Scotty McCreery – Page 2 – Country Universe

Top Twenty Albums of 2011, Part One: #20-#11

December 29, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 7

The country music umbrella stretched wider than ever this year, regardless of the fact that radio playlists seem shorter than ever.

Of course, it’s not just the Americana acts that can’t get radio play these days. Even top-selling albums by Scotty McCreery and Alison Krauss & Union Station weren’t embraced.

Country Universe editors and contributors each submitted a list of their ten favorite albums of 2011. 31 different albums were included on our lists, and over the next two days, we’ll share with you our collective top twenty.

Top Twenty Albums of 2011, Part One: #20-#11

#20
Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail
Noam Pikelny

His tenure with the Punch Brothers and his winning of the first annual “Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass” in 2010 both earned Noam Pikelny the clout to release Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail, his second solo album and first since 2004. Joined by an all-star roster of fellow pickers, Pikelny’s mostly instrumental set is a showcase both for its lead artist’s extraordinary technical skills and for the banjo’s wide-ranging potential. – Jonathan Keefe

Album Review: Scotty McCreery, Clear as Day

October 25, 2011 Ben Foster 14

Scotty McCreery

Clear as Day

In listening to American Idol winner Scotty McCreery’s debut album, it becomes all too clear that either McCreery is being carefully reared by the unabashedly commercial-minded execs of 19 Entertainment… or that he simply enjoys playing follow-the-leader. The former is most likely, but almost every track on Clear as Day sounds like an emulation of the style of one of country radio’s favorite hitmakers. We get to hear Scotty McCreery play Montgomery Gentry. We get to hear Scotty McCreery play Kenny Chesney. But there are precious few moments in which it sounds like Scotty McCreery is being Scotty McCreery.

Single Review: Scotty McCreery, “I Love You This Big”

May 26, 2011 Dan Milliken 29

Any review of this single anywhere is like begging for site traffic from impassioned fans/haters. I don’t do nearly enough favors for Country Universe most of the time, though – so allow me to greet you down on my knees, Scottyfolk.

A preface: I didn’t watch this past season of American Idol, so this single is basically my first exposure to its winner, and I feel no sour grapes that he beat out So-And-So or What’s-Her-Face, and I don’t care about his adorable TV backstory or any of that. The only metric I’m using is whether “I Love You This Big” sounds like something I’d want to hear on the radio between “Teenage Daughters” and “Amen.”

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