Album Review: "Off The Beaten Path" by Justin Moore

With all the glowing reviews and the fact that many are saying this is "real country" music, I thought I'd give it a listen. It's actually quite ironic this album is named Off The Beaten Path. It makes you think it will be some different sounding album by someone who is doing what they want and going "off the beaten path" so to speak. This album is anything but, in fact it is on the old, straight, narrow, beat to death path so much it makes you sick. The typical pop country album has a few, but this album is completely made up of country cliche songs. Justin Moore was at my county fair this summer and I was bothered by a rant he made. He said something along the lines of I don't sing pop country, I don't sing rap country, I sing country country. It bothered me not only because he raps and has pop influences on this album but because he is basically telling the world that as long as you sing about beer and dirt roads you got a country song. Many people today believe that due to the amount of those songs on the radio. It really sucks because that couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm glad to see he isn't rolling with the controversial fake "Outlaw" bit like he did on his last album, but his songs still imply that he is some sort of rebel just because he is from the backwoods. In "Old Back In The New School" he wants to bring some things from the good old days into modern times. You would think there would be some sort of classic sounding approach, but other than a little steel guitar there really wasn't. There's this one line that made me laugh "Johnny rocked and Willie rolled, they just did it with a whole lot more soul." It's like no shit if you think they were great then why don't you use their musical accomplishments as an example for yourself? How do you think Johnny and Willie got that soul and heart in their music? It's because they wrote their songs and took control of their music by standing their ground. Justin Moore and all the guys in country today are making the same song and just rearranging the words. How many songs out there are about driving around with a girl in a truck? You probably can't count them all, yet songs like "Lettin' the Night Roll" and "Country Radio" keep coming to tarnish country music's reputation. Then comes the yay I'm a big tough country boy who hunts and drives trucks songs. "Point At You" "Dirt Road Kid" "Field Full of Hillbillies" and others just kept throwing out cliche after cliche to hook the casual country fan onto this obsessive countrified culture. There's a song called "One Dirt Road" that talks about how he wants heaven to have a dirt road and a place to fish and pick blackberries while his mama hangs his clothes up on a clothesline, no I'm not kidding! Another one called "This Kind of Town" talks about a town where old people gather at McDonald's and talk about the war and football. In this town "Girls out drank you and boys out Hank you." What is "Hanking" and why is it a verb? Why do unoriginal trend chasing songs like this even exist? "I don't think Hank done it that way" Justin!

There's a few super boring love songs that made you feel nothing. There was a song called "Beer" about the various ways to drink beer. One called "Off The Beaten Path" had a little vocal warp hip hop beat, surprising it came from "Mr. super country country." That wasn't even the worst. The worst song by far is "I'd Want It To Be Yours," it's about butts, big butts. In the world of ass songs this song actually makes "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" sound like "Pancho and Lefty." He sings "You're a little bit of J-Lo A little bit of Kim Kardashian It's big, it ain't tiny, I'm diggin' that hiney." then further tells the listener that even Snoop Dog would be jealous of his girl's big booty when it's all up in the bench seat of his Chevrolet yo. Then he puts the finishing touch onto the shit cake by rapping the third verse. Once again I am not stretching the truth at all! Now I'm fine with the fact that you want to record a funny feel good song. There's a fine line between cute and funny and creepy and gross. This song is so far past the line that the line can no longer be seen. It's not cute or funny it's just all around a bad, bad, song.

Now I'll admit he does have a lot more traditional sounding country elements in his music compared to others of his nature. It seemed a lot less of them though compared to his previous albums. One song called "Big Ass Heachache" was in 3/4 time and it did have a country feel. There was some steel guitar and banjo and his deep southern twang does sound genuine but it doesn't cover up the fact that a lot of the songs were heavily pop/rock influenced. Then there's the whole thing about how you feel nothing inside. Music is supposed to make you feel something, this music just doesn't. Now the best song by far was the duet "Old Habits" with Miranda Lambert. I'm not gonna lie this song is pretty good. There is a lot more thought in the lyrics and both of their voices sound really good together. It had a chance of being a really great country song. They were obviously trying to go for an old school feel and even though it is the "countriest" sounding song on the record it still sounds really modern and poppy. They could have turned it into some good genuine country song easily but they didn't. It seemed like a great song turned into a wasted opportunity.

This album is definitely not the real hard country twang album like people are making it out to be. There is so much good out there, this album is just another check mark on the laundry list. It's really sad that people buy into this. All it does is make them obsessed with a materialistic country culture. I enjoy doing a lot of the things he sings about in his songs, and if you want to sing a song every now and then about a country lifestyle that's fine. I don't want every single song to be about it though. I don't need someone to tell me what goes on in a small town, because I already know. I need someone to tell me about life, heartache, how the world works, what to expect. I need someone to tell me a story. 

Country Cliche Count:

Truck: 5

Tailgate: 1 (impressive)

Beer: 13

Chevy: 3

Dirt/Back road: 15

Somewhat decent/ listenable songs: "Old Habits" "Big Ass Headache"

Rating: F

  

Two For Tuesday: Random 9/24/13

One of the hot new guys in country music is Cole Swindell, and I'm not sure why. He wrote a couple of songs for other country pop stars like Luke Bryan and Craig Campbell. His own song "Chillin It" is still climbing the charts. It is the definition of dumb cliche country pop song. We need less songwriters like Cole Swindell in country music.


This song needs no description or explanation. We need more songwriters like Chris Knight.

Two For Tuesday: Chris Young 9/17/13

It is always sad to see a great singer get trapped in the bottomless pit of death which is music row. In a way you kind of feel bad because it's probably not all the singer's fault. On the other hand if they know it's not right for them they shouldn't go through with it, many artists still do. With so many singers speaking out against what is country music today, you have to wonder how much they really enjoy the so called "new sound" they have on their new albums. Chris Young was one that always used to seem fairly Neo-Traditional. He never really had any songs that would make you feel ashamed to be a country fan, unlike some other people today. For the most part he always kept his music sounding like country music. Now his new album A.M. is a complete opposite of everything he used to be.

Now I usually hate whenever modern singers cover old songs. It's usually so clean, polished, and poppy that it just ruins the feel of what the song used to be. Chris Young did a great rendition of Waylon Jennings' "Rose In Paradise." Trying to cover a song by a legend and do it justice is a very hard thing to do. Attempting to fill Waylon's shoes is something that seems quite ridiculous. But with the help of Willie Nelson, Chris delivered a great version of this song.


That was off of his album in 2009. Fast forward to today, and that kind of country would never fly on an album from an artist of his caliber. It saddens me now to see someone who can sing great country music sing such low level pop. "Aw Naw" was released early this year, and from then on you kind of knew you lost him. Most of the songs on his new album are cliche worded, cookie cutter country pop like everyone else is doing. It really sucks to see someone with great talent be wasted just to be a puppet for Music Row.

Are Mainstream Country Stars Happy With The State Of Country Music?

When it comes to mainstream pop country, a question I always wonder is if the singers are really happy about the so called "evolution." I don't mean happy because it makes them a lot of money, I'm talking truly proud of the state of country music today. Many of them don't care about upsetting the traditionalists because they just want to make fun music that appeals to a large audience. That's fine up to a point, but you can't tell me some of these singers who claim they are hardcore country fans are actually proud of the fact that they cater to the needs of teenage girls instead of preserving the genre. This so called "fun music" is all that is on country radio. It's not exploring a variety of new sounds or some crap they call it because every song on the radio is the same thing written a million different ways. Some singers just take their paychecks and shut up about it, but recently these outspoken few have had enough rapping about trucks songs and said publicly what thousands of real country fans have been thinking for the past two decades.

Kacey Musgraves in American Songwriter:

"My voice is undeniably country, and I love country. Do I love what it’s turned into? No, not all the way. It’s a little embarrassing when people outside of the genre ask what I sing and I say country. You automatically get a negative response, a cheese factor. My favorite compliment ever is when someone says, “I hate country music but I love your music.”

Again, this time in GQ Kacey said what many songwriters these days need to hear.

"Anyone singing about trucks, in any form, in any song, anywhere. Literally just stop nobody cares! It’s not fun to listen to."

Alan Jackson in The Baltimore Sun:

"Right now, it seems like it’s gone. It’s not that I’m against all that’s out there. There’s some good music good songwriting and good artists out there, but there’s really no country stuff left. It’s always been that constant pop-country battle. I don’t think it’s ever going to change. What makes me sad today is that I think the real country, real rootsy traditional stuff, may be gone. I don’t know if it’ll ever be back on mainstream radio. You can’t get it played anymore."

Gary Allan got asked if he thinks Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood are country artists in an interview with Larry King:

“You know, I would say no. I would say they’re pop artists making a living in the country genre. I also feel like we lost our genre. I don’t feel like I make music for a genre anymore, and I did, you know, 15 years ago. But I think since the Clear Channel’s and the Cumulus’s and the big companies bought up all the chains, now it’s about a demographic. You know, so they've kind of sliced everything up, feeding it to the public in demographics. Like if you want to get to the young kids, you put it on the alternative station. We've sort of ended up in this… we’re nicknamed the soccer mom, like 35 to 45 year-old woman I think is what our demographic is. So it’s very different. You used to be able to turn on the radio and you knew instantly it was the country station just by listening to it, and now you've got to leave it there for a second to figure it out.”

Zac Brown on Luke Bryan's new single and the current state of country music on a Canadian country station:

"I love Luke Bryan and he’s had some great songs, but this new song is the worst song I’ve ever heard. I know Luke, he’s a friend. ‘My Kind Of Night’ is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. I see it being commercially successful, in what is called country music these days, but I also feel like that the people deserve something better than that. Country fans and country listeners deserve to have something better than that, a song that really has something to say, something that makes you feel something. Good music makes you feel something. When songs make me wanna throw up, it makes me ashamed to even be in the same genre as those songs."

"If I hear one more tailgate in the moonlight, daisy duke song, I’m gonna throw up. There’s songs out there on the radio right now that make me be ashamed to be even in the same format as some other artists. You can look and see some of the same songwriters on every one of the songs. There’s been like 10 number one songs in the last two or three years that were written by the same people and it’s the exact same words, just arranged different ways."

"What we do is not necessarily traditional country, but we play all of our own instruments, we write the best songs that we can, and we put harmony on the songs, we have a real band…a lot of it’s just about subject matter. We really write about real life, songs that come from life and our heart. To me country music has always been the home for a great song."

We aren't talking about what people say in the underground roots world, because artists say things like that every day. These are bold statements from artists who have found success from the modern country circuit, and that really says something. The fact that successful mainstream singers want to keep fighting to save country music from extinction makes me really excited for the future. There are always going to be the ones who say country needs to evolve and making music with soul and depth will only bring it to a downfall. That's partially true. If a roots movement came about country music wouldn't be as popular in the mainstream, but who cares? Country music isn't popular now, pop music disguised as country is. It's like these so called professional songwriters sit around in an office building and have a contest on who can write the most ridiculous song, it's disgusting. What's even worse is they trick people's minds into believing their dumb song about a tailgate party is good music. Someone out there just has to stand up and say no, enough is enough we aren't taking this anymore. I think it can happen. Zac, Kacey, Gary, Alan, and others proved that no matter what, there will always be people out there who still genuinely care about the music. If anything ever changes that's what it has to be about, the music. There's a thing as enough effing money and as long as people keep fighting for real music anything can happen. Singers should be proud to associate with the music they love. Country singers shouldn't feel ashamed to be country singers, and that's the bottom line.

Two For Tuesday: Just Released 9/10/13

Keith Urban's new album Fuse was released today, and it unsurprisingly lived up to that name. It "fused" together so many different musical styles there is no way of knowing that it's country. With his new success as an American Idol judge it doesn't surprise me that he released an album that would appeal to the masses. I don't care as much about what he does but he dragged in Miranda Lambert and Eric Church to do duets. The ultra pop song "We Were Us" with Miranda especially irritated me. She made great country music with the Pistol Annies as well as a lot of good stuff on her own. It really saddens me to hear her sing such low level songs like this one as well as Blake Shelton's "Boys Round Here." Miranda is currently working on her next album and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried that she'll go down a bad road and turn super pop like the rest of them. Time will tell, you can only hope for the best.



Amazing Grace a George Jones Gospel album was also released today. George was a lover of Gospel music, it brought him peace during his troubled past. Most of the album was recorded in 2002 but it finally got a release date. It might not have created as big of a buzz in the country music world as the others did today, but to those loyal George Jones fans, a new record of him singing Gospel tunes is the best thing you could have asked for unless you went up to heaven to catch him perform a live show. The thing is that good music never dies, it never expires or goes bad. Even after they pass away, the music of a true legend will always be remembered in the hearts of the fans for years to come.

Song Review: "Let's Roll" by Arabella Jones

When it comes to stupid cliche truck songs, I thought we only had to worry about the guys in pop country. This girl, 17 year old Arabella Jones proved me wrong with her debut single. She got famous by posting "country" cover songs by people like Florida Georgia Line, Hunter Hayes, and Taylor Swift on YouTube. She has a decent voice but this mess of a "country girl anthem" sounds like some bad old Carrie Underwood song.

Let's first look at the obvious elephant in the room right now. Since the country culture is "in" right now, we got a girl in extremely short cutoff shorts, a tied up plaid shirt, cowboy boots, a big truck, in front of a lake, covered in mud. Please don't try to tell me this girl actually rolls around in the mud looking like that. Impressing boys with your big truck and playing in the mud is ultimately what this song is about. Gretchen Wilson, who sang similar songs like "Redneck Woman," at least lived by her redneck anthems. She was an actual redneck woman unlike this girl who, judging from her social media looks like a fake. Do people really have to try that hard to look country? Isn't country supposed to mean being yourself and not being fake to fit in? She can probably sing pop just fine instead of taking advantage of country when it's in a confused messed up state. The only thing this song does is teach people the necessities to fit in with today's wannabe hillbilly culture. It's nothing special at all but country radio will eat it up because it's very easy to market. She is currently unsigned but I'm sure some label will swoop in and pick her up soon. So many deserving real country artists out there and this girl gets attention because she sang Taylor Swift covers and has her ass hanging out of booty shorts. It's just not fair.

Rating: F

Two For Tuesday: If It Ain't Broke... 9/3/13

I know mainstream singers are adding new outside influences into their music to keep it "hip" and appeal to a big audience. I don't get it though. Why are they trying to appeal to people who don't like country music by making them believe their rap or pop song is actually country? Then the new listener just goes around thinking they like country music when actually they never really heard it. This new song "Keep It Redneck" by "country" rap group The Lacs was released a few weeks ago. It isn't rap and it sure the hell isn't country. It's neither, it's insulting to both genres. 

If you actually watched that I am so sorry, I sincerely apologize, really. It's just why is that promoted on ITunes? Why is that acceptable as country music? I don't have an answer for it and it just sucks you know because there is real country music out there. Take this Honky Tonk band from Michigan, Whitey Morgan and the 78's, good, real, country music. Of course since the main fan base for modern country music is non country fans they can't get recognition. This song is not acceptable in country music today, but pseudo-redneck rap is. Like they say in this song country music isn't broke, people like them prove that it is alive and well. So stop trying to add in your hip hop beats and autotune to make it popular. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Is Today's Country Music Supporting Bad Behavior?

Back in the day, when a country song referenced getting drunk, a lot of the time it was viewed as an obstacle the singer was facing. Drinking away a past love or drinking your troubles away songs looked at alcohol as a demon and was mostly listened to by adults. These days alcohol is widely celebrated throughout country music. It is viewed as a fun good time. Since the most popular age group in country music today is teenagers some may find that especially alarming.

I'm sure other music genres have their fair share of underage drinkers too, but country music is the "hip new thing" now. And I'm sure country shows from a few decades ago had their share of drinkers, but it was never this bad. Even in my own experiences with mainstream country shows I can say the audience has gotten progressively more rowdy and disgusting. With songs like Lee Brice's "Parking Lot Party" you can see that the country singers are catering to the fact that the drinking starts way before the gates even open. I went to a Justin Moore show at my county fair this year (by force) and it was unquestionably the worst concert experience I've ever had. The parking lot was full of pseudo-rednecks in their cowboy hats and boots who probably got pre-drunk then were drinking and playing party games on the tailgate of a truck. There were many fights going on with the wannabe "tough guys" who were arguing about whose "more countrier" than who probably. Then those same people went inside and either bought alcohol or sneaked in alcohol and continued their booze fest. There were people screaming, drinking, spitting tobacco, splashing beer, taking off parts of their clothes and waving them around. There were girls crowd surfing with guys spanking their ass as they came across. One guy even threw up his beer two inches away from my feet. Not to mention the fact that there were also really little kids present at the time. Oh yeah and it was at like 2 in the afternoon, not even at night. Then those people are going to attempt to drive home. It was the first time I ever left a concert early. I've been to some crazy shows, but it was never that bad. What happen to going to a concert to well I don't know, listen to music! 

I have seen a countless amount of people being arrested for drunk driving after concerts, many of them are underage. Just last week a man was killed after a Jason Aldean concert and that's not the first time I've seen it happen either. People are actually dying after concerts because of stupid people's decisions to drink and drive. Now on top of the fact that the music is bad, it's dangerous too! I know teenagers will find their way into drinking, smoking, etc. on their own or with their friends. It doesn't need to be glorified across country radio. Since country is a trend now, everyone wants to fit into the fake redneck culture they talk about in the pop country songs. Songs about drinking an ice cold beer in your truck with your girl by your side, getting into fights with some dude in the parking lot, yeah all the stuff you see at a show is in those songs. Going to a concert is the best way to show off what they learned. How about some songs about being yourself and doing your own thing, you won't see any of that on the radio. Mostly because the singers follow the latest trends just the same way the teenagers do. Don't say what they are singing about doesn't matter, because I guarantee you won't find that behavior at a Reba or Merle Haggard show today. They go to the shows of the guys like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Brantley Gilbert, etc. because they think oh that's country, we get to go dress up and party like rednecks for a night, how fun. As a teenager myself I can say I know for a fact that that is what the "country fans" at my school do. If you go to a concert for any non-musical reason, then just don't go. No one wants to deal with your drunk annoying ass the whole night, it ruins it for the people who actually came to see the show. Music should be loved by people who love music, not by idiots who want to party. The demand for party songs is high right now, so they make party songs. If mature, more genuine country songs hit the airwaves I bet the whole I want to be a drunk hillbilly culture will stop. All in all country music will have to decline in popularity for any change to take place. Once country concerts stop acting as a dumbass breeding ground I bet the singers would be able to have more creative control and the disgusting rowdy crowds will move on. What it comes down to is the fact that there are a lot of ways the younger generation can get into trouble, music in general, has to stop promoting it.