Admittedly I'm a country music junkie. Personally I love the puns. It has a certain folksy Dad quality that I love. If you don't like that kinda thing then stay far away from Brad Paisley lol
Garth, especially early Garth, is great. Not my favorite act of the 90s, but he's among the greats. The late 80s and early 90s had some great albums. Steve Earl's Guitar town in 86, Clint Black's Killin Time in 89, Brooks and Dunn Brand New Man and Reba McEntire's For My Broken Heart 91 are among my favorites from that era.
Country lends itself to singles more then albums unfortunately. That was especially true in that era.
What "Jamey Johnson terrible pun" were you thinking of when you wrote that sentence, CJ?
I haven't listened to "No Fences" since 1991. Why? Because I don't own the CD and Garth is old enough to think he's "losing money" by streaming his music. #smh
Great post, thanks! I never listened to much country, particularly at that point in my life. Growing up and living in Bermuda I just wasn’t exposed to it. I have, of course, heard of Garth Brooks but not of this album. I just gave it a listen and although it’s not something I’d expect to go back to at all, there were a few good tracks on there, particularly the opener.
Good country music comes in waves. You had the "sad country" of Hank Williams, Hank Snow . . and pickers like Bill Monroe. You had stand alone's like Johnny and (much later) Willie. Then came overproduced pablum (The Nashville Sound) for 10 years (Thank you, not, Chet Atkins). Country music was "saved" by the Bakersville Sound only to fall back to the abyss with guys like Toby Keith and other country pop performers. Basically they are Nickleback with Banjos.
The new future are guys like Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell. Having said this, Gart is straight in the cross hairs of the country pop pablum that ruined the 80's and 90's of the genre. Consider Garth "Twangy Barry Manilow". There is nothing lower (musically). As a human being he's a stand up guy and has done an awful lot to help the community. So I give him props for that. In fact he should stick to being a humanitarian.
I am a country fan (not just Willie and JC) but I don't know anything about this guy or this album. 1991 was a travel year - just me and five cassettes, Doors' greatest, comp made by a friend, etc - so I missed even hearing it in bars. I will listen to it, for sure, even the pitch was unsuccessful. I feel like there is more to the Gretchen/Penny story. One of the cassettes I bought along the way was The Waterboys' Room To Roam. It appeared in late 1990 but feels like a album of 91. A few weeks ago, in Dublin, I saw the reunited version of the band on that album at the Olympia. 10,000 kms from Sydney for a five song set at a tribute show? It was worth it! Another great post, thanks!
Admittedly I'm a country music junkie. Personally I love the puns. It has a certain folksy Dad quality that I love. If you don't like that kinda thing then stay far away from Brad Paisley lol
Garth, especially early Garth, is great. Not my favorite act of the 90s, but he's among the greats. The late 80s and early 90s had some great albums. Steve Earl's Guitar town in 86, Clint Black's Killin Time in 89, Brooks and Dunn Brand New Man and Reba McEntire's For My Broken Heart 91 are among my favorites from that era.
Country lends itself to singles more then albums unfortunately. That was especially true in that era.
Just wait a minute. Wait. A. Minute.
What "Jamey Johnson terrible pun" were you thinking of when you wrote that sentence, CJ?
I haven't listened to "No Fences" since 1991. Why? Because I don't own the CD and Garth is old enough to think he's "losing money" by streaming his music. #smh
Great post, thanks! I never listened to much country, particularly at that point in my life. Growing up and living in Bermuda I just wasn’t exposed to it. I have, of course, heard of Garth Brooks but not of this album. I just gave it a listen and although it’s not something I’d expect to go back to at all, there were a few good tracks on there, particularly the opener.
Good country music comes in waves. You had the "sad country" of Hank Williams, Hank Snow . . and pickers like Bill Monroe. You had stand alone's like Johnny and (much later) Willie. Then came overproduced pablum (The Nashville Sound) for 10 years (Thank you, not, Chet Atkins). Country music was "saved" by the Bakersville Sound only to fall back to the abyss with guys like Toby Keith and other country pop performers. Basically they are Nickleback with Banjos.
The new future are guys like Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell. Having said this, Gart is straight in the cross hairs of the country pop pablum that ruined the 80's and 90's of the genre. Consider Garth "Twangy Barry Manilow". There is nothing lower (musically). As a human being he's a stand up guy and has done an awful lot to help the community. So I give him props for that. In fact he should stick to being a humanitarian.
I am a country fan (not just Willie and JC) but I don't know anything about this guy or this album. 1991 was a travel year - just me and five cassettes, Doors' greatest, comp made by a friend, etc - so I missed even hearing it in bars. I will listen to it, for sure, even the pitch was unsuccessful. I feel like there is more to the Gretchen/Penny story. One of the cassettes I bought along the way was The Waterboys' Room To Roam. It appeared in late 1990 but feels like a album of 91. A few weeks ago, in Dublin, I saw the reunited version of the band on that album at the Olympia. 10,000 kms from Sydney for a five song set at a tribute show? It was worth it! Another great post, thanks!