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Single Review: Keith Urban, “For You”

April 25, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 12

I want to like this a lot more than I actually do.

“For You” does well enough for what it is, even though the production is a bit overblown, in a Bryan Adams kinda way. Urban is typically sincere, and there are some good attempts at pathos.

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Single Review: Edens Edge, "Too Good to Be True"

April 11, 2012 Ben Foster 3

Emerging with the slow-blooming Top 20 debut single “Amen” last year, Arkansas trio Edens Edge introduced themselves to the country audience as one of the genre’s brightest and most refreshing new talents. Their follow-up release “Too Good to Be True” lacks the distinct lyrical freshness that made “Amen” a winner, but continues to showcase the group’s unique, left-of-center musical style.

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Single Review: Scotty McCreery, "Water Tower Town"

April 7, 2012 Ben Foster 22

Reviewing mainstream country singles can be mighty depressing these days. It often seems like we’re hearing the same song over and over again. Conversely, I often feel as if I’m writing the same review over and over again.

So how can I find a fresh angle from which to approach this new Scotty McCreery single?

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Single Review: Kix Brooks featuring Joe Walsh, “New to This Town”

April 5, 2012 Dan Milliken 2

I’ve always liked Kix as a singer, so I was happy to see that this single exists. He’s got one of those modest-but-charming Everyman voices, the kind that makes every song feel like a conversation with your ol’ pal.

He also sounds positively thrilled to flex it for us again, which is just infectious. Listen to how he relishes every note of “New to This Town,” like he doesn’t want waste a moment of this reintroduction. Love that! I love that.

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Single Review: Sara Evans, “Anywhere”

March 31, 2012 Ben Foster 7

Nothing like a good country music driving song, right? I could make a whole road trip playlist full of them. Ostensibly, Sara Evans upcoming single “Anywhere” is seeking a spot on my road trip playlist. It’s a bit off-putting, unfortunately, that the lyric plays more like a watered-down knockoff of Jo Dee Messina’s “Heads Carolina, Tails California.”

At the very least, the single earns points for a committed vocal performance on Evans’ part, as well as a cool banjo-rocker of a production, which could have made for a pleasant little slice of pop-country. But the song structure is totally not there.

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Single Review: Martina McBride featuring Pat Monahan, “Marry Me”

March 23, 2012 Ben Foster 9

Honestly, I was never a huge fan of this particular Train hit. The lyric has a few interesting lines, but I couldn’t help but find it a bit schmaltzy and heavy-handed. Plus it’s like he just met this girl in a cafe, and he’s already getting ready to propose marriage? I would probably have liked the song better without “If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe.”

So it figures that Martina McBride reworks it into a duet with Train frontman Pat Monohan (after having joined Train for an episode of CMT Crossroads), and I can’t get over how cool they make it sound.

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