2016 has been a horrible year in music. Between losing legends in all fields and lots of mainstream dreck including artists like Dierks Bentley who used to be reliable, there hasn't been much to celebrate so far. This album is a step in the right direction.
I've been looking forward to this one for a long time and my appetite was only whetted more as a few songs slowly trickled out over the past few weeks. There's not a bad song on this album and it's the type of album that will probably only grow on me the more spins it gets.
Luke Bell is a traditional country artist through and through. Songwriting teams on mainstream hits and artist with no soul in their voice or ones that require auto tuning turn me off. The biggest problem I have with modern music (including most rock) is the production. It's all digitized with electronic instruments, autotune and compressed so much it just sounds like a wall of noise. It's refreshing to hear this. I read somewhere this album was recorded in analog and the authenticity shows. There are dynamics and all the instruments and Luke's voice all shine through.
There's a lot of variety on this. There are your typical heartbreak and cowboy songs. There's some bluegrassy harmonica. There's some easy going stuff that reminds me of 50's and 60's rock and roll as well as classic country.
The album starts out with "Sometimes" a great old timey heartache song. This is the first song I heard on here and it sucked me in instantly. Also a very cool video (embedded at the end of the post). Next up is a bluegrassy harmonica song, "All Blue". Again a very classic country sound.
The next song, "Where You Been" is one of the standouts on here for me. Reminds me a little of some 60's rock song, but still solid country. It's a mid-tempo song about drinking that is very welcoming to the ear. The production shines on this. It's very pleasing to the ears with subtle steel guitar and fiddle throughout and great vocals.
"Hold On" is a nice swing tune that again takes me back to all the great music from the 50's and 60's and features some good work on the steel guitar. "Loretta" follows with a song about drifting away slowly from a woman. The instrumentation is fantastic on this. Understated piano, steel guitar and fiddle meld together beautifully to create a warm pleasing sound to accompany the vocals.
I mentioned variety earlier and "Workin' Man Dreams" is a great example. Lots of fiddle in a more upbeat song. Also yodeling. When is the last time you've heard yodeling? It's usually not my favorite, but as everything else on here, it works.
"Glory and the Grace" is a yet another classic country cowboy song with vocals similar to "Everywhere" listing classic western images and a great honky tonk piano. "Bullfighter" is a spitfire song that reminds me a lot of something Johnny Cash would've recorded in his heyday. I have a feeling this one is going to grow on me even more after a few weeks in regular rotation.
"Ragtime Blues" unsurprisingly is a ragtime swing song with some great honky tonk piano. It touches on the roughneck lifestyle, but this narrator doesn't regret it at all. He enjoys it and doesn't let the bad times detract.
The album finishes off with another one of my favorites "The Great Pretender". Maybe it's the name of the song leading me in this direction, but this reminds me of some 50's rock ballads although very countrified lyrics. It's about a man who loves them and leaves them, but in the last verse the tables are turned and a girl plays the role of great pretender.
Front to back this album is fantastic. I've been listening on repeat since the streaming became available and now that I have my own copy it will be on constant rotation in my car for as long as the wife allows. Luke Bell is the real deal. This is album of the year material here and I think this could be huge in the realm of real country music.
Usually the more I'm looking forward to something, the more it disappoints if it doesn't live up to it. This album exceeded my already high expectations. It's pretty much perfect. Do yourself a favor and listen as soon as possible.
10/10
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