Thursday, October 10, 2002
tim mcgraw is the current reigning sexiest man alive, celebrity division. but more than that, he's starting to, ten years on, make some interesting music. it began with a track off his last album, set this circus down, "angel boy." I fell in love with this song thanks to its video, which was filmed in ireland and is full of vivid technicolor greens and lots of tim, tim, tim. the video caught my eye, but the song reeled me in. it's nothing like anything I've heard from tim before; it's essentially a rock record, complete with a one-minute-45-second song-closing guitar solo! this song could easily be played on rock radio - maybe in a AAA format? besides its rather interesting (especially for country music) lyrics (to wit: "can we still be forgiven/for all of these things/or have we gone too far now/have we lost our wings?" - basically, it's a song about spiritual crisis), it flies like an eagle more than it gets down on the farm. "angel boy" is one of my singles of the year.
now, tim's gone and riled up some folks even more than he did with his debut, "indian outlaw." that's because his new single, "red rag top," includes lyrics referencing abortion (shock! horror!). the damned thing is that it's, inevitably, one of the most interesting songs tim's ever recorded. musically, it fires on all cylinders, thanks to the fact that (are you listening, nashville folks?) he didn't cut this album with the usual passel of n'ville studio musicians. instead, tim hit the studio with his longtime touring band, which led to his forthcoming full being titled tim mcgraw and the dancehall doctors. unsurprisingly, the band is tight and well-oiled, and nails the easygoing, very country groove of the song. I'd damned near place you money that this song'll go down like the chicks' "goodbye earl": incredible audience response, scared programmers, and a final chart placing in the teens. radio programmers have got to be the about the most fucking stupid people, paid to suck the soul out of music and replace it with commercial revenues. congratulations, you morons. at least tim's finally starting to follow his muse (who may not be faith after all, as this song sounds nothing like phil collins).
now, tim's gone and riled up some folks even more than he did with his debut, "indian outlaw." that's because his new single, "red rag top," includes lyrics referencing abortion (shock! horror!). the damned thing is that it's, inevitably, one of the most interesting songs tim's ever recorded. musically, it fires on all cylinders, thanks to the fact that (are you listening, nashville folks?) he didn't cut this album with the usual passel of n'ville studio musicians. instead, tim hit the studio with his longtime touring band, which led to his forthcoming full being titled tim mcgraw and the dancehall doctors. unsurprisingly, the band is tight and well-oiled, and nails the easygoing, very country groove of the song. I'd damned near place you money that this song'll go down like the chicks' "goodbye earl": incredible audience response, scared programmers, and a final chart placing in the teens. radio programmers have got to be the about the most fucking stupid people, paid to suck the soul out of music and replace it with commercial revenues. congratulations, you morons. at least tim's finally starting to follow his muse (who may not be faith after all, as this song sounds nothing like phil collins).
# posted by Thomas : 7:04 PM
