Album Review – David Nail’s “Fighter”
It takes more than a few really good songs to make a great album. David Nail’s Fighter has some really good songs. I’d even be willing to go on the record saying it’s got some really great songs. But it also has some of the usual suspects of mainstream songwriting tropes that you have to sift through to get to those great songs, while the entirety of the project sounds like it was scrubbed of most anything resembling country, making it a mixed bag at best, despite a few songwriting efforts that could be considered some of the best that the mainstream has to offer.
After being caught up in MCA Nashville’s dubious album release backlog for what seemed like an eternity for fans, David Nail finally released his anticipated fourth album in July, with many fans praising the effort as one of the best this year. Yet like many mainstream albums, Fighter feels very much like a tale of two albums. It happens to be that those two tales are a lot more equal than the usual one or two decent to good songs some mainstream performers put on their albums just to point to and say, “See, I have deep songs too,” with no plans or willingness to release them as singles, or any true heft behind a positive direction.
David Nail’s Fighter starts off with three pretty terrible efforts from a songwriting perspective. Granted, after giving this record ample spins before coming to any solid conclusions, these songs are catchy, and dare I say well crafted from a compositional standpoint, yet remain very derivative in the lyricism. “Good At Tonight” with Brothers Osborne is a prime example of Metro-Bro and could have been believably cut by Sam Hunt if he saw fit. “Night’s On Fire” is not much better, sitting down in that early 20’s club-hopping space that so much of today’s country music panders to, despite Nail being a 37-year-old married father. And “Ease Your Pain,” despite the presence of Chris Stapleton in the songwriter circle, simply relies too much on this “love as a drug” cliche that’s all the rave in mainstream country.
Yet from there Fighter takes a decidedly left turn, and it’s probably not a coincidence that seven of those remaining eight tracks were either written or co-written by David Nail himself. But before we go too far slathering on the praise for these remaining tracks, you have too appreciate when listening to an album, if the three worst songs are the ones that start off a record it’s going to cast a shadow on the entire project.
Yes, most listeners don’t even pay attention to albums these days; they focus more on the singles. But many of the listeners who still do appreciate albums are going to find themselves estranged from David Nail and Fighter almost immediately and may not even make it to the better material. You can punch out of one, maybe two songs and keep listening. But three strikes to start off an album, and you’re more than likely out.
And that’s a shame, because starting with Track 4, Fighter is an entirely different ballgame. “Home” featuring Lori McKenna both as duet partner and co-songwriter is an incredibly choreographed song and performance. The songwriting itself is good, not great, but the way they slowed the song down, and strung it out really made the narrative come alive, resulting in a timeless track.
The other notable duet on Fighter is with Vince Gill on “I Won’t Let You Go”—solo written by Nail. Once again, slowing everything down, isolating the vocals with minimal instrumental accompaniment, and in this case, a tasteful horn section deftly blended in results in studio brilliance. Hats off to Frank Liddell, known mostly for working with Miranda Lambert, as well as Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf, for making memorable tracks on Fighter, even out of the material that was less than worthy in the songwriting department.
One of the eternal maxims of songwriting is to always write what you know about and what is personal to you. That allows the emotion to shine through what is otherwise just words on paper. And on the songs “Fighter,” and “Babies” about Nail and his wife’s fertility issues, that’s exactly what he does. “Old Man’s Symphony”—another solo write by Nail—also accomplishes this personal touch that takes what otherwise would be an average song from someone else, and makes it a good one from Nail.
But it’s not all rosy in Act II of Fighter. “Got Me Gone” and “Champagne Promise” jilt you out of your run of deep, meaningful songs to remind you this is still very much a mainstream record that must acquiesce to certain constituencies. And “Lie With Me,” which is actually a great premise for a song, would have been so much better with even just a little bit of steel guitar and fiddle to remind you it’s supposed to be a country song, from a country artist, on a country album.
And that, along with those first three songs, is the failing of Fighter. There is nothing wrong with other genres or styles of music. But if I’m sold David Nail as a country musician and then listen to Fighter, I’m crying foul. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some excellent songs here, but as a country fan, it’s frustrating to realize that just a few tweaks in the studio personnel could have resulted in something so much better when painted in country-themed hues. Many of these songs are country, but styled as adult contemporary, or Metro-Bro lite.
David Nail does adult contemporary well because unlike the country rappers who try to transition into the medium, David has been doing this for much of his career. But you just wish he would have put out a little more effort to keep some country roots alive in this work, and that ultimately is what results in mixed emotions from true country listeners.
Nonetheless, after much consternation, the conclusion has been reached that the great song effort on this record just slightly outweighs the downside. It would be great to hear David Nail someday without the bad songs and adult contemporary baggage.
Brandon F
September 8, 2016 @ 8:21 am
I actually really enjoyed “Good at Tonight”, but I’ve also been a big fan of Brothers Osborne since I saw them open for Nail. I completely agree that the best songs on the album are the songs with Nail in the credits. “Home”, “I Won’t Let You Go”, “Fighter”, and “Babies” are all stand out songs on this album. “Ease Your Pain” is another example that just because it has Chris Stapleton’s name attached to it doesn’t mean it’s going to be great. I think Nail (or maybe another artist) touched on that. Is the song actually great or does the demo sound great because Stapleton is singing it? I wish he would have let Lady A have the only cut of “Lie With Me”. Other than “Leaving Nashville” (on Charles Kelley’s album), I’m not sure I’ve heard an Abe Stoklasa song that I’ve really liked.
Trigger
September 8, 2016 @ 9:00 am
Good point on a Chris Stapleton demo.
Dave
September 11, 2016 @ 10:17 pm
look at “whiskey and you” or so many of stapletons other tunes, done by other artists tend to be mediocre, especially when in compare to the man doing his own songs and blowing away the artists that released them.
Smokey J
September 8, 2016 @ 8:22 am
I’ve been a fan of David Nail for awhile. He does cut some great songs. “Sound of a Million Dreams” and “Missouri” are a couple of my favorites, but I even think “Turning Home” is an example of how to do a high school nostalgia song with some actual depth. Can’t believe Kenny Chesney cowrote that.
I feared the worst for this album, given MCA’s direction and the fact that I hated “Nights on Fire”, so my expectations were exceeded.
I quit listening to the radio completely about a year ago, so I have no idea if he’s getting play. It doesn’t appear the album is selling too well. In a selfish way, part of me hopes he ends up going indie so we can hear more of the good stuff because I think he’s talented. Many people are going to disagree with me furiously on that, I know.
Trigger
September 8, 2016 @ 8:25 am
The album is selling pretty terrible at the moment. I think 19,000 total sales since July. But what exactly is MCA Nashville doing to promote it? Drake White has had twice the sales in 1/4 of the time. Do more people know about Drake White than David Nail?
Brandon F
September 8, 2016 @ 8:50 am
Drake White definitely seems to have more of a grass roots following. He’s also been on the road with Zac Brown for a while now which is exposing him to large crowds. Oddly enough, I saw Drake White open for David Nail several years ago in Cincinnati and have been following his career ever since.
As far as radio support goes, it seems like “Nights on Fire” and “Livin’ The Dream” are experiencing similar journeys. Both seemed to linger in the 30s or 40s for a long time on the charts and then get boosted by the album releasing. “Livin’ The Dream” finally broke into the top-20 after 35 weeks on the Mediabase chart and 39 weeks on the Billboard chart.
Brandon F
September 8, 2016 @ 8:51 am
Forgot to add into my last comment, but are you going to review Spark?
Trigger
September 8, 2016 @ 9:15 am
It’s on the list.
BwareDWare94
September 8, 2016 @ 9:23 pm
Spark is nothing special, but not terrible either, much like this album. I myself gave Fighter a more glowing review but I think I’m just partial to how important the title track is to me. I knew that if you reviewed this album your score would be around where you rated it, and 6/10 is more than fair.
At this point in David Nail’s career, I’m just glad Fighter was released in the first place.
Kevin Smith
September 8, 2016 @ 9:13 am
The best part of this review is Triggers amazing word construction ” metro bro lite ” I haven’t stopped laughing….hee…..heeee….love it ! Wow this could be a new sub genre in pseudo country!
Donny
September 8, 2016 @ 9:30 am
More music tailored for middle aged women. I can’t stand this guy. Doesn’t look country, doesn’t sound country. I’ll pass.
BwareDWare94
September 8, 2016 @ 11:25 am
“Fighter” is the song of the year for me, but I too was upset with the subpar material. I think “Got Me Gone” and “Champagne Promise” are better than you’ve stated, but personal preference is different for everybody. I will say kudos to Nail for having Logan Brill sing backing vocals on “Champagne Promise.” I hope that was an attempt to give her more exposure.
CraigR.
September 8, 2016 @ 11:27 am
Up until this album I only loved David Nail’s song ” The Sound of a Million Dreams” but nothing else. He sounded great but not country. I found his other songs forced and depressingly vague. I don’t consider this album country at all. But I did like ” Good at Tonight” because Nail’s voice is far more mature than say Sam Hunt or Thomas Rhett. That made the song a tad more tongue-in-cheek. And I also liked “Home” and ” I Won’t Let You Go”. David Nail is better stripped down, his voice doing all the gymnastics. But he not country. But he would never make it in pop music. So he is caught in that limbo. Pity. I love his voice.
Cowboyal
September 8, 2016 @ 12:00 pm
David Nail has the potential to be a really outstanding artist. There is some great material on his first three albums and judging by your review here (I have yet to listen to the album myself) it seems there is some great stuff on his latest release too.
He also has a great voice.
However, I never fully categorized him as country from the start – he is far closer to Bruce Springsteen than Randy Travis. Unfotunately with the death of mainstream rock, he has no where else to go apart from the country genre as things stand.
He is also firmly stranded in no man’s land inbetween artistic integrity and commercial appeal. This has got more pronounced with each passing album. Personnaly I think it is obvious which side of the spectrum he would rather be – the quality of the songs when left to his own devices speak for themselves.
I wish they would just let him be and follow his own path. It’s not like the mass appeal approach has worked and he’s selling a bucket load of CDs and packing out stadiums! Given the slowly changing currents of current country music, he might even find more success if he followed his genuine musical road.
I just hope he comes to this realization sooner rather than later.
albert
September 8, 2016 @ 4:30 pm
Dead on, Cowboyal . I think you’ve ” nailed ” it !
Angelo Rinaldi
September 8, 2016 @ 3:39 pm
I kinda love “Good At Tonight” though, it’s very catchy and has a country sound. Its lyrics are average, but overall I enjoy it, I hope it’ll be a radio hit.
This one and that Billy Currington’s song which is climbing up the charts (“It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To”) are my guilty pleasures. Not great songs for sure, but they have that something.
Robert S
September 8, 2016 @ 5:45 pm
I interrupted listening to Pat Reedy’s Highway Bound to give Mr. Nail a listen. Not my kind of country music. Now back to listening to some real good country music……Pat Reedy.
TheCheapSeats
September 8, 2016 @ 6:45 pm
Pretty spot on review. I had no preconceived notions when I initially listened to this. It’s a big pile of “meh” in my opinion. Some decent stuff, some crap. Nothing to see here, move on.
Caveat, I judge albums as a whole, not songs.
Frank the Tank
September 10, 2016 @ 1:32 pm
My thoughts exactly. Nothing really stood out for me here (either good or bad). I also found it hard to get through as every song had almost the exact same pace (slow). Now, there’s nothing wrong with a slow song; in fact, some of my favourite songs of all time are slow songs, but it would nice to have a bit of variety within the album.
Nadia Lockheart
September 9, 2016 @ 3:25 am
I also have to dissent on “Good At Tonight”. I appreciated the infectious energy driving it that makes for better carpe diem anthems, and the accordion also gave the song a nice touch along with the Brothers Osbourne’s vocals.
I also liked “Champagne Promise”. It isn’t country in all honesty, but as an Adult Top 40-leaning song I like how it opens gently and keeps building itself up.
Otherwise, I mostly agree with your review. I accept that David Nail’s lane has long been more of a Adult Alternative/Adult Top 40 brand of pop-rock reminiscent of the Gin Blossoms than anything decidedly country musically (his debut album was named after a Train song, mind you), and I like that Nail upped his game by making himself more vulnerable instead of settling on a full “lovemaking record” as he was originally going for. But I concede it would have turned out even more compelling if driven by well-timed pedal steel and dobro aside from the occasional appearance.
You’re also right that there are needless moments of filler that bulge out that result in an album that’s solid but short of greatness. None of them are bad songs in my view, but they do disrupt the overall arc of the album and just seem like label intervention. Particularly “Night’s On Fire” (a blatant attempt to Xerox the “Whatever She’s Got” formula for success) and “Got Me Gone” (an obligatory sex song with electronic elements).
*
Still, I highly enjoyed this album because it’s been a rarity as of late to get even one gut-puncher from a mainstream country/”country” release and, lo and behold, we get four to varying degrees of memorable quality here: with the excellent “Home” and “Old Man’s Symphony” the very best but the title track and “Babies” not far off. And “I Won’t Let You Go” is beguiling for its production and intimacy.
It is for that reason why, while it admittedly may blatantly appear I’m grading on a curve, I’m inclined to give this a Strong 7 out of 10 when it comes to mainstream efforts.
justin casey
September 12, 2016 @ 8:02 pm
i can’t remember where it was but a few weeks ago i replied to a comment saying that got me gone would be the second single this has since been changed as multiple sites are now advertising good at tonight as the second single and that it was released to radio today
Summer Jam
September 12, 2016 @ 9:23 pm
I’m the one who wrote that Got Me Gone was the next single on Wikipedia, as a wild guess. It’s funny, because Rolling Stone as well as some other site saw that on wikipedia and put it in articles that Got Me Gone was the next single lol. I promptly changed it to Good At Tonight when it was officially announced as the next single.