Single Review – Jason Aldean “feat.” Miranda Lambert in “Drowns The Whiskey”
Country music in 2018: “Man Artist feat. Woman Artist.” Wash, rinse, repeat.
This is one way to get Miranda Lambert back on the radio I guess, releasing Jason Aldean’s “Drowns The Whiskey” as a radio single. Too bad Jason Aldean has to be involved, and too bad the only way virtually any woman gets on country radio these days is being “feat.” by some swingin’ D. The whole order of how music is recorded and released in not just country, but in all popular music is being realigned, where it’s a just series of WAV files from different superstars being traded and swapped like fantasy football picks back and forth between Nashville and the two coasts until the ideal pairing for radio/playlist/chart placement is attained. It’s like the Marvel universe for music, and don’t worry, the moment when each song has six or seven superstars each a la The Avengers: Infinity War is in the offing.
Jason Aldean deserves credit though. He easily could have chosen this duet to be with some mega pop star you’ve never heard of with 17 million Instagram followers and an attitude like they deserve to be massive in country, similar to who we’re seeing most country males select for their duet partners these days. It’s nothing short of embarrassing that Miranda Lambert—the most awarded artist in ACM history—can’t crack the Top 10 without latching on to someone as unsavory as Jason Aldean. But the only way we’ll ever break out of this cycle is by country artists helping their own, not aiding and abetting the denizens of pop which only goes to promoting the wrong side of the radio dial.
The problem with “Drowns the Whiskey” is not the pairing of Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert, as unappetizing as it might be for some Miranda fans (most Aldean fans won’t care). The song is probably one of the better, and more country selections off of Aldean’s new album Rearview Town, though that may be more of an indictment of the depravity of that album than praise for the quality of this song.
The problem with “Drowns The Whiskey” is it tries to exist in two worlds, failing to appeal to either wholeheartedly, and in one of those worlds it is incredibly overwrought and formulaic. At its heart, “Drowns The Whiskey” is definitely a country song. It’s about heartache so deep, not even alcohol can numb the pain. This is the baseline for so many country songs over decades, and something better to hear than the happy and sunny disposition of so much of today’s country. But that’s also the problem with it. Perhaps to a 23-year-old whose grown up on Florida Georgia Line, a song like this feels unfamiliar and fresh. But if you’re an actual country fan who listens to actual country music, this song was overdone by 1984, and there’s plenty of other versions of it to enjoy by people not named Jason Aldean.
Also, the production of this song is all wrong. By trying to straddle the line between traditional and contemporary, you don’t really fulfill the wishes of either. The style is traditional, and even features a little steel guitar if you listen intently enough. But the electronic drums and synthesized music bed makes it entirely unappealing to traditional ears, while the fuddy duddy, mid-tempo nature of it will be found as fault by today’s “country” listeners of the radio mindset.
None of this will result in a bum track though. “Drowns The Whiskey” will shoot straight to #1 because it’s Jason Aldean. At this point, pop country is no more than cheering of laundry in sports. Artists like Aldean are rewarded simply for showing up and having a fan base. Unless you’re a woman that is. Then you’ve got to hitch your wagon to some puffy dude in nut huggers like Jason Aldean to make it past the radio oligarchs.
“Drowns The Whiskey” neither elevates Jason Aldean’s standing as an authentic country artist, nor does it drop Miranda Lambert’s standing as one of the more authentic artists from the mainstream. It has just enough from both sides of the country music divide to be rendered benign, unexceptional, and ultimately inconsequential in the grand scheme aside from getting both Aldean and Lambert to #1, and probably giving Miranda yet another nomination to look for come awards show time for “Musical Event of the Year.”
“Drowns The Whiskey” is just another single, but the production is really where it edges into the negative. It could have been a good introduction to the heartbreak of a real country song to this current generation of mainstream country fans. Instead they’ll just sing along mindlessly, picking up on buzzwords like “whiskey,” “Tennessee,” “girl,” and “80 proof,” without really consciously minding what the song is about. But ultimately there are much worse offenses out there to worry about, and much better songs out there to laud.
4.5/10
May 8, 2018 @ 10:42 am
I understand that Jason Aldean has had some bad songs (Burnin it down, etc.) but he is definitely one of the better mainstream artists out there and doesn’t deserve the bad rap that you and others give him. He actually dresses and acts like a real country singer, and respects the genre’s traditions, as is evident in this song.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:17 pm
If you put out a song like “1994” you deserve the bad rap imo
May 8, 2018 @ 10:29 pm
The Joe Diffie chant in that song pisses me off so much.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:25 pm
Lol you must be joking. Jason Aldean is the reason why today’s mainstream country sucks. He broke the doors open for rap, R&B, hard rock and EDM in country music. Don’t come here and say he’s not that bad, he’s one of the worst.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:29 pm
Joe Nichols is one of the better mainstream artists out there. Brad Paisley is. Tim McGraw is. Not this clown for sure.
May 10, 2018 @ 7:21 am
Are you familiar with the songs “Truck Yeah” or “Over and Over?”
May 11, 2018 @ 12:57 am
Sure, but I never said Tim McGraw was a perfect artist. He recorded garbage like Indian Outlaw and Lookin For that Girl over the years, but most of his stupid songs will not even be remembered (except for indian). With recent releases Tim has proven why he’s one of the best mainstream acts.
May 8, 2018 @ 1:53 pm
Yes, Dirt Road Anthem set a precedent for bad rap/rock/pop songs in country, but he has some real gems out there like “Why”, “The Truth”, “Amarillo Sky”, “Church Pew or Barstool”, and “Too Fast”. And dirt road anthem isn’t even bad compared to shitty Dustin Lynch, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, and Sam Hunt. Not to mention Keith Urban, who should be drawn and quartered, and his remains cast off into the great barrier reef for sharks to devour, for his disgraceful “contribution” to American music. Jason Aldean? He’s mild
May 8, 2018 @ 2:06 pm
Every artist has great songs: Clay Walker, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, David Nail have tons of beautiful tracks in their albums. Only difference is they actually wrote those songs while Aldean didn’t. Moreover, you’re not taking in consideration the most important thing: Jason Aldean, like it or not, is WAY more influential than any of those other artists you mentioned. And no, Dirt Road Anthem is no way in hell better than Dustin Lynch, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt or Keith Urban. If Keith Urban puts out a pop album like he did in 2013 with Fuse, no one tries to emulate it. If Jason Aldean has success singing bullshit about half naked girls and porn on tractors, like he did in 2009/2010 with She’s Country, My Kinda Party etc., everyone tries to emulate that: Luke Bryan became popular after touring with this piece of shit. Brantley Gilbert was able to release VOMIT INDUCING CRAP like Kick it in the Sticks to country radio because Aldean paved the way for him. Sam Hunt saw Burnin’ it Down was getting huge, a few months after his label issued Take Your Time as a country single. Jason Aldean is the guy who tours with Florida Georgia Line. And you think he’s not that bad?
May 8, 2018 @ 2:18 pm
NO, YOU ARE WRONG. Jason Aldean’s influence is what makes him great. While the independent singers that Trigger praises on this website are great (I love Parker McCollum, Jason Eady, Casey Donahew), they will never make a difference since they are not mainstream and therefore not influential. When Jason Aldean releases acceptable, if not great, songs, it shows progress is being made in country music. Miranda Lambert is overrated, honestly, and the weight of her wings wasn’t any more country than most of Aldean’s music, William Michael Morgan is a one-hit wonder, and Sturgill Simpson doesn’t even resemble country. Jon Pardi is on the verge of superstardom, and Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” is a great country song, so their influence on mainstream country is great, but Aldean has a huge discography of country music that sells millions of copies yet still stays true to the genre (with a few exceptions, such as his latest album, and 1994)
May 8, 2018 @ 2:22 pm
And by the way, George Strait couldn’t write a song to save his life, but he’s still one of the all-time greats.
May 8, 2018 @ 2:36 pm
George Strait has written a couple of hits. So your statement doesn’t make sense.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:13 pm
I would argue that it’s many of the independent artists and songwriters who are more “influential” than most of the mainstream stars. Sturgill Simpson’s “Metamodern Sounds” directly influenced Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller.” Garth Brooks was influenced by Chris LeDoux. That’s the way it’s always been with the lower-tier songwriters influencing the commercially-viable superstars.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:42 pm
Owen Jason Aldean is not influential because he’s “good”. He’s not good. He’s influential because country radio ocerplayed the hell out of him over the past 12 years, therefore he gained a massive fanbase. Moreover he appeals to rock fans -because he’s not even country.
Does Aldean have good songs? Sure. But the bad outweights the good in his case. These are facts.
On a side note, “one hit wonder” William Michael Morgan ammassed 5.4M views in 5 months on his youtube music video for Vinyl, a song that country radio refused to play. Interesting that Vinyl (with no radio support) scored a better streaming number than the overplayed fake #1 hit “They Don’t Know” by Jason Aldean (its music vide has less than 5M views)
May 8, 2018 @ 3:45 pm
George Strait has written beautiful songs in his career: “I Believe” and “Livin’ for the Night” just to name two. But I wasn’t saying that artists who don’t write their music are necessarily bad (Tim McGraw doesn’t write): I was saying that Aldean is not a good country artist and he’s not even a talented songwriter.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:51 pm
Trigger sure, and guys like Florida Georgia Line, Tyler Farr, Thomas Rhett, Canaan Smith, Brantley Gilbert all said Jason Aldean was a big influence. We have one Chris Stapleton influenced by Sturgill, and a whole generation of assholes influenced by Jason Aldean.
May 8, 2018 @ 6:21 pm
on songwriting : EVERYBODY can write a song …..just listen to most of the shit on contemporary country radio .
Very very very few writers can write GREAT songs which is why we don’t hear GREAT songs as often as we once did . And more to the point , most contemporary artists and/or thier ‘handlers’ don’t seem to know what a great song is . But they know how to package and market something not so good.
Many singers realize they don’t have the time , the inclination , the inspiration or the experience to write GREAT songs so they do the smart thing and leave it to people who CAN . George Strait has often been one of those folks that knows he can’t consistently write GREAT songs so he fins great songs by great writers . What a concept !!!
BUT……..George did co-wrote this gem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvLvR1AcjO4
May 9, 2018 @ 4:12 am
The problem with Jason Aldean is that everybody’s right about him.
May 9, 2018 @ 6:48 am
Jason aldean is no better than Miranda Lambert both wealthy and home wreakers
May 10, 2018 @ 7:25 am
Aldean has definitely had some misses, but of the bro-country pop stuff he has and always be way better than the rest IMO.
May 10, 2018 @ 7:39 am
I seldom drink, no judgement, it’s just not for me. That said, I am so sick of country songs about drinking.
While they may reflect Country music tradition, it seems to me that there is so much poetry, feeling, and yes, music, in country life as a whole, it would be a welcome change to hear other aspects of country featured once in a while. There is a long tradition of story telling in Appalachia and other locales, wish we could hear it honored.
May 8, 2018 @ 10:44 am
Solid review, though it probably won’t make me change the station should I be forced to listen to FM.
I remember the good ol’ days when singers would record background vocals with other artists and not throw the “feat.” in there. Case in point, “Grown Woman” from Jason Aldean’s Relentless CD, which had Miranda singing in the background for listeners to catch after a few listens. Granted she’s much more prominent in this single, but now it’s all a marketing ploy. I will agree it’s better than “feat. someone-I-have-to-Google” in any case.
The steel guitar thrown in there makes me angry to be honest. Could be so much better.
May 9, 2018 @ 5:42 am
Grown Woman is still one of my favorite Aldean songs ever
May 8, 2018 @ 10:49 am
Not a bad song not a good song. Won’t change the channel when it comes on but I’m not adding it into my rotation of songs either.
May 8, 2018 @ 11:07 am
I like the song & for the first time in a long time i can listen to a Jason Aldean track without switching the station.
The other new mainstream songs are meh: Dustin Lynch (“Good Girl”) & Radio Romance (“Weekend”).
Looks like Radio Romance won the “Nash Next Talent” competition like some long forgotten guy last year (Todd O’Neill).
Joe Nichols released “Billy Graham’s Bible”. The song is on his last two albums.
May 8, 2018 @ 11:50 am
After listening the last Keith Urban´s album, this is Mozart.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:14 pm
wait, ML was in this song? It just sounded like a Jason Aldean song, albeit a better-than-average-by-his-standards one.
Surprised to not completely abhor this song. Still have no reason to ever seek it out though…
Hey, did anybody actually check out the Kayla Ray article? Now there’s someone who does country and does it right!
May 8, 2018 @ 12:35 pm
Jeezus fing broken record. Aldean is a lot more country than these bearded hipsters you’ve been featuring here. I went to Roberts WW this weekend thinking I could find a legit honkey tonk, only to find more bearded hipsters looking for Haloween choking down PBR and baloney because that’s aithentic, baby. I requested Swinging Doors, and nobody could even pretend to mouth the words. They thought Goodbye Earl was classic country. Nashville is a fine city, but it’s not the place to find real Country Music. I found plenty of rap, though. I should have known when I flew from Dallas to BNA across from Leanne Rhimes and nobody recognized her. I’m no fan, but knew who she was right away. Country Music is officially dead.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:45 pm
Not sure what time of day you were at Robert’s, but there was plenty of real-deal classic country being played there when we were in town a couple of months ago.
May 8, 2018 @ 5:07 pm
Saturday early pm, and back at 1am to see if I was missing anything. I did hear a sweet thing named Sarah Mongomery (?) sing at Famous the next day.
May 9, 2018 @ 5:15 am
Yeah the time we went there, they were playing a ton of Hag, Cash, etc. The only bad music we heard in town was when friends dragged us to Dierks Bentley’s place and something unholy was playing on the 2nd floor which you had to walk by to go to the bathroom.
May 8, 2018 @ 1:27 pm
Broken f’ing record is right.
So he’s more country than who? Headley? Stapleton? Come on, now.
I’m with you on PBR, though. Who drinks cheap beer as a fashion choice?
May 8, 2018 @ 2:15 pm
I call bullshit on you being at Robert’s. I’ve never heard anything in the vein of “Goodbye Earl” being played there.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:16 pm
I’m sorry that I somehow caused you to have a bad trip to Nashville, Mike Honcho.
May 8, 2018 @ 5:57 pm
Who said I had a bad time? I was just disgusted that the rich history of Country Music is being paved over for Blake Shelton, FGL, and hipsters that like Country Music because it is ironic, not iconic. The people that made Country Music what it is are relegated to corners of the museum’s, or wall decoration.
May 8, 2018 @ 6:30 pm
I am such a fan of you, Mike Honcho, and I’m not afraid to admit it.
May 8, 2018 @ 7:48 pm
Not disagreeing with you Mike, but just wondering who specifically you would group in the “bearded hipster” category?
May 9, 2018 @ 12:33 am
This is all just hatred from Joshua Hedley. Randall King doesn’t have a beard, nor do many of the guys in Old Crow Medicine Show, and I just touted them. And Robert’s is not where the hipsters hang out. That’s in East Nashville at places in The Five Points.
May 9, 2018 @ 6:49 am
Josh Headly should be labeled a tribute band. He straight stole Wine Me Up and changed the lyrics. If I want to listen to that kind of music I will download the guys that actually invented it. You’re supposed to borrow from legends, not mimic them. Is there a way to wear a Nudie Suit and short-brimmed hat that is not ironic? The beard is an accessory. Charlie Crockett gets a pass for his throwback narrative because he grew up poor in the South, so he must be legit ( Like Ludicris, and Outkast, yo). I like Randall King, and even remarked that his hat brim wasn’t cut down, and while his music was influenced by previous artists, it wasn’t a direct rip off. Hipsters are everywhere in Nashville.
May 9, 2018 @ 3:21 am
Hipsters don’t hang out in tourist traps like Lower Broadway.
May 9, 2018 @ 6:23 am
Who else drinks PBR with fried baloney sandwiches served by a guy dressed like Buzz Lightyear?
May 9, 2018 @ 8:11 am
You know not what you speak, Honcho.
Robert’s has been doing PBR and fried baloney sandwiches for some time now, at least since the recession of 2009.
Robert’s Recession Special:
1 Fried Boloney Sandwich
1 Can of PBR
1 Moon Pie
$5.00
Also, cans of PBR are $1.50 and have been for a lonnnng time.
$1.50 PBR > $4.00-$5.00 elsewhere.
May 8, 2018 @ 5:24 pm
Did you see Don Kelley’s band?
May 8, 2018 @ 7:16 pm
Not sure. I looked him up and he doesn’t look familiar.
May 8, 2018 @ 6:35 pm
“Aldean is a lot more country than these bearded hipsters you’ve been featuring here.”
Mike,
Do you really think fake “Country” music performed by real country people is more country than real Country music performed by fake country people?
I’m just curious, because I’ve wrestled with this myself.
May 8, 2018 @ 7:13 pm
Good question. If the person is fake, how can the music be real?
May 8, 2018 @ 10:16 pm
On the topic of authenticity and who’s “fake” and who’s “real”, what are the criteria for making those determinations? Do you have to personally live everything you write and sing? If you make up stories or sing about things you’ve never experienced does that make you fake?
For example, Willie Nelson never lived any of the events that played out in Red Headed Stranger, yet it’s considered in some circles the greatest country album of all time. Does that make Willie fake?
What’s more, him and Waylon changed their look in the 70’s and to some extent the sound of their music when they bucked Nashville for Austin. Does that make them hipsters or any less authentic?
In the modern era, we have Colter Wall who’s currently making some of the best folk/country/blues or whatever you want to call it, yet his dad is a famous politician and he grew up with money around him so some folks are trying to discredit him for it. Yet he worked his ass off on a ranch for much of his life growing up and only recently got into music full time. He’s talked at length about his passion for history as it pertains to topics like the railroad, cowboys, etc. He writes songs about those things but hasn’t necessarily lived them. Does that make him a hipster lacking in authenticity.
If you’re heart’s in the music, I don’t think you can be anything other than authentic. You can’t change where you come from, but you are in control of where you are and where you’re going.
May 8, 2018 @ 10:48 pm
I think Dierks Bentley is a great example of this. He grew up in suburban Arizona, yet he found a passion for country music and fell in love with the country greats that came before him. He likes to talk about how since he’s not from the country, he can’t fall back on lyrics about growing up with tailgates and tan lines. Instead, he has to search for deeper topics (although he doesn’t always, as is shown by Somewhere on a beach)
May 9, 2018 @ 10:36 am
That’s what I’m saying, Mike. Classic Country is “alternative” to these folks.
May 9, 2018 @ 10:45 am
Just to give y’all a different perspective on hipsters in country music: I’m a working hillbilly musician, sideman not artist. I’m a farmer’s son from rural North Carolina, fifth (at least) generation musician, so I reckon I meet your country bona fides (though I do have a beard). I find hipsters as silly as anyone else, but they have a ton of disposable income. They buy tickets to shows, buy expensive drinks, buy overpriced merch. The hipster influx over the past few years has made making ends meet a lot more doable for people like me. While they can be aggravating, trying to gatekeep them out doesn’t make much sense if you want a strong country music farm system.
May 9, 2018 @ 1:02 pm
What good is the body after the vampire is done with it?
May 9, 2018 @ 4:55 pm
Hippies liked Haggard. I’d say it was just a flesh wound.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:41 pm
In all fairness, I like to sing some Jason Aldean songs in a karaoke bar and I do like Aldean’s cowboy hat. The Truth, Two night town, Night Train, Any ol’ barstool, Summer time (although it’s not a great country song), Amarillo Sky, Fly Over States, Tattoes in his town.
I will give this song a shot since I like Miranda Lambert. but I agree that Jason Aldean has released some awful single. Thanksfully I have been able to skip most of them (thanks to Trigger!). Burning it down, 1994 (terrible terrible!) are probably the worst offenders.
I haven’t had the chance to listen to his latest album but I would say that his previous “They don’t know” was overall much better than “Burning in down”.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:51 pm
I don’t hate this song. but yeah, songs about whiskey drowning a broken heart or bad memory is done and done again. Maybe if he would have said Kentucky instead of Lynchburg …who knows
May 8, 2018 @ 7:43 pm
If you have a problem with songs about whiskey drowning a broken heart then real country music isnt for you.
May 8, 2018 @ 8:39 pm
Even the pop country artists jumped from beer and tailgating to whiskey and highways. It’s such an overdone cliche now that it taints every new song coming out including this Aldean number.
May 9, 2018 @ 7:34 am
who said I had a problem? I’m just acknowledging the fact that it’s been done before in sometimes more creative ways. I like whiskey and real country music. which is why I don’t care that much about Jason Aldean.
May 9, 2018 @ 1:57 pm
They should start talking about drowning in IPA. That shit will get you equally fucked up son.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:53 pm
I see country music is now falling into the mainstream trend on having features on every single damn radio song. I don’t mind occasional duets but this is just stupid, like how every pop song now HAS to have a rap verse on it.
May 8, 2018 @ 12:57 pm
The only Jason Aldean song that I listen to is Amarillo Sky. I find it increasingly difficult to listen to anything he puts out. If it’s got his name on it, I avoid it. This song isn’t terrible, but I just can’t in good faith listen to Aldean. It sucks that he’s one of the the biggest names, if not the biggest, in country right now. Still looking for the modern Randy Travis to hit mainstream and pull us in the right direction. It’s long overdue.
May 8, 2018 @ 1:15 pm
Ask anybody what country music is about and most anybody will say something similar to “Being sad and drinking”. That’s what this songs about. People saying it’s been done over and over, yes it has, and it probably will continue to be, and this will not be the only song this year about it. I’m not saying it’s a great country song, but the next actual true country album that comes out with a lonely drinking heartbreak song that gets a fantastic review, remember what you all said about it being done to death.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:18 pm
…and remember how I said about this song, “the production is really where it edges into the negative.”
May 8, 2018 @ 4:56 pm
Well I didn’t mean to direct this toward you. It was mainly to the guy, Kross, who’s picture looks like The Wolverine(which I think is pretty awesome). I was just spewing my thoughts here in the comment section.
May 8, 2018 @ 2:24 pm
Hey bright side – ya might hear steel on country radio. Also Miranda turned down the first sing he sent her so it could have been worse.
I agree it is beyond ridiculous that female artists can’t get play unless they sing w/ guys. It is so frustrating and sad that mainstream country has come to this point.
May 8, 2018 @ 2:42 pm
It’s a timeless country theme, but unfortunately the production pretty much ruins it. There’s a good song somewhere beneath the goofy production. It’s as if the producers asked themselves, “How can we distract from any feelings and distance the listener from the narrator’s sorrow?”
That’s basically a commentary on our society as a whole. We prefer cheap gimmicks and distractions, lest we actually remember our humanity. If Randy Travis were in his twenties today, he’d be working in a factory in Monroe, North Carolina, because we wouldn’t be worthy of him.
May 8, 2018 @ 5:33 pm
Who’s this “we,” kemosabe? Far as I can tell, we’re the culture that keeps country music alive. We have more in common with country nerds in Sweden than the soulless tools in Trashville.
May 8, 2018 @ 6:14 pm
The “we” is not you or I…or anyone who frequents SCM. The “we” is the decadent, infantile masses that consume FGL, Kane Brown, Walker Hayes, Keith Urban, etc. They know nothing of what makes genuine country music a treasured art form and pride of American cultural history. They would hear Randy Travis and yawn in boredom, understanding nothing of the subtle beauty.
May 8, 2018 @ 10:24 pm
Try riding in a car with a woman who listens to that crap. And then makes fun of the old fogey music you like.
May 9, 2018 @ 5:34 am
I’d probably Uber then.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:42 pm
Releasing this song as a single now pretty much guarantees that “Keeper of the Flame” won’t be played much. Pity.
May 8, 2018 @ 3:42 pm
I detest Aldean .
And this is one of the best COUNTRY songs I’ve heard in…….just about forever , it seems .
And he and Miranda have done it complete justice .
I just got a bit of a chill thinking about hearing this on the radio .
May 8, 2018 @ 3:58 pm
Written by Brandon Kinney, Jeff Middleton and Josh Thompson,
May 8, 2018 @ 4:06 pm
Don’t get me started about Fantasy Football.
May 8, 2018 @ 4:18 pm
How much can the song really mean to him if he doesn’t even know the lyrics?
May 8, 2018 @ 5:26 pm
I don’t believe a word Aldean or Lambert sings.
May 8, 2018 @ 6:34 pm
Did I actually here a steel guitar solo for a few fleeting seconds or was my imagination playing tricks on me? And yes, another post that once again cannot stay off the gender comments. But the point here is this. I ACTUALLY HEARD A STEEL GUITAR. And on an Aldean song no less.
May 8, 2018 @ 10:23 pm
Nah you definitely heard it. Just about spit out my goddamn beer when I heard it…
May 8, 2018 @ 8:04 pm
If the country radio universe is turning into the Marvel universe, when will half of the shitty pop-country artists turn to dust?
May 8, 2018 @ 10:22 pm
I don’t like his music, but that song Flyover States I thought was alright and had a good strong message lyrically. At the end of the day I don’t hate the people, I just generally hate the music they make.
May 9, 2018 @ 10:38 am
I hate them for making it. Or I at least loathe and abhor them.
May 31, 2018 @ 9:56 am
Oh. That is the *one* song of his I like. Thanks for reminding me.
Meanwhile, this song is 100% wrong. The tempo is wrong as it leaves no room for the angst the lyrics express. The sound is wrong as it is doesn’t suit the lyrics. The lyrics are wrong because they are trite and recycled.
Give me “Misery and Gin,” “Closing Time,” or even “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’ Any More.”
May 8, 2018 @ 10:27 pm
I don’t love this song, but here’s a list of some things I do love:
I love little baby ducks, old pickup trucks,
Slow-movin’ trains and rain,
I love little country streams, sleep without dreams,
Sunday school in May and hay,
I love leaves in the wind, pictures of my friends,
Birds of the world and squirrels,
I love coffee in a cup, little fuzzy pups,
Bourbon in a glass and grass,
I love honest, open smiles, kisses from a child,
Tomatoes on the vine and onions,
I love winners when they cry, losers when they cry,
Music when it’s good and life
And I love you, too.
May 9, 2018 @ 10:38 am
I hate sleep without dreams. I never got that line.
May 9, 2018 @ 12:49 am
I see country radio’s current state, and I consider this progress. Sure it is not as good as the past, and not quite as good as the independent stuff (or folk/bluesy stuff and such from artists like Stapleton, Brent Cobb, etc.), but it’s not bad for the here and now. I don’t mind it. I oftentimes make a “today’s country” playlist that I burn onto RW CDs and I’ll probably throw this song into it like I do with some of stuff I just mentioned, but that’s only because I don’t think it’s terrible- even if we’ve heard it to death by other artists of yesteryear.
May 9, 2018 @ 5:21 am
I really wanted to like this song, but the damn fake drums throughout just kill it for me. The rest of the song is decent to good, but I just can’t take the production.
May 9, 2018 @ 5:31 am
I know! Country music is rich and has so much to offer instrumentation wise. They select fake drums to make it more “pop”. I think pop music listeners are now so dumb that they are lost if the song has no fake drum lol
May 9, 2018 @ 7:06 am
The music track and uninspired vocal delivery take away from what may have been a decent song. It ends up being pretty generic.
May 9, 2018 @ 7:08 am
– there can never be too many songs about drinking your sorrows away, or at least trying to – yes, this has been used before but it is an integral part of country or Honky Tonk songwriting, as it is in Blues or Rock’n’Roll as well.
– the “feat.”-part pisses me off though, ML simply sings some background vocals – not even to the extend Patty Loveless did (uncredited) on Vince Gill’s Single of the Year ’90 and Song of the Year ’91 – “When I Call Your Name.”
– and yes, the arrangement is not that country, even though Aldean actually sings and doesn’t try to emulate all the swanky R&B, Hip-Hop grooves that dominate the airwaves. Also as a positive point, the arrangement is kept fairly simple, besides the aforementioned steel guitar, for once the lead guitar is not “screaming.” It’s not that offending and I won’t ask my wife to change the channel, which I do with about every other song.
– I rather hear this than Jordan Davis’ “Take It From Me” which is the most added song this week by radio stations.
May 9, 2018 @ 7:10 am
Some reasons not to listen to a Jason Aldean song, even one featuring Miranda (in no particular order):
1. Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
2. George Jones and Tammy Wynette
3. Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris
4. Daryle Singletary and Rhonda Vincent
5. Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
6. Willie Nelson and Almost Everybody Else
May 9, 2018 @ 7:51 am
But what if you like the song, Dobe. That’s a reason not only to listen to an artist but to support the songwriters for writing a COUNTRY song with a smart , country-clever lyric , country arrangement , country harmonies , a female on the track and 3 1/2 minutes less airtime for FGL or Walker Hayes until THEY wake up to better song possibilities too . And last but not least ,a good country song on the radio inspires other writers and other artists to do the same …..record and release COUNTRY music .
All the duet partners you mention are classics, unquestionably . But for me ‘ it all starts with a song ‘ and this is a terrific COUNTRY song . Particularly in light of so much other crap being sold as such . .
May 9, 2018 @ 7:36 am
I don’t really care for Aldean but I’d rather hear this song on the radio than most of what’s being played currently during the rare 10 minute trip I run to the store and throw on one of my TWO Chicago Country stations that play the same exact shit songs over and over. It is what it is.
May 9, 2018 @ 9:33 am
This puffy dude runs pretty fast when under fire!
May 9, 2018 @ 10:30 am
So wanted to love this song…didn’t find it that heartfelt…like a less bombastic version of “Cry Pretty”. “You Make It Easy” is much better, IMO. This song bored me.
May 9, 2018 @ 11:47 am
What’s bad is, Jason has so many good songs in his catalog. Most are older, but he can put out good songs. This is a good one, too.
May 9, 2018 @ 1:45 pm
yeah its got that electronic r&b beat, like its sped up. aldean probably needed lots o autotune. doesnt need 2 parts should have been can anyone edit out aldean’s part with garage band lol
May 9, 2018 @ 9:39 pm
Lambert’s vox was diminished horribly in this song’s final cut. not a fan of the synth or the drum machine in this track either. …i’m NEVER a fan of a drum machine in country music. I like it in good hip-hop (Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, Kendrick Lamar, etc.) but drum machines, just like rap, have no place in country music. I have heard some decent and very minimal synth in songs by underground Americana artists such as Rod Melancon and Becca Mancarri…but as i said, they kept it minimal and it was only used in one or two songs on each of their records. Trigger; you are right about the production ruining this song. It ain’t going on MY playlist. At the same time, it is still more “country-ish” than a majority of the crap currently on mainstream country radio. …But i won’t be giving this one any more streams than my first listen yielded. Good review, Trigger!
May 11, 2018 @ 10:10 pm
Wow! I listen to the first 25 seconds of this song and I have hear no hint of anything being influential. And certainly this is not a country song. Modern country fans: “it must be a country song they say Tennessee”. The people who consider this country are completely backwards and need to go back to.listen to country music before the 2000s.
May 16, 2018 @ 10:08 am
I like Miranda’s contribution to “So Long 6th Street” more than this.
May 18, 2018 @ 2:22 pm
Whoever wrote this article is an idiot. With excerpts like “latching on to someone as unsavory as Jason Aldean” makes me wonder about the integrity of this writer in regard to country music. HAVE A LITTLE RESPECT. Having a net worth of some 80 million according to Forbes, and a 3 time ACM entertainer of the year MUST be doing something right.
May 31, 2018 @ 8:56 am
Jason Aldean recorded a song I liked once. I just can’t remember what it was.
When I hear him come on the radio, my fingers fly to the station buttons on their own. They’ve been trained.
July 13, 2018 @ 7:58 am
Totally agree with the review. It’s one of the more “country” songs in today’s radio country climate, yet the production could’ve/should’ve been much better.
It’s still my 2nd favorite song at country radio right now, which speaks for just how lacking country radio is today.
July 17, 2018 @ 6:36 am
I sometimes wonder if Miranda can’t crank the top 10 because she completely overhauled her image, personality and sound. Perhaps it was laid on a little thick, but, she came out of the gates as a badass — dare I say redneck — broad from Texas who sang songs with grit, like “Gunpowder and Lead,” “Kerosene,” “White Liar,” etc. On top of that, she was married to country music’s resident hillbilly, Blake Shelton. Nowadays, she looks AND sounds like some hipster who’s only interested in spinning obscure vinyl in an East Nashville bungalow. And really – she went from being with Blake Shelton to Anderson East?! That’s like claiming you’re a diesel truck girl for ten years, and then one day showing up at the office in a Volkswagen Bug.
So, we could say this Aldean single is the only way to get her into the top 10 – and that probably is true, and a little sad actually. Because her “Revolution” record is one of the best mainstream Music Row has delivered in the last decade. But, most of the blame for chart failure rests on Miranda for completely overhauling who she is/was, just to grab a seat at the proverbial cool kids table. Fans saw right through her the second she released “Vice.”