Tim McGraw released his 14th studio album entitled “Damn Country Music” on Nov. 6, much to the country culture’s anticipation.
Before I started listening to the album, I had to realize that I had never listened to anything like this before. Country is not my forte of music critique, but I dived into the Tim McGraw musical experience and was thoroughly impressed.
From the outset of the first song, “Here Tonight,” his lowly vocals and the hard-pressed bass kick make McGraw’s musicality unique from anything I’ve heard. Naturally, I listen to mostly hip-hop and soft R&B so it was unique to me to hear these kinds of notes, period. But the combination of all of the elements gave McGraw the perfect ambience for his work.
The bass-heavy interludes from the first two songs give the album a down-South, hard- nosed feel. His sensitive side comes out often in the album, and it’s a journey that you must take along with McGraw.
His vocals are mostly baritone interludes—and even monotone at times—under the instruments. I wish I could hear his vocal range a bit more, but it plays well into the overall feel of the record. Every song has its own message, but it sometimes can be hidden behind the great quality of the melodies.
Those melodies are hiding his central message—love—from the album, especially in his song “Love Runs.” He sings about the many nuances of love and the intricacies of it.
“Then love runs through your veins like the wax of a candle flame, the first time that she says your name and you just come undone,” he sings in “Love Runs.”
His drum set is varied in its elements, in each and every song. Sometimes, it uses brushes such as in “How I’ll Always Be,” or it uses heavy kick on songs such as “Losin’ You.”
My personal favorite is “Want You Back,” in which he sings about the memories of his past companion. His resentment and compassion flow through his lyrics, making the mood of the song a great one to understand his feelings. The guitar solo also adds a great feel to the moment.
Love is a tricky element and feeling, according to McGraw’s lyrics. It cannot be classified or clarified by anything. One of the disappointing facets of this album is most of the tracks sound the same or share a similar message. McGraw is sad or disappointed in love, and he hopes to find a solution to his intimacy problems.
In all, I enjoyed the album for its musicality and the instrument variation. I wish that he would have shown more variety in his music and that he would have different varying tempos in his music. The album dragged along at some points when his message was the same going across for many songs at a time.
McGraw gained a fan with this project.
