Song Review: Eighteen Inches by Lauren Alaina

I'm going to start off this review by saying something that could very well make Lauren Alaina fans want to throw virtual tomatoes at me, so I'm going to ask that you all stay with me and keep on reading until the end. Because in order to fully appreciate this review, you should know where I'm coming from. I've always said I want to be honest and so I'm going to admit that they jury has been out on Lauren Alaina for me. I can't quite pinpoint what it is, but I just haven't known what to make of her.

It's not her voice. I've always thought she had a very good voice and it seems to get better all the time. I've watched various clips of her from the My Kinda Party tour, particularly of her singing "Don't You Want To Stay" with Jason Aldean and was impressed by how much she's grown as a singer. It seems like there's notes she's hitting a lot more easily and she seems more confident in her vocal ability. I love seeing growth, especially when it's someone I'm not sure about. It's a sign that they care about their craft and I respect that.

Is it her songs? Well I've pretty much only heard her singles, not so much the other cuts on her album. "Like My Mother Does" didn't do much for me though I thought it was still an okay song. I didn't care for "Georgia Peaches". That had less to do with Lauren and more to do with the fact that I never seem to like songs like that. I don't care who sings it; it could be my favorite singer in the world and I still wouldn't care for it. When I found out that she was releasing a new single I was very curious to see what I thought of it. I had a feeling that this song had the power to make me finally make up my mind on Lauren Alaina. 

Now in saying all that, my goal as a reviewer is to be as objective as possible. I try to judge a song on its own merit and do my best to leave my personal feelings of the artist out of it. Particularly when it's someone I'm not as sure about. I give every song a chance and that's something I wish all reviewers did. So I got this song and kept an open mind as I listened to it. And you know what? I like it. This is without question the best single she's released to date.

I'm going to wrap this up by giving my current thoughts of her as an artist, but first I want to go a little deeper and talk about why this song works for me.

"Eighteen Inches" was written by Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace and Carrie Underwood and has the potential to be Lauren's most successful single to date. The concept of the song is not new, it's a story that you've heard before and one that has become a country music staple. It's well used for a reason. Releasing a song like this can be a bit of a gamble. On one hand, it helps if it feels kind of familiar, like the musical equivalent of your favorite pair of jeans. On the other hand, you run the risk of it getting lost in the shuffle if there's not something different about it or if there isn't anything about it that makes it stand out. There's a certain kind of balance there that has to be reached for the song to work.

So did they reach said balance? I'd say so. The story may be a typical one, but the whole eighteen inches concept is pretty unique. I've heard a lot of songs in this vein, but it's never been put quite like this before. I like the ways they incorporate the eighteen inches into the story, first in the chorus "When you're young and in love, yeah/ You might do some things that don't seem all that smart/ 'Cause there ain't no greater distance/ Than the eighteen inches from your head to your heart". The first time I listened to this I was thinking something along the lines of, well, okay that's interesting. But what really sold me on this song was this part, "She wakes him up at three-thirty in the morning/ Ready or not their new life's gonna start/ Seven pounds and eighteen inches/ The doctor lays that new baby's head right on her heart". It introduces an idea and then finds a way to make it mean something else and I really like when songs do that. And then ending with "But thank God for those eighteen inches/ The distance it is from your head to your heart". Nice.

As far as the music itself, it fits the lyric and vocal very well. It has a good feel and energy to it. Aside from that there really isn't much that stands out to me musically, though it was nicely produced. I don't have anything bad to say about it; it works for the song, but didn't blow me away. In this case, I can let it go because it doesn't detract from the song and the delivery is what really matters. In fact, I'd say that the delivery is the most important part of a song like this.

Which brings me to Lauren's vocal - and what a solid vocal it is. I have to admit that it almost surprises me how much I enjoy it. I like the range she shows, dynamically speaking. Going from the verses and then powering into the chorus in a way that sounds very natural and not forced. Then we get to the bridge and she takes it up a notch before the softness of the last verse. She showed some very nice control there; that was a great transition and contrast. I've had "Eighteen Inches" on repeat while I've been writing this and I seem to appreciate her delivery a little more each time. It's a very strong delivery and Lauren sells the lyric very well. Particularly in that last verse.

I'm so happy that this song found its way to Lauren Alaina because it hints at what a great artist she could be. When given the right song, she can deliver in a way that's very effective. I listen to this and can't help but feel like it's about a real couple that she genuinely cares about. I consider this single to be head and shoulders above her others to date. I've had my doubts about her as a country artist, as I said my jury has been out on her, but this song is making me a believer. I can see it in a way I just couldn't before.

Lauren's been lucky in getting to be a part of the tours she's been on. First getting to go out on the My Kinda Party tour which I'd call one of the biggest tours of 2012 and now getting to do some dates with Sugarland. I really hope that Lauren has been paying close attention and studying the people she's been opening for. Especially now with Sugarland. Jennifer Nettles is such a great singer and puts so much emotion into her singing, both in terms of the vocal and the performance itself. And because of that, I feel like she's a great person for Lauren to learn from. Lauren has shown considerable growth in the past year and I'd love to see her keep growing. Especially in that area. If she can do that, if she can keep finding new ways to connect with and sell her songs, than there's no telling what she could do as an artist. "Eighteen Inches" is a nice step in that direction.