The album starts really well, we have a bunch of highly entertaining songs, and then we have the single, Point At You, and the album falls flat on its face. There are a couple of good songs, but the album is very inconsistent. Sometimes we get good songs, that point out that Justin Moore is trying to cut from the bro-country kind of genre, but then we get some awfully stupid songs that brings us back to the old habits. As a whole, Justin Moore tries to differentiate himself from the rest of the pack with this album, with mitigated success.
You'll read it in the individual reviews, this album is really a roller coaster. Oh! A good song with quality lyrics. Ah... now some bro-country songs. Up, down, up, down. Justin Moore has a style to him, and I'm getting the feeling that with the new albums released recently, he's trying to differentiate himself with the rest of the pack. Old Back In The New School pretty much points in that direction, that even if Moore is bringing new country keys in the songs, he's still a guy with old school habits and values. We see it also in a song which I found particularly interesting, For Some Ol' Redneck Reason.
My problem with this album is the lack of dedication to this mindset that Moore wants to put us in, and the message he's sending. We get a ton of songs filled with clichés, especially in the Deluxe Edition, which is basically not worth it at all. I really wish he put better lyrics in his songs, and didn't fall in the easiness of bro-country songs, à la Florida Georgia Line. I hope that we get more songs with improved song-writing in the next album, as this one is definitely harmed by this aspect.
Musically, it's well arranged, we get pretty good diversity of instruments. As far as Justin Moore's voice is concerned, you either like it or not. I'm not that much of a fan of it, I feel the accent is a bit too much pronounced, but some people really might like it, I think it's a question of taste. Like said previously, if he pushed more the topic of his "roots" in his songs, even more than he already did, I think it would fit perfectly well.
7/10
Old Back In The New School
I liked a lot this song. The message it's carrying seems important to me, and it also sounds very good, with the piano, it adds a lot to it. Wondering why this doesn't go on the radio.
8.5/10
Lettin' The Night Roll
This is the "we are young and in love" kind of song. I'd say it does this job pretty well, it's entertaining, and quite well-written. We get a few clichés, but it's not too bad, especially for the theme.
8/10
Old Habits
Perhaps one of the best songs of the album, and also a very good duo. Like said in other critics (like the one of Keith Urban's Fuse), sometimes the duo isn't exploited to the maximum, but this one is very successful. It's a slow song, but there is a lot of emotion, even though the story isn't quite as interesting as we would like it to be.
8/10
Point At You
That's the single everyone has heard. It's filled with clichés, it's repetitive, I personally think that it's really far from being the best song of this album. Musically, it's not particularly impressive, there is a solo which is nice, but besides that, nothing to see here.
6.5/10
I'd Want It To Be Yours
Perhaps the most unapologetically stupid song I've heard this year. Except if you love to hear a story about a guy describing an ass the entire song, just skip it, there is absolutely nothing worth noting in this song. There's even a bit of rap in it. Just... skip it.
1.5/10
This Kind Of Town
This is the usual "the town I grew up in" kind of song. He describes the ins and outs of the town, how it will always be where he grew up, where he feels at home. It's pretty repetitive though, I've seen far better song-writing and music for this kind of song. It's average, which is disappointing considering how bad I'd Want It To Be Yours was just before. Oh and there's a guitar solo, which comes out of nowhere, and seems, at least to me, unnecessary.
7/10
Country Radio
How ironic. We see people complaining all the time that what is playing on the radio is too much filled with clichés, and yet this song does exactly that. Pretty bad in all aspects, the lyrics are awful, the music is uninteresting, quite a bad song. Can we get songs up to what we got before Point At You now?
4/10
That's How I Know You Love Me
This reminds me quite a bit of Come Back To Me by Keith Urban musically, but not as good. It's not saying it's bad, it's quite good, but definitely not up to par with what Keith did. The song is limited quite a bit by the lack of depth of the lyrics. The drum and guitar rhythms feels like he wants to add emotion, but when there's nothing in the lyrics to begin with, it's not credible.
6.5/10
Off The Beaten Path
And another song filled with clichés. The music is quite diverse, but lack quality, and we certainly can't count on the depth of the song-writing to appreciate this song. There's a pretty good solo though, and this time it feels pertinent. As a whole, pretty disappointing that we get yet another bad song after what we got on the first couple of songs.
4/10
One Dirt Road
This is a slow song, but it's quite good. It's well-written, but musically, not much to see.
7.5/10
For Some Ol' Redneck Reason
Surprising song. First, the lyrics are more interesting here, because it talks about those hillbillies instead of the traditional bro-country kind of thing with jacked up truck, cut off jeans, etc. The music is also quite different from what we got up to this. As a whole, pretty good conclusion song, especially given how inconsistent this album has been so far.
Beer
It's basically an ode to beer. It's entertaining on the musical side, again with different instruments that all add something (unlike some other artists where it's all at the same time and we can't appreciate the individual ones). That being said, the story is pretty ridiculous.
6.5/10
Big Ass Headache
In this song, he defines his headache. All I can say is that it pretty much lack depth both musically as in the song-writing. Pretty rubbish song if you ask me.
4.5/10
Dirt Road Kid
Basically what you see is what you get, all the song he talks about how he grew up on a dirt road and what he did (fishing, dancing, etc.) The music is entertaining, with the piano which makes kind of old school saloon, but the lyrics are really disappointing.
7/10
Field Fulla Hillbillies
Definitively, don't count on the Deluxe edition to bring anything of good quality. Another song filled with clichés, with music absolutely boring. It's also very repetitive.
3.5/10
After the ode to the beer, it's the ode to his car. It's repetitive, boring, nothing to see here again.
4.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment