“Lovin’ Lately”
Big & Rich featuring Tim McGraw
Written by Big Kenny, Tim McGraw, and John Rich
New Rule: If Big Kenny, John Rich, and Tim McGraw sit down to write a song together and it turns out pretty good, Tim McGraw is the one who gets to record it.
What a waste this record is. You can hear the potential of a great Tim McGraw single in the background, as if it’s playing on a car radio and Big & Rich are singing loudly along with it and everybody else in the car is wishing they’d just shut up so we can hear the real singer do it.
I’m not saying it would’ve been a classic or anything if it had been a Tim McGraw record, but it would have been listenable.
Big & Rich in 2016? Not listenable.
Grade: D
I don’t despise this record by any means (probably a C, if I were grading it), but it’s one of those songs that make you go…”meh”. That’s kind of been Big and Rich’s sound of the last few years..interchangeable mid-tempo ballads (“Look at You”, “Run Away with You”, “Lovin Lately”) that simply just fade away from your memory three minutes after you hear them on the radio. And I always liked the slower songs they released when they were in their hey-day (“Holy Water”, “8th of November”, “Lost in this Moment”), but these current singles just have nothing distinctive or interesting about them. For an act that really did bring an energy to country music when they arrived on the scene in the mid-200s, it’s kind of sad to watch them go through the motions now.
This record is okay, maybe a C+. I agree that Tim “Mr. Auto-Tune” McGraw is lost in the mix but I’m not sure if I would consider that much of a minus. I do think that McGraw would sound better as the lead singer (at least on a recording but probably not in live performance), but the song itself is no big deal
This is simply a recording featuring three singers all of whom are on a downhill slide
I’d go with a “C” or a “C-“. Mediocre song. If it was part of an album I bought, I wouldn’t necessarily skip it but if available only as a single, I wouldn’t buy it.
Re other B&R songs, besides “8th of November” mentioned by PSU Guy, my other favorite is “Faster Than Angels Fly” – (written by John Phillips & Billy Henderson) an album track story song from “Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace”.
“Some souls only know one speed, faster than angels fly”. A young couple is gunned down in the barrio by a “dead-end street gang up to no good, out to make a retribution call”.
Wait, so who’s on lead again? The vocals don’t mix as well as intended…
I know he’s friends with everyone, but Tim McGraw needs to stop saying Yes to every collaboration – especially with big loud duos. He’s already done two this year, and McGraw’s so much better than that.
Who can possibly argue that this is a good, catchy heart-felt song that most of us can relate to at some point in our lives?? I, for one, very much appreciate the talents of the Tim McGraw/Big and Rich get-together, and would love to hear more from these super-talented singer/songwriter artists! I have not seen Tim McGraw in concert, but will not pass up the opportunity if he is in my area. I HAVE seen “Big and Rich” in concert, and believe me people, these guys put on a show that will be forever imbedded in memory lane! These Cowboys ROCK!! Just my 2 cents.