Retro Single Review: Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You"
1974 | #1
Where to start? How do you begin a review of a song as seemingly universal as this one is? I could go on about what a massive success this song was in all the different versions that were recorded. But for now, I’ll just talk about what a fine record this 1974 original is on its own merits.
Album Review: Mary Chapin Carpenter, <i>Ashes and Roses</i>
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Ashes and Roses
Mary Chapin Carpenter could be considered an example of the rare artist who releases her best and most significant work right in the midst of her commercial heyday, or whose music might have even benefited from considering the ever-present concerns of what could be grasped by mainstream audiences. In the years since Carpenter’s hot streak ended – She hasn’t had a Top 40 hit since 1999’s “Almost Home” – she seems to have lost sight of the need to bring her thoughts down to an accessible, digestible level.
100 Greatest Men: #49. Toby Keith
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
After first finding success as a smooth country balladeer, Toby Keith got in touch with his sense of humor and aggressive bravado. The combination made him one of the biggest country stars of the new century.
100 Greatest Men: #50. Don Williams
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
As soft-spoken off the record as on, Don Williams became known as the Gentle Giant, as he quietly racked up dozens of hits over the course of two decades.
Retro Single Review: Tim McGraw, "My Next Thirty Years"
2000 | Peak: #1
Age forty is still seen as more of a milestone, but age thirty might be the best place to neatly divide your life.
McGraw captures that feeling of settling in to who you’re going to be, and the growing confidence that you’re really an adult and that you’ve somewhat established yourself.
Really, Tim McGraw?
Album Review: Alan Jackson, <i>Thirty Miles West</i>
Alan Jackson
Thirty Miles West
Jackson does so many basic things right on his new album that it’s tempting to award him five stars right off the bat.
The production is clean, his singing get in the way of the song, and those songs have complete ideas and actual structure. It’s the first mainstream country album in a long time that isn’t overrun with production tricks, or kicking up the loudness to eleven, or playing an exaggerated personality type that’s condescending to its audience.