Song Review – Jason Aldean’s “You Make It Easy”
Jason Aldean is the latest mainstream country music bro to make it hard to be a mainstream country hater with his latest single, “You Make It Easy.” It’s certainly not anywhere close to an exceptional effort, and we’d be fools to believe that the puffy purveyor of such filthy tire fires as “Dirt Road Anthem” and “1994” has turned a page. But just like Luke Bryan’s “Most People Are Good,” and the latest singles from Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, and others, for whatever reason, the recent efforts from some of “country” music’s worst offenders have been some of their best efforts in years, and you can now add Aldean to that list.
If you look at the run down of Jason Aldean’s previous lead singles from new albums—songs like “Burnin’ It Down,” “Take a Little Ride,” “Lights Come On,” etc.—it’s easy to see they are some of the worst offenses of his often offensive career, just like the list of lead singles from most any mainstream country artist. The lead single is often the moment to sell out the hardest to create maximum buzz for your upcoming album release. But like others, Jason Aldean surprises us here.
The lyrics are where Aldean’s “You Make It Easy” fail to impress. It’s not that they’re bad or abusive to the ear. In fact comparing them to the word sets of your garden variety radio song these days, perhaps they’re even slightly above average simply from avoiding the common pratfalls. It’s just a sex-infused love song, pretty generic, but nothing to get too steamed over.
But musically, “You Make It Easy” scores solid marks across the board. There’s no drum machine, no synthesizer. There’s no rapping, or glaring hip-hop annunciations. It’s a waltz beat for crying out loud, which is pretty unheard of on today’s country radio. This is a bar room dance song. They even find time for a guitar solo, which is pretty subpar, and like so many mainstream solos these days is done with a slide. Overall, there’s not much twang here to be able to call it a true country song. But dammit, given the principals involved here their due, which includes Florida Georgia Line in the writing credits. Yes, even with that little factoid and a full gulp of Haterade to start your day, Jason Aldean’s “You Make It Easy” is still hard to get worked up over.
It’s unclear what’s causing this recent trend of historically bad artists releasing career-level quality songs. Perhaps it’s because slightly older artists like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean know they’re reaching the tail end of their commercial relevancy, and by making a flight to quality, perhaps they’ll extend their shelf life like they’ve seen happen with Tim McGraw. Maybe they see Chris Stapleton winning all the awards, and are taking a cue from him by releasing better songs. Maybe since the new streaming paradigm seems to be uninterested in incorporating legacy acts, they’re focusing more on an older, more traditional mainstream radio crowd as a power base.
If “You May It Easy” is chasing any trends, it’s the east Nashville R&B Muscle Shoals Dave Cobb sound that everyone else seems obsessed over these days, and has rendered an otherwise stimulating influence somewhat nauseating from its ever-presence. Don’t mistake tepid praise for “You Make It Easy” as an oversight of just how non-country it is, or that there’s any thoughts that it’s actually good. But it’s certainly a lot more rootsy than anything we were expecting a Jason Aldean lead single to be.
Sorry to once again to let down the red meat crowd hoping for another juicy rant here making fun of the size of Jason Aldean’s privates and dogpiling this song with pointed observations, but I’ve got no bile bubbling, and no anger to expend towards this. I can’t say I’ll ever seek out another listen to it once this review is wrapped, but I won’t judge anyone for not changing the station when “You Make It Easy” comes on.
March 7, 2018 @ 10:47 am
I’ve always thought Aldean’s words were worse than his music. Yes, he’s released some of the worst country songs of all-time (1994, Burnin It Down). But he’s also released some gems (Two Night Town, Asphalt Cowboy, The Truth). Even his more bro stuff was much more country sounding than Luke Bryan or FGL. Doesn’t excuse him for the bad songs he has released, but I’ve just always thought his reputation was worse than the actual stuff he was putting out.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:48 pm
Fly Over States, Why, Amarillo Sky and Laughed Until We Cried are also pretty good songs.
March 7, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
Two night town, fast, Church pew or bar stool, fast lanes, why, water tower, good to go, on my highway
March 7, 2018 @ 2:47 pm
He actually has quite a few decent songs. Can we just pretend 2011-2016 never happened?
March 7, 2018 @ 5:55 pm
I have always liked Jason. But i havent liked alot of his music the past few years. The Truth, Why, Fly Over States, Amarillo Sky, and Laughed Until We Cried are absolutely his best work. I hope this new album has some of that, if it does i will be buying it. Trigger is spot on with his review btw.
March 8, 2018 @ 11:16 am
Being a Joe Diffie fan, I kinda like “1994”. Sorry, everyone.
March 8, 2018 @ 12:31 pm
I’m also a Joe Diffie fan.
But I’m not so much a fan of some no-neck wannabe redneck gangsta thug chanting “Joe – Joe – Joe – Joe DiffAAYYYY” over and over.
March 7, 2018 @ 10:54 am
This song is horrible. His voice is grating and I think we have to blame Rascall Flats for this type of pseudo-R&B phrasing/vocal pattern. Aldean has a habit of sounding even dumber than he looks. This bears no resemblance to country music.
March 7, 2018 @ 6:11 pm
Thank you for typing up my comment for me.
March 7, 2018 @ 10:56 am
Great review! Definitely his best effort in a while. Hopefully the trend continues for the mainstream country music artists. Maybe the tide is turning. That being said there’s a lot of wrong to be righted in country music. But for now let’s just enjoy the fact that there is some better music on the radio.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:00 am
Too high a rating. You’re comparing against “Dirt Road Anthem” instead of “Your Cheatin Heart.”
March 7, 2018 @ 11:05 am
That’s exactly what I’m doing. It’s only fair to grade songs against the peers of their format, and of their time period. Of course this song is forgettable compared to “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” It’s pretty forgettable anyway. But if you take a cross section of mainstream country radio in recent memory and compare this song to it, it is far and away better than most everything else. I’m not a fan of it. I probably won’t listen to the song every again. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad song. Rome wasn’t built in a day. If Jason Aldean is releasing songs like this instead of “Dirt Road Anthem,” that is measurable progress.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:19 am
So if a traditional artist gets a 6/10 it could be a much better song than this but still get the same rating?
March 7, 2018 @ 12:54 pm
Maybe, or maybe not. It just depends on the songs. Folks always want to do side by side comparisons with grades, which diminishes the point of artistic criticism by trying to turn something subjective into a competition, and pit two things against each other that are often not related. That’s why I purposefully try to keep my grades a little hard to follow. It is the review itself that is the ultimate conclusion on the song. The grade is just an addendum.
March 7, 2018 @ 1:16 pm
Where attaching grades to reviews get into trouble (and DEFINITELY don’t mean only you) is when the reviewer either a) totally eviscerates the song, show, movie and then give it a highish grade or b) speak glowingly about the song, show, movie then give it a lousy grade. That gets confusing for the reader.
Obviously in a better world the grade wouldn’t be necessary just the text but sadly we don’t live in that world. Instead we have the internet.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:15 am
Just so happens that I was at Rodeo Houston last night and JA was the “entertainment”. He played this song. It was, in fact, a lot more tolerable than the rest. Granted, the cavernous NRG Stadium is not the best place to listen to music. But, Aldean is just way too nasally(sp) for me.
I told the wife, “He has a really good band. They just need a new singer.”
March 7, 2018 @ 11:25 am
Nothing grabbed me with this song. Yes, its much “better” and tolerable than alot of the stuff on the radio but that still wasn’t a song worth listening too in my opinion. It’s just a who cares song…
March 7, 2018 @ 11:41 am
Considering the baseline this is much a much improvement for Aldean. You don’t have to like it just root for as step in the right direction.. Me personally I liked it. Wouldn’t great but liked it.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:59 am
Sounds a lot like “Hard Candy” by Chris Knight
March 7, 2018 @ 12:26 pm
More pop trash. Cmon man, 6/10?
March 7, 2018 @ 12:27 pm
I’ve always had a soft sport for Jason Aldean. Some of it may be a guilty pleasure, but other of it I unabashedly really like. This song included. I think a reason I’ve always found Aldean more tolerable, is that he really does seem ‘country,’ even if his music isn’t always.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:31 pm
MY TRUCK IS LOUD!
March 7, 2018 @ 12:32 pm
Hey pretty good ed sheeren impression there cowboy LOL
The slide solo did jump out at me as by far the worst part of the song. Sounded more out of tune than aldean.
Made it through the whole song, but that doesn’t mean I’d ever listen to it intentionally. And I’m not going back to radio because they suddenly play a handful of songs that my ears can somewhat tolerate.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:53 pm
This song is trash in terms of being country. Well in terms of being anything. This is a joke. I’m out.
March 7, 2018 @ 1:12 pm
No. No. No.
It’s not good. It’s trash. and the people who produce and perform it are trashy people.
just because it’s not as bad as their usual shit doesn’t make it decent.
I’m never, ever, ever, ever, and again, effing never going to take my Ray Price off the turntable to hear a shitty bro Country song just because “it’s better than the usual shitty bro country songs.”
Cole Swindle is about as talented as a bottle of gorilla glue that’s hardened inside and has to be thrown out.
Aldean is a poor example of humanity, with his affair, and his never reading a book since high school. I do not respect people who do not read books.
Because they are usually ill informed and unable to carry on intelligent conversations.
Also he’s forty and should know better than to act like an obnoxious 22 year old.
And all you people giving out any praise for this and for similar efforts are the whole reason we lost Country Music.
because the corporate wafflefaced drongos know that we’ll let it slide.
We want real Country Music, they throw us a bone.
and you people took the bone every single time.
EVERY TIME!
Country Music is dying because you people are too forgiving and aren’t holding people responsible!
Why did we let this guy off the hook for his affair! run him out of music! but no. because this song is better than burning it down he’s forgiven.
Stop condoning bad music.
Stop giving people brownie points for trying.
Stop letting anything that isn’t as good as Ray Price and and Hank Cochran get compliments!
because the whole reason we don’t get good music out of these stars is because the bigwigs know that all they have to do is throw us a bone and we’ll put down our pitchforks.
pick up the pitchforks, people! this isn’t good, acceptable, respectable, or decent!
March 7, 2018 @ 6:15 pm
Mr. TwoShirts,
This is a really great comment. It’s more verbose than what I’d have said. Nicely done.
March 7, 2018 @ 7:29 pm
Not really a fan of this song, although it’s not horrible, but why should we throw Aldean out of music for his affair? Obviously, I don’t condone his affair, but many classic country songs speak of affairs and came from real experiences. It just seems like if we’re kicking every person out of country music who ever had an affair, that’d leave us with a lot less good country music and a lot less interesting people.
March 8, 2018 @ 12:13 am
Yeah, what would Loretta have written about?
March 7, 2018 @ 1:38 pm
Preach, Fuzzy TwoShirts, preach!
March 7, 2018 @ 1:41 pm
I don’t mind the guy. Hes definitely not making it on his looks.
March 7, 2018 @ 1:59 pm
/pedantOn
This song is in 6/8, not 3/4.
/pedantOff
This song is following after “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” And man, what a weird video to go with it. Total disconnect, but typical Aldean truck commercial. Butter, bread, repeat, etc.
It could be worse, sure, but it could also be a whole lot better.
March 7, 2018 @ 2:00 pm
I will give any Jason Aldean song a chance, just because I became a huge fan of country music through him at age 13 (I grew up listening to country radio forever, though). My tastes have changed to Hank Sr., and his music has changed to…this. Blech! I’ll listen to “Amarillo Sky” any time, but I didn’t listen to even 30 seconds of this crap.
His attitude and personality within the country music world do not help, either. Though, he’s always been nice to me when I saw him.
“It wasn’t long till all your dreams came true… It’s funny what success has done to you.”
March 8, 2018 @ 9:16 am
I always found it interesting how people can go from Jason Aldean to Hank Sr. My wife tells me younger folks need a stepping stone into traditional country style, and I’m always to stubborn to give them one. To me, it’s always been: “you either like George Jones or you don’t”. I guess you’re proof that she’s right :). Kudos to you. For the record, I can’t stand Jason Aldean or anything he or his ridiculous excuses for country music on the radio stand for. But I like your comment!
March 7, 2018 @ 2:06 pm
Honestly, if it wasn’t for the lack of women, and the Bebe/FGL song, country radio doesn’t totally stink right now. The next several songs likely to be #1 are: Marry me (again), Halos, Most people are good, Meant to Be, You Make it easy, Heaven, and I live it, with Brett’s Long Way, and maybe Darius’ For the first time getting in. Most of those are listenable.
March 7, 2018 @ 6:15 pm
I wouldn’t listen to any of them intentionally.
March 8, 2018 @ 5:55 am
If they was dishwater I’d drain the sink and start over.
March 8, 2018 @ 11:56 am
“Most are listenable.”
What a standard.
March 7, 2018 @ 2:16 pm
I’ve always been a fan of Jason Aldean. His albums always have some actually very very good songs. His issue is that he does not release them to radio so he comes off as a more “bro” country artist. Take a look at “I Don’t Do Lonely Well,” “Don’t Change Gone” and “Tryin’ To Love Me.” His albums always have a few damn good sounds that go unnoticed because of the not so great singles he puts out. Although “Any Ol’ Barstool” was a good choice from the modern country perspective. His lead singles from albums are usually not very good, but the rest of the album usually is. I don’t expect for this album to be any different. I still believe he is still one of the good guys as far as mainstream artists go.
March 7, 2018 @ 2:42 pm
I completely agree with you. All you have to do is listen to his albums to see that he is definitely more country than other mainstream artists. Ive always liked his voice simply because it sounds country and he appeals to my small town way of life.
March 7, 2018 @ 3:11 pm
Exactly, I think most people overlook that. He isn’t a pop artist trying to be country. Regardless of some questionable songs he put out, he always had a natural country sound to him.
March 7, 2018 @ 2:54 pm
No. No. No.
It’s a ploy so that gullible people think he’s a talented artist. It’s this handy dandy thing from a psychological perspective that basically boils down to “foot in the door.” Releasing the shit first and then following it up with lipstick on a pig makes the pig look better, but when objectively compared to actual real music from any genre its painstakingly shallow.
there are no “good guys” in mainstream Country Music.
there are only enemies of real Country Music.
You’re wrong.
And you’re not just wrong, you are condoning this loser’s ridiculous and embarassing “forty years old pretending to be 24 and degrading women durr hurr I don’t know how to read” act.
And if you buy his albums, then his label gets money, and then they pay him to record more trash.
Every. single. record. of his. that. you buy. is. eroding. Country Music.
Period. not open for debate. you’re part of the problem
March 7, 2018 @ 2:55 pm
I would like to apologize for the harsh tone of this comment. I love Country Music and I admittedly get geared up to ten when it gets threatened. I don’t wish ill on anyone. Please do not be angry with me. I’m sorry.
March 12, 2018 @ 8:08 am
You have nothing to apologize for. Giving any attention to content like this at all is a betrayal of what this website should be and could be promoting. This is all manufactured bile and anyone reviewing it is in it for the ad revenue – I’m looking at you, Trigger -, and it deserves credit like a murderer deserves to be remembered.
March 12, 2018 @ 8:18 am
Think I’m Doctor Evil all you want, I’m used to it. But if you think that anyone is getting rich, or even able to cobble together a sustainable living off of display advertising on the internet in 2018, you’re simply just horrifically, horrifically uninformed.
March 12, 2018 @ 8:25 am
hehehe.. So what is it then. Hits? Attention? You write with all the bravado of Rush Limbaugh, yet very, very few people are never wrong like you are. The fact that you replied at all tells me this hit you right in the feels. You should listen to Fuzzy.
March 12, 2018 @ 9:15 am
First off, you can’t argue opinion. So I am not “wrong” here any more that you or anyone else is.
Second, the reason I responded is because I want folks to know that I care about there opinions too, even if they differ from me. That is why I have created a forum for both you and Fuzzy to voice your perspectives. I’m glad folks come here to give their dissenting viewpoints. I completely understand your distrust of the Music Row system because it’s what this entire website was built from. But I also see the value in rewarding music when it starts to head in the right direction to encourage that it continues.
However saying that I’m posting articles like this for revenue, clicks, or attention is just uninformed. If anything, you and Fuzzy’s comments illustrate how I can lose readers by positing articles such as this. But I don’t run a popularity contest. It’s my job to give my opinion unfettered by public perspective.
March 12, 2018 @ 9:40 am
Just a week or so ago Trig was insinuating in the comments of another post that substantial album reviews were placed on the back burner because we as readers “ignore” them. So I think it is safe to have the opinion that we are seeing an uptick in favorable pop country trash reviews because they do bait us into clicking on them and generating revenue, even if it is just worth a bag of peanuts. Admittedly it’s working, because here we are arguing about this mess.
March 12, 2018 @ 10:25 am
I never said or even insinuated that substantial reviews were being put on the back burner. I simply was pointing out that despite so many people clamoring for them, folks sure don’t give a shit to read them when they’re posted. But I still post them all the time. I posted more positive album reviews in 2017 than any year previous. The only reason this continues to be an issue is because people never even see my positive coverage it’s so obscure. They don’t click on it, don’t like or share it on social media, so it gets buried. I cannot control this.
The reason for the favorable reviews of some pop country songs is because I truly believe the tide is turning and I want to encourage that. But that in no way is eating into the coverage of independent artists. Simply just click on the home page and assess for yourself the balance of coverage.
All across the world, music publishing is being eviscerated, print and online. Just last week, Rare Country, which is a massive music site, announced it’s shuttering. Legacy British music publication NME is ceasing operations. This is a very real issue that can’t be overlooked. If you think I’m doing this for the money or anyone else is, you can kindly fuck off. I’ve never asked a red penny from any of my readers. I don’t sell merch. I don’t serve video streaming ads, drop downs, click thrus, pop ups, anything. Saving Country Music has one of the lightest ad sets out there. Disagree with me all you want on music or issues, but if you insinuate that anyone is in music publishing for the money, you’re just being an indolent asshole.
March 12, 2018 @ 9:56 am
That’s where you’re wrong. You can only argue opinion, because facts are not debatable, so try again.
Fact: The wasted words in this article help promote a wealthy metrosexual who panders to a working class and lives in a mansion.
Fact: Independent music needs all the attention and promotion it can get, not shitbags like Aldean who have a team of marketing experts and a for-profit industry on their side. And yet..
Opinion: You could do something more substantial with this website, but your hard-on for pop seems to be getting in the way.
March 12, 2018 @ 10:12 am
The point of Saving Country Music is not to promote and specific segment of artists. The point of Saving Country Music is to help point the country music genre in the right direction by whatever means necessary, which can include giving props to big mainstream artists who are releasing much better songs to radio that will be serviced to millions of listeners. Sometimes it also includes supporting independent artists, but what’s the value in that if nobody is reading those articles? I don’t see you leaving comments on the article I just posted on artists reviving the Countrypolitan era. I don’t see you leaving comments on the Dallas Moore review I did yesterday. I don’t see your comments on the articles about American Aquarium, or Vivian Leva, or Brent Cobb that are right there on the Home page at the moment. Instead you passed all those article up to come and bitch in a week old article about Jason Aldean about how skewed my priorities are. If you don’t want to read articles like this, by all means, pass it by. But to preach to me about priorities when passing up many articles that do exactly what you’re lobbying for seems to exemplify who has the skewed priorities here.
March 12, 2018 @ 10:30 am
Wow. I’ll be sure to leave more breadcrumbs for you in the future, since that seems to be your metric of choice. smh
March 12, 2018 @ 11:06 am
So just because people don’t leave comments means the article wasn’t read? I read most of the articles you post, some I very much enjoy. But I don’t comment on every one that I read.
March 7, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
“If “You May It Easy” is chasing any trends, it’s the east Nashville R&B Muscle Shoals Dave Cobb sound that everyone else seems obsessed over these days, and has rendered an otherwise stimulating influence somewhat nauseating from its ever-presence. ”
Are you saying that those sounds are similar?
March 7, 2018 @ 3:44 pm
I wish he would have been able to hit a curve ball. Then, maybe he’d be toiling in independent ball instead of making horrible music.
March 7, 2018 @ 4:01 pm
If you kept the composition/instrumentation but changed the lyrics, this wouldn’t be half bad. Not country, mind you, but not bad music in general. I’ve never been even close to considering my self an Aldean fan, but I have to admit, there are some nice vocal melodies in some of his songs, even songs that I thoroughly dislike overall. Ten years ago, I wouldn’t be caught dead saying anything positive about pop-country, but I think I’ve matured enough to admit that not 100% of every pop-country song is the worst thing I’ve ever heard.
March 7, 2018 @ 4:44 pm
Total trash, a do not buy is the method to end his career.
March 7, 2018 @ 4:58 pm
A different place, a different time, I ‘might’ have liked this song. Not now, not the foreseeable future.
I’m growing more discerning with age.
March 7, 2018 @ 5:02 pm
jessica simpson did it better like 20 years ago, check out ‘i think im in love’ LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7uxf8kBBlg
March 7, 2018 @ 6:34 pm
You are in the Jason Aldean comments… Judging by that song, you meant to comment in that Jake Owen “If I Were Jack” thread… (It happens)
March 9, 2018 @ 12:43 am
Remind me what the difference between those two is again?
March 7, 2018 @ 5:03 pm
This song is good. Why do all these ppl get worked up over minuscule faults in good songs. It’s good. Just enjoy the damn song.
March 7, 2018 @ 5:18 pm
The good of Jason Aldean is arguably some of the best music the mainstream has to offer. The bad of Jason Aldean makes you want to cast him aside for good.
But then you go back and listen to those first two albums and later album cuts like “Stare at the Sun” and it’s easy to forgive him
March 7, 2018 @ 5:41 pm
Ten seconds. I made it ten seconds.
March 7, 2018 @ 5:51 pm
‘tennessee whiskey’ ( 6/8 tempo ) spawned ‘girl crush’ ( 6/8 ) spawned ‘blue ain’t your colour’ ( 6/8 ) and a couple of other 6/8’s and now this . its music row chasing trend again ..that’s all .
lyrically forgettable , musically generic ( boring ) …but Ok ..no drum machines , hand claps and whoa whoa whoas . I think your rating is generous , Trigger , but I understand why . kinda feels like we’re rewarding a country music criminal for good behaviour …but ok .
March 7, 2018 @ 6:09 pm
Love this song!!
March 7, 2018 @ 6:40 pm
Eh, I kinda liked “Take a Little Ride” when it was released. But yeah I agree, this song is one of Aldean’s best in recent years
March 7, 2018 @ 6:47 pm
It’s not typical bro-trash that we’ve become accustomed to, yes. Still not a very good song. 3.5/10 for me.
March 7, 2018 @ 7:07 pm
I hate the song. It reminds me of Keith Urban’s latest work and anything that reminds me of Keith Urban makes me want to stick needles in my eye. Jason has been terrible in recent years, but I’m still hoping he’ll one day return to the sound and lyrics of his earlier work. There is some good stuff there not to be missed.
March 7, 2018 @ 7:36 pm
Substitute Jason Aldean for Luke Bryan and follow the link below to discover the proper way to listen to Mr. Aldean’s music.
https://youtu.be/fWsm3w-G8i8
March 7, 2018 @ 8:15 pm
Am I the only one who can’t stand this whole “snapping instead of drum beat” trend? I mean it’s not as bad as electronic drums, but it sounds too immature and poppy. Spend a little money, hire a guy who can play a bongo instead! That would be better than the snapping. It’s not the worst, but that’s my biggest complaint against this song. And the production could be better. I’m sick of hearing distorted voices in music when we should be able to capture them perfectly. It’s 2018 for crying out loud!
Aside from all that, this is a decent song. Good effort by him to put out something that’s actually worth listening to. Even better that radio is eating it up. It’s not the saving grace of country, but it’s a step in the right direction. Love me a good love song every now and then, and radio has been missing a tune like this for awhile. Good move Jason.
March 7, 2018 @ 9:35 pm
Oh come on. Fuzzy is 100% right. This garbage has turned the country music landscape into the dust bowl of the 30s and buying it or giving it a pass in any way is like putting another plow into the rich prairie soil. And this guy is pulling a 12 bottom with a brand new John Deere paid for with tax payer dollars. This lizard faced turd is a joke that ain’t funny and I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:01 pm
“and I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.”
Boy I would. I’d love to piss on that son of a……
March 7, 2018 @ 10:54 pm
This is the first Jason Aldean that has continued to grow on me since my first listen. I saw JA’s concert several years ago, and I thought at the time he sounded like he was rapping. Since then, it has been a a few more and gave birth to Florida Georgia line’s sound. Since the Las Vegas tragedy, I have looked at Jason in a different light. His current song does have an East Nashville/Dave Cobb sound to it and it that is part which gives the song more of a raw feeling. Thumbs up to this song.
March 8, 2018 @ 6:16 am
As to the rating, I do agree the number is high, To say it isn’t good and to give it an above average number is what confuses. Good = 6. This should probably get a 4. This comes up a lot. Most people think they are above average in looks, for instance.
I never liked grading on a curve. For example Dirt Road Anthem should get the opposite of what Al Gore did in Inconvenient truth–instead of a scissor lift to show how high the CO2 is, bring in an excavator to dig down to the earth’s mantle to post the negative rating for that song.
I’ve usually respected Jason Aldean, in a limited way. He’s the average guy who knows it and who’s just smart enough to capitalize on his meager talent with dedication and smarts. Surrounding himself with a great band is probably the smartest move he made. His old stuff comes across as legitimate. He did the bro thing and owned it. If only he had never tried to rap–oh well. If he thinks this is what his fans want now, more power to him.
I still only like about two of his songs, but I’ll keep an open mind.
And I still only care about performances. If people are keeping themselves out of jail they’re in sync with my status. They don’t need any additional vetting to be qualified to make sounds that I find pleasing.
March 8, 2018 @ 8:40 am
All these comments complaining about the grades recently just want me to eliminate grades all together. Too much attention being paid to them.
March 9, 2018 @ 7:09 am
Just give them all “participation trophies”. 😉
March 8, 2018 @ 6:57 am
Trigger, when are you going to review Blake Shelton’s new song “I Lived It” ? That’s a real country song with a nostalgic feel to it. You don’t hear that type of country song on radio that often. I would think SCM would support that type of country song. If this song is a 6 than I Lived It is at least an 8.
March 8, 2018 @ 8:38 am
I may review it, I may not. I reviewed Blake Shelton’s last record. I really only like to review maybe one mainstream country single a week.
March 8, 2018 @ 7:10 am
“It’s unclear what’s causing this recent trend of historically bad artists releasing career-level quality songs.” Admittedly, the bar for “career-level quality songs” is pretty low.
March 8, 2018 @ 7:48 am
I feel like we’ve been here before. “Bro country” was supposedly on the way out a few years ago, and then some artists – established ones and newcomers – released (and succeeded with) some of the worst offenders in recent memory.
It’s also important not to mistake “diverse single strategy” for “sweeping trend.”
In each of his past few album eras, Luke Bryan has blended trashy “party” singles with more mature, more country-ish releases. Drink A Beer and Roller Coaster from Crash My Party. Huntin/Fishin/Loving and Fast from Kill The Lights. Now Most People Are Good from What Makes You Country. But we’ve been here before, so there’s reason to assume he’s 100% done releasing stuff like Kick The Dust Up and Move.
Everyone’s reacting to his Cole Swindell single as if it’s some massive departure for him – as if he ONLY released stuff like “Chillin’ It” and never released “You Should Be Here.”
Thomas Rhett’s biggest hit (by far) is a sweet, low-key ballad.
Perhaps these songs are better than their past “mature” efforts, which is why they stand out. But the point is, it’s strategic for a mainstream radio artist to release a combination of party songs, ballads and “traditional” songs. Doesn’t mean they’re completely committing themselves to any one approach.
March 8, 2018 @ 9:07 am
About 20 years ago , I began to really feel that country songs were becoming less and less substance-driven , less adventurous melodically and less original-sounding overall . I thought, as so many writers do , ‘ surely I can write a better song than what I’m hearing ‘. So I stepped up my game as a writer . I listened to the great stuff , the classics , the ‘alt’ stuff , the indie stuff , the ‘ Americana ‘ stuff , the singer/songwriter stuff , the Bluegrass and Newgrass stuff and everything else that claimed ‘country music ‘ as its roots. I found a gold mine of great material in these options to ‘country’ radio .
I talked with others ,attended NSAI meetings with ,joined writers groups , wrote with , recorded demos with and pitched with other songwriters ….male and female , roots writers, Gospel writers , and contemporary country writers . LOTS of dedicated folks .
Here’s the thing we all agreed upon at some point . Yes , we had all seeked out and found better music from the aforementioned camps and yes ..we are all capable , or quickly becoming so , of writing and recording far better songs in terms of lyric , substance and melody than radio was offering . But what we discovered in our naivete was this : RADIO and the industry in general weren’t looking for better songs.
We had publishers talk to us about the ‘ double standards ‘ involved with pitching to artists ( Artists who write and are ‘established ‘ are a far tougher sell cuz they don’t want to or have to record as much ‘ outside’ material these days . They are expected to write or co-write their own material with many in-house writers who’ve had RADIO success -RADIO SUCCESS .
Publishers themselves were handcuffed by the labels and producers, in many cases , in terms of what they were asked to bring to the table . They were expected to bring the new radio stuff …not BETTER songs …but the SAME kind of songs and publishers , NSAI , evaluators etc all passed on this edict to fledgling writers . Labels knew the new , younger demographic they were marketing to .
And so my fellow fledglings and myself learned a tough but valuable lesson . DON’T WASTE TIME WRITING BETTER SONGS if you are only pitching TO ARTISTS AND PUBLISHERS . There is LOTS of better stuff around ….they just have no use for it . Water it down for a younger uninitiated demographic , for today’s ‘country’ radio ‘s demographic and MAYBE someone will listen to your pitch ….MAYBE .
For ANY truly creative person /songwriter , THIS is , to say the least , disheartening .
Its also very sad for singers and fans of great country music .
March 8, 2018 @ 9:22 am
he´s not so bad, a bunch of good songs through his career. but when is bad is very bad.
March 8, 2018 @ 10:09 am
Jason Aldean is only putting out this song because if he had put out his usually shit, after what happened in Vegas, it would hurt his image. He is a piss-poor singer, and he couldn’t find depth if he was drowning in the ocean. I agree with Fuzzy. His behavior- cheating openly on his wife and daughters, wearing a blackface for Halloween, claiming he hasn’t read a book since high school, claiming that he could tell female singers apart on the radio, his failure to sing a Tom Petty song that said something about Petty, and Vegas- ” I Forgive It All”, and his lack of any concern about being an artist- leads me to believe this song is just another trick. He wants you feel he ” feels” but he doesn’t. He doesn’t write his own songs. He does what he is told is good for his image. Hence this poorly written song. Trig you rate him too high. Consider the source first.
March 9, 2018 @ 1:28 am
I immediately thought of some of those 50’s Doo Wop groups when I heard this. They had a tendency to have the same kind of tempo on their slow songs. Certainly a different way to go and actual instruments, too, as Trig points out. I have no issue with JA at all and like this song the more I hear it.
March 9, 2018 @ 4:05 pm
Blue Ain’t Your Color pt 2.
March 10, 2018 @ 2:40 pm
He’s done worse songs. As for whether or not his music is country music…except for a couple of songs..no not really other than the nasally vocals. But I’ll say this…he’s got a pretty damn good 80’s hair band backing him up. Somewhere Motley Crue is smiling.
November 26, 2018 @ 9:56 pm
This song feels like I’ll Be by Edwin McCain… upvote 😛