Single Reviews

Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis, “I Told You So”

March 24, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 14

What a fascinating collaboration. Both Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood have recorded distinctly different but equally compelling versions of “I Told You So.”

Travis was all tortured uncertainty in his version, like a nervous inner monologue made public. It was only on the chorus that he truly sang, as the verses were practically spoken.

Underwood chose to sand down those rough edges in her spin on the classic, expanding the hook into a power note and crafting a smooth melody out of the jagged verses.

Each original recording played to its artist’s strengths, but how can such disparate performances come together to make one cohesive record?

Toby Keith, “Lost You Anyway”

March 23, 2009 Dan Milliken 8

Toby Keith is such an ace ballad singer that he can make a totally lame ballad still sound kind of cool. That’s pretty much the story with “Lost You Anyway.”

The song attempts to flesh out a relationship which has presumably been doomed from the beginning, but reveals frustratingly little about why that is, content to linger in one-dimensional self-pity instead. The chorus is especially annoying, as the strong melody gets neutered by a barrage of lazy, vague lyrics (“could’ve tried just a little bit harder…dug down just a little bit deeper.” Are we talking about the relationship or the songwriting?)

But the vocal performance is strong as ever, and the production does the country-arena rock hybrid thing better than most of its ilk, with a repeated electric guitar fill that manages to not sound obnoxious. I doubt anyone is going to remember this five years from now, but as skip-it radio filler goes, it’s palatable.

Brad Paisley, “Then”

March 22, 2009 Leeann Ward 24

With a few notable exceptions Brad Paisley’s catalog consists of jocularity and love. He covers both categories rather well, but he also runs the risk of sounding stale after trotting out the same themes time

Jo Dee Messina, “Shine”

March 22, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 3

Jo Dee Messina’s singles generally into two categories: empowering anthems and sardonic kiss-off numbers. Her best singles, like “Bye Bye” and “Downtime”, are a little bit of both.

Given the title, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which type of song “Shine” is. She’s had enough of looking at the glass half empty and is now determined to live her life to the fullest, taking every moment that she can to shine.

It’s decent enough, but the problem with releasing so many songs in the same vein is that the new releases are invariably stacked up against the old ones. In this case, the comparison does “Shine” few favors.

It doesn’t feature the energetic spark normally associated with Messina’s spurts of positivity, and she sounds more resigned to her life rather than reinvigorated by it. It doesn’t help that the production has such little luster, a strange choice to make for a song that is trumpeting the sunny side of life.

Tracy Lawrence, “Up to Him”

March 21, 2009 Leeann Ward 2

Let me preface this review by disclosing that Tracy Lawrence was among my favorite hit makers in the early to mid-nineties. His voice was gritty and distinctive.
Moreover until the latter part of that decade, his song choices were enjoyable and even solid.

Regrettably, I cannot apply the same praise to his single, “Up to Him”, which is the lead single for his upcoming inspirational album. As has been a looming factor with Lawrence’s career ever since the album following Time Marches On, there is nothing remotely interesting about this song.

While the premise is arguably a legitimate sentiment for a country song, neither the song nor the delivery of it brings anything new or fresh to the oft sung about theme of working hard for one’s family through the strength of God. Instead, we are subjected to blandness that is not sonically or lyrically engaging. Furthermore, Lawrence doesn’t even sound as though he’s especially interested in what he’s singing about either. His voice is still recognizable, but it lacks the charisma it once had, which, incidentally, also happens to be the song’s ultimate downfall.

Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis, “I Told You So”

Toby Keith, “Lost You Anyway”

Brad Paisley, “Then”

Jo Dee Messina, “Shine”

Tracy Lawrence, “Up to Him”

Carrie Underwood, “Home Sweet Home”

Miley Cyrus, "The Climb"

Keith Urban, “Kiss a Girl”

Caitlin & Will, “Address in the Stars”

John Rich, “Shuttin’ Detroit Down”