Song Reviews

The second single from Kenny Chesney‘s upcoming ‘Welcome to the Fishbowl’ album finds the singer returning to his old blue chair in an effort to pour his soul into a six-chord cask. It’s not clear yet if Chesney wrote ‘Come Over,’ but like many of his best ballads, this cut feels very, very personal.

It’s hard not to wonder if ‘More Life’ was chosen as a single from Randy Travis‘ ‘Anniversary Collection‘ album to allow the singer a chance to respond to his recent brush with infamy. The introspective ballad finds Travis asking for forgiveness from those he has hurt. Is this another case of art birthed from real life?

The power behind the punch of Lady Antebellum‘s sophomore album has withered away to little more than a slap to the cheek with the group’s fourth single ‘Wanted You More.’ The best songs from ‘Own the Night’ have already been issued as singles, and while hope remains for a late surge (‘Cold as Stone’ or ‘Friday Night’ perhaps), this new offering is more style than substance.

The title track to Lee Brice‘s ‘Hard 2 Love’ album is of the same mood as the chart-topping lead single ‘Woman Like You.’ ‘Hard to Love’ protects none of the vulnerabilities and insecurities a man has in showing his lover how he feels.

A new wife, a new baby, a new record label … add it all up and you’ll find a new Randy Houser on his debut single for Stoney Creek Records. ‘How Country Feels’ drops the Delta Blues-soaked guitar riffs in favor of a sound more palatable to the fan of middle-of-the-road country music.

“And the ACM Award for Guitar Lick of the Year goes to …” OK, so they don’t reward loud, nasty guitar riffs that upset the neighbors when you open the windows and crank the stereo to 10. But if they did, Montgomery Gentry‘s ‘So Called Life’ would earn the duo their first major award in over a decade.

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw didn’t need help selling tickets for the Brothers of the Sun Tour, but whatever seats were still available may have just been scooped up by fans anxious to see the two country superstars sing ‘Feel Like a Rock Star’ together this summer. The rest of America will have to settle for the radio edit, which is vintage Kenny Chesney.

It’d be hard to argue Jake Owen‘s sincerity on his new single ‘The One That Got Away.’ By the end of the song, Owen is almost shouting the chorus in anger as if the shadow of the “one that got away” is still looming over his crestfallen heart.

Country music fans under 40 are left scratching their heads about all the hype surrounding Lionel Richie‘s courting of Nashville’s greatest artists. First it was a duet with Shania Twain, now a full album of duets called ‘Tuskegee,’ and soon, the topper — a night in his honor after the ACM Awards next week.

Scotty McCreery will perform ‘Water Tower Town’ on ‘American Idol’ Thursday night (March 29), just hours after the track from ‘Clear as Day’ becomes the North Carolina singer’s third single. Thus far, his radio catalog has behaved like Grandma’s famous green bean casserole — great on Sunday, pretty good the day after, but by the third helping you’re ready to try a new flavor.

Sarah Darling‘s version of the Beatles‘ ‘Blackbird’ finds the young singer at her lilting best. The country newcomer cut the song as part of the ”Let Us In’ Nashville – A Tribute to Linda McCartney’ charity album, which was released last November. ‘Blackbird’ was Darling’s first choice.

Every summer Dierks Bentley seems to have a song perfectly suited for speeding down a back country highway with the windows down and the stereo up. His uptempo songs have a Tasmanian Devil feel to them. Like ‘Free and Easy’ and ‘Lot of Leavin’ Left to Do’ before that, ’5-1-5-0′ is three minutes of reckless energy.