Reviews

Eli Young Band, ‘Drunk Last Night’ – Song Review
Eli Young Band, ‘Drunk Last Night’ – Song Review
Eli Young Band, ‘Drunk Last Night’ – Song Review
Eli Young Band's new single 'Drunk Last Night' is a subtle, but important, departure from songs on the 'Life at Best' album. The track shuffles along at a slightly faster tempo than 'Crazy Girl' or 'Even if It Breaks Your Heart,' but the chorus and production breathe new life into the band's sound.
Dierks Bentley (Feat. Kacey Musgraves), ‘Bourbon in Kentucky’ – Song Review
Dierks Bentley (Feat. Kacey Musgraves), ‘Bourbon in Kentucky’ – Song Review
Dierks Bentley (Feat. Kacey Musgraves), ‘Bourbon in Kentucky’ – Song Review
Dierks Bentley breaks from his longtime producer Brett Beavers to record his new single 'Bourbon in Kentucky.' Sonically, the song is more experimental than anything the Batman and Robin duo put together. Beavers and Bentley's best work shook like a rattlesnake or pierced deep into the veins with a heartbreaking poison capable of inducing painful flashbacks of past relationships. Few have been as
Darius Rucker, ‘True Believers’ – Album Review
Darius Rucker, ‘True Believers’ – Album Review
Darius Rucker, ‘True Believers’ – Album Review
Darius Rucker sings with more energy than a nuclear power plant, but his new album 'True Believers' is safer than solar power. He captures the spirit of his live show -- one of the best in the business -- on each of the 12 tracks, but one yearns for for something unique and unexpected.
’42’ Review
’42’ Review
’42’ Review
My grandmother, Rhoda Singer, died earlier this year. She lived much of her life in Brooklyn and was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. Her favorite player was Pee Wee Reese, the Dodgers' scrappy white shortstop who famously silenced a racist Cincinnati crowd by putting his arm around his black teammate Jackie Robinson during pre-game warmups. I thought about my grandmother a lot while watching '42,' the new
hunter hayes wants crazy!
hunter hayes wants crazy!
hunter hayes wants crazy!
In his new song 'I Want Crazy.' Hunter Hayes doesn't soar like Ronnie Dunn or croon like Chris Young. His vocal performance is an exercise in diction -- and memory. Simply put, he packs a ton of words into a tight space without straining or slurring one idea into another. It's not easy.
Brad Paisley, ‘Beat This Summer’ – Song Review
Brad Paisley, ‘Beat This Summer’ – Song Review
Brad Paisley, ‘Beat This Summer’ – Song Review
Brad Paisley wasn't joking when he said he was working to push himself places never gone before on his upcoming album, 'Wheelhouse.' The second single, 'Beat This Summer,' is a double-take sort of record in that after it begins, you do a double-take toward your stereo or computer to try to make sense of what's going on.
Tim McGraw (Feat. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban), ‘Highway Don’t Care’ – ToC Critic’s Pick [Listen]
Tim McGraw (Feat. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban), ‘Highway Don’t Care’ – ToC Critic’s Pick [Listen]
Tim McGraw (Feat. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban), ‘Highway Don’t Care’ – ToC Critic’s Pick [Listen]
While Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift's vocals on 'Highway Don't Care' would be enough to make the song a hit and one of the best of 2013, it's Keith Urban's guitar that makes the track one of the best collaborations of the decade -- maybe even ever. Each artist brings his or her best effort to the song from McGraw's 'Two Lanes of Freedom' album. It's a sterling example of what can happen when artists
Jason Aldean, ‘1994’ – Song Review
Jason Aldean, ‘1994’ – Song Review
Jason Aldean, ‘1994’ – Song Review
Jason Aldean's nostalgic trip to a time of mullets and loud, heavily-starched cowboy shirts is a fun novelty on the 'Night Train' album. But if '1994' had a cinematic equivalent from that same year, it'd be 'It's Pat.' Like the movie, the song is cute the first time, and maybe fun when it's late and you're drunk, but after that ...
Album Spotlight: Gary Allan, ‘Set You Free’ – ToC Critic’s Pick
Album Spotlight: Gary Allan, ‘Set You Free’ – ToC Critic’s Pick
Album Spotlight: Gary Allan, ‘Set You Free’ – ToC Critic’s Pick
Gary Allan delivers the emotionally rich album his fans expect while stretching his sound in multiple new directions on 'Set You Free,' the singer's ninth studio album and first in three years. The songwriting is strong from the first track to the last, with Allan mixing moments of joy and hope within his familiar anguish.
Florida Georgia Line, ‘Get Your Shine On’ – Song Review
Florida Georgia Line, ‘Get Your Shine On’ – Song Review
Florida Georgia Line, ‘Get Your Shine On’ – Song Review
Florida Georgia Line wasted no time following their infectious debut single with one that cements the duo as the good-time country party band they introduced themselves as. 'Get Your Shine On' had already charted before 'Cruise' reached No. 1. Both rely on a big, fat hook and songwriting that's sharper than they'll get credit for.
Miranda Lambert, ‘Mama’s Broken Heart’ – Song Review
Miranda Lambert, ‘Mama’s Broken Heart’ – Song Review
Miranda Lambert, ‘Mama’s Broken Heart’ – Song Review
Dark and volatile are this year's black in country music, and Miranda Lambert reminds fans she is still the lead diva of danger with a new single called 'Mama's Broken Heart.' Her performance is every bit as enjoyably unstable as previous hits like 'Kerosene' and 'Gunpowder and Lead.' When she's mercurial, she's magic.
Tim McGraw, ‘Mary and Joseph’ – Song Review
Tim McGraw, ‘Mary and Joseph’ – Song Review
Tim McGraw, ‘Mary and Joseph’ – Song Review
Tim McGraw could make a pretty strong Christmas album if he chose to do so. His new release 'Mary and Joseph' is a creative -- but not too creative -- interpretation of the story of Jesus' birth. McGraw tells it like he's told the best stories of his two decade-long career, with a sweet reverence for the struggles his characters are living through.
Big and Rich, ‘Party Like Cowboyz’ – Song Review
Big and Rich, ‘Party Like Cowboyz’ – Song Review
Big and Rich, ‘Party Like Cowboyz’ – Song Review
In 'Party Like Cowboyz,' Big and Rich once again become the wild-eyed, brash, cowboy rockers that originally attracted so many fans to their diesel-powered style when they debuted in 2003.  No one is going to accuse John Rich and Big Kenny of excessive versatility, but they do what they do with genuine conviction and passion.
Dustin Lynch, ‘She Cranks My Tractor’ – Song Review
Dustin Lynch, ‘She Cranks My Tractor’ – Song Review
Dustin Lynch, ‘She Cranks My Tractor’ – Song Review
The title of Dustin Lynch's new single 'She Cranks My Tractor' will make the country boys snicker, but in case someone doesn't quite get the joke, the song doubles back with line after line of gratuitous innuendo. It's a rowdy good time, one that ends just before the singer finds it necessary to spell out S-E-X.

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