Anyone who is new to The Chicks.. please go listen to Cold Day in July, Sin Wagon, Wide Open Spaces, You Were Mine.. I’ll have to make myself stop. I grew up with them though and they have always been wonderful
Given this a few listens at this point and it is fantastic. I've never listened to the Chicks before, always thought they were a much older act/before my time and just didn't think about it. This is rad and I'll be checking out their discog at some point!
Crappy title track and the first half of "March March" aside, this is absolutely outstanding. Really stunned how awesome this is. As soon as they stop singing on "March March", it becomes one of the best songs of the year, hands down.
Y'know he takes shit for having some calling cards, but in large part, it's because pop artists are coming to him FOR that sound. He can be really versatile. If Lover didn't prove that, I don't know what the fuck would. "Texas Man" is a fucking masterful production.
I really don't like it. It's very forced and corny to me. The minute it ends, the album just hits the stratosphere.
But the thing is, he was taking shit 5 years ago for being a "one-trick-pony" with the huge sounding 80's-style pop production, and now he's out here making some of the most dynamic, raw, often minimalistic live-sounding records in the pop world. His sound has evolved a ton, but the reason he has recognizable things is because literally nobody is doing what he's doing in the pop realm. It's actually so sick. He really has built a signature sound while simultaneously never sounding like he's just pulling up a template. Every song is different
I think that will be the only time I will ever see anyone call the title track bad lol Whole album is super great, very very happy.
Speaking of: Cam Previews New Album 'The Otherside' with Effervescent Track 'Classic' I mostly wasn't sure how far "pop" they'd go working with him, but I think they kept a nice amount of their twang and roots intact.
I almost ordered the chicks new album when it first came out--Will definitely have to order, "Gas Lighter" in the near future..I have always been a die hard Chicks fan..
Second time in a couple weeks that you’ve remarked on how surprised you are that people enjoy music by successful, accomplished female country artists. It’s not a great look, not going to lie.
I am surprised by it is all. I wouldn't have guessed that most fans on a board such as this would be into that music. It was just an observation.
But like, why are you surprised? There’s been plenty of demonstration over the years that people on this site come from all sorts of different musical backgrounds and like a lot of different types of music. Why is it that the two artists that you are surprised people on this site love are Taylor Swift and The Chicks?
Because most people I know who like those types of country artists loathe the bread and butter artists/music styles of this site so I assumed the vice versa would hold true as well.
Yeah they way they incorporate the fiddle and the banjo even on some of the more produced tracks is so original and sounds so awesome. It really keeps everything grounded even when they make slightly more pop moves. Like the amazing outro of “March March” is probably objectively the least country thing here, but that fiddle solo is incredible and the banjo is the centerpiece of the whole thing.
I guess I just object to putting people/music tastes in boxes like that. Like, realizing that people can like emo/pop-punk, and hip-hop, and country, and a ton of other stuff should not have been an epiphany for me growing up, but it totally was. One of the positive things about the streaming era is that I feel like people are generally more open to giving just about anything a chance. Also, Taylor Swift is very obviously influenced by artists like Dashboard Confessional. I think she's less far from the AbsolutePunk wheelhouse than you think. Even the least country songs on the record are still tied to the genre in really nice, sometimes subtle ways. And then there are straight country songs on here too, like the closing trio. I think it's a nice mix of where they've been and where they're going. It seems like Jack knew when to be more involved and when to just get out of the way.
Worth noting he knew not to get fancy on their appearance on Lover, too. Just let a gifted writer and some great harmony singers do their thing without any extra decoration.
If you frequent this board even semi-often, I think you’d see the incredibly wide variety people enjoy here.
I peruse the Board for the artists I like but I wouldn't say i keep tabs on all the threads or read every article on the site. The first page of the Board this morning just happened to be the Chicks new album thread with a lot of comments.