Album Review – Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing At A Time”
Love him, hate him, find yourself among the population of the very few who feel indifferent about him, Morgan Wallen is the biggest thing in mainstream country, and at this point, by such multiples of scale, it truly is difficult to comprehend. We’re talking Garth-level, generational, genre-defying, era-defining popularity that has put him at the very top of all popular music.
No mater what anyone may think about this new album, it will be the #1 record in country music for the next two years. And the only thing that will dethrone it is another Morgan Wallen album. It is likely to be the biggest release in country music in the last 25 years. It very well may ultimately be the biggest album released in country music ever. Morgan Wallen is mainstream country music in 2023, and his new 36-song album One Thing At A Time in many ways reflects that. Whereas other artists find their niche in country and serve that audience, Morgan Wallen looks to be all things to all people.
Right now the hottest thing in mainstream country music is actual country music. Maybe you’ve pigeon-holed Morgan Wallen and believe his popularity refutes that. But you would be incorrect. One Thing At A Time has just as much, if not more traditional country on it than some of the latest albums from artists who specialize in being neotraditional revivalists.
Of course on the radio, neotraditional country still struggles for attention with the more hip-hop inspired Bro-Country sounds of 808 machine beats and rapped lyrics. One Thing At A Time has a whole selection of those songs too. Yet since the mainstream is slowly moving away from that sound and has opened an avenue for more country-sounding and sensible tracks indicative of artists such as Luke Combs and Parker McCollum, Morgan Wallen and One Thing At A Time have plenty of those songs too.
The album even has one or two of those superbly-written songs that sometimes steer independent and Americana fans into the mainstream space. Morgan Wallen and One Thing At A Time are like their own genre, and it’s starkly evident of all the styles that congeal to create the mainstream country format. It’s just that one artist is fulfilling them all, finding a space on a myriad of playlists, and appeal with a wide population of listeners. Whatever type of contemporary country they appreciate, Morgan Wallen has them covered.
Morgan Wallen isn’t just dominating mainstream country, he’s monopolizing it. As we sit here, Morgan Wallen not only has the top two albums in the genre with the next closest competition (Zach Bryan) being so far behind he could sell 3x more and still lose, Morgan Wallen owns the first 16 slots on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and 36 of the top 42. It’s Morgan Wallen’s world in mainstream country, and everyone else is just living in it.
None of this is a commentary on quality of the music itself of course. It’s also not a commentary on Morgan Wallen’s character, which is where commentary on Morgan Wallen’s music regularly turns. But since this project is so mountainous, let’s stick to the music, be objective and judicious, evaluate the music irrespective of opinions upon misdeeds or desires to see the mainstream of country be depreciated by traditional and independent fans. Because in truth, the album give us enough deleterious moments to criticize.
Since there are so many tracks here and compartmentalizing it all in your brain at once is next to impossible, One Thing At A Time was broken down by song, with the overall score being averaged out among the individual tracks. Morgan Wallen made this decision easy because this album really doesn’t have any theme or arc, so it’s not a scenario where the pieces equal something greater than the sum of their parts. If anything, the album might deserve to have some points shaved off for being so directionless.
And ultimately, this is the problem when considering One Thing At A Time and Morgan Wallen as a whole. When you’re trying to be all things to all people like Wallen and producer Joey Moi did here, you fail to master any one theme or sound. The album has a surprising amount of steel guitar on it. It also has enough electronic drum beats to scare most steel guitar lovers away. In moments Morgan Wallen seems to show a level of contriteness and self-introspection, but then he barrels you over with self-aggrandizing Bro-Country bluster. He’s not really a singer as much as a mumbler. But emotionless mumbling is kind of the thing modern listeners want.
One Thing At A Time really isn’t an an album. It’s a wide collection of songs to seed streaming markets with enough Morgan Wallen material to tide over listeners for the next two years. And though it has its positive merits and moments, it ultimately speaks to why Morgan Wallen may have all the popularity, but when it comes to quality, he’s middle of the pack.
OVERALL SCORE: 4.875 out of 10
(album score averaged from song scores below)
1. Born with a Beer in My Hand – 8.5 – Great start off to the record. Undeniably a country song with a great theme and story that’s very personal to Morgan Wallen, and speaks about how behavioral patterns are often generational, and a lot harder to break than some want to make them out to be. This is Wallen at his best.
2. Last Night – 3 – Monotone, metrosexual take on “country” with cliche lyrics and little life to it. Great as a radio single in a bad way, but with no other use.
3. Everything I Love – 7 – Super twangy song that proves you can’t pigeon hole Morgan simply as a 2nd generation Bro-Country singer. The issue with the song is the writing that is littered with radio buzzwords and doesn’t really go anywhere important other than down a dirt road in a truck.
4. Man Made A Bar (with Eric Church) – 7 – This song really typifies the “sometimes good, never great, often bad” nature of Morgan Wallen. The idea for the song is decent. The steel guitar helps sell it. But still, with a bit more time in the oven, it could have been so much better than the “okay” results. The Autotune is especially pronounced on this track, and it holds back the otherwise decent effort.
5. Devil Don’t Know – 8.5 – Excellent song written by Ben Stennis, Jared Mullins, and Travis Denning. Great execution with solid steel guitar on an undeniably country track. Morgan Wallen at his absolute best. Only thing holding in back from a 10 is the same thing holding so many of these tracks back: an unimaginative, lazy, and distracting electronic drum track underpinning important parts of the song.
6. One Thing At A Time – 3 – Terrible yacht rock production and guitar tone doesn’t compliment one of the way too many bar/club relationship/breakup songs that could have been culled from this album.
7. ’98 Braves – 8 – Another undeniably country song with prominent steel guitar, and the premise of this song is a good one. Wallen’s tendency to sing too many words in too short of a frame often suffocates otherwise quality writing. Solid album cut that writers John Byron, Josh Miller, Travis Wood should be proud of.
8. Ain’t That Some – 2 – Straight up hick-hop track that ironically employs actual drums instead of 808 beats. Horrifically cliche lyrics, with Wallen singing at one point, “I know it’s cliche to sing Chevrolets, cold beers, and Fridays.” But calling out the cliche doesn’t make it not cliche. It took four people to write this garbage, but the right audience will find it fun.
9. I Wrote The Book – 2 – Possibly the greatest example on the album of how really derivative electronic drum beats tank what might have been a decent song if it was rendered with more country production. You can tell without looking this was co-written by Hardy in the way it tries to be clever, but it’s only really clever for pop country.
10. Tennessee Numbers – 5 – Very mid all the way around, in arrangement, music, and writing. One of the songs that makes you question why we needed 36 tracks when this doesn’t really accomplish anything for either the country fans, or the contemporary tractor rap fans.
11. Hope That’s True – 4.5 – Another forgettable song in a run of them on the track list that tries to bring a little bit of island-sounding production to mediocre writing with a hook that doesn’t sink.
12. Whiskey Friends – 4 – What a mess. Quintessential “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation where six songwriters hash out a directionless track that tries too hard and ultimately bogs down in buzzwords and a whiskey reference. The bar/breakup songs on this album are so prevalent, they create their own little cliche universe for each other.
13. Sunrise – 1.5 – Straight up hip-hop style pop song that has no business on an album from any self-respecting “country” artist. Sure, combining “you keep coming up” about a past lover with the sun cycle shows a little smarts. But this is no “Something in the Orange.”
14. Keith Whitley – 5.5 – One of the most prevalent songwriting tropes in all forms of country music at the moment is taking the titles from a country legend’s catalog and incorporating them into a new cut. Perhaps it was cool 20 years ago, but now listeners can see it coming from miles away. Among some true country fans, this track is one of the most controversial of the album. They’re incensed Morgan Wallen would name drop Keith Whitley. But it’s just another middle-of-the-pack offering from the album, even if it sounds pretty country, and like a surprising amount of songs from the album, features steel guitar.
15. In The Bible (feat. HARDY) – 3 – A bad and dated Bro-Country song that tries to be meaningful by mentioning The Bible, but can’t even rhyme the chorus. Saved from being a complete abomination by organic instrumentation.
16. You Proof – 2 – Possibly the best example of why some traditional country folks who came to the defense of Morgan Wallen and counted themselves in his fandom simply because he became persona non grata in the media after the N-word incident need to understand that this guy still should be considered problematic for some of the music he releases. This is the biggest radio single from this album so far, and it’s an abomination of snap and click tracks, and terrible hip-hop phrasing brought to bad writing. Just no.
17. Thought You Should Know – 7.5 – One of the better songs on the album, one of the more country songs on the album (it’s about mama), and a worthy and welcomed radio single. Co-written by Miranda Lambert. Only shade to throw has to do with how many words are fit into too small of a space, which is a recurring problem with this album. Wallen shouts out “Thought you should know, thought you should know, thought you should know” so rapidly, it bleeds the emotion out of the track instead of letting some space and time allow the emotion to flourish. This song either needed to be even slower, have some words culled out, or both to do it proper justice.
18. F150-50 – 2 – Don’t fall for this cliche truck song trying to pass itself off as clever. The writing on this one is downright embarrassing. Leave this weak shit for the Mitchell “Bitches” Tenpennys of the world.
19. Neon Star (Country Boy Lullaby) – 2.5 – Snap track nothingness that once again tries to weave a compelling story out of sitting in a bar with a broken heart. Yes, that’s an eternal country music theme, but one or two per album will suffice, and this song isn’t country.
20. I Deserve A Drink – 7.5 – Pretty good song, and one that can play off of Morgan Wallen’s personal narrative in a way that means more coming from him, which is something this album generally lacks. Not surprised to see Hillary Lindsey in the credits. The waltz beat shakes up the rhythm of this album, and the country sound is welcomed.
21. Wine Into Water – 4 – If you’re going to have 36 tracks on an album, you can’t have pedestrian tracks like this. At least some of the more polarizing country rap tracks will find an audience who appreciates them. The attempt to exploit religious dichotomies on this album generally fall flat, while the lyrical hook is just not landing. A better idea would have been turning wine into water through tears as opposed to trying to wrangle it into another colloquialism of “water under the bridge.” Another song that works really hard to say nothing.
22. Me + All Your Reasons – 5 – This song struggles to make its point, lyrically and sonically. It yearns to be one of the deeper tracks on the record, but like so many songs with 4+ songwriters, fails to feel personal, or in this case, coherent.
23. Tennessee Fan – 6 – Mildly entertaining pop country song that SEC fans will enjoy, even if they hate Tennessee. Not as clever as “’98 Braves,” but not entirely offensive.
24. Money On Me – 8 – A well-written song that marries Morgan Wallen’s real world struggles with music that’s country enough. If this album had been comprised of more songs like this, it would have felt so much more honest and personal.
25. Thinkin’ Bout Me – 1.5 – Ugh. Yet another drinking/breakup song, and this one comes with an especially immature perspective rooted in emotionally under-developed jealousy. The click track makes the song even worse. It’s not just the electronic rhythms on this album, it’s the lack of imagination brought to them.
26. Single Than She Was – 6 – This is not a good song, but it’s not as bad as it may seem on first listen. Sure, a song about trying to steal away someone’s girlfriend may boil the blood, but it’s also true to life. Plus the music is mostly inoffensive country pop that builds out from a steel guitar riff. Not terrible.
27. Days The End In Why – 5 – Yet another immediately forgettable song that tries to be clever, but doesn’t really land the hook like it thinks it does. If you’re going to release an album of 36 songs and rely on so many co-writers and contributors, why include fat that could be trimmed like this?
28. Last Drive Down Main – 6 – One of the few more rock-oriented tracks of the album, and one that evokes nostalgia, which unlike other themes, is not over-exploited by Morgan Wallen and this album. Not a country track, but a fun one that successfully calls to mind the emotions of a breakup.
29. Me To Me – 3.5 – Cocksure Bro-Country track with radio buzzy lyrics. There are worse songs on the album, but don’t take that to mean it’s good. The best part about this song is it’s only 2 minutes long, because that’s about all it can handle.
30. – Don’t Think Jesus – 8.5 – Perhaps the best song on the album, and co-written by Jessi Alexander. It once again taps into Morgan Wallen’s real-world struggles in a way that makes the song much more personal that the rest, even though he didn’t write it. But the big problem with the song is one of the big problems with Morgan Wallen: he’s just not a great singer. The monotone verses just make for a deflating listening experience, despite the quality writing and emotion-laden chorus.
31. – 180 (Lifestyle) – 0 – Far and away the worst song on the album, and perhaps the worst song of Morgan Wallen’s career. And no, not just because it’s the most hip-hop sounding, non-country track of the set. The premise is a bad take on Alan Jackon’s “Gone Country.” It’s songs like this that detractors can point to and render all of the good songs from Morgan Wallen inconsequential.
32. Had It – 5 – Another song that gets really close to hitting on something wise and resonant, but gets lost in the weeds of trying to express it. Though it wants to be reflective and honest from the perspective of letting a lover go when they know it’s the end and not wanting to waste any more time, the “had it” tag actually conveys give up as opposed to empathy, or even worse, a “been there, done that attitude” that is degrading.
33. Cowgirls (feat. ERNEST) – 0 – For many years at certain honky tonks, DJs and bartenders would turn on hip-hop music after the country band left the stage so that the girls in cutoffs and boots would get out on the dance floor and keep the guys ordering drinks. A song like “Cowgirls” fulfills that purpose, just from a supposed “country” artist. It may have a practical application. But as a “song” it’s pretty pathetic.
34. Good Girl Gone Missin’ – 7.5 – Once again, when Morgan Wallen finds a way to incorporate the “bad boy” persona that is at the heart of his appeal into songs that express vulnerability and reflection, this is when he connects with something deeper than his detractors and even some of his fans give him credit for. The adult contemporary production of this track holds it back a bit, but it’s not bad.
35. Outlook – 7.5 – Finishing strong with a Morgan Wallen co-write that shows some humility, and touches on a theme that many of the better songs on the album touch on: Moving on from past mistakes, and believing in something bigger than yourself. The rapid fire nature of the lyricism though keeps this song from being as intimate and emotional as it could be.
36. Dying Man – 8 – Rolling Stone said about this album that it’s “a lot of partying, but not much introspection.” A quick listen would conclude this. Digging deep into the material and listening through to the last three songs proves why this is untrue. And even when Morgan Wallen songs sound like a party, they’re usually about breakups, not partying.
“Dying Man” is not great. It’s saddled with the cliche buzzwords that burden many of Morgan Wallen’s songs. But that doesn’t mean it’s not introspective. Morgan Wallen is a simple man. And even if he struggles sometimes to truly get deep, that doesn’t mean he’s entirely shallow.
March 16, 2023 @ 8:51 am
Fair and, perhaps, generous.
March 17, 2023 @ 3:53 am
For how many average reviews this album is getting here, I’m very surprised about how popular the album is. I’m shocked that all 36 songs are somehow in the top 50 on Apple music based on these reviews. Maybe Google should recode what’s coming up on my feed cause this review came up right away when I searched the album. Do I understand that this review is based off someone who likes more “traditional” country music? Absolutely. But it sounds like yall just hate hip hop and anything other than songs about corn (lol) and guitars. How can I prove it? You rated the 2 most hip hop songs a “0” lmao. Sorry but the average person thinks of corn (lol) and beer when country music is mentioned but morgan wallen is broadcasting to a wider audience. But somehow his album is a 4.875/10 because you like a certain style of music and what you say is objective truth apparently even tho so many other people iove the album. Btw did you calculate that on a calculator and decide that 3 decimal places would give the most accurate review?. Just rate it a 5/10 jesus lol. Anyway maybe I’m in over my head coming onto this website and saying this. But guess what? No one cares, there’s way more people who like the album than not. And you know what that means? It means that your review is pointless because OBJECTIVELY most people disagree with the review. Again how can I prove it? Go look up the average rating of the album it sure ain’t a 4.875/10 (so many decimals). But hey god bless ya! I hope you enjoy shucking that corn and bailing that hay! Tell your cows I said hi!!
March 17, 2023 @ 7:49 am
He rated and reviewed it specifically as a country album. Doesn’t mean non-country fans won’t like it, or that fans of “bro country” and “hick hop” won’t like it. Words have meaning. “Country music” should mean a specific thing—just like, for example, “Italian restaurant” means a specific thing—even if mainstream country artists try to blur those lines in the name of making more money with crossover hits.
Personally, I like music from all decades and several genres, including 90s-00s hip-hop, but a hip-hop-infused song on a Morgan Wallen album is not a country song anymore than a burrito is Italian food just because it’s served in an Italian restaurant.
The standard for album reviews on this website is traditional country music. That doesn’t mean everything must sound like George Jones. There’s room for variation, but, clearly, hip-hop beats and hip-hop phrasing are not country music. Hence the poor ratings for several songs.
March 17, 2023 @ 10:41 am
I personally dislike hip hop (with the occassional exception). That’s correct. I think though that I hate the country/hip hop blend even worse. Trigger got one thing wrong though. You Proof is a 0. One of the worst country soungs released in 2022.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:05 am
Fairly generous review in my humble ass opinion. Kinda feels like we’re grading on a mainstream curve here. I have a hard time listening to even just the songs that scored a 7 or higher. I think Combs, Pardi, and others are still significantly better mainstream options for substantive country music. Also the production blows, but with Moi we knew that was gonna happen. 180 Lifestyle is the most hilariously bad song i’ve ever heard, it may be my favorite off the album for sheer comedy. 3.5/10 from me. P.S Love the song-by-song review though trig, wouldn’t mind if you did this even on other albums that have an actual theme.
This isn’t good. Jeremy Pinnell’s last album rips.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:17 am
It’s only fair to judge an album or artist among their peers, and when you have a top-tier mainstream artist like Morgan Wallen, he’s going to be judged compared to other top mainstream artists. And if you do so, according to the score I came up with aggregated from the individual songs, he comes in just below average in the mainstream in regards to quality and country-ness. When zooming out and considering all of the other big mainstream country artists, I think that’s pretty fair. There are definitely some well above him, and quite a few that are still below him.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:07 am
I wish we could get away from the Nashville cowrites that have like 6 people on them, it’s so painfully obvious a song was written that way when listening to it. Also can we move past this obsession with coming up with “clever” wordplays for the song titles, half the damn songs on this album follow that mold.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:27 am
Songwriting by committee, what could go right? As to the second point, “clever” wordplay has been used for a long time (pick me up on your way down etc) but I’m thinking these turds definitely couldn’t pull that off!
March 16, 2023 @ 11:06 am
I remember Toby Keith saying coming up with the title was always step one in writing a song. Doesn’t matter what the song is about he wasn’t even trying without first having a radio friendly title. I imagine that’s what this is too.
March 16, 2023 @ 5:31 pm
It’s not “step one” but writing down lists of titles can lead to a few good songs. I was happy to learn that John Fogerty would do that sometimes because I just randomly started doing it when I first got into songwriting. I prefer the “first two lines and a melody” method though.
March 16, 2023 @ 12:48 pm
While I think Morgan’s songs are very hit or miss, other then Chris Stapleton. I think one would be hard pressed to find a better Mainstream Male country vocalist then Morgan Wallen. While I’d rather listen to artists like Tyler Childers who’s an amazing vocalist and lyricist. If I’m going to listen to silly mainstream country songs, the artists at least should have a good voice. Have to give credit where its due, the guy can sing.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:48 am
Agreed. That forced “cleverness” is the lyrical equivalent of wearing a T-shirt bragging about one’s own sarcasm.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:08 am
I had herd of Morgan Wallen a few times but never bothered to listen to a song of his until a few days ago. And to be honest, very bland artist that just fits in with today’s stars that are much of the same.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:14 am
Trigger: I’m sorry you had to spend the time to review this dreck. You are certainly dedicated.
March 18, 2023 @ 11:27 am
Yes I agree with that comment. I have never listened to a Morgan Wallen song and probably never will. Bro country & hick hop got me to turn off mainstream country long ago. And living in Texas, we have a whole lot of other options!
March 16, 2023 @ 9:20 am
I aint listening to all that
i’m happy for you
or sorry that happened.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:30 am
I still haven’t heard a Morgan Wallen song. I am the winner in the comments today. Can’t be touched.
March 16, 2023 @ 9:33 am
That makes two of us! I sort of wear it as a badge of honor, no matter how many of my friends tell me I should listen to him.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:02 am
Yeah well some of us have gf’s that like him so not really a choice but when he’s being country i enjoy those songs
March 16, 2023 @ 10:16 am
The acoustic Flower Shops song he did with some other guy is pretty good. I’ve listened to that more than once, so that’s saying something. Other than that, I’ve only checked out snippets of his songs here and there. But I’d check out Flower Shops if you haven’t already.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:35 pm
Flower Shops is the only Wallen song that I actually like. He’s the definition of “mid” in my opinion. I’d take Pardi or Randall King any day over him.
March 16, 2023 @ 4:36 pm
If you liked Flower Shops, then I highly recommend that you check out the actual main artist on that song, ERNEST
His album, Flower Shops: Two Dozen Roses is awesome
March 16, 2023 @ 1:34 pm
You are missing out if you haven’t heard “Sand in my Boots.”
March 16, 2023 @ 9:43 am
Unbearable album.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:05 am
I guess I’m one of the few that are indifferent to this guy. I could care less what he does or puts out. But I’m always a glutton for punishment and love checking out bad songs. I went to YouTube to watch the first song rated 0 above (180 Lifestyle) and it’s obviously awful, but reading the comments will make you lose faith in humanity…if you haven’t already. There’s people saying how they listen to it repetitively and it’s one of their favorite songs ever.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:05 am
I liked more of this the more I listened to the tracks that I’d felt ambivalent about on first or second listen, but that still means only eight or nine (depending on my mood that day) out of 36 songs, which would be a passable batting average for a utility infielder, but not even close for a superstar.
My favorites pretty much match Trigger’s — Dying Man, Thought You Should Know and ’98 Braves (yeah, I’m a sucker for baseball metaphors) are my top three, Devil Don’t Know, Don’t Think Jesus and Good Girl Gone Missin’ in the second tier. I do like F150-50 and Had It a lot, for some reason, probably partially because I’m a lifelong mainstream guy just dipping his toes into the deeper waters of country, partially because I appreciate a tight, punchy pop song.
Definitely a fair review, Trigger, obviously too fair for the all-or-nothing crowd of commenters. I know there are people who will never listen to mainstream country and would rather albums like this not be mentioned at all, but Wallen is, if anything, an important figure in the fledgling quasi-renaissance of the post-bro era. Comparing him to Garth Brooks — who, like Morgan, was a limited vocalist and leaned heavily on co-writers — I think it’s an easier leap for mainstream listeners who like “Thought You Should Know” or even “Wonderin’ ‘Bout the Wind” from his previous album to get into Zach Bryan or Tyler Childers than it would be for someone who liked any of Garth’s work outside of, maybe, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” to find anything to like about today’s indie artists.
Don’t mean to ramble on ya, as Morgan would say. I used to get paid to string sentences about country albums together, and the temptation to go on beyond the two or three inches I’d been allotted for each review back then is too strong to resist.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:46 am
I was with ya up until you repeated called Morgan Wallen “problematic.” You could say immature, blowhard occasional douchebag” and I wouldn’t disagree. However using the word “problematic” allows woke and woke-adjacent people to condemn others without effectively presenting a case as to why their target is worse than someone else.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:53 am
I did not repeatedly call Morgan Wallen “problematic.” I used that word once, and it wasn’t until the 26th paragraph in the review. This is what I said in reference to the song “You Proof”:
“Possibly the best example of why some traditional country folks who came to the defense of Morgan Wallen and counted themselves in his fandom simply because he became persona non grata in the media after the N-word incident need to understand that this guy still should be considered problematic for some of the music he releases.”
What I am pointing out there is the small, but spirited group of Morgan Wallen fans that would otherwise not touch his music, but have somehow now become fans because they feel it’s a way to get back at cancel culture. My use of the term “problematic” here is directly in reference to his music. Also, your comment in some respects validates what I was trying to say there. Some of these new post N-word Morgan Wallen fans have become very touchy, where if you say anything that can even be slightly construed as referencing the incident, they lash out.
As another commenter pointed out, I purposely avoided talking about the N-word incident here, and instead focused solely on the music. It nonetheless remains the specter that hangs over Wallen’s music, at least when it comes to the media coverage of it.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:59 am
I mean from labeling him as problematic from all the previous articles.
I came to his defense because of my disdain for cancel culture. If his lyrics make him problematic then 99% of hip hop is problematic too. No one criticizing Wallen will outright say that because there is a different moral standard for black people.
March 16, 2023 @ 4:14 pm
I strongly advise you to learn to love cancel culture. The communist is going to use it against you, your family, and your country, no matter what. You should find joy in using it against him.
Imagine a football game, where one side was allowed to intentionally injure the other side’s players, and the side with all the injured players was really mad about it, and had a lot of disdain for the unfairness, but they never fought back, and eventually they had no players left. Don’t be the team with all the injuries; be the team who injures.
March 16, 2023 @ 4:38 pm
Oh I’ve read the Gulag Archipelago..
March 16, 2023 @ 5:39 pm
You are the definition of communism in 2023. What F….. turdfucker uses a beautiful site that celebrates wonderful music to be a F……. wanker.
March 17, 2023 @ 11:04 am
So called “cancel culture” is no more than facing consequences for your actions. People can say whatever they choose and other people can react in whatever legal way they choose. I find some of the reactions silly and some I agree with. That’s life. I don’t get the uproar.
March 17, 2023 @ 11:26 am
I wholeheartedly agree, Douglas. I love when people face consequences for their actions. Accountability is extremely important.
March 22, 2023 @ 8:45 am
There’s sensible, true accountability and then there’s the woke supremacy wrapped up in what we call “cancel culture.” One shouldn’t lose their job or career because they yelled at someone in a drive thru or even yelled something on THEIR own front porch. The Morgan Wallen controversy is long gone OVER.
Our society has become a Marxist, man-bun-wearing, bunch of hypersensitive, whiny crybabies hiding in the basement, who view disagreement and debate as a mortal sin…and I say this as a gay man in 2023. Stop clutching the pearls. Bring back the mean tweets, “toxic masculinity” and common sense. (Oh, and Roseanne too…”The Conners”
sucks). And yes, review the music on its merits.
March 16, 2023 @ 12:07 pm
You purposefully avoid the ‘N word incident’ it by referencing it every time you mention Wallen.
And frankly why does it matter that there is a small but spirited group of people who became fans of Wallen because of it. I am not one and no one else here is a racist. You should once peruse the Daily Stormer once and you will see the distinction if you truly want to know.
And fuck you again for trying to label me as a racist. I am not a Wallen fan because I defended him against cancel culture.
Again what was the point of him apologizing when many of his detractors, including you, are going to keep bringing it up?
March 16, 2023 @ 12:19 pm
Dude. I avoided mentioning the N-word incident in this article. You’re the one that’s bringing it up here. If you want to attack me for bringing it up in previous article, go do that in the previous articles.
I didn’t try to “label you as racist.” I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you are train wrecking this comments section.
Let’s please stick to the music.
March 16, 2023 @ 4:14 pm
You avoided it by including it in your article. That makes zero sense.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:05 am
I’m happy for Wallen because of the irony of his rise to stardom. He was the subject of the most brutal cancellation attempt possible, because of a stupid drunken slur the music industry tried to blot out his career entirely. That was only possible because he was a little guy, an emerging artist who hadn’t yet emerged. An underdog. Somehow he leveraged that notoriety to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of Music Row.
But the music? Ugh. No.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:24 am
The funny thing is is that his fan-base is largely white women – who are predominately young and left-leaning. I don’t think they even remember the N-word “incident.” (Which I still don’t understand why it is an offense. Should we go back and cancel everyone else white who uttered the word on a comedy show in the past 10 years? Because that’s the context Wallen was using it in.)
I don’t understand why it’s so politically fashionable to make these stupid concessions for black people. [NOT MY BELIEFS] But it’s like everyone is subconsciously agreeing that as a race they aren’t as intelligent as everyone else so we will let them get away with being hypocrites about the word. No one would allow asians to run around saying ‘My chinka’ and simultaneously cry at anyone white saying the word and cancel them. I’m ranting on this because Trigger keeps bringing it up ever so subtly in his article as if he NEEDS to have the final say on it.
LOOK, the dude apologized for it. So what was the point of Wallen even apologizing for if there never was going to be any redemption for this “offense”???
March 16, 2023 @ 12:00 pm
It’s a misleading notion that has been pushed by the same media members that tried to cancel Morgan Wallen that he wasn’t that big of a star until the N-Word incident occurred, and then all of a sudden he became massive because racist country listeners gravitated toward him. “Dangerous: The Double Album” was the #1 album in country when the incident occurred. It was likely to remain there many months after it occurred. Morgan Wallen was already one of the biggest stars in country music at that time. Did the backlash at the cancellation attempt and the overblowing of the issue by the media help Morgan Wallen’s popularity? In my opinion, yes it did. But he was not and has never been an “underdog.” He cut to the front of the line thanks to Florida Georgia Line and Joey Moi, and was recognized as a golden boy early on.
March 16, 2023 @ 12:11 pm
If the vast majority of his base barely remembers the incident then this is a false equivalency. Are you making the accusation that all his fans are subconsciously racist?
March 16, 2023 @ 2:59 pm
If they barely remember the incident, that speaks for their own deficiencies more than anything else.
March 16, 2023 @ 12:14 pm
Perhaps I misread this comment some because you have teetered on both sides of calling Wallen racist and slightly defending him.
I hate cancel culture and I hate woke leftism. It’s hard not to get ‘spirited’ against it.
March 16, 2023 @ 2:53 pm
I think Wallen’s the best example of what you call ‘cancel culture’. Extremely successful white gets drunk and does something unequivocally stupid, gets caught on film. Some media doesn’t like it, some media does. The industry puts him on the shelf briefly while other whites whine about his entire career being ruined. The conclusion, nothing at all is ruined, social media continues to tell at social media. The man lives on to make awful, awful music and boatloads of money, surprising nobody.
March 16, 2023 @ 4:24 pm
The rules aren’t applied equally. Bill Maher calls someone a “House N” hard R in jest on his show a few years prior to all this, and he faced little backlash because he was favored by the Left. Some whites were and still are allowed comedic license with the word on podcasts, comedy specials, etc. But a separate white who is favored by the Right and says the word in jest to another white friend while drunk while being secretly taped doing so, is in the wrong.
Someone please tell me the fucking difference?
It’s not about objective ‘right and wrong’ it’s about an adherence to a system that wishes to yield the unilaterally wield power to ruin people that it wishes to.
And it’s ironic that the side that thinks it Is the smartest in the room cannot understand why a group of people would defend someone against cancel culture while also night being a fan of their music, or being a fan not specifically because of the offense.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:32 pm
@strait–Actually, much of the left hates Bill Maher now, because he keeps inveighing against cancel culture.
I personally had no problem with Maher’s use of the “house n-word” term, because in its context, it was fine. There was certainly no malice on his part.
I also couldn’t care less about the incident where Morgan Wallen used the word. I don’t spend time keeping up-to-date on Morgan Wallen, but my impression is that the attempts to cancel him amounted to one big zero. (As they should have.)
March 16, 2023 @ 11:10 am
Good songs are pretty good, and the bad ones are pretty bad. Hence my agreement with a middle-of-the-road review. I said before this album came out that if Wallen would put out a stone-cold country album with the fan-base he has, it would be a monumental shift. Even if it was an Ernest-styled county album.
I am not as anti-Wallen as some, but I feel like he had a great opportunity to bring a sizemic shift to mainstream country. At least with this album, he failed to do so. His future releases will probably not match in numbers as his last two. Just the way ebbs and flows go. He is at his peak, popularity-wise, now. If he would eventually come out with the stone-cold country album in the future, it will not have the impact it could have had in the here and now. He missed his Dierks Bentley “Up On The Ridge” moment.
Hence, this is one of the greatest missed opportunities in decades due to his popularity. But don’t underestimate his fan base. They are resilient. The thing is they would have hopped on board reagrdless of what he puts out, and thus my aforementioned comment about a great missed opportunity.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:09 pm
I kind of see your point, but the reality is that it’s too early for him to take the risk of dramatically moving away from what’s been working:
1) Dangerous has been smashing for 2 years, but at the end of the day, it’s still just one album. And its radio ubiquity was limited during the first year due to the cancellation. If you want to sustain or build on your ubiquity so that your legacy goes from “the guy that broke records with one album” to “the biggest country music superstar of the 21st century” you need a massive follow-up. Probably even 2-3 massive follow-ups.
2) For as much as his fanbase would have shown up, in week one, for whatever he released … it’s clear they DO have preferences. And their preferences are the poppier songs with the computerized production and punny, Instagram caption-esque lyrics. “Wasted On You” ultimately erupted as the biggest post-release hit from the last project, and really solidified the end of his “cancellation.” “You Proof” became a legitimate smash – one of the biggest country hits in years – and caught on far harder than the legitimately great, reasonably country “Don’t Think Jesus” and “Thought You Should Know” that were released in the same basic timeframe.
We also saw this with the subsequent three-song samplers, particularly the latter – where the not even remotely country “Last Night” received a scorching, immediate reception … and the very strong, Allman Brothers-sampling “Everything I Loved” actually kind of underperformed by his usual standard.
3) The other issue is that … due to his body of work, his persona/voice/aesthetic, and overall lyrical content, no one’s really challenging his “country-ness.” Even when listening to songs like “Last Night” and “You Proof,” I don’t think the typical mainstream country fan thinks they’re listening to a pop song the way they would with something like “The Bones,” “Take Your Time,” or “Meant To Be.” And I still think the average pop/non-country fan would still instantly identify this music as “country.”
The audience HERE would challenge whether some of these singles are country, but probably not as loudly as they would the worst of Thomas Rhett or Sam Hunt. And when you’re as big as Morgan Wallen is, I’m not sure a segment of diehards would be enough to influence you – at least not right now – anyway.
In many ways, he’s really where Taylor Swift was on her “Fearless” album. It’s very clear that he’s not a traditional country artist, but the artist he is, and the music he’s releasing still feels significantly different from “pop.” I’d challenge whether “Love Story” was a country song, but I’d never say it was in the same genre as “Bad Romance” or “Umbrella.”
March 17, 2023 @ 6:57 am
The quick, quippy comeback, “He ain’t country!” doesn’t work with Morgan Wallen like it does with Walker Hayes or Sam Hunt, because the guy has country songs, and quite a few of them. That’s what makes him so difficult to tackle, and one of the reasons I wanted to do a song by song review here. No one song defines Morgan Wallen, or this album.
March 17, 2023 @ 2:13 pm
Wayne, I agree: “if Wallen would put out a stone-cold country album with the fan-base he has, it would be a monumental shift.” He could have absolutely turned the tide because his fan base would eat up anything he puts out. Instead he puts out 30+ tracks at once including a mish mash of Bro country holdovers and hic hop. So, the early to mid 2000’s trends live on.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:10 am
I pulled up 98 Braves to listen and I just can’t finish it – I hate Morgan Wallen’s voice. I would rather hear Cartman (South Park) sing any of these damn songs.
Props to you for trudging through this mess but I think for you it’s like living near a landfill; You get used to the stench and don’t fully realize how bad it really is. Wallen’s voice is so damn grating that I just can’t do it.
I don’t get this modern trend of singing powerfully without being pleasant-sounding. It’s all so grating to the ear. The same goes for Pardi and Combs, just to a lesser extent. I’ve been re listening to classic rock’s powerful vocalists like Robert Plant, Layne Staley, Sammy Hagar, Steve Perry, and such and they all sound pleasant to the ear. I wish things were different in country music to where I only had to worry about Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen drunkenly running into me with their boat that they bought on credit.
April 29, 2023 @ 7:00 am
What is country music? Can you really define it? Country music from every prior generation complained about the next generation of country music. Just like older generations of country music was influenced by their generation pop culture, same with today’s country music. I have no problem with Wallen , just like I have no problem with Stapleton. Neither is traditional country, one is more rhythm and blues influenced and they other is more pop and hip hop influenced. Both artists emulates their influences into their style, as did all prior country artists.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:11 am
Gotta say the Garth brooks comparison made me annoyed lol. Idk I don’t like the dude mostly cause I listened to his first album and hated it, then him saying the n word didn’t make me like him more. I was pretty comfortable writing off someone who seemed at first blush a mediocre talent and then also sucked in other ways.
But really are we suggesting he has any songs comparable to the dance, friends in low places, callin Baton Rouge, or rodeo? I’m skeptical
March 16, 2023 @ 11:36 am
Much too Young to Feel This Damn Old, Papa Loved Mama, Two of a Kind etc.
Pretty much most of the songs from his first three albums.
March 17, 2023 @ 4:57 pm
soo true….not to mention women in todays country music…those rnb-hip hop howling…ufff
March 16, 2023 @ 11:31 am
Really fair analysis considering the length of the album.
The merit and quality of this singer is undeniable, who fought mainly for the incident that was involved and how he was treated after the case by the media and his own record company.
I find an album with 36 songs tiring, halfway through you’re tired.
I think this album had a search for records, and that misses some analysis, like mainly a selection of the best songs or within a focus for the album.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:36 am
Is this the first story in years where you didn’t (at least directly) address THE INCIDENT?
Good idea to rate the songs…I might actually try to listen to the higher scoring ones.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:38 am
I saw a comment on the internet about him (now deleted) that was so spot on I saved it:
“But to me, he an embarrassment because he represents everything wrong with country music. And on a larger scale, is emblematic of a much larger kind of corruption in the industry.
Wallen debuted in 2014 on The Voice with a skinny tie and a young Justin Beieber-style bougie side swept hair cut. He, and the style department that consulted with him on The Voice, did this to mimick the style of One Direction, the most popular pop act of the time. However, 2013 was about the time when the children of conservatives pivoted from dressing like black dudes in the late 90s (flat bill snapbacks, graphic Nike tees, cargo shorts, tall socks, and slides. I realize that modern young people have no frame of reference for when young white kids didn’t replicate black culture so awkwardly, but for the longest time it was considered embarassing), to dressing like their fathers did in the 80s.
They started with things like boat shoes and pastel polos. However, following the cultural phenomenons that were Duck Dynasty and their rich dickhead performers dressing up like poor people, and Florida Georgia Line, they quickly pivoted to things like Patagonia fishing gear, flannels, puffy trucker caps- shit that’s sold at Academy and Bass Pro Shop, and that the majority had mocked for the 20 to 30 years prior.
Now, in the following years, Wallen goes on to see minor-to-moderate success. He ranks among the other up and coming artists of the time, Riley Green, Kane Brown, etc, but by no means exceeds them. He also changes his style to- flannels, 80s and 90s dad jeans, mullet, mustache, etc. This is in an effort to pander to this almost parody ‘redneck fashion’ culture that’s developed in the last 20 or so years due to things like Rednecks with Paychecks, ‘Yee Yee’ being coopted by people that the series was originally mocking, Duck Dynasty, Bro Country, etc. The same way there used to be Goths, Preps, or whatever else, there’s now a huge community of people that view being a redneck dick as like, a fashion statement and personality choice.
After his famous n-word incident, his streaming numbers sky rocket and never come back down. That’s frustrating enough, but it makes sense. You focus too much on a spectacle, and it balloons into a bigger problem. Literally the subject of Jordan Peele’s Nope. But, watching the fans that come forward to defend him, they tend to say similar things. They claim that he’s down to earth, a small town boy. That they forgive him because it’s the Christian thing to do, and ‘don’t we all make mistakes’?
And that’s basically my largest issue. While trying to recoup face in the wake of his controversy, he releases Don’t Think Jesus. Which, I don’t care what his fans have to say, was designed explicitly to get right-wing Christians to insulate him from criticism, and to galvanize him in a way. There’s something so incredibly fucking sleazy about someone willing to try and manipulate people of faith that way. There’s also something sleazy about him dressing up like a caricature of a rural person to try and make rural people think that he represents them.
I’ve used the term before but, it just feels like country blackface. Everything he does is performative, and is ultimately a mockery of the community and what the genre should actually represent. He’s not dressing like Western Swing artists, or Ameripolitan performers who dress in classic western clothing as a way of preserving and performing within the genres traditions, he’s explicitly doing it to participate in a fashion trend and to bank off of people that don’t understand that he’s only pandering to them, to make money off of them.”
March 16, 2023 @ 11:49 am
To clarify, I cut off the first half this rant, which was about Morgan Wallen being shitty about his baby and baby mama and a bunch of other incidents where he was trashy, so he’s not just talking about the N word incident but the entire couple of years that came before it.
March 16, 2023 @ 12:13 pm
As I mentioned in a comment above, this take of:
Wallen goes on to see minor-to-moderate success … After his famous n-word incident, his streaming numbers sky rocket and never come back down.”
…is statistically false. It was a canard sowed by activist journalists who’ve wanted to use Morgan Wallen and his success to paint the entirety of country music as racist so they had a mandate to completely tear it down and remake it in their own image.
Morgan Wallen was a massive star in country music starting with his album “If I Know Me.” Did he see a boost after the attempted cancellation of him? Yes, and the responsibility of that lands at least partly on those that tried to cancel him by sowing false narratives about how he never apologized, never donated the money he pledged to Black charities, and other things that fueled his fan base’s thinking that he was getting jobbed.
Now, the idea that this guy remade his image to take advantage of Redneck America and that’s how he exploded, there may be some validity to that. Marketing is definitely behind a lot of what Morgan Wallen does.
But one of the reasons I wanted to review this album and in this manner was to point out that the people casting him off completely as a fraud, a talentless hack, or as the commenter said “country blackface,” is to grossly misunderstand what is happening here, and dangerously underestimate it. Morgan Wallen has good songs. The connections he’s making with listeners is real. And to cast him off, or his fans as racist dupes is to do a disservice to the phenomenon that’s happening here.
Morgan Wallen has been misunderstood from the beginning. And that’s one of the reasons that the more people try to undercut his support with uninformed takes or sometimes outright lies, the stronger he gets.
March 16, 2023 @ 4:26 pm
…..”It was a canard sowed by activist journalists who’ve wanted to use Morgan Wallen and his success to paint the entirely to country music as racist so they had a mandate to completely tear it down and remake it in their own image.”…….
Trig is speaking my love language here, even if he doesn’t yet understand the bigger picture…beyond just music. What he described in this one sentence is Gramscian Communism. Exploit, destroy, and remake; that sums it up in a nutshell.
March 16, 2023 @ 5:24 pm
You might be the most communist c… I ever came across on the whole world wide web. Read what you write. FFS.
March 16, 2023 @ 6:07 pm
Then you’ve been very fortunate.
March 16, 2023 @ 6:28 pm
«Exploit, destroy, and remake; that sums it up in a nutshell.»
Sounds like your nirvana.
March 16, 2023 @ 7:31 pm
Hahaha, I thought you were trying to troll me, and then I realized that you are understanding my comments to mean the opposite of what I’m saying.
Let me clarify for you.
I’m complimenting Trigger for correctly pointing out that Communism has infiltrated Country Music, particularly the media that writes about Country music. I’m also saying that Trigger is correct when he says that the communists are trying to exploit, destroy, and remake, in regard to Country music. I’m saying those things are bad. I think you thought I was saying they are good.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:34 pm
Are you talking about Gramscian hegemony? Because Gramsci only wrote about the culture industry in…capitalist societies.
March 17, 2023 @ 4:38 am
These type of lunatics don’t really read or think. They scan books and articles for terms they can slide into conversation to try to sound smart and knowledgeable. They’re like human crows, searching for shiny bits of knowledge to fit into the structure of their nest. “What does it actually mean? Who cares, we can shove it into a gap to shore up our teetering edifice of illogic!”
It’s sad really because some of these people could have actually been open-minded intelligent individuals before allowing their personalities to be swamped by some radical ideology. And if you’re reading this Honky I mean you and your opponents. The real ones, not the ones who only exist in your head.
See, you’re just the same as them because all extremism ends up having the same practices, just under different theories. It’s always authoritarian rule with some insane code of conduct, be it political or religious, right or left. The road of “I know better” only leads one place. Fascism, communism, same thing with different labels. Like Coke and Pepsi.
March 17, 2023 @ 5:03 am
He believed that whoever controlled the institutions (in this case, Country Music), controlled the society or nation in which those institutions exist.
This is different than a dictatorship, which is what I believe most people think of when they think of Communism; they think of Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.
March 17, 2023 @ 7:38 am
Ryan S,
You made some personal attacks here, but you didn’t say anything to disprove anything I’ve said. Prove me wrong. For that matter, specifically in regard to the infiltration, or attempted infiltration, of Country Music, prove Trigger wrong.
Maybe I shouldn’t, Ryan, but I’m going to give you one chance to prove to me you’re not the mid-wit I think you are. Go for it; rise above your public-school education.
March 16, 2023 @ 2:54 pm
Funny thing about this take is that Wallen’s fan base is mostly low-information leftists. Go figure.
March 17, 2023 @ 10:48 am
Honky,
Because I believe you’re a person and not a bot, I’m going to try and correct you.
Gramsci’s writing on hegemony and culture suggests that the values of the ruling class of a given society dominate the culture, social, and economic structures of that society, all the while appearing to be completely natural, rather than constructed.
For example, in feudal England, the divine right of kings and the social/economic order of knights, peasants, serfs, etc was seen as natural and inescapable.
Here, country music, part of American cultural life, would be seen by Gramsci as representing in some ways the views of the American Ruling class. Those who have the most power in a society determine the values of the cultural output, not the other way around.
Of course, the mechanisms of these processes are more complicated, but I’d be glad to send you links to Gramsci’s work or commentary on it. It’s one thing to think the guy was full of shit, (and lord, at least in my mind he’s wrong on a decent lot) but it’s another to misrepresent and lie about his ideas and work.
March 17, 2023 @ 11:51 am
J.R. Covey,
You and I aren’t in disagreement here. The disconnect I believe, is that you are only describing Gramsci’s understanding of the “problem”; you aren’t connecting it to his solution.
His solution, was to infiltrate the institutions, to replace the existing views with his own. Instead of trying to establish a dictatorship, he believed taking over the institutions was the best way to implement a worldview.
Thank you for offering to send me links about things I already fully understand, but I’m good. I’m not going to accuse you of lying. I’m simply going to accuse you of only reading the first paragraph of the Gramsci bio you googled 30 minutes ago, and not finishing the whole article.
By the way, I don’t think Gramsci was wrong. If I thought he was wrong, I wouldn’t hate him so much.
March 17, 2023 @ 7:08 pm
Im a high info conservative and I love this album.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:53 am
I don’t understand why Morgan Wallen is so popular (same goes for Luke Combs) – but guys like Jon Pardi seem stuck in the lower register of popularity.
What does Wallen have that Pardi doesn’t?
Wallen is nasally at times , twangy and has a raspy voice.
—– So does Pardi.
Pardi’s production is leagues better.
Pardi has more variety in songwriting. Not all his songs are about a sleazy breakup.
Just comparing them, if Wallen was at 100% popularity- you’d think Pardi would be at least around 70% as popular.
But the stats don’t add up.
Wallen reached 500k unit sales in his 1st week.
Pardi reached 19k unit sales with his latest album from September.
What’s happening?
March 16, 2023 @ 5:12 pm
Pardi is absolutely fantastic. What I Can’t Put Down, Love You From Here, When I’ve Been Drinkin’, Cowboy Hat, She Ain’t In It, Old Hat, Heartache Medication, Tied One On, Love Her Like She’s Leaving, New Place to Drink, Reverse Cowgirl, and Rainy Night Song are all easily top-tier songs, and what mainstream country should absolutely sound like, in a just world, of course. Pardi has this awesome late 90’s—early 2000’s Country sound that I just love. I’d EASILY take him over Wallen any day, and he should be having the success and popularity Wallen has.
If you’re a fan of Jon Pardi, I’d also check out Randall King. He has very similar vibes to Pardi—check out Hey Cowgirl, Hey Moon, and You In a Honky Tonk, for sure.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:27 pm
I’m not sure why this is being framed as some weird phenomenon – “why is the more artistic guy not selling as well as the more marketable guy” has been a standard debate in all genres of music for decades.
But to entertain the debate.
Combs and Wallen may not be as country or varied, but they absolutely release catchier, more accessible stuff. I mean “Dirt On My Boots” was Pardi’s big sellout/commercial breakthrough song … and Combs and Wallen each have like 8 songs that are broader-skewing and more radio-friendly.
You’ll obviously find better music if you go deeper into Pardi’s catalog, but we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about mainstream popularity.
Both also seem more modern and engaging in their persona development. In the age of social media, artists need to come across as buddies or crushes or, more simply, people you feel like you really know. I just feel like I have a clearer sense of who guys like Combs and Wallen are as “personalities” than I do Pardi.
Combs also has a more appealing voice – and the “down home, good guy” lyrics and song themes make him come across as that quintessential country superstar.
Wallen has smartly ignited female audiences with his “bad boy” behavior, look (he’s not a conventional stud, but he’s come up with an aesthetic that resonates with girls), and lyrical content. The breakup stuff, buried in Instagram-worthy puns and wordplay, is what female audiences want right now. The idea being that you have this guy who could be sleeping around, but chose to give his heart to some girl, she broke it, and now he’s looking to either hook up or settle down with someone more loving. Like you, the female listener! Get it?
In many ways, he’s essentially filling the “country Drake” role that Sam Hunt was supposed to fill (but never quite made it happen).
March 17, 2023 @ 4:12 am
Your summations of Wallen are very accurate.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:59 am
The album reminds me of Zac Brown Band’s Jekyll and Hyde project on steroids (another album you had to review song by song). It tries to be so many different things that it ends up not feeling like an album at all. With that said, it’s fair to compare Wallen to the previous kingpins of mainstream country. 2023 Morgan Wallen is a stark improvement over the FGL / Jason Aldean era that dominated the 2010s.
If this album were trimmed down to 12 songs, this could be one of the best mainstream albums of the year. But I guess that’s not the point of Wallen. He’s out to please everyone, and probably does a decent job at it so long as they pick & choose their songs.
March 16, 2023 @ 12:11 pm
Well, I went to a Morgan Wallen concert, the opening one of his latest tour, in Auckland, New Zealand. As you would imagine we don’t get many country artists down in this part of the world, so it is important to support those that venture to this part of the Pacific. Personally, I am not a great fan of Morgan, enjoyed Hardy more, which is interesting as I certainly do not fit the typical Hardy fan’s demographic, being female and 60 years old. I was a good concert and I do not regret attending.
Luke Combs is coming to New Zealand and Australia in August. Tickets sold out in NZ within minutes along with the shows in Australia. I managed to get one ticket for the second show in Sydney – three hours away by plane and a different country. It is Cody Johnson I want to see. I am more of a fan of him than Luke Combs.
The review of Morgan’s Auckland show: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/review-country-music-star-morgan-wallen-thrills-a-packed-out-spark-arena/EQUMFYFUINHLRHL64QIHJKQAOU/
March 16, 2023 @ 1:04 pm
Does he have a karaoke machine on stage with him? How the hell can he remember the differences in most of his songs after adding another 36?
March 16, 2023 @ 1:47 pm
I was kind of wondering that… 36 new songs, many of which are similar, and most of which were not written or cowritten by himself. Seems like a lot to keep track of.
March 16, 2023 @ 1:42 pm
Nearly every female I know loves Wallen. It is almost statistically impossible to behold.
I liked about 8 or 9 songs from this album. “98 Braves” and the “Main Street” song are the best ones. “Tennessee Fan” is what a good album cut should be.
But most of the songs sound the same or their “cleverness” just comes from the title. It is watching college freshmen preaching to folks because they took Philosophy 101.
I understood the popularity of FGL and Luke Bryan. I am stumped by Wallen’s popularity among females. Is it his looks? They are the segment most likely to be woke and hate the sin he committed but I guess good looks can overshadow anything. Look up the Chad dating experiments.
It is just not great music.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:38 pm
I’m female, in his target demographic, and think he is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. And his music ranges from just so painfully boring to horrible bro-country leftovers. If I had to pick a new-ish mainstream male country singer that I’m actually a fan of, it’s definitely Jon Pardi. I love his late 90’s—early 2000’s-style sound with all of the fiddle and steel. Randall King is cool, too. Hey Cowgirl is a hell of a song.
March 16, 2023 @ 5:12 pm
Yes. It is amazing how every time a correct generalization based on data is made, someone comes on trying to use anecdotal evidence to counter it.
Glad you are one of the few that get it.
March 16, 2023 @ 5:38 pm
It’s not “anecdotal” when someone is telling you that you are actually incorrect. If I were to say that I don’t know any women who like him, THAT would be anecdotal! No reason to be an asshole to someone who doesn’t like the same goofball that you don’t like! Maybe stop hanging out with people who like shitty music!
March 17, 2023 @ 12:47 am
Taylor isn’t sleeping with you, Ian.
I have no choice in the matter. I work in a large company that employs those women. They play Wallen at work and once they found Iile country they won’t stop talking about him to me. I have tried mentioning the good stuff. But they want Wallen.
March 17, 2023 @ 4:59 am
“Nearly every female I know loves Wallen.” That’s you in your first comment. Let’s review how actual evidence works. You may be factually correct that almost all of your female acquaintances like Wallen. That makes it true. However that data can not be applied to Wallen fans as a whole.
Why? In short because your acquaintances are unlikely to constitute a representative sample of that population. Statistics is a mathematical discipline and has methods to ensure that a small sample is better representative of a larger group. Methods that have not just been verified through math but empirically as well. Unless you used the techniques of statistical analysis to weight your friend group sample to allow for variances in age, income, cultural background, race/ethnicity, political party and a bunch of other factors it is anecdotal experience and nothing else.
So trying to dismiss someone else’s just as valid comment is just showing the world that you don’t understand what you’re talking about and have the audacity to lecture others making the same mistake as yourself. Actually, not even making the same mistake as that commenter didn’t make the arrogant claim that their personal experience constitutes objective reality for everyone.
I know actually learning stuff is hard and sometimes you learn things that contradict your existing beliefs (oh, the horror!). But if you’re not going to do that, and I don’t expect you to, how about at least scan your comments when replying so you don’t look like a moron, a hypocrite or both?
March 17, 2023 @ 1:20 pm
Ryan,
Just a note of appreciation. You could be posting comments relevant to the article but you really got our backs by policing the comment section instead. Rightfully calling these guys names and putting them in their place is good work. As they say, not all heroes wear capes. 🙏
March 18, 2023 @ 8:22 am
I do not know any females that like Morgan Wallen. My anecdotal experience is as irrelevant as yours.
March 20, 2023 @ 6:28 am
You don’t know any females besides your mom.
March 20, 2023 @ 8:09 am
Is that the best you’ve got? Even if you don’t want to or are unable to make an intelligent comment that directly responds to mine, at least have a witty rejoinder that rises above a junior high school cafeteria. The old adage “In a battle of wits, you are unarmed” comes to mind.
March 16, 2023 @ 2:38 pm
Well like Trigger probably did, I shuttered and threw up my breakfast when I looked at this weeks Billboard Hot Country Songs chart Tuesday morning and saw Wallen had 33 out of 40 of em. I feel bad Trig took one for the team and sifted through the entire bunch to give us the real lowdown. I remember when the last one came out during a slow pandemic week I took a little time and picked some enjoyable sounding ones off it and they were fine for a few weeks of spins. Upon hearing of 36 new ones I said to myself “I’m not going to see this guy and I don’t have time to weed through all these when there’s so much great music out of artists I AM going to see”. So I’ll read the comments for entertainment value all while still remembering my favorite Morgan Wallen live in concert memory……he was headlining Joe’s Live here with Hardy and a new gal 1/4/19. During Wallen’s set she came out to the merch table with little fanfare to chat with folks and I went up to her and said “I didn’t come here to see him I came here to see you” and Lainey gave me a big hug and smiled and said in that accent “Y’all are too kind”. Ahh yes, you can’t take away a memory…………..
March 16, 2023 @ 3:15 pm
It’s a bad album made by a person who did a bad and racist thing. It kind of amazes me he’s proven to be so divisive. You’d think everyone would turn against him because he fails at pretty much every level, musically and otherwise.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:17 pm
Have any of you (who are critiquing this album) written, co-wrote, recorded or performed ONE song? Every track of an album can’t be a #1 hit, but come on….
Morgan Wallen is evidently talented or he would have that string of songs on the Billboard Charts. As for the N-word controversy…let it go already. He apologized. He made no excuses. He admitted he was wrong, and more. When was that anyway? He made a drunken mistake. Let ye without sin cast the first stone.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:53 pm
Oh man. Easy to spot the people who are not here regularly.
You don’t need to be a talented chef to know when food tastes bad. I like Morgan, he’s not as good as the artists regularly featured here, and he has plenty of duds. But as whole, he’s better than whatever was on the radio from 2013 – 2018. And he has several songs on this album worth recognizing.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:56 pm
Yeah but the album sucks! I don’t care if somebody is mainstream or not . If the music good then it’s good but this album could’ve been really good but had to add 24 songs of garbage. No reason to except boost streams. Also just because a song is a #1 Country hit doesn’t mean it’s a great song btw.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:33 pm
I thought the album wasn’t as good as Dangerous after a couple listens but now I’m waking up in the middle of night and singing the lyrics. I can’t stop listening to it. I’ve tried the other artists that some of you mention. They are good but there’s something different about his music. It just hits a spot inside that I haven’t been around in a while.
March 16, 2023 @ 8:54 pm
I would have to agree. The more I listen, the more I can’t get this album out of my head. His songs definitely hit different than anyone else in country.. I can’t explain it either. People are picking apart his voice but I think the way he sings, kinda raspy, not perfect, gives so much emotion to his songs.
I expected Trigger to totally tear apart this album but I appreciate that he held back a bit. And the ones he hated are the ones I love… Sunrise, Whiskey Friends.. but I like all kinds of music like a lot of people do and I think that’s where his niche is.. he can go in different directions and make it still appealing to a lot of people. I know traditionalists hate it but it’s the way things are going these days, and I, for one, really like it.
March 18, 2023 @ 3:32 am
Couldn’t agree more. Weirdly, it’s a different song each day.
And to those railing about “the album”. People really care about “albums” today? A handful of these songs have been out so long, I didn’t realize they weren’t part of an album when released.
March 16, 2023 @ 3:57 pm
Nothing but click bait here!
March 16, 2023 @ 4:31 pm
Click bait is defined by Wikipedia as “Text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading.”
This article is literally the exact opposite of click bait. The title and link to this article is “Album Review – Morgan Wallen.” That is what this is. It couldn’t be stated any more dry and matter-of-factly.
Also, “click bait” is never 46 paragraphs long. Click bait is short form content used to generate clicks. Nobody would ever spend as many hours as I spent listening to this album, and composing a 46-paragraph review for that purpose. On long-form content in general and album reviews specifically, Saving Country Music loses money compared to other forms of content.
March 16, 2023 @ 5:03 pm
What a puddel of manure. The terrible anemic songs coupled with close to punishable offence programmed drums are death by «music». 2/36 aint aiit.
March 16, 2023 @ 5:16 pm
What little of it I have actually heard, no thank you. But at least it ain’t Walker Hayes, who I still believe is trolling us on his mission to create the worst song of all time.
March 16, 2023 @ 7:59 pm
As a fan of Wallen, I can’t really fault the review. Only a couple of songs I disagree on. I think I wrote the check is a lot better song than you mention though I understand some criticism. Dying man is probably the best song I’ve heard from anybody all year so I rate it higher. I think dangerous is a much better album. I do wish Morgan would get away from all these songs about women be it a breakup song or love song. Does kind of get tiring. I wasn’t really expecting you to do a review of his album. Far as Morgan’s concerts. I saw him before he started doing arena shows at a county fair. He was really good for a relative newcomer.
March 16, 2023 @ 8:55 pm
Morgan Wallen has a mediocre at best voice. He sounds like many other male cm singers with a raspy gravely voice . He’s one dimensional. His songs all sound alike which is something he has in common with Luke Combs. I don’t dislike him at all. I just don’t get his popularity.
March 16, 2023 @ 11:47 pm
The album is exactly what everyone thought it would be. Definitely worth mentioning that Keith Whitley is a fucking brilliant song!
March 17, 2023 @ 12:56 am
Not a fan of (or knowledgeable of) current country, but does this guy always slur his words? Do fans today not appreciate someone who can actually sing?
March 20, 2023 @ 2:49 pm
His ‘southern drawl’ has been referenced in a few of his songs.
March 17, 2023 @ 4:45 am
I kinda don’t mind wallets music and end up seeking him out every few days to put on. (Don’t throw things at me)
Like Dangerous, it’s a crap ton of songs that generally all have the same beat, tone, theme, words. So much of it blends together and is easily forgotten. These massively long albums is kinda goofy, even ZB’s release could’ve used some cuts.
March 17, 2023 @ 4:58 am
“Morgan Wallen isn’t just dominating mainstream country, he’s monopolizing it.”
Morgan Wallen, the Walmart of country music. Hear something you like from your local music artist? Walmart Wallen has a cheaper generic version right here on the shelves. Do all your music shopping In one place. LOL
In all seriousness, I tried to sample some of this album just out of curiosity and because of all the attention Wallen gets. I honestly didn’t get past a few songs on this album of way too many. Maybe there is some good songs in here somewhere, but I lost the attention or desire to find them.
March 17, 2023 @ 7:16 am
Kinky Friedman said n-word hard R in interview and wasn’t cancelled thank god . I guess it was pre-cancel culture. That’s my contribution
March 17, 2023 @ 8:40 am
Meh….the Mantovani of unobtrusive background country muzak.
March 17, 2023 @ 8:54 am
Trigger, thanks for putting your head down and creating such an in depth review of the album that is dominating radio country. Much easier to say “he sucks” or “he’s great”. I’m gonna have to follow the lead of some of your commenters- listen to the eights and the zeros
March 17, 2023 @ 10:24 am
Not to be a dick but I’ve heard the name here due to the controversy but I’ve never heard his music and hope not to.
He is not in my wheelhouse of preferred music to listen to and I don’t really care about his past, but I do appreciate the articles on any artists covered here.
March 17, 2023 @ 4:12 pm
He sucks. THE END
March 17, 2023 @ 7:57 pm
If you’re a lover or hater of MW… you can bet he’s made more money than anyone who has posted on this site. Pretty much sums it up.
March 17, 2023 @ 8:37 pm
I’m certain that’s true. What is your point?
March 18, 2023 @ 3:37 am
Despite this he is the reason to take the stairs instead of the elevator
March 17, 2023 @ 8:22 pm
This was a great fair in depth review for an album that was an absolute chore to listen all to all the way through and I don’t mind MW. The song with Ernest was so disappointing coming off the Flower Shops Two Dozen Roses, which was pretty good.
March 18, 2023 @ 11:23 am
Morgan Wallen does seem to divide opinion and all credit to this site for reviewing it. I think the review does make some valid points. I have always quite liked him. He does his own thing which is more than some and some of his songs are far more country than many others. This does have a fair few non country songs, like his last album and some of at times can be a little repetitive. However, it is also an album with more steel on it than many other country and some solid country songs. I can’t help feel if he decided with his voice to do a stone country album, it would be very good. Its an entertaining listen overall. Not a classic but not bad and more country than many other so called mainstream country albums.
March 18, 2023 @ 12:34 pm
You rated 15 songs 6 or higher. 14 of them 7 or higher. Essentially if the album was only these songs you probably would have rated it an 7.5-8. With the way people can buy songs these days, by picking and choosing tunes you like, you can create your own amazing 15 song album. Who cares if not all the songs are exactly your taste, you can create your own Morgan country album without including the annoying rap or crap songs. Thats the cool thing about him releasing so many songs.
I personally like more songs than you do, but will agree 100% that 180 (lifestyle) is the worst song he has ever recorded. I also hate You Proof as much as you do. I pretty much hate when the drum machine is prominent, but really love the others.
March 22, 2023 @ 1:38 pm
Not comparing the two artists, so please don’t kill me in the comments, but I did something similar to this with Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak album. I gave it an initial listen and threw songs that stood out into a playlist. I then gave that playlist 3-4 more listens before pairing out the songs I liked least. I ended up with about a 10 song playlist, or about an album’s worth.
Unfortunately, I personally don’t really want to subject myself to that many listen’s of Wallen’s album. But an idea for anyone who does.
March 19, 2023 @ 6:55 am
I watched some of the YouTube album release show he had in Nashville which was pretty much all acoustic. Many of these songs were much better stripped down. I saw him do “I Wrote the Book” and thought this album was him getting away from the dumb drum sound which permeates a lot country these days. The next day I listened to the album and stopped the song after 10 seconds. Take away the stupid drum beat and make it him with an acoustic guitar and it’s a great song. This is true for many song on here. Agree with “Don’t Think Jesus” being the best song. Need more of that from him.
March 19, 2023 @ 7:43 pm
You lose me when you say Morgan Wallen cant sing. Dude can make singing the phone book sound good. Thats half of his appeal. A lot of the love is for his tone, but the guy can sing without a doubt.
March 20, 2023 @ 12:16 pm
Dude even hit the top 40 in the album chart here in the UK. It may not seem much but that’s pretty rare for an American country act. He could end up being a gateway drug for Brits discovering more country music which can only be a good thing.
March 20, 2023 @ 8:09 pm
If Morgan took the Top 15 songs tho, that’s a really good album lol
March 30, 2023 @ 7:55 pm
To each his own. The sanctimonious comments are ridiculous. Music is a personal taste – if you like it you like it if you don’t don’t listen to it. No one is talking about the music. I love the sounds of most of the songs so I appreciate the production. Country or however you categorize this, I think the guy and his collaborators are very creative. And they’ve found a way to make people enjoy the music. The fact this is guy is dominating the genre means he is touching people, many more people than most. So enjoy it or don’t – it’s art.
May 8, 2023 @ 9:30 am
One Thing at a Time sure isn’t country, but it sure is a catchy pop song.