If we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t like every single music choice that even our very favorite artists make, which is what inspired us to share our least favorite albums from our favorite artists. In that same spirit, there are also times when we catch ourselves enjoying a stray song or two from artists by whom we’re typically not impressed.
So, what are five songs that you like from artists that you normally don’t enjoy?
Here are mine. I should note that I actually enjoy more than one song from most of these artists, but will only list one for the purpose of this exercise.
- Jason Aldean, “Two Night Town”
- Rascal Flatts, “What Hurts the Most”
- Taylor Swift (feat. The Civil Wars), “Safe and Sound”
- Scotty McCreery, ” Carolina Moon”
- Thomas Rhett, “Beer with Jesus”
1. Trisha Yearwood Walkaway Joe & She’s In Love With The Boy
2. Justin Moore Till My Last Day
3. Miranda Lambert The House That Built Me & More Like Her that’s it can’t stand her, but I can’t decide between the other 2
4. Dustin Lynch Cowboys & Angels
5. Jerrod Niemann Lover, Lover
(Dishonorable mentions Jason Aldean The Truth Big & Rich Lost In The Moment Luke Bryan Do I Easton Corbin I Can’t Love You Back Hunter Hayes I Want Crazy )
And that’s it.
1. Darius Rucker: “Wagon Wheel” (Believe it or not, his is my favorite version of that song)
2. Jason Aldean: “Fly Over States”
3. Lady Antebellum: “American Honey”
4. Jake Owen: “What We Ain’t Got”
And don’t hate me for this…
5. George Strait: “You’ll Be There”
Really? Swift is one of your five least favorite contemporary artists?
(Or do you just hate the Civil Wars, haha)
1.Carrie Underwood: “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” (This one & “Two Black Cadillacs are the only two from her I care for at all)
2. Taylor Swift: “Tim McGraw”
3. Rascal Flatts: “These Days”
4. Keith Urban: “Your Everything”
5. Luke Bryan:”We Rode In Trucks” (Depending on my mood on any given day this is close to my favorite radio single of the 00’s decade)
Thomas,
While I’m not really a Taylor Swift fan (though I like her personality), there are certainly mainstream artists that I like less than her, but they don’t have any songs that I enjoy of theirs.
My five:
1. WE SHALL BE FREE–Garth Brooks (I’ve never really been a fan of the Garthmeister, but this came out right about the time of the 1992 L.A. riots, and it set the right tone for a troubled time)
2. BEGIN AGAIN–Taylor Swift (the song is good, and her voice is a little less Autotuned)
3. IT’S A LITTLE TOO LATE–Toby Keith (cross-pollination of something Dwight Yoakam would do with a George Harrison-like guitar break, and not another one of his tiresome hyper-patriotic bromides)
4. THE HOUSE THAT BUILT ME–Miranda Lambert (on everything else of hers that I’ve heard, her voice is really abrasive to my ears)
5. I’D HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINGS DIFFERENT–Kenny Chesney (more reflective than almost everything else in his output, much of which, in my opinion, is third-rate Jimmy Buffett).
LeeAnn I don’t know why but when I saw the title of this but I thought for sure you’d put acts like Gloriana or Love & Theft
1) Luke Bryan -Tailgate Blues
2) Florida Georgia Line – Tip it Back
3) Rascal Flatts – bless the broken road
4) deirks Bentley – Up On the Ridge
5) Jason Aldean – Flyover States or Amerillo Sky
todd,
Totally with you on “We Rode in Trucks” being one of the best singles of the 00’s. Very underrated song, in my opinion.
Hah, very fair.
I’d probably go:
Miranda: House that Built Me (she does nothing for me. This is the only song of hers that I would rather listen to than any given Taylor song)
Carrie: Wasted (Same deal as Miranda, albeit with a much better voice)
Aldean: Fly Over States
Luke Bryan: All My Friends Say
Jake Owen: Alone With You
1. Rascal Flatts: Bless the Broken Road
2. Toby Keith: Crash Here Tonight
3. Jake Owen: Startin’ With Me
4. Trace Adkins: Arlington
5. Billy Ray Cyrus: Could’ve Been Me
Raymond,
I didn’t choose them for this post because I don’t like any songs by them. I wasn’t simply listing my least favorite artists.
I don’t necessarily dislike these artists. These days, I don’t have enough repeated exposure to things that I don’t enjoy to even develop a healthy dislike of an artist!
But here are five songs that I like far more than the artists themselves:
1. Taylor Swift, Mean
2. Montgomery Gentry, If You Ever Stop Loving Me
3. Emerson Drive, Moments
4. Rascal Flatts, I’m Movin’ On
5. Trace Adkins, I’m Tryin’
Ok LeeAnn who are your least favorite mainstream country artists just in general.
Only the first two are artists I’d say I dislike.
1. Don Williams – “Then It’s Love” (yeah, I’m not a Don Williams fan)
2. John Denver – “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (one of the few that isn’t too sappy for me)
3. Rascal Flatts – “Winner at a Losing Game” (one of the best from their dreadful mid-2000s)
4. Taylor Swift – “Back to December”
5. Luke Bryan – “Someone Else Calling You Baby”
I saw this post, and all I could think of was “Mean,” by Taylor Swift. Which is ironic, since the song was written to all of her haters (i.e. me). But it’s the only solo song she’s done that I enjoy.
1. Luke Bryan Do I
2. Jason Aldean Two Night Town
3. FGL Dirt
4. Shania Any Man of Mine
5. Chase Rice Jack Daniel’s and Jesus
1. Blake Shelton – The Baby
2. Jake Owen – What We Ain’t Got
3. Jason Aldean – See You When I See You
4. Sam Hunt – Take Your Time
5. Thompson Square – Glass
1. Chase Rice, “Jack Daniel’s and Jesus”
2. Craig Morgan, “We’ll Come Back Around”
3. Taylor Swift, “Mean”
4. Trace Adkins, “This Ain’t No Love Song”
5. Rascal Flatts, “Bless the Broken Road”
Definitely second some of what’s been mentioned here, but I’ll try to mention only unique ones:
1. “One More Day” Diamond Rio
2. “Ol’ Red” Blake Shelton
3. “Don’t Ya” Brett Eldredge
4. “Someone Somewhere Tonight” Kellie Pickler
5. “Like a Cowboy” Randy Houser
1. “The Heartache That Don’t Stop Hurting” – Jason Aldean
2. “You and Tequila” – Kenny Chesney (I have never understood the success Chesney has, but this song is a gem)
3. “Crash and Burn” – Thomas Rhett (As a Pop song, I like it. Please don’t judge me)
4. “Speak Now” – Taylor Swift
5. “Something in the Water” – Carrie Underwood (it’s not that I don’t like Underwood, it’s just her material is awfully hit and miss to my taste)
1. Carrie Underwood – Wine After Whiskey
2. Hunter Hayes – Everybody’s Got Somebody But Me
3. Jason Aldean – Flyover States
4. Justin Moore – Run Out of Honky Tonks
5. Rodney Atkins – The River Just Knows
I’m surprised at how many people are listing Rascal Flatts. I don’t consider myself a huge fan of theirs but I actually think they’ve amassed a good number of quality songs over their career.
“These Days,” “I’m Movin’ On,” “Prayin’ For Daylight,” “Bless The Broken Road,” “Skin,” “Fast Cars and Freedom,” “What Hurt the Most,” “Life is a Highway,” “Winner At a Losing Game,” not to mention album cuts.
I consider “I’m Movin’ On” to be one of the best songs of the ’00s and “These Days” and “Bless the Broken Road” were amongst my favorites of the early ’00s era .
I consider their current songs to be slightly less annoying than most current artists as well. But I do remember the stretch of about 2006-2009 when they were on of the biggest country acts and released very few good songs.
“How do you like me now,” Toby Keith
“I Wonder,” Kellie Pickler
“Letter To Me,” Brad Paisley
“Need You Now,” Lady A
“Sleeping Single In a Double Bed ,” Barbra Mandrell
I’m also surprised that most are listing “Bless the Broken Road” over “I’m Movin’ On” and “These Days.”
This is hard! When I actively dislike someone I usually don’t give them the time day, which makes it near impossible to even stomach the thought that their output could have even one slightly substantive track amongst the drivel they’ve sent to radio. But here you go:
1. Blake Shelton, “Goodbye Time”
2. Luke Bryan, “Drunk On You”
3. Jason Aldean, “The Truth”
4. Rascal Flatts, “I’m Movin’ On”
5. Joey + Rory, “Rodeo” (I adored Life Of A Song but it’s all been downhill from there – too many comedy songs and not enough “real” moments. “Album Number Two?” “Headache?” You’ve got to be kidding me).
Thought of another one:
Martina McBride – “When God-Fearin’ Women Get the Blues”
Richie,
I’m surprised that you’re surprised that so many people mention Rascal Flatts. I think I used to actively dislike them and now I’m just mostly apathetic about them, because there’s far worse. I just think that they’re mostly bland and that Gary cannot sing live to save his life. According to my iTunes, I like 8 songs of theirs.
Andrew,
I wish I had thought of that Hunter Hayes song. I like it, but nothing else that I’ve heard of his.
Jonathan P,
Joey+Rory’s first album was certainly their best, but they’ve made other good music after that, not just the jokey singles that you mentioned.
Jason,
I agree that it’s valid for a music critic to critique, but I also think that it’s valid for that artist to be offended and even hurt by it. So, I feel that it’s okay that “Mean” comes from a vulnerable, even snarky, but honest place.
I think Taylor though has more to her category for great songs like
Our Song
Ours
White Horse
Fifteen
Begin Again
Red
Back To December
Sparks Fly
Heck I eve liked You Belong With Me I feel like Taylor has more good in her category than bad.
Leeann,
I agree about Joey + Rory, but I’ve disliked more then I’ve liked from their output post debut album. I love “Farm To Fame,” “That’s Important To Me,” “Josephine” and “When I’m Gone.” “Gotta Go Back” would also be a favorite if the lyrical content of the Josh Turner guest vocal didn’t render the track tasteless. Other then that, I love that song.
They aren’t terrible by any means, but their jokey songs are far too prominent in their catalog. Plus, with each subsequent album I feel like they’ve been going through the motions more then coming off as heartfelt. They needed the break they’ve taken and hopefully they’ll reemerge stronger then before. Heck, maybe they’ll come back with a children’s album. I certainly wouldn’t put it past them. I did enjoy their TV show, and saw just about every episode, but even that grew tiring by the end (although the cooking segment will never grow old).
As for Taylor Swift, look deeper than the singles. “All Too Well” is incredible. Her perspective might not work for everyone, but that particular song shows her growth as a songwriter and her sharp turns of phrase.
On 1989 , I love “Blank Space.”
I’m with you, Raymond.
I don’t trust people who claim they don’t like Sparks Fly.
It’s like people who claim they aren’t attracted to Timothy Olyphant or Sarah Shahi (I’m straight, but some people are just inhumanly beautiful).
Jonathan I’m talking about country singles let’s not bring up Blank Space maybe though with Taylor Swift gone maybe Kelsea Ballerini will become the new one and have a good songwriting style which is something Taylor Swift does really excel at.
Yeah Sparks Fly is a pop-country masterpiece well written and excellently executed.
Good choice for a topic, Leeann! And I share your surprise that anyone would be surprised by the mentions for Rascal Flatts. At their “best” and most popular, they’re still divisive. I honestly cannot think of anything they’ve released that I’ve genuinely liked, though they’ve had a handful of singles that I don’t find actively bad.
To that end, I tried to think of singles or tracks by artists who have fewer than 5 total offerings that I would actually say that I like, and I only chose things that I really and truly do like:
1. Billy Currington, “Love Done Gone.” Easily my top choice here. This may well be my favorite country single of the ’10s thus far, and it is honestly the only thing Currington has ever released that I’ve liked even a tiny bit.
2. Kenny Chesney, “Anything But Mine.” One of exactly two singles (“You and Tequila” being the other) of his that I’ve liked, and the only time that his boozy, flat vocal style has been in service to a well-written song.
3. Tim McGraw f Faith Hill, “Angry All the Time.” Yes, Bruce Robison gets a bit twitchy with his verb tenses, but this is one of the best-written songs McGraw has recorded.
4. Lorrie Morgan, “Except for Monday.” I’ve always found Morgan’s vocal style affected, and it’s only on a few of her singles that she drops the affectations.
5. Lady Antebellum, “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.” It’s been mostly downhill from here. Whatever potential they showed here has been squandered in their crusade to become the three dullest people on Earth.
I think one of the things that Taylor can be called out for herself with respect to “Mean” is that, yes, a lot of people really do hate her; but on the other hand, while she does call out the so-called “haters”, she herself really hasn’t done a whole heck of a lot to improve her voice, which is what even a lot of people who are otherwise sympathetic to her situation say is her biggest deficiency. And no matter how much fancy production techniques there are on her records, if your voice has to rely so much on it, what are people supposed to think about her? Taylor simply can’t be compared to the great singers yet because she hasn’t done much to prove that she’s worthy of those comparisons.
1. Blake Shelton–“Sangria”
I’m tempted to list one of Blake’s songs from his first few albums, which were built on the “New Traditional” sound of guys like Alan Jackson or George Strait. That feels so long ago and such a different artist that it feels like cheating, so I will pick this current Blake song which is about as good as the “new” Blake Shelton can get. Solid lyrics, production that is not over the top and Blake’s smooth voice make “Sangria” one of the top Country singles this year so far.
2. Florida Georgia Line-“Dirt”
FGL is not a good duo, but proof that a blind squirrel find the occasional nut, they somehow found a song that is solid lyrically and does not suck the soul of it’s listener. This will probably go down as the one and only song this band has ever recorded that comes close to listenable/good.
3. Jason Aldean-“The Truth”
The concept for this song is not new or fresh and Brice Long wrote and recorded a similar song lyrically that was far superior (I think Chris Cagle released that song as a single as well). That being said, this song is one of the few Aldean songs I like. It was between this song and “Flyover States” or “Amarillo Sky” for my favorite Aldean song, but I feel this one comes to closest to not overextending his vocal abilities and does not have terrible production.
4. Billy Currington-“Love Done Gone”
5. Kenny Chesney- Somewhere With You
I like a few Billy Currington songs, but I love “Love Done Gone” so much.
Erik, I don’t think Taylor gives a damn about being compared to the great “singers.” She’s more focused on making a (pardon the language, I’m using a technical term) metric fuck-ton of money at the moment, and her endgame is being one of the great artists.
Steve Earle has never been able to sing, either. I still love the guy.
She’s got a long way to go before she’s in the conversation for greatest anything, but people love her because she writes smart, fun lyrics and has an insane ear for a hook. Her vocal limitations are entirely besides the point of her appeal, and I’d argue that she’s a damn fine interpretative singer. She knows that she can’t do the flashy stuff, so she plays to her strengths.
I do prefer her songwriting to her vocals, but I also doubt that any cover artist would improve on her originals.
I think Taylor’s goal is to just have fun with her music interact with her fans really. Having said that I really want her to return to country music because she is still one of my favorite artists and she’s one of the only female artists who do well on the charts.
I’m with you, Raymond. I just like her songs much better than any of the current “successful” mainstream women.
(Kacey hasn’t established herself as one yet, IMO)
I’m not Taylor Swift fan, her personality at some award shows is off putting to me at times, but honestly I miss when she was “the biggest problem” with Country music. At least her songs usually had some substance behind them, which is more than you can say for FGL, Aldean, Bryan, Hunt, etc.
Plus, I respect that fact she just admitted she wasnt a Country artist anymore. Too bad Sam Hunt can’t admit he is a pop/EDM wannabe and nothing more and stop helping devolve the genre further.
As for Taylor, I still think “Tim McGraw” is her best, and “Back to December” my second favorite. WATZ plays her so infrequently that I keep forgetting what all she’s released — I don’t think I’ve heard “White Horse” once since it fell from the charts — but I’ve generally liked most of her country releases. “Should’ve Said No”, “Fearless”, and “Red” are the only country releases of hers that I didn’t care for. And I don’t dislike “You Belong with Me”, but every time I hear it I start singing the Weird Al version instead.
And “Love Done Gone” is excellent — I was ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-ing after the first time I heard it. That song is the textbook definition of “ear worm”. That said, I still think “People Are Crazy” is his magnum opus, and I thought so even before my late grandmother revealed it to be one of her favorites.
Still surprised no one’s berated me for not liking Don Williams… :P
Rascal Flatts – These Days
Carrie Underwood – Wasted
Jason Aldean – The Truth
Faith Hill – The Secret of Life
Justin Moore – If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away
@Bobby Peacock
I won’t berate you for not liking Don Williams. I do find it odd that someone would dislike him but not odd that someone would be neutral about him. He has a lot of singles that are ballads and the same tempo. That might make him monotonous to just listen to him continuously. Those songs are well sung and written but the tempo can get too consistent. I don’t know how much you have really delved into his catalog, but if you like “Then it’s Love”, then he has other songs you would like to. Here is my suggested Don Williams playlist. If you like all of these songs, then I don’t think he can qualify as a least favorite. He might be someone you don’t care either way about, but I find it hard to dislike him.
1. (Turn Out The Lights) Love Me tonight
2. Some Broken Hearts Never Mend
3. Rake & Ramblin Man
4. Tulsa Time
5. Lay Down Beside Me (Alison Krauss and John Waite do an excellent version of this song)
6. It Must Be love
7. Fallin’ Again
8. Lord I Hope This Day Is Good
9. Love Is On Roll
10. That’s The Thing About Love
11. Maggie’s Dream
12. Walkin’ A Broken Heart
13. Heartbeat In The Darkness
14. Back In My Younger Days
15. True Love
Plus he has all kinds of ballads that were huge hits like “I Believe in You”, “Amanda”, “Come Early Morning”, etc. I don’t know how someone couldn’t find 10-15 songs of his that they liked if they were fans of traditional country. Now if you’re a fan of Country that leans more towards the Rock or pop side, then I could see not being a fan of Williams. I still wouldn’t get why someone would actively dislike the guy as an artist. That’s o.k., someone else listed George Strait and another person added Trisha Yearwood. Those are just as crazy, if not more so. I question whether a person truly likes country music if they actually dislike George Strait.
Ha, Richard! You’re saying what I’ve been thinking. It was baffling to see George Strait and Trisha Yearwood mentioned in this thread as anyone’s least favorite artists. As for Don Williams, I think “Good Old Boys Like Me” is possibly one of the best country songs ever written. I also love “Lord, I Hope This Day is Good.” I think of it as my theme song.
I’m sorry Trisha Yearwood has an amazing voice but she doesn’t have a ton of charisma and I find her boring and honestly I find George Strait so overrated cause his voice can get grating after awhile there’s a reason I don’t like Give It All We Got Troubadour I Saw God Today I do like River Of Love and I Got A Car but he just does nothing for me ever.
@Raymond
If you’re judging George Strait off of those songs, then you really need to listen to his 80’s and 90’s stuff. George Strait is not great because of his 2000’s output, although he has some good songs since then. He is great because of what he did in the 80’s and 90’s. I don’t even own any of those songs you listed.
I’m not the biggest Trisha fan, but she does have some great songs like Down On My Knees, A Song Remembers When and Walkaway Joe. Those songs alone should keep her off of a least favorite artist, in my opinion. To me a boring artist would go on a neutral list. Rascal Flatts would be that for me. I like some of their songs but I couldn’t care less about most of their work, but they would never make my least favorite artist because they incite no particular feelings. A band like Florida Georgia Line would make my least favorite list because for the most part I hate their music and find them annoying. I like Cruise and maybe a couple of others but there wasn’t an album that I bought that I hated as much as Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s to the good times. They annoy me because there is very little value in their music. Sloppy, immature and inane lyrics being the biggest reason I hate them. That is the kind of artist I would expect on a least favorite list. I guess it all depends on what you think Least favorite means I guess. This is why I didn’t do a list of my own. Outside of Florida Georgia Line, there isn’t too many artists that I pretty much hate. Maybe if I listened to more of today’s country, I could find more that I hate, but I never listen to the radio so the majority of today’s artist I’m not too updated on.
Richard,
I intentionally wrote “least favorites” rather than “hate” for the reason that you said. At this point in my music listening experience, there are few artists that I hate and if I do, it’s quite unlikely that there would even be one song that I liked from that artist (I’m looking at you, Florida Georgia Line!).
Jason Aldean – Amarillo Sky
Miranda Lambert – House That Built Me
Big & Rich – Faster Than Angels Fly
Reba McEntire – Somebody
George Strait – Amarillo By Morning
I’m late to this post. Here it is.
Reba & Vince Gill-“The Heart Won’t Lie”
This is for Reba not Vince. I never could get into Reba besides a couple songs. Her ’80s stuff feels too dated for me and her music since maybe 1995 hasn’t been that great in my opinion. I also am not crazy about her voice.
Sugarland- “Stay”
Jimmy Wayne- “Paper Angels”
Billy Ray Cyrus- “Could’ve Been Me”
Brad Paisley- “Letter To Me”
Honorable mentions, “One Mississippi” by Brett Eldredge and “The Wind” by Zac Brown Band.
01 Jason Aldean – The Truth (Could be because of Trent Willmon)
02 Toby Keith – Lost You Anyway (Last song of his I’ve truly enjoyed)
03 Billy Currington – Walk a Little Straighter (He had SO much potential)
04 Florida Georgia Line – Dirt (I Still have no idea how FGL are popular but this song is tolerable)
05 Justin Moore – If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away (Although I do prefer Rhett Akins version just a tad more)/Run Out of Honky Tonks (The Only two songs that are tolerable from him to me)
even artists I didnt like did good music sometimes
1. Dwight Yoakam “I Sang Dixie”
2. Roseanne Cash “Tennessee Flat Top Box”
3 .Miranda– White Liar or “The House…” depending on my mood
4. Big and Rich– “Lost in the Moment”
5. FGL–“Dirt”
The first song that comes to mind for me is Trace Adkins’ “I’m Tryin'”.
Erik,
Could you please tell me a single Taylor Swift song up through the Speak Now album on which you heard Autotune?