Rascal Flatts – “Take Me There”

I am sorry that you did not like the single “Take Me There”, but since it just came out dont you think giving it some time would have been fair ?

i THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. i DON’T CARE WHAT THAT GUY THINKS.

I have heard the song, and its easily one of the best songs released, maybe not number one yet! Butone listen and you just get hooked!

THEY’RE NOT A BOY BAND!! people better stop saying that. cause they’re not. in Gary’s own words “People have been calling us a boy band, but thats not true… we play instruments!” GET IT RIGHT PEOPLE! well, in regards to the song… I liked it! LOVED it! Its a great song! And they’re not entirely country, and if you’ve heard anything from them, you’d know that. but this is awesome, and if they ever read this, they better not change. I agree with brianna.

Matt–becasue, as pop-infused as most of their past singles have been, there’s always been an element of country in some aspect of what they do–that little glint of melody or lyric that I’d hear and be able to make a logical jump from point A to point B. On a song like Mayberry, or even “These Days” — hell, even “My Wish,” — I think we can, whether we “like” what they’re doig or not, see how it ties back to something at least rooted in country, at least in a fundamental sense of the word.

I guess my feeling is that you can push the limits of a genre pretty far, and that’s ok, but if you push far enough you’re going to hit something else.

And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, becasue this has been an ongoing evolution.

hey i loved it its a great song u guys also need to kno it is called new country so shut it

Michelle, how would correctly identifying this song as pop be second guessing Kenny Chesney’s ability to write songs? Also, since when has Kenny Chesney been known for his song writing ability?

It is not pop! The Rascal Flatts arent a boy band either. They play instruments, they talk about religious things etc.. Also they are CONTEMPORARY Country.

Yeah their songs dont talk about “wahh my dog ran away, and Wahh my wife left me for my brother” No they dont sing about those kind of things.

Take Me There isnt a pop song either!! If I ever heard words of true love, mama, ain’t, or even the word God used relgiously in a pop song I would scream. I absolutely love this song. I give props to Kenny for writing it.

Yeah the Rascal Flatts arent FULL on Country but they are CONTEMPORARY Country.

I also agree with you Matt C.

I loved it!

As usual, Rascal Flatts always touching our hearts with these deep warm songs that they sing. Talks about getting to know someone in and out somewhere no one else can touch but that special someone.

I refuse to even acknoweledge this crap with more than a few sentences. Thank God that I just comment here, and don’t have to be bound by fairness or journalistic responsibility. So I can just vent. Go get a copy of Dale Watson’s “Country My Ass”. Listen to it over and over. Let it sink in! Then toss this cd into the pile with N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys. Yes, they go together. Put those little boys in some torn up jeans and they could have been just as country and the Flatts fellas.

Now, to paraphrase D. W., I know I’m about to get bashed as a Rascal Hater. I know that, and I accept it. But let me say this. If all we’re left with to represent the Heart of Country Music ends up being Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, and the popish acts that dominate country radio today, we are in really bad shape. Hank, Johnny, and Waylon all did their own thing. No doubts about that. They were the pioneers, the true fathers of country music. And they would roll over in their graves to hear this being called country. “Don’t get me wrong, to each his own, I believe.” Like it or hate it, it is what it is; but it ain’t country. And to say it is would be to blasphemy all that we are, and all that we were. It’s hard to grow if you rip your roots out of the ground, and with the Flatts, I have to ask, was it ever their intention to root themselves in country? Or do the aspire to be nothing more than a boy band in torn up jeans?

At least he’s not asking to check her for ticks!

Matt C, its to bad that you aren’t talented enough to sing or right an album that appeals to people as much as Rascal Flatt’s album does. I always get a kick out of people who critique something that they themselves can’t do. Rascal Flatts is an excellent group, always have been, always will be…and until you are capable of selling out stadiums and arenas how about you keep the negativity to yourself. I don’t see thousands of people paying to see you or listen to you, let alone hundreds of people who even care what you think.

all of you who don’t like Rascal Flatts… wat the heck is wrong w/ you? They are they greatest band ever. They’re not a boy band. They’re guys. They’re men, THEY ARE TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY AWESOME!!!! They sing country music. all of you saying their music sucks, they sing better than you and play instruments better than you and they have MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of fans… more than you do. They don’t care wat you think, all their fans don’t care wat you think and i certainly don’t care wat you think. By the way, Kenny can write songs. “Take Me There” was sang, played and performed by RF which right there istantly makes it one of the best songs in history (like all their other songs). They are talented. As far as their singing voices. I have have 2 words for you.. GOD GIVEN .. every one of their songs has a good meaning to it, if you can’t grasp it, apparently you are too stupid to listen to their music. maybe you should try rap. RF and Kenny Chesney are the BEST music producers we have so let it go. I am right there with Ashley Blaze, I WILL BE A RASCAL FLATTS FAN UNTIL THEY DAY THAT I DIE. And your dinky little worthless opinions won’t change my mind a bit, b/c guess wat, RF are the best baby and always will be!!! all of their songs are addictive. I like the song STAND a lot too by the way. if you have a problem w/ rascal flatts then the millions upon millions of fans…..
have big problems w/ you. I

This song “Take Me There” is going to be the biggest hit yet for this band, if you ask me.

yo, baron lane, its RF, not RS, and big macs are disgusting… unlike RASCAL FLATTS *note the R and the F* , who are yummy! I agree with Cris, he sounds great, it doesnt matter what he sings. Oh yeah, have fun at your glue sniffing party.

uhh, Baron, why are you spending time here if you didnt like Rascal Flatts..yeah, its RF, not RS.

youre a scumbag.. learn to appreciate some real music, while your at it, get a real job.. asshole

Oh, and once and for all, sales is not necessarily an indication of quality. If record sales equalled great music, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys would be musical geniuses.

Okay like I said up there, the Rascal Flatts are country. i looked up the Comtemporary part, and I dont get it. To me they’re country. They’re lyrics are good country lyrics good sound etc..

Brittney I definately agree with you. exactly Southern pop, Contemporary Country, full on Country WHATEVER?! It’s still country. And to all of you guys that are bashing them, look at your pitiful lives. Keep the negativity to yourselves because NO ONE wants to hear it.

Thats Sad. Your Bashing one of the most successful groups in history. Also. What ever happened to music just be music. Something to entertain. Something to listen to while you work? When did it switch to all this buisiness SH*T? I think its a great song. Sorry that veiw opposes mine

okay im “sorry”. People have different opinions, but if you dont like them you dont like them, but dont say that they’re something that they’re not. Like for example POP. I really dont understand where people are getting the pop thing.

They are country, they’re signed to a country label, they go to the CMA’s etc. They are on CMT and GACTV all the time. They are on the country radio, they have country lyrics, country instruments. I dont understand what else they have to do to be country. I mean they havent gotten picked on THIS much since they were first starting out.

Oh yeah please care to explain why YOU think they are pop. and to the others that listen to Rascal Flatts and are fans, tell me why you think they ARE country. I think I named almost everything specific.

dudes and dudettes… RASCAL FLATTS ARE FRICKIN AWESOME!i dont care about all this crap you’re saying or why the heck I just spent ten minutes reading it all, but rascal flatts are my favorite band and will remain that way for a long time.

Wow – you guys definitely brought out the RF termites out of the woodwork! It is good that you are passionate about the band, but you need to realize that not everyone likes to listen to them. Personally I don’t like to hear them sing or hear their tunes, but that is my honest opinion. My style of music is geared towards more “traditional” artists. RF steers away from that traditional element in my opinion.

Someone asked why do we think they are not a country band, but rather a pop band…here are a few reasons. They are marketed towards the younger audience thanks to their Publicity and Marketing teams – younger audience spends more money on music downloads, cds, etc than other generations. If you have something that appeals to them, it works.

They redid a few of their songs in order to be played on “pop” radio (Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood have done this as well). They are marketed directly towards the pop audience and even performed towards the heavily popular show, American Idol.

Their singing voices are indeed different than others – and they (well not all of them) play guitars, fiddles, occasional mandolin. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played banjo and mandolin, but they divided the line on what is bluegrass music. Alison Krauss plays bluegrass music, or does she? Is it country, is it bluegrass, is it folk? With Rascal Flatts, their voices sound more pop than country to most ears. Some squirm at the existance of electrified instruments, especially mandolin or banjo, or the use of a drum machine to make some cool drum beat.

Yes, they have sold tons of records and concerts sell well (then again they would with the HIGH ticket price they are bringing), but that still doesn’t make them any more country than the next guy. Have you ever seen a Brooks and Dunn video, or Alabama video where a guy flashes his tush in order to stir a little controversy for a song?

I always have to crack up when I hear a song from the “pop” country stars – reminds me of the video for “Young Country” by Hank Jr. and the old men on the couch saying “Well that ain’t country!”

I must say though that all genres are always stretching the boundaries. Country, jazz, and other forms helped establish rock music. Look at Elvis or Ray Charles – they had country in their roots of their musical influences. There is such a blend of music and it works for some, but not all.

It is great that the RF fans have come out and show their support – just remember that not everyone loves them as much as you guys. There may be someone that we like that you don’t. Always remember to respect others and their opinions. :-)

Everyone is going to have their own opinions on Rascal Flatts and whether or not they consider them country, but honestly if you have gone to their concerts, listened to all of their songs (not just the ones that hit #1 on the charts) then you would know that they are more country than pop, but apparently some people are too ignorant to do more than just listen to their top charted songs. If you listen to all their albums then you would know how amazing these men are and what an inspiration they are to many of the country artists out there. Ask any legendary country artist Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, and I bet every single one of them will tell you that these men are awesome and that they are definetly country. Im also pretty sure that most of you who are saying they are not country or that their songs and albums are no good don’t really appreciate good country music when or if you ever even hear it. And also incase you have not already realized these men are winning awards for their country music, and guess who is applauding them?…all the other great country musicians, so I’m pretty sure these guys are country! Keep up the great albums Rascal Flatts!

Gotta say, I’m always less interested in the “country vs. pop” debate than the “crap vs. not” debate. Genre definitions tend to be so subjective that arguing about them is pointless.

My review made no distinction between pop and country songs. Anyone who reviews contemporary country music has to be open to pop-country material, and I’ve said before that I’m not particularly concerned with genre boundaries when the material is of high quality. However, Brady made an excellent comment earlier in the thread on a topic that I wish I had discussed more in the review. This song does not “tell a story” and it is not written for a mature audience. It is founded on a juvenille misperception and attempts to communicate that misperception as some kind of romantic and universal truth. Regardless of how the song was arranged or whether it was sung with “twang,” it is poorly written and Rascal Flatts has never been able to sing a song at the level it was written, let alone elevate a song above its lyric. Give these guys boring or misconstructed material and you end up with a real stinker.

Did someone say irrational teenage sentiment up there somehwere?

Chris N: I’ve thought this was a sarcastic comment by you since it was posted and thought it was hilarious. I just figured out that it wasn’t you and I sadly don’t know what to think anymore.

Also, do you care to go on the record and let us know what you think? Crap or Not?

Matt C: Very good points. And good job on expanding what I tried to express but didn’t articulate very well in my comment.

RF is not country. They are pop. I am in no hurry either to hear this song.

THIS NEW SONG WAS WHAT I WAITED FOR I WAS BETROTHED
IN SAME TYPE OF SETTING THE 3 BOYS WERE.
THIS IS A # 1 SONG OF ALL TIMES.
THANK YOU GUYS MAY GOD POOR OUT HIS BLESSINGS ON
THE 3 OF YOU.

no no scratch that, I LOVE the Rascal Flatts. they’re my favorite band EVER

“Let’s get serious people, Gary Levox’s voice alone is country no matter the song.”

Let’s get serious, Josh, how are you going to back up that statement?

I wouldn’t say that the product isn’t a “quality” product. A Hershey bar is a quality candy bar, but it’s never going to be as good for you as eating a carrot, and until you teach yourself to like carrots…well, you know where I’m going.

“Who was the last country artist to get in the top 10 of the pop charts?”

Uh??? Carrie Underwood?
Who, I might add, released what I would consider a decidedly contemporary-country record.

Should I continue with the list?

By the way, CHRIS N. makes an excellent point.

One more time: popularity does not equal quality. Rascal Flatts get so much radio play because their music is inoffensive to most radio listeners, who will therefore not change the station before the next commercial. They sell a lot of records because they get a lot of radio play. At no point in the process is quality a factor.

Inoffensive, buddy, is a quality. Id rather listen to good stuff than offensive crap. They have the ability to put out whatever music they want to, and people have the choice to buy whatever music they want. You cant tell me that the only reason they have sold so many albums is because they get alot of radio time. People dont have to buy it just because they hear the song tons of time. They might as well just listen to the radio. People buy thier CDs because there is quality.
Why do they sell out all their shows? Quality.

I want to back Josh Lewis comment. True country is Haggard, Jones, Paycheck, Waylon, Twitty, Faron Young, ect. I am not saying RF is a horrible group, I just dont consider them true country. They are a country boy band. Of course, this is only my opinion, but I would think a lot of people would agree.

Thats fine. We all have our own opinions, and I respect that. Im not saying you have to be huge fans of theirs, just a little nicer. And maybe, we could let up a bit?

RS, RF….whatever.. their music is pure BS.

I agree. I love Rascal Flatts, but fighting about it isnt going to change anyones opinion. We all have our opinions and thats fine. I respect others choices in music. Either you like this song, or you dont. I do.

Richard, I couldnt agree with you more. I think thats awesome that they make you wanna be a good person! =]

When a friend of my told me that they had a new song out I listened to the radio for three days before I herd it,When I did finaly heard it,it brought tears to my eyes. There is a story behind it which i will not get into.I think they are great

this song sounds alot like kenny chesney wrote it.i love it and can’t wait for the cd to come out so i can listen to kenny chesney and rascal flatts at the same time!!!!lol

John – I love Texas Country/Red Dirt music as much as the next guy, but you shouldn’t be so quick to discredit Nashville. Guys who paved the way for many of the artists you mention reside in Nashville, guys like Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell. Besides, it’s a little ironic to quote a guy who eventually took the Nashville route and currently opens for Kenny Chesney. Also, the Eli Young Band and Mike McClure band may be Texas artists, but they’re hardly country.

While we’re talking Texas, mix some of your artists with Dale Watson, Lucas Hudgins, Walt Wilkins, Bruce Robison, Johnny Bush, Drew Kennedy, Josh Grider, Rodney Hayden, Adam Hood, James Hand, The McKay Brothers, 1100 Springs, and The Derailers–then you got yourself a list to be proud of.

I CAN’T BELIEVE PEOPLE FEEL THIS WAY! RASCAL FLATTS ARE AMAZING!! HAVE YOU ALL EVER SEEN THEM IN CONCERT? THEY ARE UNBELIEVABLE. BY FAR THE BEST GROUP UT THERE!! THIS SONG IS GREAT

Baron, your comment has been screenshotted and archived.

It really doesnt matter what category you put Rascal Flatts in; whether it be pop, um boy band if you will, country or what ever; they are most definitely in my group of favorite guys to listen to.. I love to hear them sing no matter what they sing. Life is a highway, I melt, or any of their other hits I could listen to all day. They most certainly make me melt, and they can “Take Me There” any time they want….

Just thought I would pop in…for the record…because amazingly, I think my opinion counts above all else…hahaha (gotta lighten the mood a little)
For those of you who don’t like the song, the group, the lyrics, the voices, you are entitled to your opinion and I think it is great that some people are not swayed by the public demand for everyone to like the same thing.
For those of you who do like all of the afore mentioned items, YAY for you…we all need to be able to identify with something and you have identified with this band and what it produces.
Matt C, can you please tell me what exactly constitutes ‘country’ lyrics because I personally thought country music was about the guitars, fiddles, twang, etc. LMAO
Before anyone goes off on a tangeant…no one has to agree with Matt C, nor does Matt C have to agree with anyone. That is the great thing about being individuals, we are all entitled to our opinions. And we live in this great country that allows us to voice our opinions whether anyone likes, dislikes, or even wants to hear/read them.
I personally went to the Rascal Flatts concert in Nashville last night. I had fun. It was not the BEST concert ever, but I did have fun and a couple of those boys are hot (just thought I would throw that in for good measure).

Guess what? Kenny and his co-writers came across my song somewhere, somehow…I wrote it…they took the idea :( http://www.myspace.com/rebeccasampson7 . I always hear that this is what they do and now feel the sting. It’s a great idea but, my song is better..I know why he said it was boring…it’s not as deep as it should have been.

Who cares about Rascal Flatts, their music or the song the song … the girl in the “Take me There” video is smokin’ hot! Who is she?

No offense meant, bu it’s such a generic theme, who would know? Also, a theme is not copyrightable.

I dunno how well you’re paying attention, John, but Ragweed is pretty much rock, Randy Rogers has a lot of pop/rock influence, and Pat Green now fits squarely within mainstream country and isn’t much different than “Hootie Rucker.”

Haven’t you guys seceded yet?

Amen Kelly,
Both Dale Watson and Wayne the Train have new cds out today! and my downloads don’t refresh for 3 days at emusic :D