It seems like most successful artists have a certain kind of tempo or groove or feel that is so incredibly them. It's when the band and artist are just cooking and where it seems like they are the most at home. That's what it's like; a home base. If you listen to any artist enough and start paying attention, you'll start to pick up on it. For an artist like Josh Turner, his sweet spot as I'll call it, is when he does songs like "Your Man". For Keith Urban, take something like "Put You In a Song". If it's Alan Jackson, it'll be something like "Chattahoochee" and if it's Kenny Chesney it'll be in songs like "Livin' In Fast Forward". I'm not sure I'm explaining this well or not, what I'm basically saying is that there's certain songs that you just know belong to the artist in question.
Assuming this information is correct, this song was written by Neil Thrasher, Wendell Mobley and Tony Martin. Now this is another one of those songs with a general concept that's been done several times and will be done several more. A song about someone wanting to get away from the pressures and hassles of the city and head way into the country for some rest and relaxation. Though while the general concept is a tried and true one, I'm pretty sure no one has ever put it quite like this before. Just keep going and going until you start hearing banjos - then you know you've arrived where you need to be. Point for some uniqueness here. This isn't a kind of song that requires a lot of depth; it's a fun, feel good kind of song. I'd imagine that some would say that it's full of country cliches - my thoughts on that is yes, there are a few. I wouldn't consider that to be a negative here because the lyrics work. I have more issue with songs that shove in cliches because they feel like they need to and not because they fit. If it fits, go with it.
Shifting gears to the music itself, there's a freshness here. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Maybe all the musicians were just in a good place while they were playing. There's a nice energy to the music that just feels good. I really like how it opens with the banjo; nice playing there and throughout. The rest of the band really kicks in at the chorus and that's when it really starts feeling like a classic Rascal Flatts song. Good production on this - I feel like it would've been very easy for this be overproduced and I'm happy that it isn't.
Vocally speaking, Gary gives a nice vocal in "Banjo" and as always, the harmonies are great. I hear a freshness to their voices, an excitement almost. Hard to pinpoint, but I like it. Not much else to say on this front actually; they're good vocals, as usual.
Is this the greatest song they've ever done? No, but it doesn't need to be. It's an extremely solid song and was a great first single for this album. I love the freshness I mentioned and expect that to be present on their new album as a whole. They've been around for over a decade now and in that time they've grown into the artists the are today. I feel like they are where they need to be and after all this time, I love how much energy they've injected into this. It's like new life has been breathed into them and it makes me anxious to hear the rest of the album. The title track, "Changed", has just been released on iTunes and it's fantastic. I'd urge you to go download that and, of course, download "Banjo" as well. I also have to add that I love that the banjo is getting some much deserved love here. Good song.
What does all of this have to do with Rascal Flatts? Easy. "Banjo" is like that; my very first thought about this song after I heard it for the first time was that it was such a quintessential Rascal Flatts song. "Banjo" is the lead off single from their upcoming album, Changed, which will be released on April 3rd and if you ask me, it just wouldn't be a Rascal Flatts album if they didn't have a song like this.
You know what time it is, don't you? Time to go a little deeper.
Assuming this information is correct, this song was written by Neil Thrasher, Wendell Mobley and Tony Martin. Now this is another one of those songs with a general concept that's been done several times and will be done several more. A song about someone wanting to get away from the pressures and hassles of the city and head way into the country for some rest and relaxation. Though while the general concept is a tried and true one, I'm pretty sure no one has ever put it quite like this before. Just keep going and going until you start hearing banjos - then you know you've arrived where you need to be. Point for some uniqueness here. This isn't a kind of song that requires a lot of depth; it's a fun, feel good kind of song. I'd imagine that some would say that it's full of country cliches - my thoughts on that is yes, there are a few. I wouldn't consider that to be a negative here because the lyrics work. I have more issue with songs that shove in cliches because they feel like they need to and not because they fit. If it fits, go with it.
Shifting gears to the music itself, there's a freshness here. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Maybe all the musicians were just in a good place while they were playing. There's a nice energy to the music that just feels good. I really like how it opens with the banjo; nice playing there and throughout. The rest of the band really kicks in at the chorus and that's when it really starts feeling like a classic Rascal Flatts song. Good production on this - I feel like it would've been very easy for this be overproduced and I'm happy that it isn't.
Vocally speaking, Gary gives a nice vocal in "Banjo" and as always, the harmonies are great. I hear a freshness to their voices, an excitement almost. Hard to pinpoint, but I like it. Not much else to say on this front actually; they're good vocals, as usual.
Is this the greatest song they've ever done? No, but it doesn't need to be. It's an extremely solid song and was a great first single for this album. I love the freshness I mentioned and expect that to be present on their new album as a whole. They've been around for over a decade now and in that time they've grown into the artists the are today. I feel like they are where they need to be and after all this time, I love how much energy they've injected into this. It's like new life has been breathed into them and it makes me anxious to hear the rest of the album. The title track, "Changed", has just been released on iTunes and it's fantastic. I'd urge you to go download that and, of course, download "Banjo" as well. I also have to add that I love that the banjo is getting some much deserved love here. Good song.
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