Single Reviews – Page 56 – Country Universe

Single Review: Jana Kramer, “I Hope it Rains”

May 26, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 6

The coolest thing “I Hope it Rains” has going for it is a piano melody that is mildly reminiscent of Bonnie Tyler’s cover of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.”

Single Review: Justin Moore, "Point at You"

May 16, 2013 Ben Foster 3

A song about a narrator whose woman completes him is a worthwhile concept, so long as one avoids pouring on the syrup. But in this case, the execution falls very flat.

Single Review: Hunter Hayes, "I Want Crazy"

May 11, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 7

Hunter Hayes just scored a decently big pop hit with “Wanted”, which was initially his first big country hit. Perhaps that’s why he’s taking a cue from the pop market, and re-releasing his first album in an expanded edition called (Encore) this summer.

Single Review: Chris Young, "Aw Naw"

May 11, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 8

It’s hard not to root for Chris Young. He can really sing and his music would sound identifiably country if it was released twenty years ago, making it sound like Hank Williams in comparison to what’s passing for it these days.

Single Review: Scotty McCreery, “See You Tonight”

April 24, 2013 Ben Foster 6

Scotty McCreery has stated in interviews that his main goal with his upcoming second album is to get a Top 10 radio hit. First single “See You Tonight” makes that goal a little too obvious.

Single Review: Lori McKenna, "Salt"

April 18, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 7

“Hearts don’t fly, but they can run like hell when they have to.”

Lori McKenna’s greatest gift as a writer is her ability to weave brilliantly constructed metaphors together with remarkably specific and quite often mundane details of small town, working class life.

Single Review: Wynonna, "Something You Can't Live Without"

April 13, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 3

It’s been thirty years since the world was introduced to the voice of Wynonna Judd, a simple guitar strum being nothing close to enough preparation for the otherworldly voice that opened the debut Judds single, “Had a Dream (For the Heart)”:

Single Reviews Round-Up: Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban, & Kip Moore

April 11, 2013 Tara Seetharam 16

Rascal Flatts, “Changed”

Like “I Won’t Let Go” a few years back, “Changed” is built on a sweeping sentiment, rousing melody and very little else. That’s not an inherently bad thing; despite an ounce of detail about the confessor, “Changed” feels like a confession –it pleads and swells and submits. Add in an earnest and relatively restrained performance, and the song has legs.

Written by Gary LeVox, Wendell Mobley & Neil Thrasher

Grade: B

Single Review: Lee Brice, “I Drive Your Truck”

April 1, 2013 Ben Foster 13

Lee Brice’s current hit is quite possibly the best song he’s yet sent to radio – a compelling meditation on the process of dealing with grief over the loss of a loved one in death.

Single Review: Sheryl Crow, "Easy"

March 28, 2013 Ben Foster 12

It’s not very country, nor does it sound far removed from the music she’s been making for two decades now, but the lead single from Sheryl Crow’s first full-fledged country album gets several things right.