Album review: Up All Night by Kip Moore

Before I get into my review, I want to take a second and introduce the launch or whatever you want to call it off my Facebook page, which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/CountryMusicAccordingToKim. It's still very much a work in progress, right now it's just links to all of the posts I've done so far, but I'll be adding to it. Lots of pictures and things like that. So go check it out!

First albums are a tricky business. I suppose you could say that for any album an artist releases, really. I’d imagine that every album brings its own problems and difficulties as I’m sure any artist would agree with. But in my opinion, the first album is a lot like the foundation of a building. This is the one that is going to give you a glimpse what kind of artist they are going to be. Now the best artists will be constantly growing and developing their sound as their career progresses and for many that will involve venturing out into a different direction musically. But that said, that first album will always be the starting point and I think that there’s a tendency to kind of play it safe. Meaning that sometimes you listen to a debut album and get the impression that you’re listening to who the artist or label or whoever thinks the artist needs to be. Does that make any sense? In other words, it feels more generic than genuine. My favorite debut albums are the ones that don’t feel like debut albums. I don’t want who anyone thinks someone needs to be; I want to feel like we’re getting an idea of who the artist actually is.

That all said, do I think that this particular album sounds like a debut album? No, I don’t.

Do I think we got something that is more generic than genuine? No, again.

Do I feel like we’re being told who Kip Moore as opposed to him showing us who he is? And once again, I have to go with no.

Do I think this is a good album? No.

Do I think it’s a great album? Yes.

There’s been so much praise for this album and I feel that it is well deserved. If I’d listened to this without knowing it was a debut album I wouldn’t have thought it was. I feel like a lot of work went into this and I got the impression that they made it a point to make it as genuine as possible. In addition to that, I feel like we’re really getting an honest idea of who Kip Moore is. And you know what? I like him.

For starters, I just really like the grit in his voice and find him to be a very believable singer. I listen to him and almost feel like he could sing anything and I’d believe this. This is a good thing. I like the production here. There’s really not much for me to nitpick in that respect. Lots of great playing happening on this as well, all of the solos and whatnot seem to fit in very nicely and musically. I should point out that Kip wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the CD. Overall, it’s just a very solid album and I can honestly say that I like every song. I liked it the first time I listened to it and seem to like it a little more now that I’ve been listening to it for a while now. That is a wonderful sign there. This is one I would absolutely recommend.

I don’t know if all of this means that he’s making my job as a reviewer harder or easier. Off the top of my head, I really don’t have much to say in the way of criticism. This is a very solid album.

Let’s go track by track…

“Drive Me Crazy” This one was written with Keifer Thompson of Thompson Square. It’s a story about a teenage romance that eventually ends because her dad gets a job that takes their family out of town. This is a good song to start off the album with; it has a great feel and energy to it. Some great lyrics as well, “The moonlight was all around/ Our breath, the only sound”.

“Beer Money” Another one with a really nice energy to it that’s evident the second it starts. This is one that you feel right from the beginning which could possibly make it a good contender for a future single. It just kind of grabs you, or at least, it did me. The message of this story is a simple one: “You got the kiss that tastes like honey/ And I got a little beer money”. Pretty much a song about getting away from the stress of the week and blowing off some steam. I feel like this would be great live too.

“Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” More like somethin’ ‘bout a song. Or maybe it’s somethin’ ‘bout a guy, who sings a song about a truck. Or a combination of the two. This song couldn’t be more radio friendly, a large part of the appeal being that it’s just so different in terms of format. You get so used to songs being a certain way that when a song like this comes out, it’s going to grab your attention and you’re going to remember it. And what a great song for a new artist, of all people, to put out. The fact that this is doing so well doesn’t surprise me at all. And how well is it doing? Well, it’s just knocked Jason Aldean’s “Fly Over States” from the top of the Billboard country chart. Yup, for the week of June 2^nd, the #1 song belongs to Mr. Kip Moore for the very first time. Congratulations to Kip and his team!

“Everything but You” This album has such a great overall energy to it, I would’ve expected that to have dropped off by this point in the album, but it doesn’t. And I like that it doesn’t. I’d call it more of a subtle energy here, but still very much present. Lyrically, this song does a great job of setting a scene. I can picture exactly what he’s singing about and I love when songs do that. I mean, “It’s got stars that shine like diamonds on the black canvas behind ‘em/ And there’s a sun out here that seems to always shine/ And I’ve never seen water quite so blue/ It’s got everything but you”. It’s just so visual.

“Crazy One More Time” In which he finds out that a past love of his is back in town and wants them to get together and go crazy one more time. There’s a wonderful sense of urgency to this and somehow this song manages to become a little sadder to me each time. We know nothing of their history, why things ended, but he makes me feel so sorry for this guy who can’t seem to help himself from doing whatever he can to have one more night with her. His delivery is so good here; to the point that it makes me doubt if anyone else could ever do a convincing cover of it. A great overall lyric too. “And I’ll wipe a tear from my eye but you’ll never know cause/ Baby I’ll smile as I wave goodbye to you”.  I also really like the way it ends, how it feels just slightly unresolved with just a bit of tension there. Fits in with the lyric wonderfully.

“Where You Are Tonight” I kind of see this tying directly into the last song in that I can easily imagine them both being about the same relationship. I like that they are next to each other on the album, they knew what they were doing, that’s for sure. Kip Moore has a talent for making me feel bad for him, I’ll say that. In other words, he makes me feel for the character or narrator or whatever you want to call it. You find yourself caring about what this person is going through and even wanting things to work out for them. This is a quality that not everyone has and might just be his biggest strength as an artist.

“Hey Pretty Girl” In which he romances his entire female audience. That’s pretty much what’s going on here and I’m sure I’d have no problems finding women who will back me up on that. This song is just so charming, as is the video, which is just him sitting down playing the guitar and singing. That’s all it is. And you know what? It proves to be very effective. I’ve seen so many good things said about this and for good reason. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album. Some lyrical highlights, “Hey pretty girl, let’s build some dreams/ A house on a piece of land/ Plant some roots and some apple trees/ Hey pretty girl, let’s build some dreams” or “Hey pretty girl, when I see the light/ When it’s my time to go/ I’m gonna thank the Lord for a real good life/ Pretty little girl and a beautiful wife”. Yeah, this one ranks high on my aww-o-meter.

“Reckless (Still Growin’ Up)” It’s a song about a guy who is, well, reckless. I bet you didn’t that coming, did you? Yeah, he’s a reckless one and hasn’t grown up just yet and this song features several examples of his reckless behavior. Honestly, this is probably my least favorite song on the album, but I still get a kick out of it. I think this one could be really fun to see live.  And again, I really enjoy his delivery here.

“Up All Night” Well, we’ve reached the title track of the album. This is another one destined to be a good song live. I can totally imagine a crowd of people singing the chorus back to him.  It’s a feel good kind of song and I really don’t have much else to say about it. Good song. I like the ending to this one.

“Fly Again” This one gets off to an interesting start to me. I like this one because there’s something refreshingly different about it to me. It’s about a guy who is finally going to say goodbye to this girl for once and for all. There’s a nice resolve in his voice here that I like.  Another good, solid song that has a nice feel to it.

“Faith When I Fall” I love the way this starts and I can’t pinpoint exactly why that is. There’s something peaceful about it me and I like when it picks up and Kip comes in. This is easily my personal favorite out of all the songs. I just love the lyrics and the melody, the delivery, the playing, the production – this is the standout track for me by far. Some lyrics, “I know the rain is coming and it’s sure gonna pour/ I know there ain’t no running from this kind of storm/ It’s gonna get harder and harder to keep on pushing through/ I’m gonna wanna quit, so I’ll be counting on you”. Country with a little bit of soul and I love it.

Okay, now this is another album where there is a regular version and a deluxe version. I went with the deluxe, as I always try to do. The regular album closes with “Faith When I Fall”.  The following are the bonus tracks found on the deluxe.  

“Mary was the Marrying Kind” This was Kip’s first single, though I don’t think it did very well. And I kind of don’t get why it didn’t. I think that if he tried to release it again that it would do much better after the success he’s had lately. The song is good enough that it should’ve done well. But in any event, yeah, I like it. A lot, in fact. It’s basically talking about all of the girls he’s dated and for whatever reason it didn’t work out. And now that he’s gotten older, he realizes that his next door neighbor Mary was the marrying kind and wishes he’d been able to see it when he was younger. This is probably my favorite vocal of his.

“Motorcycle” In which he wants to take his girl out for a ride. On his motorcycle. I find this song to be very charming and amusing, even. The second verse in particular which starts off by him promising that he won’t crash. This is a fun one and his delivery is really what sells it for me.

“Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck (Acoustic)” I really like when artists do acoustic versions of their songs, it’s cool to hear a little different take on a song. Especially when it’s as stripped down as it is here. It’s also a good test for a song too – the best songs will still sound good when stripped down and this one holds up just fine. I really love the playing in this.