martina says. Though it may have been nice to see Martina challenge country’s ageism and sexism with a serious country offering, it just wasn’t in the cards.
What was in the cards was recruiting noteworthy producer Don Was, and working through a fairly recognizable list of Motown-style hits, including “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, and Van Morrison’s much-covered “Wild Night”. What’s there to hate about these songs? Not much. Don Was brings in horn sections to bolster the recordings, and Martina of course nails every damn performance. The record is very cohesive, made to listen to from cover to cover. But they played it very safe here with these songs; very down-the-middle. No risks were taken, no “interpretations” or true liberties were made with the songs. They’re simply Martina’s versions.
There’s a lot of reasons one could find to hate on this album. Why did Martina abandon country? I’m not sure she has for more than just this album, so this may not be a fair accusation to make. Why did Martina not put out an album of original music? Maybe because she’s finally free to do what she wants, and she didn’t want to. Why couldn’t she at least given these songs some sort of a country twist? That’s a good question, but she may have wanted to stay within the original spirit of the compositions.
On paper, I wanted to take this album and Frisbee it across the room. No offense to Martina, but there’s just very little useful purpose for an album like this in regards to championing the cause of music. But listening to it, I surprisingly didn’t want to immediately turn it off. It was well done, for what it is, and Martina McBride can still sing.
Martina McBride made something very clear here: If she was going to be put out to pasture, she was going to do it her way. And it’s very hard to fault her for that.
1 1/4 of 2 guns up.
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April 21, 2014 @ 2:16 pm
Yeah, I just kind of scratch my head at her decision to do this album. Is it a play for some cross over attention?
Hey if it’s a good album it’s a good album, though if she had to do an all covers album I would have much preferred she done another album of country covers like 2006’s Timeless. That was a great album, much better than it had any right to be all things considered.
I hope she eventually comes back solidly into the country fold, we could definitely use her right now.
April 21, 2014 @ 2:42 pm
I almost look at this as a cousin to the Ronnie Dunn issue with his new record. He talks a big game about his intentions but then records a handful of crappy pleas for radio airplay in an attempt to hang on for dear life.
Here it seems that Martina is almost admitting that she could make the greatest country record by a female in years and it would get virtually zero airplay. So she decides to make this record instead which is fine but I too hope that she makes that country record someday.
It really is interesting to watch successful artists transition from hitmakers to legacy acts. Some do so very gracefully like Vince Gill and Alan Jackson while others struggle mightily like Ronnie Dunn. This feels sort of like it’s in the middle of that range.
April 21, 2014 @ 3:27 pm
I will admit that I was never really a fan of Martina’s, for me she just yells to much when she sings.
I will say though when she opened a year ago for George Strait that she did a great job. I liked her more live than hearing her on the radio.
April 21, 2014 @ 3:34 pm
This project didn’t surprise me when I first read about it. McBride has always had one foot in the Adult Contemporary field, charting songs on the A/C as far back as 1997’s ‘Valentine.’ I feel she wrapped up her country music career with the release of her G.H. package way back in 2001. Since then, she really hasn’t challenged country radio or done anything to distinguish herself. Which is a shame; one of the best vocalist I ever heard. Now I hear her music in mall muzak, hotel lobbies and retirement parties.
April 21, 2014 @ 4:59 pm
Yep. Other than her (spectacular, IMO) Timeless album, Martina’s music of the last 20 years has struck me as being as much Adult Contemporary as Country. This new record isn’t like Loretta Lynn going pop, it’s closer to Taylor Swift going poppier.
April 21, 2014 @ 3:50 pm
I don’t see the big deal with her doing this instead of a country album. This sort of music has long influenced her work, so she decided she wanted to cover some of her favorites. And she does them pretty well. But to suggest she should have done some great hardcore country album is not really fair because you’re just trying to impose your desires on her.
April 21, 2014 @ 4:19 pm
“But to suggest she should have done some great hardcore country album is not really fair because you”™re just trying to impose your desires on her.”
Andrew, I don’t mean to come across as combative, but my sentiments about this album are the exact opposite of what you characterized them, and I thought I spelled that out in great detail. The entire theme of this review from the title to the final sentence is giving Martina credit for doing what she wanted. I understand how this may come across as unintuitive to some of what they may assume my stance is, but I truly am happy Martina made this album that she desired to.
As for the grade, I still have to judge the music on merit, and though I don’t see anything necessarily wrong with this music, it’s just not something I personally feel comfortable highly recommending. That is how I came to that grade.
Sorry for any confusion.
April 21, 2014 @ 5:17 pm
Have you ever referred to a guy as an aging artist? Just curios.
April 21, 2014 @ 5:56 pm
Most definitely. As insensitive as it can seem especially with female artists to mention age in this type of context, I think ageism is a big issue facing country music. There seems to be a sense by the industry that when an artist reaches a certain age, they can no longer be commercially viable, whether it’s true or not. Even worse for women, that arbitrary age limit seems lower than it is for men.
April 21, 2014 @ 6:11 pm
This seems to be changing too as the only acts on the most recent Billboard Airplay chart older than 47 are George Strait and Craig Morgan. Urban and McGraw both 46 but not many even over 40 other than that. When you think that Willie and Waylon didn’t even reach their peaks until way into their forties.
Can you even imagine that now?
April 22, 2014 @ 9:23 am
Thanks. The term aging talent almost sounds as though the artists are responsible for their demise.
April 23, 2014 @ 9:59 pm
Despite how commercial country music have become, it is still one of the few genre of music where an artist can often grow old with his or her fans. A new artist Martina’ age might not be as welcoming, however, an established country artist with her kind of talent, will continue to be a mover and a shaker if the music is good. The thing is, no one wants to hear a forty year old sing a silly song. Nor do we want to hear her sing a love song that should be song by a young love or lover. We demand more depth, more feelings from an older artist and rightfully so. While her contemporaries, Shania and Faith are pretty much done for, (there is a God!!) I believe if Martina record a good album, she would be back on top. I know I would rush out to buy it. I am tempted to write her some songs – if I wasn’t so busy.
April 24, 2014 @ 12:23 pm
I find all of her music boring.
April 21, 2014 @ 5:23 pm
I guess I should have been more clear as well. I was referring more to some of the other commenters here than the post itself.
April 21, 2014 @ 5:57 pm
Gotcha, Andrew.
April 21, 2014 @ 4:31 pm
I know im reading way too much into the timing of this release but since im the same age as McBride I have to wonder if shes seeing history repeat itself like I am. when I was growing up in the 70s-80s R&B was huge in the los angeles Hispanic community so not surprisingly I was a fan as well. for whatever reason once hip hop became big in the 80s rather than give them their own charts they were included in the R&B charts and that really hurt traditional R&B artists. im not an analytical person and I have no facts to back me up but I always felt hip hop killed traditional R&B partly because of being lumped in the same charts. now that pop sales & radio play are invading country charts maybe it will have the same effect on traditional country. maybe McBride is making a point with this album but probably not.
im a fan of hip hop as well as country and pop so im not demonizing anyone just not a fan of the way music charts work.
April 21, 2014 @ 4:58 pm
Martina McBride and Sara Evans pose an intriguing comparative analytical case study of sorts………in terms of how they’ve transitioned their careers as they find their commercial salad days are long behind each of them.
McBride, as you’ve said, appears to have accepted the unfortunate reality of a sexist, ageist industry that, at the corporate level, is disenfranchising most female voices and pandering more pervasively than ever before to the youngest listening demographics. Even so, I’ll take her word for it that her muse either persuaded her to take another direction, or that she grew clearly bored with the formula she had been trotting out throughout much of the 00s. And to that end, I respect her integrity.
Sara Evans, on the other hand, appears more defiant in riding off into the commercial sunset. She clearly wants to cling to any corporate country relevance she maintains, and is willing to chase recent trends (albeit in a more watered-down, easy listening form) to do so. “Slow Me Down” epitomizes this to a tee: with watered-down elements of both pop and EDM elements. But even more remarkable is that Evans and/or her label enlisted Adult Contemporary mainstays Gavin DeGraw and Isaac Slade (frontman of The Fray) to feature on two of the album’s eleven tracks: of which the former is a cover of DeGraw’s hit “Not Over You”). “Slow Me Down” is an unmistakable Adult Contemporary album through and through that couldn’t be further removed from “Three Chords From The Truth” and “Suds In The Bucket” (which the latter was somewhat easy-listening also, but at least it consisted of plenty of country flavor and a spirited performance)
*
The difference here is that McBride and her label are treating her latest record as exactly what it should be: a covers album that serves as a sidestep from the country format. Evans and her label, unfortunately, are defiantly clinging tooth and nail to any commercial relevance she may have remaining and are using country radio and Music Row to market what is obviously an Adult Contemporary record.
Of course, Evans and her management team are far from alone in this. Pretty much every established but vulnerable solo male “country” entertainer is resorting to the exact same exploitative tactic. On that note, it is refreshing to see McBride not feeling the need to carpetbag her project across Music Row just because she knows the country genre is the most listened to genre across all formats.
April 21, 2014 @ 5:20 pm
I am not sure if Adult Contemporary should be classified as a genre at all. Much like “pop”, the “AC” label can apply to a variety of fundamental genres or mixtures thereof. AC can be soft rock (e.g. 80’s love songs), smooth jazz (e.g. Norah Jones), soul (e.g. Adele), R&B (e.g. Rihanna), or even country (e.g. Brandy Clark).
April 21, 2014 @ 5:33 pm
Perhaps “Easy Listening” could be a better placeholder.
Then again, on the other hand, I think of “easy listening” much the same way I think of “comfort food”.
What exactly IS “comfort food” at the end of the day? Isn’t the thought of which foods are comfortable or unpleasant to any given individual one that differs wildly from person to person? To me, eating healthy is comfort food, while familiar staples including macaroni and cheese, meatloaf and lasagna often aren’t appetizing at all to me especially if they are made with conventional ingredients.
Easy listening is much the same way. To me, shimmering ambient electronica, pan flutes, The Chieftains, power pop and even lyrically-dense country songs would all qualify as easy listening in my book because they augment positive emotions and alleviate negative ones. In contrast, exaggeratedly syrupy and maudlin ballads and mid-tempo fare from the likes of Richard Marx, The Fray, Say Something and Passenger REALLY get on my nerves.
Categorization is always a shaky tightrope act. At any rate, Sara Evans’ latest is too vanilla and safe even for a format that has trended increasingly vanilla and safe.
April 21, 2014 @ 9:32 pm
Now, have you tasted macaroni and cheese, and lasagna?
April 21, 2014 @ 9:48 pm
Yes, as a matter of fact. And they are each repulsive. To my taste buds, anyway! 😉
April 21, 2014 @ 5:42 pm
I understand what you are trying to say but there is an Adult Contemporary format and Billboard has an AC chart. This chart has evolved from Perry Como to Elton John and Barry Manilow to in recent years acts like Kelly Clarkson and many pop country acts like Faith Hill and Leann Rimes. It has been trending younger recently as proof Pharrell Williams replaced Passenger atop the chart this week and the country acts are nowhere to be found.
April 21, 2014 @ 10:02 pm
All in all, AC radio is basically a refuge for multi-format airplay mastodons that are also easy on the ears (i.e. minimal to no challenging subject matter, highs and lows of romantic love themes, middle-of-the-road production, often piano-driven). I think of it (not always, but more often than not) as a Middle Of The Road Hall Of Fame.
“Happy” fits that to a tee with its light, breezy, repetitive sound and production, as did “Let Her Go”. AC radio is also notorious for having very minimal turnover with regards to which releases impact the chart’s upper tier. “Brave”, “Roar”, “Wake Me Up!” and “Royals” are STILL congesting the Top Ten.
Basically, what it comes down to is, if you get a massive multi-format hit that sounds middle-of-the-road, it’s guaranteed to be a Top Three hit at AC radio as well. AC radio basically functions as a VIP for the MOR chart mastodons.
April 21, 2014 @ 10:26 pm
The AC chart actually seems to be speeding up in the last couple of years. ‘Happy’ raced up the chart by an artist with no track record at the format at all and ‘Roar’ has almost fell out of the top ten after being at number one last month. Compared to a couple years ago when songs were staying on this chart for 60-70 weeks that is a big change. AC has become more and more like Adult top 40 and is another piece of the massively shifting radio formats that have affected country radio greatly.
Very strange times right now at radio.
April 21, 2014 @ 11:02 pm
I would rate “Happy” and “Let Her Go” as vastly different in both sonic and lyrical style. “Let Her Go” features an almost country/folk sound along with dense, non-repetitive lyrics. “Happy”, on the other hand, relies on a dance beat and makes extensive use of repetition and call-and-response.
You can guess which song I like much more (though not the vocal style).
April 22, 2014 @ 9:21 pm
Noah, these are interesting comments on Sara Evans. I don’t think Sara has a strong personality. I think she is inclined to lean towards traditional country when there isn’t a strong headwind, as shown by her early songs as well as “Suds in the Bucket” which she released about 10 years ago when the window for traditional music opened temporarily. But she doesn’t try too hard to fight the trend. I think she’s more like Brad Paisley, they do appreciate country music deep down, but they are quick to compromise in the name of staying “relevant”.
April 21, 2014 @ 6:45 pm
I sort of feel as if artists like Martina who don’t chart as much in recent years, are moving into their Emmylou Harris/Lucinda Williams/ Roseane Cash phase. While I guess you could say these three were never really huge Country mainstays in terms of charting they nevertheless have found their own niche. Loyal fan bases, regular album releases, critical accliam and touring and I bet none of them miss Nashville Music Row. I can throw Rodney Crowell in this group as well.
I think Martina should do just whatever she feels and bring in any artists that she wants. I think LeAnn Rimes would be an artist who would benefit from joining this crowd in a few years. Girl can flat out sing and I’ve always believed she could’ve had a decent career in R & B or bluesy rock and roll.
The only MM album I own is Timeless and it’s great. There is life after the Top 20 Countdown.
April 21, 2014 @ 7:02 pm
I hear ya, though I think Emmylou and Roseanne both charted pretty well in the 70’s and 80’s.
April 21, 2014 @ 7:37 pm
Martina abandoned Country long before this. Virtually her whole career was built on Pop country. I guess I’d prefer she do this than the crap she did for her entire career. She’s a Pop singer. She has a Pop voice. She should’ve been singing pure Pop all along.
April 21, 2014 @ 11:37 pm
I don’t think that this song should be classified as “crap” or “pop”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjTO5eAbZY
April 22, 2014 @ 12:41 am
It most certainly is Pop, or Pop-country if you prefer that term. Whether it’s crap or not depends on who is listening. To me, it’s crap. To you, it’s not. But whether it’s Pop or not, I don’t believe is debatable.
And even when she has sang Country songs, I’ve just never enjoyed her voice. Even though she has flawless pitch and great range, her singing style and the sound of her voice have always been very generic to me. On the other hand, take somebody like Ernest Tubb. He sang off key a lot and had extremely limited range, but his voice was very expressive and unique. I’ll take that over technical perfection any day.
April 22, 2014 @ 6:44 am
I agree Clint. Ernest Tubb was unique and was uniquely able to convey feeling and emotion in his songs. It is very difficult to sing along to an Ernest Tubb tune because the intonation, timing, and style are so different. I know the words to Waltz Across Texas, front and back, but I can’t seem to sing along to it.
April 23, 2014 @ 8:45 pm
I believe if Martina solicit songs that truly have an affect on her, she will be able to convey an subsequently evoke feelings on to her listeners. Independence day is sang with a lot of feelings, and watching her sing it, brings me to tears. However, not too many of her songs affect me. I mean she tends to record songs with strong statements/messages, but if she herself doesn’t feel a connection to those songs, then she is defeating the purpose when she record them. Sad thing about music, and unfortunately for Martina, when a person sings, you can see right through them – at least many of us can. That said, Martina and Earnest Tubb is not in the same category. She’s way more talented.
April 24, 2014 @ 2:40 am
You just repeated what I already said. I was using E.T. as an example that being the very talented doesn’t necessarily make people want to listen to you. Yes Martina is talented, but her voice is grating to me. I can barely stand to listen to her. Ernest on the other hand, was not very talented, but I can listen to him all day. I couldn’t care less about who’s in a “category” with who.
April 21, 2014 @ 7:44 pm
I’ve always been a huge fan of Martina McBride’s voice. Her music has always been hit or miss with me. A few songs I really like, most, to me, are just meh.
If this truly is the album she wanted to do, I say good for her.
On another subject brought up in the comments, ageism. I find it mildly amusing, highly disrespectful and sad that the classic artists that have paved the way for country music to become as huge as it is are so dismissed within the industry these days.
I come from a hard rock/heavy metal background. The pioneers are still revered among the younger generation. Ask any hard rock/metal artists their influences and invariably Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, AC/DC are going to come up.
Even during the heyday of pop/hair/glam metal in the 80’s, those artists still referenced the past greats as influences. Of course, except for the 80’s hair metal/MTV explosion, hard rock/heavy metal has always been a bit underground, so maybe it’s not a fair comparison.
I believe country music is ripe for an implosion, and it’s not going to be pretty. A lot of good people are going to be lost along the way, but in the end it will probably be a good thing.
Ask the kid on the street wearing a Maiden t-shirt about it, he’s probably going to be able to tell you about the band. Ask a kid wearing a Cash t-shirt, he’s probably going say it was a gift, it fits and it’s clean.
April 22, 2014 @ 7:14 am
yes.
and every second guitar player’s magazine has an article about Jimi Hendrix.
Don’t know much about Martina, except she has a good voice”¦ but based on the tune Posted here, and another one I heard from the same album, she’s not a very good soul music singer.
I’d say If she listened much to R and B, she didn’t absorb much of it.
I think the best example these days of a musician staying completely relevant as he ages is Daryl Hall.
https://www.livefromdarylshouse.com
April 22, 2014 @ 11:37 am
Daryl’s house is excellent!
April 21, 2014 @ 8:05 pm
I’m not surprised when given the chance Martina recorded a vanity project like this to please herself. I like to think about all of Martina’s long time fans that will buy this album just because it’s her new release and then sit there scratching their heads as the songs play through. It’s just a shame Martina didn’t make this project unique and special rather than just competent. But then again I’ve never cared for the production of Don Was (whom I think is grossly over-rated), so the end result is not surprising.
Once I tried to purchase a Lari White country CD on eBay and the seller sent me the wrong CD which was Lari’s blue-eyed soul project. Most of it was mediocre and I think I threw it in the trash before making it all the way through.
April 21, 2014 @ 9:18 pm
I have a different perspective on this. I’ll admit that I used to give Martina a hard time because she had a tendency to overdo the power ballads, and because some of her social issue songs came across as “pushy”. But I have more respect for Martina than for other crossover artists because she has shown, first with her “Timeless” album and now with her new album, that she has a mind of her own and does not blindly follow the Nashville herd. I think she has more integrity as an artist than the bro country crowd and the two pop country princesses. And as much as I criticized her pop sound in the late 1990s and early 2000s, those songs would be better than 80% of the new songs played on country radio today.
April 21, 2014 @ 8:31 pm
I think Martina was sidelined by Carrie. I’ve never been a fan of the power ballad, country or pop. It’s not something I can listen to over and over.
Martina is one classy lady. She’s thoughtful and considerate. Once again, it reminds me of “Garden Party”.
Ricky Nelson was being booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden, seemingly because he was playing his newer, country-tinged music instead of the 1950s-era rock that he had been successful with earlier, and his realization that “you can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself”.
April 21, 2014 @ 9:39 pm
I don’t have a problem with power ballads in themselves. I don’t think every song should be turned into a power ballad either. An effective artist applies the power when it is effective in articulating the feeling in the song. In that sense I think Reba used power ballads more effectively, whereas Martina and Carrie had a tendency to turn on the power when it was not necessary.
Martina and Carrie are both good vocalists, with Martina slightly superior in my opinion. Unfortunately for Martina, Carrie had the commercial advantage because she was younger, she was voted into her role by American Idol fans, and she was marketed effectively as “America’s sweetheart”. There wasn’t much that Martina could do about that.
And I agree that Martina is a classy lady. And classy doesn’t mean wearing sparkly dresses or making manipulative, canned statements about being a role model on “60 Minutes”. It is in how people conduct themselves day in and day out.
April 22, 2014 @ 7:38 am
Adrian, always finding a way to stick it to Taylor.
April 23, 2014 @ 3:10 pm
I just think Martina seems more humble and sincere than Taylor. I have the impression that Taylor loves being the center of attention and receiving the admiration of the crowd, and many things she has said and done seem to be intended to elicit that type of crowd reaction. Just my 2 cents.
April 21, 2014 @ 9:10 pm
Who is she targeting? I am a huge R&B fan. I am a huge country music fan. I like them separate. When Gladys Knight did a cover of I Hope You Dance, I hated it. Additionally, in the genre of country music Martina’s voice is pretty powerful, however, her voice next to the average R&B artist is simply average. All those songs have been done and redone by people I would much rather hear sing them. So I am curious, who is her audience.
April 21, 2014 @ 9:26 pm
What if she isn’t targeting anyone? What if some people just want to record the music they like, and there isn’t a catchy marketing gimmick? I think what she is doing is refreshing in a way, because the rest of the industry has become so obsessed with marketing to favored demographics that they seem to have forgotten that they are supposed to be making music. She’s not limited to a laundry list and she’s not following the crowd. It may not be a big hit, but so be it.
April 21, 2014 @ 10:09 pm
I think she is targeting herself. Honestly from a marketing standpoint, I can’t make it make any sense.
April 22, 2014 @ 1:52 am
I’m liking it. My parents exposed me to this type of music as a kid so I have a fondness for it. Martina McBride’s music was always pretty ‘meh’ to me. It was way too commercial and contemporary. Like Mariah Carey I think her voice was wasted on some mediocre songs. And if Martina doing whatever she wants means stepping away from more commercial songs, I’m all for it.
April 22, 2014 @ 9:02 am
I never listened to her brand of country music, so I reckon I will take a pass on her attempt to cross genres.
I understand that she has a remarkable voice, though.
April 22, 2014 @ 9:05 am
Can she move out of her genre?
Can anyone do that without being underdone and overcooked, simultaneously.
April 22, 2014 @ 9:33 am
I guess she ran out of cancer and kids dying songs.Suprised she didn’t jump on the anti-bullying craze.You still got time Martina!
April 22, 2014 @ 12:37 pm
This kind of reminds me of the situation Faith Hill is in, though Martina seems to be handling it infinitely better. Faith seems to just be doing everything she can to not be put out to pasture, much like her husband. From what I hear, her last few singles that stalled at radio were quite terrible. She’s also had an album pending release since 2011, which makes me wonder what the heck she’s waiting on? Another number 1 hit?
April 22, 2014 @ 12:56 pm
Really? I’d have to respectfully disagree there in the most part.
She hardly sounds hungry to me. She has only released two singles since 2007. Granted “American Heart” was a shameless attempt to capitalize on blue-collar sentiments and “Hang in there!” motivational poster cliches………..but thankfully it didn’t work like her earlier travesty of a hit that is “Mississippi Girl” did.
“American Heart” is, I dare say, the only instance since 2007 where she even seems interested in her recording career. It has been nine years since she released “Fireflies”.
April 22, 2014 @ 7:04 pm
Hmm, I’d remembered it being more singles than just two, but I guess that’s the number. But if you look over her last few singles, even from 2007, she hasn’t had a top ten since 2006, which is around four or five songs. Fireflies WAS released in 2005 but for some reason I feel that she hasn’t released a new album since then because there hasn’t been much interest, not because she’s uninterested. She did appear on the ACMs, after all.
April 23, 2014 @ 5:54 am
I always thought Faith Hill had a nice voice but did terrible material.
April 23, 2014 @ 11:12 am
Ditto. I’ve always thought her potential was wasted on power ballads.
I wanted her to do something different but it didn’t happen. Carrie showed up and took her place….more shrill and shouting.
There must be a market for it but I have to turn the channel.
Why not dial it down and let the beauty of their voices really shine through. Many have said they prefer the male voice. I think it’s because they’re not continuously singing shrill and loud. Most men tune their wives voices out for the same reasons. It’s a habit they’ve become accustomed to. 😛
April 24, 2014 @ 6:51 pm
I only like a handful of her songs myself but I wouldn’t go so far as to call the rest of her output “terrible.” It’s very poppy, yes, but that doesn’t automatically make it bad. Of course, my mother is a huge Faith Hill fan, so I guess years of forced listening might make even the worse music seem decent after a while, but that’s my opinion.
April 26, 2014 @ 2:46 pm
I always thought Faith Hill had an average voice and average songs. I thought her early singles such as “Wild One” and “Take Me As I Am” were the better ones, and same could be said about Carrie. I think they were both more appealing as the country girl next door, than as pop divas.
April 22, 2014 @ 8:36 pm
I believe a female country artist’s longevity surpasses other genres. It’s just that the music have to be good. I don’t put Martina in the same category with Faith Hill. I don’t put Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in the same category either. I might not like his music, but at least he is talented. His wife is not. Both she and Shania Twain flew on their good looks. They have died down because their talent and their popularity were never a match. Martina just needs to record better lyrics. Independence Day, and My Valentine, to me, were the only good songs she recorded. She need to chose better songs to record.
April 22, 2014 @ 9:27 pm
Marry Me was a bad single choice. Wonder why the Kacey Musgraves co-write When You Love a Sinner or Summer of Love wasn’t a single. Too much competition at radio and awards for Big Machine’s princess? 😉
A huge problem with country radio not playing solo females is that men get most of the best songs. One example, Blake got The House That Built Me then gave it to Miranda. This problem doesn’t affect great singer-songwriters much though and as we’ve seen they still turn out best albums of the year but even so bro country radio still doesn’t play most of them and plays any crap others turn out.
April 22, 2014 @ 11:04 pm
“men get most of the best songs”
Well, that’s not happening anymore for sure.
April 23, 2014 @ 3:27 pm
LOL true and I guess I was having a wishful flashback to the pre-bro era. Writers might still be pitching great songs to men but labels and artists refusing to record them. I’ve heard of songs being held for big artists for years. Some good writers switched to bro country and don’t know how to write a good pop or rap song. Some mainstream men including Lee Brice, Charlie Worsham, Easton Corbin, Dierks Bentley, and Gary Allan still record good songs though. Even if you don’t like Blake, his love ballads are better than bro country songs. Every day that goes by, we never know who will be the next man to be sucked into the bro-trap. Aliens with bad taste in music have invaded Nashville and are injecting men with their venom. Or maybe it’s vampires. Or zombies.
April 22, 2014 @ 12:56 pm
There ain’t but two kinds of music good and bad this is good done by a lady that can still flat get it done vocally. Not my favorite thing but well done. I hope she does a tradtional country album again at some point like Timeless because she can belt out the country standards like few can.
April 23, 2014 @ 11:24 am
The recipe for greatness or success.
For Martina, why not try something completely different in your genre rather than do something that few will relate to?
It may please yourself but be met with indifference.
Why not shuck everything that resembles a power ballad that worked in the past but no longer strikes a chord with younger fans?
Why not go off the rails and sing country?
The road to the boneyard is paved with singers who were so stuck in their rut, they didn’t make changes before they became a memory.
Get rid of the old PR team or managers that won’t let you run the show and go on a country bender….give it all you’ve got before the next best thing takes your place.