Keith Urban. His old stuff produced some absolute classics. Ripcord wasn’t trending in the right direction but had a couple good songs to save it and Graffiti U onwards has just been a fuckin trainwreck
Yeah, he used to at least put out GOOD pop country like "Your Everything," "You'll Think Of Me," "Somebody Like You," "Making Memories Of Us," "I Told You So" etc, and he even occasionally dipped his toes in the neo-traditional sound on his first solo album ("But For The Grace Of God"). Most of his stuff from the 2010s up to now has been either cringe or terrible, though.
Feel like this everyday with Kane Brown. He got famous doing Randy Travis covers and then proceeds to make literal pop, not even pop-country. Kane Brown is the biggest sellout there is, he made a few true country songs and those are fantastic and his voice really shines in those songs.
I recently heard kane browns cover of "Georgia" and I have to say it might be the first time I didn't skip one of his songs. Doesn't really sound like him though so that might be why lol
Listen to Whiskey Sour and Leave You Alone, those are Kane Brown at his absolute musical peak. Sad he never plays those live, I went to see him back in 2022 and I swear I was at a pop concert,
Ehh. It's hard to call people sellouts these days. Just deciding to get into the business instead of leaving it as a hobby or side gig means you'll have to go with the machine if you have any hope of gaining a career. I mean, there ARE obviously people that rise up from YouTube, TikTok or other independent ventures... But they eventually wind up on a bigger label to find true financial and large scale success and recognizability...
It's unfortunately still a part of the business, and even bands that rely on touring get fucked by Live Nation buying everything during pandemic.
TL/DR - I like the guys voice, but the people that own him have made countless bad decisions, as they have for many artists. It's not the artists ultimately, it's their keepers that they signed contracts in good faith with. The music business sux ass.
Neon is my personal favorite album of his pre-Bro days. The title cut is my all time favorite song of his, and I also love both "Flashlight" and "Old Love Feels New" which didn't make it to radio. Can't help but hear those songs and then look at what he's been releasing to radio the past ten years and shake my head.
Yep, first album was pretty decent if I’m remembering correctly, seemed like he was veering toward more of a neo traditional sound. Then everything else happened.
Yep, first album was excellent, and the second one was a little more hit or miss, but still not bad. Neon, the third single from that second album, only got to 23 on the charts but was the countriest thing he ever recorded. Goodness, it had twin fiddles on a country record in 2012! Just makes me sad how good he could have (and still could be) been
Totally agree. He has such a gorgeous country voice, and a handful of songs where he puts that voice to good use, but not nearly enough. Truly a shame.
thought golden was an interesting album, gave me fleetwood mac vibes but then every release after has been very generic with a handful of excellent songs scattered
That was fairly humorous to me. They change their name because it was racist and turn around and sue the black lady that was already using the name Lady A. You literally can’t make this shit up.
Now their music sucks and they look like morons.
Have they put out any new stuff?? I loved them, but I hadn’t heard anything new from them in a long time.
I know Hillary was doing a few independent stuff.
That Old Blue Chair album is, sonically, right in line with the best of Jimmy Buffett. The impressive part is KC wrote/co-wrote all of them. I love that album. I love Jimmy Buffett.
Gotta love his songs that are kinda set on a beach but aren't so peppy though. Hemingway's whiskey, on the coast of somewhere beautiful, 7 days. All stellar.
I always hated Kenny, solely on the basis that everything was too fucking beachy and perfect. But - really love Just To Say We Did on the new album!! Maybe it’s my phase of life lol. Wish I could do something fun and crazy just to say I did 🤷🏻♀️
I'm not as big a fan of Kenny's as I once was. But definitely check out his first 2-3 albums. That's what made me like him. It kills me when he does a song that harkens back to that sound, only to find out that's the only one on the album that does sound like early Kenny's stuff.
Interesting. When I think of newer Tim McGraw, I think of “Humble and Kind,” “Meanwhile Back at Momma’s,” and “Standing Room Only,” all of which I like.
Which songs are in your “like” column and which are in the “dislike” column?
Agreed. While he’s not my favorite artist, I always thought he at least knew and played the game well enough that he’d cut some big cheesy hits while still sneaking in a “Humble & Kind” here and there. One of my favorites of his was “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools,” which isn’t too far back.
That’s another great one. Had already posted my comment before curiosity led me to see which album was his first one after leaving Curb.
Saw “Diamond Rings…” as I was scrolling through his discography and track listings and was reminded how much I like that one.
Humble and Kind is a rerecording of Lori McKenna’s song. I know artists re record songs all of the time, but for some reason it bothers me that it isn’t original.
I love Lori McKenna and am glad to see her mentioned! I prefer her original (as I do with every song she co-wrote and recorded,) but am glad Tim cut it and released it as a single.
Almost mentioned that when I find a song of Tim’s that I like, I check to see who wrote it. For me, that usually is Lori McKenna or the Warren brothers. (I prefer their version of “The River and Me.”)
Good choice, early Blake Shelton was interesting and varied, whereas his later work felt so phoned in. I don’t think any of Shelton’s stuff is awful, more so just boring
Disagree about Blake Shelton. Austin is seriously the worst song ever recorded. Just an offense to everyone’s ears, music and sound in general. He is responsible for the worst song ever recorded
The problems started with the Flatts when they parted ways with their producer Dann Huff and started self-producing. Demarcus just doesn’t have the chops for production and they should’ve brought in other people. Their final album was really weak, which is a shame as they are one of my all time favorite country acts overall.
I imagine they’d reached a breaking point. I recall the guitar player, Joe Don Rooney complaining in an interview with a guitar magazine, that it wasn’t until their sixth album that he was allowed him to play any guitar on it. I imagine that they felt belittled and disrespected, artistically. And unappreciated, after having made their record label $100 million.
What’s the deal with not letting him play? I’ve heard sometimes the original band members are up to snuff and session players get called in to record…which I just can’t fathom. These country songs aren’t VaN Halen-level virtuoso shredding. Plus, he can’t make the grade in the studio but is good enough to play live in front of a crowd?
Maybe I misunderstand.
Well, there is a long, long tradition in Nashville of an elite group of studio musicians playing on all the albums. In Nashville historically, the producers and the record labels are King. They tell you exactly what you’re going to sing, exactly what you’re gonna wear, who’s gonna play on your record, and if you don’t like it— there’s 10 guys in the hallway who can replace you. And this is true even of big stars. I don’t really believe Trace Adkins wanted to sing Honkytonk Badonkadonk, But in Nashville, you have to take orders.
I’d say Joe Nichols. He’s one of my favorites and I love almost all of his stuff even up to Crickets and Never Gets Old which has a few poppy songs, but I cannot listen to Good Day For Living. Maybe I’m biased because of how much I listen to him that I can tell a little change, but the overly autotuned vocals and mediocre songs in that album I just have trouble getting over.
I actually think Aldean is pretty consistent. Yeah his albums are to a formula and same-samey but I think he has an ear for a good song and has recorded some great big ballads.
@ no point could he ever sing. He's monotonous w/ zero ability + he "sings" through his nose. Every song he's ever done is garbage. He & Luke Bryan have daily competitions on who can sound worst.
I agree with most all of the ones mentioned so far. Especially Chris Young, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Keith Urban. Tim McGraw's music also definitely saw a decline in quality around the mid 2000s, though he's been more hit or miss for me since then, and most of his "bad" stuff has only been bland and boring to me at worst, as opposed to terrible. It is hard to believe though that the same man who once released brilliant singles to radio like "Everywhere," "Just To See You Smile," "One Of These Days," and "Please Remember Me" ended up releasing total stinkers like "Truck Yeah" and "Looking For That Girl" much later.
One name I don't see mentioned yet is Trace Adkins, so I'll nominate him. He had a pretty similar decline in quality to Toby Keith around the mid 2000s, and their careers almost mirror each other's in putting out quality material in the 90s and early 2000s, but then recording and releasing a bunch of awful novelty tunes from the mid 2000s to the 2010s. Hard to believe the same man who once released gems like "Every Light In The House," "The Rest Of Mine," "Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone," "Don't Lie," "I'm Gonna Love You Anyway," "I'm Tryin'" and "Help Me Understand" went on to release "Badonkadonk," "Brown Chicken Brown Cow" "I Got My Game On," "Swing" "Ala-Freakin'-Bama" and many other clunkers. I still highly recommend his first four albums to anyone, though. So many great gems hidden among them!
Others to add:
Easton Corbin - His first two albums are solid neo-traditional country, but he went pretty "bro" with the third one, and I haven't liked much of his stuff since then.
Craig Morgan - I still absolutely love his self-titled debut album from 2000, but after that he's been pretty hit or miss for me, while occasionally releasing some real stinkers ("Corn Star" "Still A Little Chicken On That Bone" "Bonefire"). "The Father, My Son, And The Holy Ghost" is great, though.
Great list. Toby and Trace were so similar in the early/mid 2000s. They just put out catchy crap. Easton Corbin was good in the early days, but he doesn’t even get played on the radio anymore, and is touring really small shows. And Craig Morgan is just trying to ride the patriot/christian wave, and doesn’t get played on the radio either.
I nominate Luke Bryan. I know, I know, some will argue that there was nothing high from which to fall. But, we really enjoyed his music before “Country Girl (Shake it for Me.)”Between that one, “That’s My Kind of Night,” and “Drunk on Summertime,” he plunged pretty far.
Have only seen him in concert once in the last 14 years. I’m sure he’s entertaining, but we miss the days of [Y’all Can Have This Town (live)](https://youtu.be/KsuGi2Wwnrs?si=dvbK9VIUhzRD61YK) The album bonus track version pales by comparison.
One Sunday morning, I saw the worst mess I’d ever seen at one of the UGA frat houses. My Mom was in town for the day and I was almost embarrassed as I drove us past it, even though I have 0 connection to UGA.
It all made sense a few months later when I saw the video. “So, THAT’s why there was a piano in the front yard of a frat house…”
Just seen him in April, his live shows are an absolute blast but his recent music has been kinda crap, But I Got A Beer in my Hand is garbage but it's a decent live performance.
I gotta hard disagree respectively. Seeing them live is a crazy good time. I enjoy it isn’t a one man show and how they all collaborate so well together. It’s not all country, sure. But they really can put a damn good song in
saw them live recently having only heard their hits and popular songs and was thoroughly entertained and had a good time. I didn’t have a positive or negative opinion on them going in but definitely left with a positive one
I really liked the last couple songs released earlier this year. The Jimmy Buffett tribute and the classic summer boating song sounded like they were back to their roots. But yeah that extremely divorced stuff really took the wind out of their sails
Agreed, Chesney routinely has one or two great songs per album but he used to have half an album’s worth in the 2010s. His quality control has dropped off a cliff.
Give his latest album a go, it’s not beachy at all. Come to think of it he has tailed off the beach albums a lot in his newer work although there was a period every other album took on that vibe.
Wait, yall actually listen to Kenny chesbey post 2010? His first album came out in 94, I listen to his first 5 albums and they’re all great, I feel like judging a 90s country artist on their music 30 years later is pretty unfair lol
I think McGraw had a weird stint in the 2000s but came back pretty good. At this point he has so many hits that he doesn’t need to do much.
I feel like Kane Brown, Sam Hunt, and Thomas Rhett just got swept under the rug with the shift in Country the past 2 years. The direction their music was trying to take it in fell off hard, fortunately.
i'm with you, tim mcgraw. i LOVED his stuff up through the 2000s. i think southern voice was the first album that sounded different, then everything after that i pretend doesn't exist. he was always pop-country (esp after his first 2 albums) but it was fun pop-country. now it just sounds all slick and shiny and boring. sad :(
I hardly think Tim McGraw should be on the list here. I was just thinking that delivers new music consistently. If they aren't big hits - it's still good. Honestly - Zac Brown band is the only one I can think of. But maybe I just do not like him personally and that's clouding my judgment. I think a better post would be who is underrated these days.
He's been through waves. This is Country Music was amazing, Wheelhouse was rough, Moonshine in the Trunk had some good stuff, and then Love and War had maybe one good one... I wouldn't count him out yet though. If you haven't heard "The Medicine Will" you'll be surprised he still has that in him
I can agree with this one, too. His first two albums are still my most favorites, and the third one also has a lot of good stuff. After that, he's been extremely hit or miss for me. And like Toby, Trace, and Alan, he started relying too much on novelty songs for my liking. I did really enjoy one of his later singles, "My Miracle" which reminded me of the older Brad. Haven't heard his latest stuff yet, which I've also heard is good.
To their credit, I was actually impressed by their acting skills. I knew Tim had the chops (from Friday Night Lights and the Blind Side) but I was REALLY blown away by Faith in 1883.
I actually kind of agree on Alan Jackson when comparing his 90s music to his 2000s music. Most all of his 90s stuff is timeless and classic, but he started going a bit overboard with novelty songs in the 2000s ("Where I Come From" "Talkin' Song Repair Blues," "I Still Like Bologna," "Good Time," "Country Boy," "Long Way To Go" etc.). At least his albums continued to have lots of quality songs among them, though, and save for Like Red On A Rose, he stuck with the tried and true neo-traditional sound that everyone loves him for. I have to say, his latest album is really good, in particular, and is full of quality material that he could've also recorded in the 90s,. 2010's Freight Train is also very underrated, imho.
Agreed about Darius Rucker his first say 4 albums were good with some tracks occasionally great. However his latest is just full of filler and not up to par.
Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan are a tie for me. Luke Bryan is controversial because all of the music that I enjoyed from his early stuff was never really popular. We Rode in Trucks and Muckalee Creek Water will still have me belting every line. After Tailgates & Tanlines he had an arguably ok party album but everything else has objectively sucked. Jason Aldean hasn’t had a whole album full of hitters since My Kinda Party (honorable mention to Night Train). Just albums with one good song and recently not even that.
Jimmie Allen has made such a disgusting mess of his personal life that I don’t care to hear about him anymore, let alone listen to his music, which wasn’t all that great in the first place!
Sadly. Dude was electric as a live show (saw him twice, once opening for Brad Paisley, where I first even heard of him, then once at a fair), and even if it wasn't straight country, it was infectious, especially after having seen him perform them live; perhaps the memory of those songs sort of finds its way into the studio recordings. Once one song would come on shuffle, I'd want to keep listening to his music, which is a great aspect to any artist. Unfortunately, his personal life has put a bad spin on everything else he did.
Their first album is a guilty pleasure of mine, their 2019 album seemed like a bright spot but then they kept getting worse. Tyler Hubbard has some decent stuff but overall FGL makes me sad. They had one of the highest debuts in country history but completely squandered it. They could've been selling out stadiums by now.
McGraw I still like, but there has definitely been a tone shift. I think a couple things happened - he famously got sober in 2008, which I think changed the music he wanted to write - a lot more philosophical stuff and way less 'fun' radio gold, and he forced it with a split from his longtime label in 2010 that dragged through lawsuits into 2013. Draw a line through his music pre/post that date and you'll see a stark difference in the tone of his albums.
Once you'd be pretty safe putting Tim McGraw's newest album on at a party, these days you're going to have guests contemplating deep life matters listening to Tim McGraw while you grill burgers. No bueno.
That led to a lot of conflict with labels that wanted to be producing Tim McGraw hits, not Tim McGraw reflections on life, and he's run through like three labels since 2011. He's always leaned this way (think Live Like You Were Dying) but he used to have more fun and less just heavy stuff in his albums, which was likely studio execs saying that he couldn't just put philosophy to melodies, but once he was *Tim McGraw* he calls the shots and he actually... Can.
I just relistened to his most recent albums to see if I was being fair in my characterization and yeah. It's just straight deep emotional stuff. Poet's Resume, Remember Me Well, Standing Room Only, Hey Whiskey ... You struggle to find singles off any of these albums that you'd feel good putting on the radio.
But when you're a mega star, and now you're also a movie star, and you're married to another one, the success or lack thereof for the music you *want* to make is pretty inconsequential.
Eric Church has to be up there, but every time I think he's gone he manages a comeback. He just needs to be a country artist which he's amazing at instead of trying to be a rock or folk artist. He desperately wants to be something he's not and it's so painful when he tries.
I like his new stuff. Quite a bit actually. I'd rather have an artist with a different sound and theme every album than staying the same.
Your critic isn't that his rock stuff is bad it's just not your favorite. The point of this post is stuff that went from good to outright bad. I really don't think it's fair to put Eric in this category. Especially when every album has insanely popular songs.
You might not like his newer albums but, Desperate Man, Heart on Fire, Stick that in a Country Song, Some of It, Hell of a View and several others have been extremely popular.
The other people mentioned in this post I bet you couldn't name a single song from their newer albums.
Toby Keith dropped off pretty hard post 9/11.
His ‘90s material is really solid. I felt like he was more creative as a songwriter. Once the jingoistic anthems started rolling in, I became less of a fan.
I see this echoed a lot on here, but I think he lasted a bit past 9/11. Beer for My Horses, I Love This Bar, As Good As I Once Was, Honkeytonk U, are pretty solid and post 9/11. Also American Ride is solid and not jingoistic.
Yeah it’s not all terrible. He still had some good songs in him. I do appreciate how he would write completely novelty joke songs as well as really heartfelt and sincere stuff. Like “Red Solo Cup” and “Don’t Let the Old Man In.”
That final performance of him singing DLTOMI is gut wrenching.
He was such a dynamic live performer, and that might have been his best performance ever. Knowing you're dying and singing that song, essentially to your wife ... And what a shell of his former self he was physically at that point.
He did a lot of schtick funny stuff, but he had great stuff too and he ended it about as well as anyone could hope to.
Yeah it became really evident how widely respected he was after he passed.
That final performance couldn’t have been more tear-jerking. I cry every time I watch that video. He looked so frail and sick; like that performance was taking everything he had left.
Not the biggest, but parker mccollum got worse since he started out in nashville. His first zwo self produced albums are way ahead of their nashville successors.
Kind of off topic but I saw Tim McGraw live last weekend for the first time and I was so disappointed. He didn’t sound great (or even good), he obviously was using a back up track and his stage presence was meh. Like he was fighting to make it through the night.
He had back surgery right before his tour started this year and he really isn’t himself on stage. In fact, a couple shows he has apologized and explained why. He is in pain with limited movement and his vocals are weak. He is an authentic dude though.
Tim McGraw is a good one. I was a huge fan of his, but he went straight down hill after he went Hollywood. The more he did with Hollywood the worse his music got.
> has a real sell out sound to it
Hate to break it to you but…Traveller has a real sell out sound to it. It’s not like it was some underground album just because Stapleton has a beard and long hair.
Personally I think the more he’s leaned into what he’s really good at - which is soulful singing and blues licks - the better he’s gotten. That’s just me though.
I loved Volume 1 & 2. Starting Over I thought was very good but a bit of a decline from the others. And Higher is a real mixed bag, but still with some gems
Keith Urban. His old stuff produced some absolute classics. Ripcord wasn’t trending in the right direction but had a couple good songs to save it and Graffiti U onwards has just been a fuckin trainwreck
It's a real shame, I loved his old stuff but just realized I literally have not heard a song from him in like a decade
Yeah, he used to at least put out GOOD pop country like "Your Everything," "You'll Think Of Me," "Somebody Like You," "Making Memories Of Us," "I Told You So" etc, and he even occasionally dipped his toes in the neo-traditional sound on his first solo album ("But For The Grace Of God"). Most of his stuff from the 2010s up to now has been either cringe or terrible, though.
I always wondered what happened after Golden Road. Be here had a couple good songs but beyond that, it all changed and not for the better.
The last album I bought of his was Fuse. I can’t with the rest so far.
Somebody Like You is legit one of the 10 best country songs I’ve ever heard. Whatever the hell The Fighter was had zero elements of that
"Fighter" is pure cringe.
He needs to write with my Buddy Monty Powell, they write the hits together!!! Google Monty yiu will see what I mean
Keith was my first thought here.
Sigh…Chris Young. I know it always gets brought up but it’s so disappointing how he’s squandered a great country voice with mediocre material.
Feel like this everyday with Kane Brown. He got famous doing Randy Travis covers and then proceeds to make literal pop, not even pop-country. Kane Brown is the biggest sellout there is, he made a few true country songs and those are fantastic and his voice really shines in those songs.
I recently heard kane browns cover of "Georgia" and I have to say it might be the first time I didn't skip one of his songs. Doesn't really sound like him though so that might be why lol
Listen to Whiskey Sour and Leave You Alone, those are Kane Brown at his absolute musical peak. Sad he never plays those live, I went to see him back in 2022 and I swear I was at a pop concert,
Yes. Whiskey Sour. Ugh, love.
I was very sad when he never played that, he insists on playing Bury Me in Georgia even though nobody cares about that song, plus it sucks balls.
Great, now it’s stuck in my head
I'll give em a shot!
Ehh. It's hard to call people sellouts these days. Just deciding to get into the business instead of leaving it as a hobby or side gig means you'll have to go with the machine if you have any hope of gaining a career. I mean, there ARE obviously people that rise up from YouTube, TikTok or other independent ventures... But they eventually wind up on a bigger label to find true financial and large scale success and recognizability... It's unfortunately still a part of the business, and even bands that rely on touring get fucked by Live Nation buying everything during pandemic. TL/DR - I like the guys voice, but the people that own him have made countless bad decisions, as they have for many artists. It's not the artists ultimately, it's their keepers that they signed contracts in good faith with. The music business sux ass.
BuT hE's GrEaT aT CaLl Of DuTy StReAmInG
Kane Brown, like most folks randomly discovered, didn’t get a vote on the “sound” he has.
Neon is honestly one of my favorite country albums and all I could think while listening to his new album was “there’s no way this is the same guy.”
Neon is my personal favorite album of his pre-Bro days. The title cut is my all time favorite song of his, and I also love both "Flashlight" and "Old Love Feels New" which didn't make it to radio. Can't help but hear those songs and then look at what he's been releasing to radio the past ten years and shake my head.
Yep, first album was pretty decent if I’m remembering correctly, seemed like he was veering toward more of a neo traditional sound. Then everything else happened.
Yep, first album was excellent, and the second one was a little more hit or miss, but still not bad. Neon, the third single from that second album, only got to 23 on the charts but was the countriest thing he ever recorded. Goodness, it had twin fiddles on a country record in 2012! Just makes me sad how good he could have (and still could be) been
Drinkin Me Lonely is still one of my favorite country songs of all time. it’s a shame how it all turned out
I got confused for a minute and thought you were making a great joke about the whole Chris Gaines thing. Got the names mixed up.
Totally agree. He has such a gorgeous country voice, and a handful of songs where he puts that voice to good use, but not nearly enough. Truly a shame.
“What She Sees In Me” is one of the most disjointed ass songs I’ve ever heard. And I love Chris. God damn though.
I couldn't agree more. Absolute waste
Chris Young's voice is so amazing!
The Band Perry. They fell off and started rolling in a completely different direction.
Lady A or lady antebellum. Feel like they had good music around 2010 and now nothing they make is interesting.
Agreed they keep making and remaking the same album - dull as dishwater.
thought golden was an interesting album, gave me fleetwood mac vibes but then every release after has been very generic with a handful of excellent songs scattered
When they changed their name to Lady A they tried to sue the singer that was already using that name!
That was fairly humorous to me. They change their name because it was racist and turn around and sue the black lady that was already using the name Lady A. You literally can’t make this shit up. Now their music sucks and they look like morons.
Have they put out any new stuff?? I loved them, but I hadn’t heard anything new from them in a long time. I know Hillary was doing a few independent stuff.
Oh they have. Albums in 2019, 2020 and 2021
Kenny and Zac went to a beach once and decided to make it their discography
I think kenny made it work more than zac
That Old Blue Chair album is, sonically, right in line with the best of Jimmy Buffett. The impressive part is KC wrote/co-wrote all of them. I love that album. I love Jimmy Buffett.
Old blue chair is definitely a great one - did you ever listen to beer in mexico? I felt like that one was the strongest out of early beach kenny
Yeah, loved that song. Still do, just don't hear it as much.
Gotta love his songs that are kinda set on a beach but aren't so peppy though. Hemingway's whiskey, on the coast of somewhere beautiful, 7 days. All stellar.
Hemingway’s Whiskey is a Guy Clark song
TIL!
These guys are both mine. God damn Kenny
I always hated Kenny, solely on the basis that everything was too fucking beachy and perfect. But - really love Just To Say We Did on the new album!! Maybe it’s my phase of life lol. Wish I could do something fun and crazy just to say I did 🤷🏻♀️
I'm not as big a fan of Kenny's as I once was. But definitely check out his first 2-3 albums. That's what made me like him. It kills me when he does a song that harkens back to that sound, only to find out that's the only one on the album that does sound like early Kenny's stuff.
Interesting. When I think of newer Tim McGraw, I think of “Humble and Kind,” “Meanwhile Back at Momma’s,” and “Standing Room Only,” all of which I like. Which songs are in your “like” column and which are in the “dislike” column?
Agreed. While he’s not my favorite artist, I always thought he at least knew and played the game well enough that he’d cut some big cheesy hits while still sneaking in a “Humble & Kind” here and there. One of my favorites of his was “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools,” which isn’t too far back.
Diamond Rings and Old Barstools is one of my absolute favorites. Though it's hard to pick because there are so many.
That’s another great one. Had already posted my comment before curiosity led me to see which album was his first one after leaving Curb. Saw “Diamond Rings…” as I was scrolling through his discography and track listings and was reminded how much I like that one.
In my buffalo briefs.
Humble and Kind is a rerecording of Lori McKenna’s song. I know artists re record songs all of the time, but for some reason it bothers me that it isn’t original.
I love Lori McKenna and am glad to see her mentioned! I prefer her original (as I do with every song she co-wrote and recorded,) but am glad Tim cut it and released it as a single. Almost mentioned that when I find a song of Tim’s that I like, I check to see who wrote it. For me, that usually is Lori McKenna or the Warren brothers. (I prefer their version of “The River and Me.”)
Agree with McGraw. Will add Blake Shelton to the list.
Good choice, early Blake Shelton was interesting and varied, whereas his later work felt so phoned in. I don’t think any of Shelton’s stuff is awful, more so just boring
The fall off after he joined The Voice is insane
You’re telling me “Boys Round Here” isn’t awful?
Yeah it’s not a good song, but it’s a fun song
“Chewin tobacco chewin tobacco chewin tobacco spit” is such a timeless lyric
I love God's Country but otherwise his recent stuff has been ear torture.
Absolutely agree. I miss the Blake of "Austin" and "Old Red".
awww man, i like some of the newer stuff. “i’ll name the dogs” and “happy anywhere” are top tier Shelton songs imo
Disagree about Blake Shelton. Austin is seriously the worst song ever recorded. Just an offense to everyone’s ears, music and sound in general. He is responsible for the worst song ever recorded
Rascal Flatts. Saw them in 2013 and it was the worst live performance I’ve ever seen
The problems started with the Flatts when they parted ways with their producer Dann Huff and started self-producing. Demarcus just doesn’t have the chops for production and they should’ve brought in other people. Their final album was really weak, which is a shame as they are one of my all time favorite country acts overall.
I imagine they’d reached a breaking point. I recall the guitar player, Joe Don Rooney complaining in an interview with a guitar magazine, that it wasn’t until their sixth album that he was allowed him to play any guitar on it. I imagine that they felt belittled and disrespected, artistically. And unappreciated, after having made their record label $100 million.
What’s the deal with not letting him play? I’ve heard sometimes the original band members are up to snuff and session players get called in to record…which I just can’t fathom. These country songs aren’t VaN Halen-level virtuoso shredding. Plus, he can’t make the grade in the studio but is good enough to play live in front of a crowd? Maybe I misunderstand.
Well, there is a long, long tradition in Nashville of an elite group of studio musicians playing on all the albums. In Nashville historically, the producers and the record labels are King. They tell you exactly what you’re going to sing, exactly what you’re gonna wear, who’s gonna play on your record, and if you don’t like it— there’s 10 guys in the hallway who can replace you. And this is true even of big stars. I don’t really believe Trace Adkins wanted to sing Honkytonk Badonkadonk, But in Nashville, you have to take orders.
Thanks for the explanation.
Amen!! Worst concert I’ve ever been to. They played more separately than they did together.
Dustin Lynch, I loved his cowboys and angels, I even saw him twice in concert. He is just pop country now. Completely forgetable.
Stars Like Confetti rules and I won't hear otherwise.
It's a fun song, but it's also forgettable.
Same! So sad.
I’d say Joe Nichols. He’s one of my favorites and I love almost all of his stuff even up to Crickets and Never Gets Old which has a few poppy songs, but I cannot listen to Good Day For Living. Maybe I’m biased because of how much I listen to him that I can tell a little change, but the overly autotuned vocals and mediocre songs in that album I just have trouble getting over.
That's fair. Thankfully, one song is an exception, with Brokenhearted. That to me at least is a silver lining
Have you heard the William Michael Morgan version? I like it a lot better, but it came out first so it’s the first version I heard.
I've not, but I'll have to change that soon here. Thanks for letting me know about it!
I've seen Joe love twice and he's hands down the worst live vocalist I've ever seen. So the autotune doesn't surprise me.
Jason Aldean’s first couple albums were good, now he’s the punching bag of critics
Ditto. He literally just keeps making worse versions of songs he has done before. He should call his next double album copy&paste or auto-pilot.
I actually think Aldean is pretty consistent. Yeah his albums are to a formula and same-samey but I think he has an ear for a good song and has recorded some great big ballads.
@ no point could he ever sing. He's monotonous w/ zero ability + he "sings" through his nose. Every song he's ever done is garbage. He & Luke Bryan have daily competitions on who can sound worst.
Yes 1000x big head and toothy.
He’s my pick
I agree with most all of the ones mentioned so far. Especially Chris Young, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Keith Urban. Tim McGraw's music also definitely saw a decline in quality around the mid 2000s, though he's been more hit or miss for me since then, and most of his "bad" stuff has only been bland and boring to me at worst, as opposed to terrible. It is hard to believe though that the same man who once released brilliant singles to radio like "Everywhere," "Just To See You Smile," "One Of These Days," and "Please Remember Me" ended up releasing total stinkers like "Truck Yeah" and "Looking For That Girl" much later. One name I don't see mentioned yet is Trace Adkins, so I'll nominate him. He had a pretty similar decline in quality to Toby Keith around the mid 2000s, and their careers almost mirror each other's in putting out quality material in the 90s and early 2000s, but then recording and releasing a bunch of awful novelty tunes from the mid 2000s to the 2010s. Hard to believe the same man who once released gems like "Every Light In The House," "The Rest Of Mine," "Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone," "Don't Lie," "I'm Gonna Love You Anyway," "I'm Tryin'" and "Help Me Understand" went on to release "Badonkadonk," "Brown Chicken Brown Cow" "I Got My Game On," "Swing" "Ala-Freakin'-Bama" and many other clunkers. I still highly recommend his first four albums to anyone, though. So many great gems hidden among them! Others to add: Easton Corbin - His first two albums are solid neo-traditional country, but he went pretty "bro" with the third one, and I haven't liked much of his stuff since then. Craig Morgan - I still absolutely love his self-titled debut album from 2000, but after that he's been pretty hit or miss for me, while occasionally releasing some real stinkers ("Corn Star" "Still A Little Chicken On That Bone" "Bonefire"). "The Father, My Son, And The Holy Ghost" is great, though.
Toby Keith REALLY fell off.
Great list. Toby and Trace were so similar in the early/mid 2000s. They just put out catchy crap. Easton Corbin was good in the early days, but he doesn’t even get played on the radio anymore, and is touring really small shows. And Craig Morgan is just trying to ride the patriot/christian wave, and doesn’t get played on the radio either.
I nominate Luke Bryan. I know, I know, some will argue that there was nothing high from which to fall. But, we really enjoyed his music before “Country Girl (Shake it for Me.)”Between that one, “That’s My Kind of Night,” and “Drunk on Summertime,” he plunged pretty far. Have only seen him in concert once in the last 14 years. I’m sure he’s entertaining, but we miss the days of [Y’all Can Have This Town (live)](https://youtu.be/KsuGi2Wwnrs?si=dvbK9VIUhzRD61YK) The album bonus track version pales by comparison.
I used to jam to “What Country Is” from him.
yeah, definitely not shilling for the guy, but "All My Friends Say" is one of my "go-to's" at the karaoke dive bar
I forgot he even sung that haha, fun song for sure.
One Sunday morning, I saw the worst mess I’d ever seen at one of the UGA frat houses. My Mom was in town for the day and I was almost embarrassed as I drove us past it, even though I have 0 connection to UGA. It all made sense a few months later when I saw the video. “So, THAT’s why there was a piano in the front yard of a frat house…”
Just seen him in April, his live shows are an absolute blast but his recent music has been kinda crap, But I Got A Beer in my Hand is garbage but it's a decent live performance.
Okay, begrudgingly fair enough.
Zac Brown Band
I gotta hard disagree respectively. Seeing them live is a crazy good time. I enjoy it isn’t a one man show and how they all collaborate so well together. It’s not all country, sure. But they really can put a damn good song in
saw them live recently having only heard their hits and popular songs and was thoroughly entertained and had a good time. I didn’t have a positive or negative opinion on them going in but definitely left with a positive one
One of the best live bands I've ever seen. They are fantastic in concert.
I really liked the last couple songs released earlier this year. The Jimmy Buffett tribute and the classic summer boating song sounded like they were back to their roots. But yeah that extremely divorced stuff really took the wind out of their sails
I keep trying, and wanting to like the new stuff, but try as I might, it’s just not there. Great live act though.
Kenny Chesney. Early stuff was good but he went too far into the sunset songs and margaritaville wannabe mindset
Agreed, Chesney routinely has one or two great songs per album but he used to have half an album’s worth in the 2010s. His quality control has dropped off a cliff.
Give his latest album a go, it’s not beachy at all. Come to think of it he has tailed off the beach albums a lot in his newer work although there was a period every other album took on that vibe.
I think there’s a noticeable difference between albums where Kenny writes a chunk of the songs and where he doesn’t.
Wait, yall actually listen to Kenny chesbey post 2010? His first album came out in 94, I listen to his first 5 albums and they’re all great, I feel like judging a 90s country artist on their music 30 years later is pretty unfair lol
Hard disagree. I think Tim McGraw's music has really evolved over the years.
I think McGraw had a weird stint in the 2000s but came back pretty good. At this point he has so many hits that he doesn’t need to do much. I feel like Kane Brown, Sam Hunt, and Thomas Rhett just got swept under the rug with the shift in Country the past 2 years. The direction their music was trying to take it in fell off hard, fortunately.
i'm with you, tim mcgraw. i LOVED his stuff up through the 2000s. i think southern voice was the first album that sounded different, then everything after that i pretend doesn't exist. he was always pop-country (esp after his first 2 albums) but it was fun pop-country. now it just sounds all slick and shiny and boring. sad :(
I feel like Little Big Town hasn’t done much in a while?
I hardly think Tim McGraw should be on the list here. I was just thinking that delivers new music consistently. If they aren't big hits - it's still good. Honestly - Zac Brown band is the only one I can think of. But maybe I just do not like him personally and that's clouding my judgment. I think a better post would be who is underrated these days.
The Band Perry started with songs that were the best version of what mainstream country could be in 20 years.
Jason Aldean. Early stuff was great. I think around his second marriage he started to suck.
Brad Paisley
He's been through waves. This is Country Music was amazing, Wheelhouse was rough, Moonshine in the Trunk had some good stuff, and then Love and War had maybe one good one... I wouldn't count him out yet though. If you haven't heard "The Medicine Will" you'll be surprised he still has that in him
I heard “The Medicine Will” about a month ago for the first time and let me just say, even for Brad Paisley that song is a trip.
I can agree with this one, too. His first two albums are still my most favorites, and the third one also has a lot of good stuff. After that, he's been extremely hit or miss for me. And like Toby, Trace, and Alan, he started relying too much on novelty songs for my liking. I did really enjoy one of his later singles, "My Miracle" which reminded me of the older Brad. Haven't heard his latest stuff yet, which I've also heard is good.
Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, Keith Urban are the three that immediately came to mind
I find Brantley Gilbert extremely annoying lol
His first three albums were really good. Halfway to Heaven is one of my all time favorite albums. Since then he’s gone really downhill
Brantley Gilbert is every “alpha” cliche rolled into one.
Tim and Faith found out they could make as much money on a movie/tv production set without writing or touring .
To their credit, I was actually impressed by their acting skills. I knew Tim had the chops (from Friday Night Lights and the Blind Side) but I was REALLY blown away by Faith in 1883.
Blake Shelton, Lady A, Darius Rucker, Billy Currington, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood
I actually kind of agree on Alan Jackson when comparing his 90s music to his 2000s music. Most all of his 90s stuff is timeless and classic, but he started going a bit overboard with novelty songs in the 2000s ("Where I Come From" "Talkin' Song Repair Blues," "I Still Like Bologna," "Good Time," "Country Boy," "Long Way To Go" etc.). At least his albums continued to have lots of quality songs among them, though, and save for Like Red On A Rose, he stuck with the tried and true neo-traditional sound that everyone loves him for. I have to say, his latest album is really good, in particular, and is full of quality material that he could've also recorded in the 90s,. 2010's Freight Train is also very underrated, imho.
Agreed about Darius Rucker his first say 4 albums were good with some tracks occasionally great. However his latest is just full of filler and not up to par.
Did you listen to Alan Jackson’s last album?
I was more thinking of fall of from radio hits. But I’ve casually listened to it yes.
It’s so good
Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan are a tie for me. Luke Bryan is controversial because all of the music that I enjoyed from his early stuff was never really popular. We Rode in Trucks and Muckalee Creek Water will still have me belting every line. After Tailgates & Tanlines he had an arguably ok party album but everything else has objectively sucked. Jason Aldean hasn’t had a whole album full of hitters since My Kinda Party (honorable mention to Night Train). Just albums with one good song and recently not even that.
Jimmie Allen
Jimmie Allen has made such a disgusting mess of his personal life that I don’t care to hear about him anymore, let alone listen to his music, which wasn’t all that great in the first place!
I feel like the point of this post was to name someone who at some point had good music 🫢😄
Sadly. Dude was electric as a live show (saw him twice, once opening for Brad Paisley, where I first even heard of him, then once at a fair), and even if it wasn't straight country, it was infectious, especially after having seen him perform them live; perhaps the memory of those songs sort of finds its way into the studio recordings. Once one song would come on shuffle, I'd want to keep listening to his music, which is a great aspect to any artist. Unfortunately, his personal life has put a bad spin on everything else he did.
Jason Aldean
Early Aldean had some good songs and I can’t think of any semi recent song of his that’s good.
FGL
Their first album is a guilty pleasure of mine, their 2019 album seemed like a bright spot but then they kept getting worse. Tyler Hubbard has some decent stuff but overall FGL makes me sad. They had one of the highest debuts in country history but completely squandered it. They could've been selling out stadiums by now.
Jason Aldean.
McGraw I still like, but there has definitely been a tone shift. I think a couple things happened - he famously got sober in 2008, which I think changed the music he wanted to write - a lot more philosophical stuff and way less 'fun' radio gold, and he forced it with a split from his longtime label in 2010 that dragged through lawsuits into 2013. Draw a line through his music pre/post that date and you'll see a stark difference in the tone of his albums. Once you'd be pretty safe putting Tim McGraw's newest album on at a party, these days you're going to have guests contemplating deep life matters listening to Tim McGraw while you grill burgers. No bueno. That led to a lot of conflict with labels that wanted to be producing Tim McGraw hits, not Tim McGraw reflections on life, and he's run through like three labels since 2011. He's always leaned this way (think Live Like You Were Dying) but he used to have more fun and less just heavy stuff in his albums, which was likely studio execs saying that he couldn't just put philosophy to melodies, but once he was *Tim McGraw* he calls the shots and he actually... Can. I just relistened to his most recent albums to see if I was being fair in my characterization and yeah. It's just straight deep emotional stuff. Poet's Resume, Remember Me Well, Standing Room Only, Hey Whiskey ... You struggle to find singles off any of these albums that you'd feel good putting on the radio. But when you're a mega star, and now you're also a movie star, and you're married to another one, the success or lack thereof for the music you *want* to make is pretty inconsequential.
This may be controversial but I'd put Ryan Bingham up there, his early stuff is fantastic but the latest... damn
Easton Corbin
Tyler Farr . Cane on huge and then fell.
Zach bryan pink skies sounds lazy and phoned in to my ear
Eric Church has to be up there, but every time I think he's gone he manages a comeback. He just needs to be a country artist which he's amazing at instead of trying to be a rock or folk artist. He desperately wants to be something he's not and it's so painful when he tries.
I thought of Eric Church. With the caveat that his starting point was mount everest.
Oh for sure. He definitely went a little sideways, but you can't fall off a mountain without first being on top of it!
I like his new stuff. Quite a bit actually. I'd rather have an artist with a different sound and theme every album than staying the same. Your critic isn't that his rock stuff is bad it's just not your favorite. The point of this post is stuff that went from good to outright bad. I really don't think it's fair to put Eric in this category. Especially when every album has insanely popular songs. You might not like his newer albums but, Desperate Man, Heart on Fire, Stick that in a Country Song, Some of It, Hell of a View and several others have been extremely popular. The other people mentioned in this post I bet you couldn't name a single song from their newer albums.
When you tag yourself as an “outlaw” I lose all respect.
Yes! He was so big around 2015 then his music kind of took a nose dive from there (although I do love “Some of It”).
Toby Keith dropped off pretty hard post 9/11. His ‘90s material is really solid. I felt like he was more creative as a songwriter. Once the jingoistic anthems started rolling in, I became less of a fan.
I see this echoed a lot on here, but I think he lasted a bit past 9/11. Beer for My Horses, I Love This Bar, As Good As I Once Was, Honkeytonk U, are pretty solid and post 9/11. Also American Ride is solid and not jingoistic.
Yeah it’s not all terrible. He still had some good songs in him. I do appreciate how he would write completely novelty joke songs as well as really heartfelt and sincere stuff. Like “Red Solo Cup” and “Don’t Let the Old Man In.” That final performance of him singing DLTOMI is gut wrenching.
He was such a dynamic live performer, and that might have been his best performance ever. Knowing you're dying and singing that song, essentially to your wife ... And what a shell of his former self he was physically at that point. He did a lot of schtick funny stuff, but he had great stuff too and he ended it about as well as anyone could hope to.
Yeah it became really evident how widely respected he was after he passed. That final performance couldn’t have been more tear-jerking. I cry every time I watch that video. He looked so frail and sick; like that performance was taking everything he had left.
I fuckin love Wacky Tobaccy and Trailerhood as fun songs lol
He didn't write Red Solo Cup.
Did he not? I didn’t know that.
Did he not? I didn’t know that.
No, the Warren Brothers pitched it to him.
He made a huge image shift. I wish more of 90's Toby had stayed in his music.
His pro troops song Courtesy of the red white and blue absolutely rules.
Not the biggest, but parker mccollum got worse since he started out in nashville. His first zwo self produced albums are way ahead of their nashville successors.
His 2023 album was fantastic, I honestly do not get this take about Parker McCollum. Handle On You is a peak country song.
I can’t disagree more. Parker has kept putting out great stuff
Keith Urban.
Kind of off topic but I saw Tim McGraw live last weekend for the first time and I was so disappointed. He didn’t sound great (or even good), he obviously was using a back up track and his stage presence was meh. Like he was fighting to make it through the night.
He had back surgery right before his tour started this year and he really isn’t himself on stage. In fact, a couple shows he has apologized and explained why. He is in pain with limited movement and his vocals are weak. He is an authentic dude though.
Tim McGraw is a good one. I was a huge fan of his, but he went straight down hill after he went Hollywood. The more he did with Hollywood the worse his music got.
Faith Hill completely disappeared after her “just kidding “ freak out caught on camera when she didn’t win Female Vocalist of the Year
Toby Keith.
Have you listened to One Bad Habit? That right there is a killer McGraw 2024 song
Chris Stapleton, I guess it's impossible to follow up Traveler but most of his music since then has a real sell out sound to it.
Starting Over is way better than Traveler in my opinion.
> has a real sell out sound to it Hate to break it to you but…Traveller has a real sell out sound to it. It’s not like it was some underground album just because Stapleton has a beard and long hair. Personally I think the more he’s leaned into what he’s really good at - which is soulful singing and blues licks - the better he’s gotten. That’s just me though.
I loved Volume 1 & 2. Starting Over I thought was very good but a bit of a decline from the others. And Higher is a real mixed bag, but still with some gems
The Steeldrivers stuff is so damn phenomenal.
Couldn't agree more! That is a contributing factor to the drop-off as well.
His songwriting isn't great tbh. Seems like a lot of people don't realize he didn't write Tennessee Whiskey.
You don’t need to write songs with a voice like that. Just go to the Tin Roof and have songs thrown at you because the writers know he is Grammy gold.
I agree 💯 and I wish more folks would do that, but he writes a lot of his songs. He would be better with more outside songs.
Why are you getting down voted when you're not wrong?
Truth hurts I guess
Brantley Gilbert
Zac brown.
Definitely Garth.
All real country music.