billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - december 22, 2018 (VIDEO)

Hmm, this was a tough listen - a lot of copyright nonsense to bulldoze through, but I think we're otherwise good here. 

Next up... hmm, this is a bit late, but might as well get to it - stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - december 22, 2018

See, this is the sort of week that could've been far, far worse if I didn't implement album bomb rules. As I've mentioned before, I had vetoed XXXTENTACION's posthumous album from my schedule because I refuse to dignify what his money-grubbing label did through its release, but it came with the acknowledgement that at least some of it would wind up on the Hot 100. But given that we have eight new entries, might as well give the album bomb rules from last week another spin and only talk about best/worst entries and anything that winds up in the top 40... which winds up making this list a lot more manageable, which is the holiday boost I can definitely use!

video review: 'seasons change' by scotty mccreery

And I'm happy I got to knock this off my list, you'll definitely enjoy it too!

Next up... not nearly as enjoyable, so stay tuned?

album review: 'seasons change' by scotty mccreery

So here's the ugly truth about not being an a-lister in mainstream country: you have no room for error. It doesn't matter if you have one bad song that strikes in the middle of a trend that would otherwise be excused, if that flops then your career is pretty much toast. A-listers in country... well, depending on their clout they've got a little more wiggle room, especially if they manage to correct their course and deliver another hit. But even if you have a grassroots following, if you're not a major star in an already oversaturated market, a flop single likely will consign you to the dustbin of history.

And for the longest time, that's what everyone thought happened to Scotty McCreery - coming off of American Idol his major label debut moved over a million copies, and while his follow-up See You Tonight in 2013 was hedging his bets in the tide of bro-country, it still moved a lot of units... and on one of its deep cuts produced one of the best songs of the decade. Yeah, in case you're wondering why I'm bothering to cover this, 'Feel Good Summer Song' is the reason, a tremendously emotive and borderline subversive song that basically ripped the guts out of bro-country three years early! Why nobody bothered to release this as a single... well, if you take a look at Mercury Nashville's criminal failure to market any of their good artists worth a damn, I'm going to blame them. I'm also inclined to blame them for 'Southern Belle', that flop single that Scotty McCreery released in 2015 and for intents and purposes effectively killed his career, which led to him leaving the label and signing to Triple Tigers, a new country label built as a partnership between acclaimed indie distributors Thirty Tigers and Sony. And in comparison to his last effort, this looked to be a much more neotraditional affair, bolstered by the release of the pretty damn good 'Five More Minutes' and a much more streamlined production team. McCreery had writing credits on every song, he looked to be more in his comfort zone, and with 'Five More Minutes' suddenly becoming a hit, I had a fair amount going into this... so is Seasons Change the comeback story we've all been waiting for?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - december 23, 2017 (VIDEO)

So yeah, this was actually a pretty decent week. What will come next... I'm honestly not sure, will need to check the schedule - so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - december 23, 2017

This is one of those weeks where I'm not really sure how to evaluate things, where I had a big prediction that came true faster than I could have predicted, and the rest that... didn't, because this turned out to be a slightly busier week than I predicted, partially triggered by the mass return of Christmas music - most of which I've already talked about in detail a while ago, so hopefully this'll be pretty short?

the top 50 best songs of 2013 (PART TWO: 25-1)

Whew, that takes care of that.

Last one is the long-awaited albums of the year - stay tuned!

the top 50 best songs of 2013

Some of you are probably scratching your heads with confusion at the title of this list and wondering, 'Wait, didn't he already make this exact same list a few days ago?' Well, this list is significantly different than the last one, mostly because we're no longer talking about the hits. No, these are the songs, singles or otherwise, that appeared on the albums I listened through this year and stuck with me. They aren't the hits - most of you might not recognize the songs I mention, but all of them bear the highest of my personal recommendations. That's right, from the 135 albums I reviewed this year, these were my favourite songs. I'm not segregating them by genre or success - singles or deep cuts all have a chance to make this list, which was initially reduced from thousands down to 436, which was then narrowed down to fifty. And believe me, even with that I had to make some painful cuts, and what is on this list will surprise you. So, without any more delay, here are my Top 50 Songs of 2013! Let's get started!

video review: 'see you tonight' by scotty mccreery

I'm still kind of amazed I liked this album as much as I did, but I'm not going to deny quality when I hear it.

Next album... well, I'm really not sure, to be honest. I've got a bit of time before the major releases come smashing in, so I might cover some of my backlog. Stay tuned!

album review: 'see you tonight' by scotty mccreery

We return, yet again, to the ongoing split in country music.

Now, it's important to consider that despite the conflicts between established artists, one also needs to be aware of new blood entering the country music industry. These artists, providing they gain a foothold or some popularity, are the ones that will be responsible for propagating trends or drawing in the next generation. And arguably, those on the side of traditional and neotraditional country music should be concerned more than most, because it's not in the nature of people my age going into music to hold onto the past. They want to tread new ground, they're not always aware of the history, and since they likely grew up with country music with a pop twist, they'll be more inclined to drift towards crossover material.

At least, that was what I thought before I heard about Scotty McCreery. For those of you who don't own a TV and/or have no idea who this guy is, Scotty McCreery rose to prominence when he won American Idol's tenth season, which I didn't watch. What proved interesting, however, were his song choices throughout that season - a big chunk of them were neotraditional country music from guys like Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson. And when he dropped his debut album...

Well, it wasn't very good. But then again, that doesn't surprise me - the music was a little too sterile and saccharine and Scotty's naivete was probably not the element that should have been pushed front and center. And it also came courtesy of the American Idol songwriting factory, and even Kelly Clarkson got afflicted with that load of boring dross when she put out her first album. But after a Christmas album, Scotty McCreery started to have more writing credits on his songs and in such material appeared to express some distaste for the truck-driving, beer-drinking brand of bro-country that's currently popular now. But while this definitely intrigued me, it didn't entirely surprise - despite a surprisingly deep and mature sounding voice that threw me off-guard, McCreery seems like the last sort of guy who could credibly perform swaggering macho bro-country. So with that in mind, I took a look at his newest album See You Tonight - how did it turn out?