Even worse than Taylor Swift's stuff? Yup..... you'll get a smile from reading this album review...

http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/florida-georgia-lines-anything-goes-is-the-worst-album-in-the-history-of-country-music

And while I haven't heard it....yet.... I would likely agree based on past performance from this group.

I saw that review yesterday and had a good chuckle. "Dirt" is a mighty fine tune and video, though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42uphHWxmFU

FGL : Not one, but two songs on Billboard's Top 10 this week.


http://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs



The buying public sems to like them. How many hit songs has "Trigger" written?
I always thought he was a horse.

I'm guessing ol' Trigger has written zero hit songs!

Well, I was not familiar with Florida Georgia Line before but I read the article and then listened to Dirt. Dirt is a pretty dang good song and the video is extremely well done and quite touching! The song is definitely following a formula for pop/country and I, along with LOTS of other people think it is a good one!

The reviewer heaps far more hate and derision on this album and band than they deserve for merely following a formula and having big hits. I think it says far more about the reviewer than it does the album!

And anyone who thinks Conway, Loretta, Johnny, Waylon, etc. were not following the trends of their day and trying for big breakout hits is naive or delusional!

I may have to go buy this album based on Dirt alone (and also to offset dumb hateful reviews like this one!)

I agree that Florida Georgia Line defines what is bad about Country radio today.

But..


I'd really be interested in why you say that.


Here are a FEW of Swift's accomplishments....

became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house.

"Our Song", her third single, made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the Hot Country Songs chart.

She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest ever Album of the Year winner.

Swift is known for narrative songs about her personal experiences. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Swift's other achievements include seven Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, eleven Country Music Association Awards and seven Academy of Country Music Awards.

Swift's work has received praise from veteran artists. Neil Young describes her as "a great writer": "I like Taylor Swift. I like listening to her. I kind of like watching her respond to all the attacks. I like the ways she's defining herself. So I keep my eye on it."[320][321] Stephen Stills has defended Swift's confessional writing style: "How many times do people want to make fun of [her] for writing a song about getting dumped? I'm sorry, that's what you do as a songwriter ... Wear your heart on your sleeve, then just write about it. [*****] 'em. If I was young, I would be one of Taylor Swift's conquests because I would stalk her."[322][323][324] James Taylor, who has performed with Swift on two occasions, has said that "we just hit it off. I loved her songs, and her presence on stage was so great."[163][164] Elvis Costello has remarked: "I think she is quite interesting ... You can see a degree of self-possession there, and I'm intrigued by that."[325] Judy Collins points to Swift as an example of a current star who is continuing on the lineage of being an independent-minded artist.[326] Kris Kristofferson claims that "she blows me away. It's amazing to me that someone so young is writing such great songs. She's got a great career ahead of her."[327][328] Janis Ian notes that Swift "changed the face of music, songwriting and guitar playing for girls ... There is an authenticity there."[329] Stevie Nicks believes Swift writes "songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John ... It's women like her who are going to save the music business."[121] She remarked that the younger singer's "Today Was A Fairytale" has "stayed in my heart forever. And it just reminds me of me in a lot of ways."[330] Steven Tyler of Aerosmith believes she is "beyond talented."[331] Jon Bon Jovi describes her as "the real deal in every way, shape and form. She's a writer, she's a singer, she's a beautiful girl ... Like, she's going to be around."[332] Dolly Parton is "extremely impressed with her, especially with her songwriting ... I'm real impressed with the depth of her sometimes. She's got the qualities that could last a long time."[333][334] Melissa Etheridge remarks: "I love her soul, her spirit. I think she's going to surprise people and I think she's going to be around for a long time.".[


Swift has received seven Grammy Awards, fifteen American Music Awards, eleven Country Music Association Awards, seven Academy of Country Music Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, she became the second person (and first woman) to receive the Country Music Association's Pinnacle Award.[497] In 2011, she also became the second female artist after Carrie Underwood to win back-to-back Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards for Entertainer of the Year (2011/12).In December 2011, she was awarded the prestigious Harmony Award from the Nashville Symphony Orchestra for her achievements in music across many genres.[500][501]In March 2013, Swift was named an immortal by Rolling Stone magazine.[502] "If Taylor Swift stopped producing hits right now, at 23, she could tour a killer oldies show for the rest of her life," Rolling Stone proclaimed.[503]

In 2013, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) honored Swift with its songwriter/artist of the year award. This was her sixth win, surpassing five-time winners Vince Gill and Alan Jackson.[243] In 2011 and 2014 she was named Billboard's Woman of the Year, thus becoming the first woman to win the award twice. [504]

Fearless was also the first album in history to win the American Music Award, Academy of Country Music Award, Country Music Association Award, and Grammy Award for Album of The Year in the same year making it the most awarded album in the history of country music.



Swift songs are well-written, intelligent, catchy, about real-life situations and feelings that connect with her audience - what Country songs are supposed to be. The productions are uncluttered - clean, fresh, interesting. I would be proud to have my name on any of her songs that I have heard (I am most familiar with the first 2 CDs). I strive to create productions as interesting as what she and Chapman have accomplished.

I would recommend that you actually listen to some.

"Tim McGraw"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkD20ajVxnY&list=PL12E43D243BEF14F2&index=19

"Teardrops On My Guitar"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKCek6_dB0M&list=PL12E43D243BEF14F2&index=18

"Fifteen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-K2tXWK4w&index=13&list=PL12E43D243BEF14F2

You could do worse than to strive to be this good a writer or create production as nice as these.

Nothing lamer than those who have not made it disrespecting those who have!

you guys just need to relax.....loosen whatever that's just a bit too tight..... lighten up...

for crying out loud it's one freaking review that I thought was funny simply in how "down on FGL" it was.... FGL is laughing at that review all the way to the bank in Nashville I'm sure. As for me, I'd love to be a cowriter on one or more of those songs..... so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

As far as the Swifty comment... hey...why not? again a bit of sarcasm no sour grapes as Johnx3 seems to think....

If you think Swifty is country...think again.... perhaps pop, but country? Nope..... yet country's where she got her hits, and became a force that changed country for better or worse. She was too nice to be in the pop world to start... country folk were nice to her, or at least they seemed to tolerate her a bit better......

I don't understand the need to disparage the new music. Sounds just like that old story about the fox who couldn't reach the grapes to me!

But I'm still on the floor after reading that line about Trigger: "I always thought he was a horse."

As a matter of fact, so did I (!)

QUOTE:

"This is the problem. Florida Georgia Line and their fans will read a review like this, and truly believe that jealousy and nothing else is at the heart of the criticism, and will point to their “success” as proof of this. But Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, George Strait, and so many more were wildly successful in their time too, and also faced criticism, but never to the degree of criticism Florida Georgia Line is faced with. The music of these legends withstood the test of time, while artists like Nickelback, Billy Ray Cyrus, New Kids On The Block, and MC Hammer were also wildly successful in their time, but now their music is nowhere to be seen besides as a novelty, or listened to as irony or nostalgia.

.....Their sophomore album and a song like “Dirt” was their one opportunity to change that destiny and be known for something more. But instead they super concentrated what makes them bad as either a last cash-grabbing hurrah, or as a misguided miscalculation that their polarizing nature is due to the insecurities of others instead of a true concern about substance and sustainability. Point to current attendance numbers and call the haters jealous all you want. All one has to do is point to Nickelback as an example of why this doesn’t work in the long term.

Florida Georgia Line and Anything Goes are an embarrassment to country music."




Well said.

Quote:


"Florida Georgia Line claims its fifth No. 1 on Billboard's Nielsen BDS-based Country Airplay chart, as "Dirt" steps 2-1."



http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6281695/top-soil-florida-georgia-line-leads-country-airplay-chart-with



Obviously, nobody told these Country radio listeners that this is the 'worst album in Country music...ever."



Quote:

"...as a misguided miscalculation that their polarizing nature is due to the insecurities of others instead of a true concern about substance and sustainability."


Phew! That's a mouthfull! 'Polarizing nature'?

That's some deep analysis coming from a show horse!

Probably every song recorded and released released over 60 years ago by Hank Williams has been covered by other artists. His music is still relevant today and his body of work is still being covered by other artists and not only in the genre of Country. The same can be said for other country pioneers and writers. Today's artists can only hope to link themselves to real country by mentioning the names of Johnny, Waylon, George Jones and Merle in their rap songs.

I took this music critics point to be that "Today's" best country, music recorded with the best equipment, best producers and engineers in the top studios in the world by a duo with TWO top ten hit singles, one being NUMBER ONE - and nobody will be covering their material in 60 years. Nobody will remember them or their music in 60 years. They and their music is only good for .... today...

“Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.”


― Brendan Behan

Ha! +1

Amen, and this goes for ALL styles anymore....IMHO....

I guarantee when Hank was alive (and even today) there were plenty of folks who didn't like his music and were sure his work would never amount to anything. And don't forget Hank was promoted and played on the radio so a lot of other music that was just as good or better doesn't stick quite as solidly in our memories!


Who Cares? I can honestly say if I was getting hits like Florida Georgia Line I would not give a rat's butt whether my music would still be loved or even known 60 years from now!

It all boils down to what will make the 16-20 year old set click the "Get it Now" button and pay 99¢

Give that man a cigar!

Best. Quote. Ever.