Song Review – Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy”
When Luke Combs first emerged in the country music national consciousness, he carried with him a lot of promise as major label star that could bring songwriting substance and a little bit of guts to the mainstream. He was ugly like you and I, didn’t fit the mold, and wrote his own songs. His early recordings showed a lot of potential as a country performer who wasn’t afraid to let his roots show—someone who could fall in with William Michael Morgan, Mo Pitney, and Jon Pardi as a promising new star in the mainstream that traditional and independent country fans could get behind.
But of course by the time he transitioned to a major label, the results were much more mixed. He still was a lot more real than most, but the production was mild and safe, the songwriting had most of the edges shaved off, and about all that seemed left of the original Luke Combs was the belly and beard. You can’t argue with the results if you’re a Music Row number cruncher though. Luke Combs is right up there with Kane Brown when it comes the viral nature of his success among a new generation of country listeners—ones who grew up on Florida Georgia Line, and consider Kenny Chesney classic country.
Combs has been so successful, his debut major label album This One’s For You is getting the deluxe reissue treatment, which is the common play when a new artist is outgrowing even the label’s expectations, and they need to feed the beast of hungry fandom without going through the 18 month slog of recording and releasing a new album just yet. As part of the deluxe edition called This One’s For You Too out June 1st, a new song has been issued called “Beautiful Crazy.” Just like most everything from Luke Combs, the song immediately started racking up crazy streaming numbers and YouTube views, and shot up the iTunes charts, still sitting at #1 at time of print.
“Beautiful Crazy” is much more similar to what we were hoping from Luke Combs when he first emerged on a major label. Full of steel guitar and fiddle, and ramping up to be a quality showcase for his barrel-chested country voice, “Beautiful Crazy” is easy to love regardless of your country music alignment. Though some traditional fans used to hearing this sort of production may sniff unimpressed, to hear a young country artist such as Luke Combs record and release a song as traditional as this, and to have it do so well, is a multi-layered victory for country music.
As can be seen in the video for the song, “Beautiful Crazy” was recorded in an actual studio, with actual musicians. And though this seems like how you would expect a song to be recorded, in 2018, simply using live microphones piped into a mixing board as opposed to selecting “New Project” on an iMac and noodling on a MIDI controller is unusual enough.
But the one concern with “Beautiful Crazy” is the same concern with many Luke Combs songs. Though there’s nothing wrong with the songwriting, and perhaps by today’s mainstream standards it’s downright Shakespearean, Luke Combs songs regularly use hooks that just don’t sink the way you want a good country song to. The whole song is structured for this big payoff in the chorus, but you feel a little short changed when you get there. The same can be said for Combs’ mega hit “Hurricane.” “Beautiful Crazy” is also a little sappy, if we’re being honest. It’s just an average love song. The production is what makes it impressive, bold, and admirable.
The reception Luke Combs continues to garner for his music remains incredible, and “Beautiful Crazy” proves he can transition into much more traditional instrumentation and his fans will not just come along for the ride, they’ll eat it up. If Combs can make country sounding music with “Beautiful Crazy,” why can’t he do it for the majority of a new record? After all, we know that more classic-style country is Luke’s primary influence. It’s also fair to say that just like Kane Brown, Luke Combs seems to benefit from incredible, almost uncanny placement on major streaming playlists, making one wonder how much of the consumption numbers behind him are organic, and how much they’re embellished by favorable placements.
Regardless of how we got here, or how the numbers were tabulated, “Beautiful Crazy” proves traditional country production can resonate with the new generation if just given a chance. A song like this could be a window, and a gateway to more songs and artists that utilize traditional country instrumentation. Hopefully “Beautiful Crazy” is given a chance on radio as well, and Luke is given the latitude to record more songs like this after proving his commercial success. And then perhaps the promise of what Luke Combs could be will be realized.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7/10)
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“Beautiful Crazy” was written by Luke Combs, Wyatt B. Durrette III and Robert Williford.
May 12, 2018 @ 8:38 am
It would be a breath of fresh air to hear this on country radio right now. I slept on him for a while but he’s one of my favorite vocalists at the moment. Also not that it matters at all but I find him very attractive haha.
May 12, 2018 @ 8:51 am
“He was ugly like you and I” ?…….LOL C’mon Trig I’m sure we’re all not ugly on this board but I get what you mean. As he would say “I ain’t no purdy boy”. He draws plenty of “Lukealikes” (guys that look like him) to his shows as well as many women. I liked Luke before the album came out. His first EP’s were great and not over produced. Then the EP and album by the same name “This One’s For You” came out and you’re right they took the edges off but the songs are still solid even the ones
co written with Ray Fulcher which brings us to the actual third installment of the same name albeit “deluxe edition” with 4 new songs and an old one. They should’ve included “Used To You” on the deluxe edition to make it complete. I like this song it’s simple, but he has better. By the way I don’t think I’m “ugly” am I?
May 12, 2018 @ 8:59 am
Yeah, I hope folks don’t get hung up on that line and “get” what I was saying. I wasn’t calling anyone ugly as much as saying that Luke Combs doesn’t fit the mold as the pretty pop country star, which is a good thing. I think it can be easier to relate to music when you feel like an artist is “one of us” instead of “one of them.” That’s what makes an artist like Luke Combs appealing. But the music still has to be there. Luckily it is with this song.
May 13, 2018 @ 9:54 pm
Stop calling me ugly!
December 11, 2018 @ 6:15 am
Yo what you got to say now ..its been 6 months since you made your review of luke and every song of his on the #radio has hit number one because of him not placement and all of his headliners shows are #sold out not even kinny,tim,Garth did that this early in the game . His what country music needed I go to a lot of shows and i will be stage side when luke kicks of his tour on January 31st and it will be so refreshing not to see skinny jeans and sperry boat shoes ????. It will definitely be beautiful crazy….
Bootlegger for life
May 12, 2018 @ 6:33 pm
I thought more people posting here would get hung up on Kenny Chesney not being considered Classic Country.
May 12, 2018 @ 9:26 am
One of my kids at UGA said: “Dad, you gotta listen to this Luke Combs ep” that was out a few years ago. I gave it a listen and really loved it. It is amazing to me that someone without the “look” is doing so well on mainstream radio. And yes, it kind of pisses me off every time someone who sounds legit suddenly sounds Nashvegas (like what is about to happen with Riley Green), but it’s their life. Make your money, get some lipo, get the hot chicks, and do your thing.
May 12, 2018 @ 9:28 am
I like this song. Though it does sound similar and have similar word play to Brantley Gilbert’s “My Kind of Crazy”
May 12, 2018 @ 10:36 am
In a perfect world right now, labels would let country singers with real country voices take more traditional country risks. Of course, only the more indie labels do that. But WMMs Vinyl was a great record front to back that obviously only produced one hit, so probably not enough ROI in their minds. Shame, poster boy looking dude, George strait vibe, great songwriting choices, etc.
Many labels want that voice vibe like Josh Turner, Easton Corbin, Randy Houser, even Chris Young, and be able to commercially control them and marginalize their talent the way that those guys and many others have been the last five years.
May 12, 2018 @ 10:46 am
I bought “This One’s for You” when it came out, listened to it a couple times, then put it away without much thought. Then when I heard about the deluxe edition, I dug the CD back out and gave it a spin…and ended up listening to it regularly for a few days. I think Luke’s stuff thus far sets an example for how modern production can be implemented in a country song without overhauling its country-ness or compromising good songwriting. Sure there’s
May 12, 2018 @ 10:49 am
Damn thing posted before I finished.
Sure there’s some eyeroll-inducing moments here and there, but that’s to be expected from a mainstream release. All in all, I think we can consider Luke Combs more of a “good guy” than anything else.
May 12, 2018 @ 11:35 am
This is definitely what Luke should and, I believe, wants to be doing with his music. Haggard is his hero and, in the contemporary milieu, he (as he said in an interview) looks to fellow North Carolinian, Eric Church, for inspiration. It’s a shame that his big label debut was full of compromises, especially on the production front. Tracy Lawrence has said some high praise for him, which is all the more reason why I’m rooting for the guy. It truly is astonishing how he has garnered such a fervent fan base. I never saw it coming when he was an unknown playing at Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte.
May 12, 2018 @ 1:21 pm
I like his voice, but the fact that he is “ugly” is why he’ll never be a major star.
Before you attempt to argue, tell me which Country Music legend wasn’t at least moderately handsome.
May 12, 2018 @ 1:27 pm
Lyle Lovett was the butt of a lot of jokes.
May 12, 2018 @ 6:42 pm
Yeah, and Julia Roberts got naked with him.
May 12, 2018 @ 1:29 pm
You could argue Luke Combs already is a major star, or if he isn’t he’ll be there shortly. He already has two #1 hits, he’s working on a third at the moment, and this song has garnered millions of streams and will likely go #1 on the country digital sales chart next week without being released as a single. At this pace, he’ll be playing to arenas in three years right there with Kane Brown.
May 12, 2018 @ 2:58 pm
Merle haggard
May 12, 2018 @ 5:06 pm
He was handsome, at least most women thought so.
May 12, 2018 @ 4:43 pm
Waylon Jennings
May 12, 2018 @ 5:06 pm
Waylon was a fairly handsome dude, especially before he grew his hair out.
May 12, 2018 @ 7:06 pm
Don’t know about that. Some of the publicity shots of Waylon before he went all outlaw are not of a particularly handsome fellow.
May 13, 2018 @ 2:44 pm
He looked good with the rockabilly look.
https://www.google.com/search?q=waylon+jennings+50%27s&num=50&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKkMKk1IPbAhVpl1QKHWvoBaUQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=662#imgrc=7lGCIB-uq9nZBM:
May 12, 2018 @ 4:45 pm
Dwight Yoakam
May 12, 2018 @ 5:08 pm
You might have me there, but I’m not sure I consider Dwight a legend. Also, I’ve known women who thought he was hot.
May 12, 2018 @ 5:59 pm
I don’t know anything about women but I know this…….If the ugliest guy in the world is singing a song they really like he becomes a A LOT more attractive.
I’ve stood next to many women at his shows and have heard what they’ve said….Luke will do just fine. He tears it up onstage but also has that big Teddy Bear thing going for him…..lol
May 12, 2018 @ 7:04 pm
Well, he’ll probably be a Hall of Famer in the end and will almost certainly have a far more successful career than Luke Combs.
May 12, 2018 @ 6:34 pm
George Jones wasn’t the best looking guy, and was able to snag the only female singer worth a shit in Country Music. Not too shabby a singer himself.
May 12, 2018 @ 8:57 pm
George was moderately handsome.
May 31, 2018 @ 5:38 am
No, no he wasn’t. He was called the possum for a reason.
May 13, 2018 @ 2:09 pm
We can agree that Tammy Wynette was phenomenal, but the only female country singer worth a shit? That’s something I, and probably most country fans, would have to disagree with you on.
May 12, 2018 @ 6:51 pm
Unrelated to country, my favorite recorded music put to tape or video as a whole project is Bireli Lagrene’s dvd, Jazz a Vienne, and my goodness, what a bunch of ugly mofos. It’s hard to hypothesize if those musicians would be anymore well known if they weren’t as ugly as they are since the music they play is relatively unappreciated in the US but I haven’t seen so much talent on one project anywhere else.
May 13, 2018 @ 4:20 am
No matter what you look like, theres gonna be somebody out there who finds you attractive. So your argument is sort of moot. But I’ll go ahead and say that both David Allen Coe and Don Williams were both fairly unattractive people if I were judging appearances.
May 13, 2018 @ 1:26 pm
Well… as a heterosexual male, I may not be qualified to judge the appearance of other men, but George Jones did obtain his nickname from the fact that he looked like a certain marsupial… just saying…
May 14, 2018 @ 7:58 am
Heard quite a few people claim Chris Stapleton isn’t necessarily great looking.
May 14, 2018 @ 9:01 am
Hank Jr had a big burly beard and wore sunglasses because he had big scars all over his face from an accident falling down a mountain. I think a lot of Luke Combs’ appeal is he is just like you and me.
May 14, 2018 @ 9:17 am
Johnny Paycheck
May 12, 2018 @ 1:26 pm
Also, what is that little bleach-blonde hipster doing behind the board? There’s no way that dweeb is qualified to produce Country Music.
May 13, 2018 @ 10:23 am
The bits with him were trying a little too hard, but what about this “production” isn’t country? On the one hand there are great country producers, but isn’t that a little disingenuous in itself? If the artist and band are good and sound country, and you put up microphones and capture the sound correct, the result should sound “country” (regardless of if it was recorded though a crazy expensive api console or straight into an iMac), as a side note. Recording into an iMac has nothing to do with why most music ends up sounding like commercial dog shit. It’s more the original source material and what happens AFTER the sound is captured (timing correction, pitch correction, drum replacement, over mixing, etc).
Do you think it’s better for a producer to make an artist sound “country” when they don’t by themselves? That sounds even more suspect to me than someone being a hipster because they have blond hair and, fair enough, might be trying too hard.
May 13, 2018 @ 2:37 pm
Man, honestly, I just can’t stand interlopers. Country Music was created by good ol’ boys, and it’s sad to see that it’s been turned over to metros, with toboggans on in the Summer, and their hair bleached blonde.
Yes, I’m a cultural bigot. But I don’t care. I think everyone should want to protect their culture from being diluted by outside influence.
May 13, 2018 @ 5:32 pm
Though I don’t agree with that 100% (I’m glad Appalachian folk musicians and blues players “didn’t protect their culture” so much that it didn’t evolve into or blend into country, and your vision of who should be making country is pretty narrow), in light of the so many people pissing on what might be considered the golden age of country, and though you would probably consider me an interloper….when I watched this again I couldn’t help understand, at least a little, where you’re coming from. Damn thats a long sentence.
May 14, 2018 @ 7:42 am
If that’s the engineer, his country music creds don’t matter.
There is a long list of grammy award winning rap albums engineered by white guys or jazz albums engineered by metalheads. They’re not writing the song or instrumentation, they’re making sure it records correctly.
May 12, 2018 @ 1:57 pm
I like him better than most mainstream guys right now. “When It Rains It Pours” is pretty generic but it was by far one of the best singles of 2017 in my opinion.
May 12, 2018 @ 2:42 pm
hmmmm….sounds like it could have been recorded by hunter hayes or lonestar ..or ?? I find the lyric cliche , trite , pandering and the vocal….well …unremarkable .
I’ll concede that it has a nice romantic vibe musically and would have people on a dance floor on that basis alone, I think. but I’ve heard this song too many times over the years to get excited about it this time around .
I think your rating was VERY generous trigger …….
May 12, 2018 @ 6:30 pm
I think he has a fairly distinctive, good voice. But, WTF do I know? I’m enjoying me some John Conlee as I type this out.
May 12, 2018 @ 2:51 pm
good tune. He’s definitely one of the better ones on commercial radio right now. Unfortunately that’s not saying much.
May 12, 2018 @ 3:52 pm
She starts her day with a coffee and ends it with wine. If thats the craziest chick he ever gets involved with he’s one lucky SOB. I was waiting to hear what was crazy about her?
I really hate the tepid approach to the production and instrumentation. For crying out loud try and catch the listeners ear once in a while. Imagine Redd Volkaert or Roy Nichols using a volume pedal with their tele. Use the guitars volume pot for gods sake and give it a bit of a human element.
I would have to agree with Honky. Get some folks that know how to produce real Country music.
May 13, 2018 @ 7:20 pm
Haha, I wondered the same thing. Borderline she ain’t. Maybe she “crazy” binge watching not one but two seasons of something.
May 12, 2018 @ 5:01 pm
I will not be surprised to see Luke Combs vying for Male Vocalist and win. It seems Nashville needs to develop a few new headliners. Luke and Jon Pardi fit the bill.
May 12, 2018 @ 5:27 pm
If you think Dwight ain’t a legend, this whole conversation is over.
May 12, 2018 @ 5:28 pm
That was for Honky
May 12, 2018 @ 8:59 pm
I own all his albums, but I’m still not sure I’d call him a legend.
May 12, 2018 @ 10:00 pm
Well his first 5 albums might be the best creative stretch by a country artist, and he made country cool while bringing it back to its roots. Also he is bald so that’s gotta count for something.
May 12, 2018 @ 9:44 pm
This guy is contradictory as hell
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikxnz2NIdxI
May 13, 2018 @ 3:05 pm
@ Straight Country 81
Holy crap. Is that Luke Combs in a video with the kkk doing a rap song? Guess most of those folks couldn’t spell irony, let alone recognize it…
May 18, 2018 @ 4:39 am
What the hell…
May 13, 2018 @ 12:06 am
His timbre is similar to Craig Morgan. He has his own sound though. Really good songwriter
May 13, 2018 @ 12:09 am
john conlee…..now THERE’S a distinctive voice !
May 14, 2018 @ 7:32 am
Totally meh song in every way…
Wouldn’t mind if this were the worst thing on radio.
Actually I don’t mind if it’s the best thing on radio ‘cause I don’t listen to radio anymore.
May 14, 2018 @ 7:44 am
Luke Combs is a bright spot in the mainstream, but I’m treading cautiously. Seeing how Dustin Lynch, Keith Urban, Jake Owen, and others went full sellout, I’m hoping Combs doesn’t fall into that wormhole. But given recent history, I’m wondering when the other shoe will drop.
May 14, 2018 @ 9:03 am
My dad told me “Luke Combs looks like he’d be fun to be in a fraternity with” lol. I think so much of the dude’s appeal is he’s fun and he looks like he could be you or me. I like the dude and think if given free reigns on his music he could be something special.
May 18, 2018 @ 3:27 pm
Unpopular opinion: I hate it. Keep in mind this is coming from a 22-year-old who is a hardcore fan of Jon Pardi and William Michael Morgan. Much unlike their songs, this reeks of sappy crappy Hallmark shit and sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a trash can. Still better than Sam Hunt and FGL, if you call that a compliment. However, if you can enjoy this song, I respect your opinion and you are a better person than I.
August 15, 2018 @ 4:05 am
I go to sleep singing Beautiful Crazy, wake up humming it and sing it throughout the day. Luke Combs is just what this country girl wants. Gritty voice, steel guitar, fiddle and real! Love him and his music!
November 13, 2019 @ 8:15 am
This song was written by AI. Like someone trained a machine to listen to mainstream country music and then write their own song. It says all the right words without actually saying anything meaningful or real. Don’t let the machines win; listen to real country music, not this.
December 2, 2019 @ 1:13 pm
Is no one going to comment on how absolutely dispassionate his demeanor was during the singing of the song in the music video? Just to hear the voice you wouldn’t know, but I find the music video positively odd and yet sadly honest in terms of tone. Comb’s nearly resigned-sounding, “Give the people what they want,” coupled with the ending where he just impassively hangs up the headphones and walks away without acknowledgement make me feel like this song has the emotional impact of washing a load of laundry. It’s his job–songs like this pay the bills, I get it. But rather than being in love with anyone, I feel like all the people pictured in the video went home and ate a bowl of fruit loops in the dark once they wrapped up recording.