Wow, there’s a lot of songs out there right now. It’s going to take two posts to catch up. Here’s the first half of the alphabet.
ALAN JACKSON “The Talkin’ Song Repair Blues” (Arista)
Clever and funny. The first time.
AMANDA WILKINSON “No More Me And You” (Universal South)
As lead singer of The Wilkinsons, she had backing harmonies to support her fairly weak voice. She’s on her own here, with disposable material to boot. Skip it.
ANDY GRIGGS “This I Gotta See” (RCA)
Charmless, cliche-ridden love song #1.
BILLY CURRINGTON “Must Be Doin’ Something Right” (Mercury)
Charmless, cliche-ridden love song #2.
BILLY DEAN “This Is The Life” (Curb)
He’s done this before, and better, with “Only Here For A Little While.” I like the vocal, though; very effective use of his deeper register.
BLAKE SHELTON “Goodbye Time” (Warner Bros.)
I’ve never been a fan, so I’m surprised that a Conway Twitty cover would be the first thing I like from him. His vocal is intense without spilling over to melodrama as he’s done on earlier singles like “Austin.”
BRAD PAISLEY “Alcohol” (Arista)
I can’t believe this has never been written before, it’s such an obvious country song. He pulls it off with good taste and great humor.
BRETT MICHAELS “Open Road” (Poor Boy)
The former lead singer of Poison sings a decent story song in the vein of “On The Road.” Get some promotion behind this and a good video, and it might be a hit.
BRITTON JACK “Fallin'” (Lofton Creek)
Fresh and clever verses build to a bland and lifeless chorus.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN “Devils & Dust” (Columbia)
Chilling.
BUDDY JEWELL “If She Were Any Other Woman” (Columbia)
This sounds overly familiar for a new song.
CHRIS CAGLE “Miss Me Baby” (Capitol)
Mediocrity personified.
CRAIG MORGAN “Redneck Yacht Club” (Broken Bow)
You’ve got to be kidding me.
DERYL DODD “Let Me Be” (Dualtone)
Halfway decent, but nothing that will distinguish him from the pack – just like his work for Columbia in the late 90’s.
DWIGHT YOAKAM “Intentional Heartache” (New West)
He tosses off driving, rocking records like this so effortlessly, it’s easy to take him for granted. Don’t. This is a fantastic record.
ERIKA JO “I Break Things” (Universal South)
Could this crappy little song be the final nail in the Nashville Star coffin? Cross your fingers!
FAITH HILL “Mississippi Girl” (Warner Bros.)
This is a great song to kick off an album or a concert, but isn’t a bit self-indulgent to release it as a single?
GARY ALLAN “Best I Ever Had” (MCA)
This guy is so damn good. He should be winning awards by now.
HOT APPLE PIE “Hillbillies” (DreamWorks)
They try a bit too hard to be hip, bvt the hook is solid.
JOSH GRACIN “Stay With Me (Brass Bed)” (Lyric Street)
It’s a little sad that American Idol produced a better country artist than any of the Nashville Star winners. Sad, but true.
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