Album Review: Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song

My birthday is September 15th, and this CD is the only thing I asked for! I can’t wait to hear it!

The first single stopped at 34, while the follow up stopped at 52.

The Current one is at 46 and still climbing

havent been able to stop playing this album. i couldnt agree more with the fact that he is “so damn good.”…

…five stars is quite a “house number” as we say over here. so let’s wait and hear.

then again, “that lonesome song” was a great album from a – z, why shouldn’t this one follow in its footsteps? i’m really curious, now.

That is just way too much music for a new album release from any artist! How many times will the average person commit to listening through an hour and 45 minutes of music off the same album from the same artist? I don’t care how good it is, I’d never do it. My “jukebox” brain is now programmed for listening to successive singles from different artists and even listening through a 10 or 11 song CD by a single artist tests my resolve. I’d rather buy a Six Pack EP with six good songs than a sonic monstrosity like this even if its full of top notch material! Crikey!

My “jukebox” brain is now programmed for listening to successive singles from different artists and even listening through a 10 or 11 song CD by a single artist tests my resolve.

Sounds like a personal problem. Some of us could sit and soak it all in quite easily. And I cannot wait to see how such makes us “brainwashed Obamanoids” or some such rot.

I think Rick was joking… I hope?

I myself actually have become much more song-oriented than album-oriented, so this is the first CD I’ve been really excited about in a while. I haven’t bought an actual physical CD in years, but this feels like something worth knowing cover to cover. Can’t wait.

If you want to go back to that Johnson quote Kyle likes, you’ll need a different link, as in:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575453673864373554.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5

…i’m totally with you rick, god bless the ep.

lol…Jon, I guess that would seem funny! :o) But, hey…good news!! Jamey’s album also comes in LPs!!

I sense a personal urgency on his part to get so many songs out right now. It may be a while until we hear again from this talented, dare I say self-destructive artist. I am so rooting for him.

There are artists out there who are just THAT prolific. Its why Ryan Adams releases new cds every couple of months and why Stevie Nicks embarked on a solo career.

His music is just not that popular and perhaps that is shy some on here adore him ….His songs just aren;t interesting enough especially with a voice that is lacking to get played on country radio

Since when do we equate quality with chart success or with what gets played on country radio?

Yup, Trish, the critics secretly think Johnson’s music sucks, but we praise it because it’s the cool thing to do. You caught us.

Well, I’ll say this: anyone who thinks that the concept of, say, “too good for country radio” has no currency around here just hasn’t been reading very much.

Ditto to Barry.

Trish must be of the Taylor Swift ilk.

Stormy is right as he said Jamey Johnson outsells SOME of todays popular artists. His last released album has sold 650,000 copies.

Jamey certainly doesn’t have sales with the biggest names like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Lady A, or Zac Brown Band, and Jason Aldean BUT he is right up there with most other popular artists. There are only about five to six acts such as the ones listed above that sell a ridiculous amount of albums.

As a comparison Jamie’s sales are pretty similar to Miranda Lambert and he has much higher sales than Martina McBrides last album.

Stormy,

I always thought you were a lady. Post a pic to prove it to us all!

@Michael Miranda album is past 830k so I wouldn’t say that they are that close in sales. And martina hasn’t exactly been that popular either. I don’t think her new album has gotten a top ten single yet.

I think Jamie appeal isn’t that his song are that great it’s just thats he is the opposite in style of what most of top 40 is. He’s the anti country-pop taylor swift/carrie underwood therefore people that are anti country-pop it’s easier to look past his flaws. and thats how he has been able to achieve okay album sales

And for music critics its always easier to give the anti-mainstream singer better reviews over mainstream singer.

“Craig Morgan, David Nail, Gary Allan, Luke Bryan, James Otto, Randy Houser, etc. Basically every male on country radio that isn’t considered a major star is outsold by Jamey Johnson.”

So hes been able to outsell third/second tier country singers. I think people are forgetting that his 650k album did have a hit single. Like most of the names you just said they also only had one hit on country radio as well Randy Houser, Craig Morgan, David Nail, Gary Allen (hasn’t really even had one, James Otto. The only one you named with more success is Luke Bryan and I think his singles now have started a good foundation to sell more on his next album.

@Jamey Supporter Okay well I don’t think his voice is anything special and not really distinct. I find his song lyrics to not be really any interesting and the production to be flat. Its not that I hate him but if I were to give a ranking for things like vocals, songwriter, ect from a scale of 1 to 5 it would be like 2.5 for everything. He is okay but nothing about him makes me goes Wow.

Troy,
Do you not know Gary Allan’s career? He’s definitely had more than one radio hit. So has Craig Morgan.

@Leann I was talking about his latest album. Hits from the past are going to sell any current album are they? Look at Bionic doing so poorly even though she has had hits from before.

btw I own two Gary Allan cds but lately for me he hasn’t been to good.

“I actually think it’s more of an unconscious thing where indie artist/critical darling are given better review. If your reviewing a indie artist its a lot easier to give it better critical acclaim. For the first reason being only people intrested in that type of music are going to read the review and if the song fails commercial people say oh it was too good to be played on mainstream radio. “

This brings us back to the point that Barry made earlier: an indie artist that is viewed favorably is more likely to get his/her work reviewed. The ones who aren’t considered to be as worthwhile will languish in obscurity and the masses will never hear about them.

Jamey Johnson isn’t indie–he’s signed to Mercury. Not promoted is not the same as indie.

To be fair, Jamey Johnson is promoted pretty well these days.

@Leann Still I was talking about them now being second tier in terms on radio success right now. And currently he hasn’t had any radio hits off his last album. When he was a top tier country singer he was outselling Jamey and was getting platnium cds. Having hits before doesn’t make the person stay in the top tier people fall in and out of it when talking about success.

Troy,

Both Gary Allan and Craig Morgan have secured Gold albums in the past and To be fair to Gary he’s sold around 200,000 copies of his latest album without a huge hit. Still, Jamey’s outsold them AND Blake Shelton with his last 3 records and most certainly will sell at least 200,000 copies of this ‘double’ album with or with out a hit.

Surely this is the first time in history that someone has brought up Girls Aloud while discussing Jamey Johnson.

Any number of major, and even Hall of Fame-inducted country songwriters see another major one in Jamey Johnson. I can get very specific about what he’s good at–and have, in print, so enough of me. But repeating “not a very good songwriter” over and over tells the rest of us nothing about what you could possibly mean by that..

Troy,

200,000 IS a good number. People have been trained to think that Gold/Platinum is the only barometer for an album’s success. Also, single sales have to be added into the ‘kitty’ these days as well.

As for Jamey not ‘being a very good songwriter,’ you surely could tell us What country singers are ‘good songwriters’ in your mind. The industry – from artists to critics – feel that Jamey’s one of the top-drawer songwriters out there right now. Something his Two songwriter CMA award wins would attest to.

I remember reading somewhere that 250,000 album sales is roughly around the point where a record label starts to profit off these Nashville artists. Of course there are several variables that affect this number (advertising, production costs, etc), but this is ballpark. If an artist doesn’t hit this number by their second release, they’ll most likely be dropped. They’re actually lucky to stick around after one disappointing album with the new artist turnover rate these days.

I’m not even going to bother with some of the negative opinions on Jamey. You don’t have to like his voice or his style, but to argue that he’s not an undeniable talent and this album isn’t a modern day masterpiece is just absurd.

@Chris N its a good example of singer/group who actually does something different or unique compared to a singer is overated because they are the anti-industry. When he makes a song that doesn’t follow aaba form, verse-chorus, has three different melodies in a song, doesn’t have the first chorus until 2 mins and still makes the song work. Thats something thats unique has Jamey done something unique like that in one song no.

@Matt Bjorke “Something his Two songwriter CMA award wins would attest to.”

When did people on this site put anything into awards? Anytime award are mentioned for other artist its oh they not really know what their talking about but when Jamey wins the award it counts. Try an says Taylor Swift is a good vocalist i mean she won CMA for female vocalist or that fearless is great album she won the biggest award out there the Grammy for album of the year and see how many people will attack and say they don’t count.

“Well, he makes music that doesn’t sound like a bad Mellencamp demo. Also, he is so country he doesn’t have to write a song to tell us how country he is.”

Exactly he doesn’t do anything except try to be anti-mainstream so then all the anti-mainstream of country like Stormy eat it up. When people say what they like about him its not something he is doing it something he isn’t doing. He doesn’t make song that tell us how country he is. Thats a snarky comment towards artist like Jason Aldean. I want something that makes me go this guy is great because … not he great because he not like this artist.

@Barry Mazor “Any number of major, and even Hall of Fame-inducted country songwriters see another major one in Jamey Johnson”

you can go through quite a bit of song writers that say the same thing about Taylor Swift writing but you will still see people taking shots at her on here. Same thing for Carrie Underwood but vocally and yet you will still get the snarky comments. And for the not good songwriter when I listen to his words I don’t really feel any emotion to words that he’s saying. So why does other people in country music see him as great work for Jamey and not other singers like Carrie or Taylor.

@Noeller “I would currently rank him as the best Vocalist and Songwriter in Nashville”

best vocalist seriously? his vocal are nothing but average. You serious think he is best singer vocally in country music right now? He can sing in tune but theres nothing speacial in his voice it doesn’t have a large range or a unique tone.

Hugh rant done but I wanted to answer everyones comments that people directed to me.

Miranda Lambert for a while was praised as this title of being anti-mainstream there actually an article on 9513 that i think thats points this out a little http://www.the9513.com/the-malec-minute-why-miranda-lambert-is-overrated/

I actually was going to say miranda lambert is kind of like this in a way. Hears the quotes that I think work really well except take out Lambert name and replace it with Johnson.

So they build Lambert up, and they try their hardest to convince their readership that she’s the second coming.

“I do, however, have a problem with the undue amount of praise awarded to Lambert, and, specifically, to her songwriting. I have a problem with it because I think those who praise her so profusely, especially my fellow critics, are looking for reasons to love her.”

Not saying that this is Jim malec feels about Johnson but this is how i feel about him.

I think Jim was wrong then and I think you’re wrong now. But different strokes, I guess.

@Leann I wasn’t saying that Jason Aldean is great song writer I actually think he’s quite bad. I was uses Stormy point of why he is good Stormy point was he doesn’t make songs about how country he is. She isn’t praising Jamey as a song writer but is belittling the songwriter of another artist in this case Jason Aldean that do make songs about how country they are. However I will agree with you that Jamey is a better song writer than Jason

As i said before I want Jamey Johnson is great because… not that Jamey Johnson is great because he’s not like this singer.

@Razor X my defintion of anti-mainstream is someone who is trying to be different just by image, type of style of genre someone just trying to be the polar opposite of what top 40 is right now. That’s how Jamey is being promoted as the opposite of Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Kieth Urban, Jason Aldean Lady A.

@Leann not exactly im not saying as fan anyone does that. As a fan good is relative people will say Jamey Johnson is good just like people will say Jessica Simpson is good ,I mean some people bought her country cd,.I’m saying that can be the case for critics its easier to give Jamey 5 stars than other mainstream artist and gives them as critic more credablitly. Just like award shows give an award to Taylor or Carrie people will say these shows mean nothing its lost its credablilty give and award to Jamey who I believe is trying to be the opposite of top 40 its its artsy and gains credablitly.

Also, that for people that like country music but hate country singers like Swift, Underwood, Lady A, Aldean, Urban its easy to have them just think oh he’s great just because he not like these artist when really he is just average but the hate for country-pop singers makes people periceve him as great.

Troy, how is an artist signed to a major label, that is being promoted to mainstream country radio and who has written hits for very mainstream artists like George Strait and Trace Adkins, anti-mainstream? He’s not being promoted as the opposite of Taylor Swift or any other artist. I’m not sure that it’s actually possible to market an artist as the opposite of somebody else.

Have you even listened to his new album?

@Razor X simple thats how they are being marketed as the anti-establishment against top 40. If wasn’t being promoted as that then how was one of Storym comments he not like singers who sing about how country they are. It been ingrain that Jamey isn’t your normal top 40 artist. Ellie Goulding who’s is considered an indie-pop genre though she does have major record deal has recieve has written hits for mainstream artist herself and has had a succesful album but she isn’t mainstream.

I haven’t listen to full album but I have to most of it tracks 1-7 and 9. From them though i can get enough impression of what the album like even if the rest of his songs were signficantly better it still wouldn’t get a 5 star from me

“Critics are fans too. They just happen to take opportunities to detail their opinions.”

and here when it gets tricky because just like critics are fans they also not like certain artist and are more likely to give that artist a negative review. If critic starts giving reviews based on who their fans of it loses their crediabilty because then it’s not a review its a who does this person like. Like if a was reviewer here and gave the Guitar song 3 stars and gave fearless 5 stars imagine how that would go. people would go crazy on here and say how I have no credablitly as critic. Remember fearless did win the grammy for Album of the year which is the biggest award a singer can get but people will still say it doesn’t matter that it has nothing to do with real quality even though Grammy are selected my well qualified people

” …simple thats how they are being marketed as the anti-establishment against top 40.”

How can he be marketed as “anti-establishment against top 40″ when his label is actively trying to get his records played on mainstream country radio?

” …I haven’t listen to full album but I have to most of it tracks 1-7 and 9. ”

Listening to 8 tracks of a 25-track album is hardly listening to most of it. More like a third by my calculation.

Troy: What that article was saying was hat Miranda had not lived up to the reputation she had at the time. Saying that someone is overrated is not the same things as saying they are bad.

I understand that history is filled with country artists crossing over, but in those days the line between pop and country was very distinct. These days the line is blurred almost beyond recognition. Hillbilly bone is a rap song, straight up. If you take the steel out of all about tonight, im not sure you can really call that a country song anymore. And if you think Shania Twain is even a little bit country then theres no point in me even trying convince you of anything here. Shania Twain makes Blake shelton look like Hank Williams.

I dont think I ever said he was bad I thought I was saying he was overated. I see how some people could like him. I’m not a hugh fan. I don’t think he is a great singer or a great songwriter. I think he is okay or above average and in previous post I said id give the album 3 stars. I’m not saying that Jamey is horriable im saying that he hasn’t lived up to his hype. I come here see this 5 star reviewing thinking this album was going to be a masterpiece and it’s not. Its not a bad album but no where near a 5 star review for me. I never said he wasn’t taltented. I would say he’s an average singer and good songwriter but not the best vocalist or the best songwriter in country music right now as others have claimed. What I’ve been saying is he hasn’t wowed me yet and for someone getting such great critical acclaim shouldn’t he have? He hasn’t had that song that made be go woah thats why he’s getting such great reviews the way other singers have for me.

@Ryan the line was blurred then to see Olvia newton john country award winning song let me be there won female vocalist of the year award at grammy. I thought you were just saying blake shelton was straight up pop but now he does rap too. This to much to keep up with. first your saying blake is labeled as country singer, but is pop but also makes rap songs? Unless you think rap is part of pop which it isn’t.

Some rap is part of pop.

“@Razor X every comment that you made on an artist did you listen to the full album of it.

No. But the difference is when I asked, I’ll admit that I haven’t listened to a full album, whereas you claimed to have listened to “most” of an album when you had not.

“By the time I got done the eight tracks I got my idea of the album. Are those 8 tracks signifcantly worst than the rest of the album if they are I’ll listen to some more of his songs but after reading reviews i didn’t read first 7 tracks and track 9 are bad and the rest are good. So it leads me to believe that the quality of the rest song are at least near those 8. “

Track 1 was co-written by Keith Whitley. Track 2 was co-written by Bobby Bare. Track 4 is a cover of a Vern Gosdin classic, written by Gosdin along with Hank Cochran, Dean Dillon, and Buddy Cannon. According to you all of those are bad songs. All I can say is I’ve haven’t run across too many country fans who will diss any one of those people, don’t mind all of them, as you have.

Roger said it best. If you like Country you will like this record, If you like pop you will not. And yeah, Olivia Newton John isn’t country, good job troy.

By the way, these days most Rap/Hip Hop is a division of pop music, infact it makes up the lionshare of it. But go ahead and nitpick if you must. Blake was just an example. Taylor Swift, Carrie underwood, Rascal Flatts, Tim Mcgraw, Lady A, blah blah blah, most of your top 40 artists are essentially more pop than they are country. Thats my point. And i have no problem with any of these artists, i just have a problem with you people ripping on JJ because he doesnt sound like them, or sell as many records as them. If you dont like this album, you are not a country music fan, straight up

There are plenty of true country fans who do not enjoy Jamey Johnson. To make such a blanket statement is ridiculous.

Okay, I found the comment that you’re referring to and I’ll agree with you that those awards don’t prove that Johnson is a good songwriter. What explains why people think he’s a good songwriter is the positive reviews of his songs. Then again, some people, even critics, aren’t so impressed by him.

Stormy is a different bird.:)

Ryan: I’m not a fan of this album, and I am a country music fan – a contemporary country music fan. There is more than one form of country, you know?

I do give props to this Jamey Johnson thread, posts are getting into the high numbers. Troy on Jamey Johnson is like the Stormy on Carrie Underwood!

“Troy on Jamey Johnson is like the Stormy on Carrie Underwood!”

really? I’ve admitted i see why people like him and see his appeal that and that he was a good songwriter though i don’t believe he that great of vocalist just average. I never said he was horriable or sucks. Hes just not my style and I think that he is overrated its not like im saying I would give this album one star I said I would give it 3 if I were reviewing it.

I hope you wouldn’t review it without listening to it all the way through more than once though.:)

It’s easy to miss a line in a sea of comments.

Well, how about you then? Do you think the awards matter for Swift and Underwood, but not Johnson?

If I remember correctly, those who said the awards didn’t mean anything meant that the awards had lost their meaning when Swift swept the show. Now, those people are pleased to see some “reformation.”

and by lost their meaning they to me meant the people voting don’t know what their talking about but when their artist wins the voters do know what their talking about. your right its not hypocritcal to be pleased or displeased with the result but I fine that it is hypocritical if you attack a person for using a defense like this artist won awards then saying awards don’t matter than when it’s an artist they do like say nothing an act like it is a good reason to prove that that artist has talent.

and yes I would listen to full album a few times before giving my critical review. but for a personal review of how Id put it comapred to other albums I would say its a 3 star album

Again, I can’t speak for other people. But you and I are only talking in circles at this point.

In all reality, it comes down to a matter of perspective. I like to debate as much as the next person, but there’s a point when it’s time to give it up. I won’t convince you that Johnson is an above average artist and you won’t convince me that Swift is a good vocalist (though I think she’s an above average songwriter and human being).

As the author of this review, I’d just like to note that I’m a very big fan of Taylor Swift and I like Carrie Underwood.

What has she written that demonstrates she is a good songwriter?

“While Swift lyrics to me are great”

Troy’s own words. Basically he’s saying he’s a fan of dumbed down lyrics because he doesn’t want to have to think.

How odd that Jon can call people “dumb-*ss fans” and it not get deleted, but I can congratulate Miranda Lambert on her 9 noms and say, don’t let the cry babies rain on your parade. I also said, btw congrats to all the nominees and BOTH were deleted! Should I have said, don’t let the dumb-*sses rain on your parade? Makes no sense!

Yes, that’s the one’s, but they had been deleted at one point, because I looked. I’ve never used a different name. Thanks’s for clearing that up though.

I agree with Michelle. Well one comment that got deleted was by Jim Malec and he called Jon an “asshole.” I saw that comment about a month ago and it got deleted within an hour. I didn’t understand that because Jon frequently berates people and because the word “ass” doesn’t seem to be banned. I thought the comment was good and considering how obnoxious Jon is to postes here I thought the comment was fair play. Oh well.

When you called him obnoxious, did you mean that in a good way as well?

Yes, Razor X. Because a lot of times the people deserve to be treated obnoxiously. So, yes, I meant it as a good thing.

Besides, the best posts here are the ones where people get in disputes of some kind. They tend to be the most entertaining to read and often the disputes lead to good insights.

Sometimes being obnoxious is good. Socrates was obnoxious. Very obnoxious. Basically, he was an arse at times. But I admire Socrates greatly, and not in spite of his obnoxiousness but in part because of it.

LeeAnn, I’d applaud you for having called that one if it hadn’t been such a no-brainer ;-).

Interesting comments from folks. We all have our own opinion about Country Music. Here is mine: Jamey Johnson has released a fantastic album. Everything about him goes against the grain and is original. Jamey isn’t a star, he is a Country Music artist. He makes music his way. Either you like it or you don’t, me personally, I love it. Jamey Johnson is real. Jamey Johnson equals Country Music! Thanks to Jamey for keeping the music I love alive.

I just cant get excited about Jamey’s voice. Something about it just grates on my ears. However, I do like quite a lot of his songwriting, and I do appreciate and respect his choice to do it “his way”.

If I had to pick I’d also go with the “Black” album.

Of course, that^ is true after only a couple listens to both albums.

I don’t even listen to country music on the radio anymore. They don’t play real country music and they don’t play enough Jamey Johnson either. The only country I listen to are the cd’s I buy like Jamey Johnson, Zac Brown Band and Eric Church.

I also will go ahead and review Kenny Chesneys upcoming cd for you all, zero, just like all of his other albums in the 2000′s.

I keep going back on forth on just how good I think this album is. Ultimately, there’s no denying it’s a pretty epic achievement of country songwriting.

I do get tired of seeing the legions of “THIS IS REAL COUNTRY AND EVERYONE ELSE SUCKS!!!” comments on iTunes, youtube, blogs, and anywhere else his name shows up. It seems like all of that has gone to Johnson’s head a little bit – he comes off as arrogant to me these days.

Part of it’s what I’ve heard from those on his tour, part of it’s the appearance, part of it’s the excessively raw and unfinished production on certain songs, part it’s the way he yells his lyrics at times without any regard for subtlety or context… I’m sure I’ll get flamed for saying this, but he just doesn’t come off as very likeable to me right now. I get the impression that he thinks he’s so brilliant that he doesn’t even really have to make an effort to sound pleasing, and **** us if we don’t want to buy whatever he puts out.

All that said, there’s no denying he IS a brilliant country songwriter and I’ve had about half of this CD on repeat ever since it came out. He really reminds me of a modern day Kristofferson, minus the looks – the voice is a dead ringer at times (plus a little twang), especially the spoken-word stuff, and he really has a similar style of writing. I just wish he’d back off the devil-may-care stuff at times.

IMO, if he’d released the following 12-track CD, it would have been hands down the greatest country album in a long, long time.

1. Lonely At The Top
2. Can’t Cash My Checks
3. Playing The Part
4. For The Good Times
5. Even The Skies Are Blue
6. Good Morning Sunrise
7. That’s How I Don’t Love You
8. Cover Your Eyes
9. Front Porch Swing Afternoon
10. Thankful For The Rain
11. I Remember You
12. My Way To You
Bonus: That’s Why I Write Songs

There are some really, really killer songs there – songs that I think we’ll be hearing for a long time – but they can kind of get lost in the shuffle the way it’s packaged. There are a few songs that don’t really have much business being on the same album as the above tracks.

Agree with Paul.

Jason Aldean’s latest material far superior to Jamey Johnson.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

Wait, she’s not joking? *Facepalm*

Just to be clear, Trish. Are you referring to Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood as the “traditional” country?

@Stormy It really depends what Miranda song your talking about because some of her stuff I think is Country-rock, Southern Rock over just Country/real country (as you say). But rock influcence genreally get overlooked or deemed more credible than pop influcence.

Country pop IS a form of real country, too, done well by artists ranging from the Pee Wee King to Eddy Arnold to Patsy Cline to Lynn Anderson to Ray Price to Dolly Parton to Carrie Underwood. See Barry Mazor’s excellent column from this morning for more on the subject of country music’s historic breadth.

This is the same, exactly, as asking “How is Eddy Arnold country pop?” When Perry Como did it, it was just plain pop.” Or.. “How is Patsy Cline country pop? When Kay Starr did it, it was just pop.” Or, hey, “Why is Jimmie Rodgers country pop? When Bing Crosby or Gene Austin did it, it was just plain pop.”

There’s a difference in lyric focus, over time, if not in every instance, in where they take the music, in its sometime closeness to the more obviously rootsy country, and in who-um it’s slated for. None of those are arguments for or against what Rodgers, Arnold, Cline or Underwood do–just a description of WHAT they do.

You should look, maybe, at the reasons a Carrie Underwood is asked to join the (always varied) Opry cast–and says yes.

So Stormy, what else is new?

Makes me – well, makes Stormy wonder why the Opry didn’t just invite Celine Dion.

Troy: Leona Lewis is not Celine Dion inspired–that’s why she was called the new Mirah Carey when she came out.

There is nothing of Dion’s music in Lewis.’ And Avatar is not listed on John Altman’s credits.

Cameron is notoriousfor picking the singer who is most popular at the moment.

Fine I was wrong about Hmer. Now willyou admit that you were wrong about Leona Lewis being influenced by Celine Dion?

Bleeding Loe went to #1 in the US.

And I have a actually given multipable examples of Lewis being Dion inspired while youve yet to back up any claim that Lewis isn’t Celine Dion inspired besides giving false facts.

Also, youve made no support for where Underwood is inspired by Celine Dion which is where the main point of agruement comes from.

We do seem to have wandered off the point.

As a bit of an authority on Leona thought I’d settle the arguments.

i) she’s said herself that she is inspired by Dion. She one her first competition as a 13 year old singing the Titantic theme. But then she’s also clearly inspired by the likes of Whitney, Mariah, Minnie Ripperton, Eva Cassidy etc as any of her performances winning X Factor showed. You are allowed a range of influences. She also includes the likes of Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, the opera singer Leontyne Price etc

ii) her first album Spirit was a collection of RnB mid-tempos with the odd ballad thrown in. Her second album shied away from RnB and has more of a pop-rock feel apart from two tracks Naked and Love Letter which could easily have been sung by Taylor Swift in that pop-country style.

iii) Cameron was involved in Leona singing on Avatar – Horner wanted her to sing it, and Cameron gave her an early screening of the film while in edit to persuade her.

Stormy, you are definitely one jealous woman. Every chance you get you take to rip Carrie Underwood, only the premiere female vocalist in country music.
I think the lady might be a little jealous of Carrie’s looks – ouch, catfight!

Droning power ballads – are you kidding me? Her power ballads are crystal clear and pure power. I would suggest you listen to Carrie’s live versions of “I Know You Won’t” at the Grand Old Opry (You Tube). It was quite possibly the finest vocal performance ever by a country female!

Barry,

If you go by your words you could never call anyone the greatest singer?

I’ll try to sum it up better for your understanding. Carrie Underwood has one of the greatest vocals ranges, which has been documented, of any female country performer. As a matter of fact her range is very similar to your top female opera singers. I’ll gladly provide the article which was written by one of the top music critics in this country.

Regardless, I should have said in my opinion since you weren’t so clear. There are not too many country females today that can sing with such raw power but also have the range to consistently belt out falsettos.

I simply recommended everyone go to you tube and watch Carrie’s performance of “I Know You Won’t” at the grand Old Opry. I will put that performance against any female in country music. Also, the reason Carrie is so respected as a singer is her incredible live singing voice. Anyone can sound good in the studio with the help of auto tune. Carrie actually sounds better live. She was actually only one of two or three performers in the history of the Super Bowl to perform live and not pre taped. That is pretty impressive considering an audience of tens of millions of people.

Mazor: “And how do you compare, say, the finest performance ever given, if we knew which of the thousands that would be, of a Patsy Cline or Tammy Wynette or Rose Maddox or Connie Smith or Anita Carter or Dolly Parton or Texas Ruby or Loretta Lynn or Bonnie Owens or Dotty West, or Jean Shepherd, and so on right up to last week?”

Me: Simple. You just watch Martina McBride singing “Whatever You Say” at the ACM Awards in 1999-ish. And you don’t need to watch anything else. In my opinion, of course.

I hear you, Trish. But “ever” does not mean, “among those around at the moment!”

@Dwight didn’t the first part of your paragraph say that people have different taste and that everyone has their own opinon but then say “but PLEASE do NOT try to tell me they are a better artist.” Where you are basically telling people that Johnson is better. Why is it okay for you do say that Johnson is better but not okay for other people to say this artist is better than Johnson?

Though I would agree with you that Johnson is better than Jason Aldean, Darious Ruckers, Lee Brice or John Thompson. I would say however that personaly I think Keith Urban has done better material, and that Brad Paisley at his best was better.

“I guess 62,893 “music critics” bought Jamey’s new cd this week–enough to debut it at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts.”

If that is directioned to me i never said only critics would like him, I was basically said he was overrated.

Though it should be interesting to see what his sales figures are for next few weeks if it will maintain sales or if they will quickly drop.

I guess 62,893 “music critics” bought Jamey’s new cd this week–enough to debut it at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts.

If you want to be technical, yes, yes they did because after all people who buy the albums are the ultimate ‘music critics’ because all of the love from a set of critics won’t amount to a hill of beans if the public doesn’t buy it.

Um, I believe that measuring singers’ ranges might be called “science,” but equating that to “technical” ability can’t. Furthermore, I would love to know what Christian means by “tested” – did he actually get Ms. McBride and Ms. Underwood into his lab? I’m guessing that the answer to that is a big nope. So this “science” amounts to nothing more than finding the lowest and highest notes that various singers have hit on the recordings Christian happens to have gotten hold of. Which – sorry – ain’t much.

Now, if you like your singers to have a big range, then I reckon Carrie Underwood might be a good candidate for your favorite, but that’s about all that can be said about that.

Trish: You are the one who said I was jealous of her looks. Pretty much anyone can achieve her look with a little Peroxide and makeup. Heck, according to Playboy Neko Case is the sexiest woman in indie music and Terri Clark is the sexiest woman in country music, and I like both of them. If I were going to hate female singers because I was jealous of their looks, wouldn’t I start with Allison Moorer, Tift Merritt and, the one female singer I would actually look like if I could, Chan Marshall (Cat Power)?
Isn’t it a bit insulting to assume that anytime a woman doesn’t like another woman professionally its a “cat fight?”

@ brody

…as if discussing underwood matters in a jamey johnson thread wasn’t confusing enough.

Jamey had the #1 ranked album for the ’00s on this website and I think that we may have the #1 album for the ’10s with this project. Absolutely stunning work, no heavy strings or synthesizer, lots of steel guitar, wonderful production.

My favorite song is “Thats Why I Write Songs.” Analog, stripped down recording, recorded at the Ryman.

Gotta say I’m with you on “Thats Why I Write Songs.” Definitely a highlight on the album.

I still enjoy listening to songs from Jamey’s first album. “Back to Caroline”, “My Saving Grace”, etc. Bunch of good songs.

bottem line lady a, carrie underwood taylor, tim, kenny all may be talented but there not country they corporate prostatutes for what some 26 year old consultant thinks you sheep want to here mass marketed over analized crap-ola!!! jamey music is true basic roots and reality country like waylon, bocephus oh bocephus means hank williams jr for you sheep who didnt know, george jones, keith whitley travis tritt and sosres and scores of real country singers, by the way patty loveless or gretchen wilson could eat carrie underwood for breakfast vocaly

I wanted to have a chance to listen to The Guitar Song several times before posting a comment. In my opinion, the black album is the better of the two. There are definitely some “throw-away” tracks, but overall for as many songs as are on the album, it is great! I do think it would have been much stronger to release the best songs as a single CD. I think I would have gone with the following 12 songs:

Lonely At The Top
Cover Your Eyes
Playing The Part
Set Em’ Up Joe
Can’t Cash My Checks
Heartache
The Guitar Song
Macon
Thankful For The Rain
Good Times Ain’t What They Used To Be
My Way To You
That’s Why I Write The Songs

I don’t believe The Guitar Song is as good as That Lonesome Song, which is just amazing. Lyrically, I find That Lonesome Song exceeds The Guitar Song. I would still rate The Guitar Song a solid 4 1/2 stars.

IDLEWILD: Can we make a rule that if you you don’t even make an attempt at proper grammar and punctuation, you don’t get to post?

Unfortunately if we we tried that it would pretty much eliminate the opinions of everyone under the age of 20. :)

Jamey is the hope for traditional country music.
He has been trying hard since early 2001.

Well deserved, and he gives credit to the other writers too!

Hopefully he will be able to record in his own way as long as the head of MERCURY is his biggest fan!