![]() Trigger put it best, “About To Get Real is Easton Corbin going fake, no matter how much steel guitar you slather on the chest wound he leaves in the trunk of his core listeners. About To Get Real was a letdown, and one from an artist we were hoping may be able to help lead country music out of the abyss instead of following country music into it.Įxactly! I’ve always said that about him, “This dude has a little George Strait in his voice and style.”īut this album is exactly what I feared. But unfortunately it’s not enough to redeem these songs. And give him credit for attempting to stick as close to his roots as he could sonically with this record. Even though Florida Georgia Line is worse overall, at least they don’t know any better.Īgain, let’s not oversell Easton Corbin’s contributions before About To Get Real, but at least he was a symbol of pragmatism in country music-someone traditionalists and contemporaries could both nod their head to in approval. What is going on here? Does Easton really believe he’s going to reach a bigger audience with this pablum? Even though Tim McGraw had some worse singles, he put out a better album. It’s like a classic early 90’s hit, and it’s a shame songs like this get put as the last on a track list, and will never be released as singles.īut there’s also songs like “Guys and Girls,” “Diggin’ On You,” and the ridiculous “Just Add Water” that make you hang your head in “used to be an Easton Corbin fan” shame. It has a new school approach, but it hits on a little something. “Are You With Me” wasn’t terrible either. Written by Ronnie Dunn and Terry McBride, it’s one of the album’s redeeming moments. “Wild Women and Whiskey,” despite hitting on the same tired Bro-Country themes the rest of the album does, is refreshingly organic in the instrumentation, and classic in the approach. Is it true that this album is better than what we’re used to from most of mainstream country’s male entertainers? Yes it is. That makes it a measure worse.īut About To Get Real is not all bad news. I could almost forgive Easton his trespasses against country music if he’d just fess up to them instead of trying to hide behind the “real” moniker. Like the music of my heroes, it’s the real deal.” Trust me folks, when someone has to tell you how real something is, that’s a sure sign that it’s probably fake. It’s Easton Corbin turning in his pearl snaps and T-shirts for a metro tie.Ĭorbin himself says, “Even though the music mixes the modern with the classic, it’s entirely real. It’s also about as laundry list and “Bro” as it gets. About To Get Real evidences the modern resignation to rhythm at the expense of lyric and melody, and does so through unfortunate dalliances with electronically-generated sounds. There’s also Easton giving Florida Georgia Line a run for their money for the amount of times he says “girl.” There’s also a song called “Yup” (and yup, it’s bad). Yes there’s steel guitar, and a twang to his voice. That’s 2015 for you.Ībout To Get Real is Easton Corbin going fake, no matter how much steel guitar you slather on the chest wound he leaves in the trunk of his core listeners. But I never thought I’d hear Easton Corbin mentioning Fireball Whiskey in a song, or replacing hi-hat cymbal hits for electronic hand claps. It’s not that About To Get Real is super terrible or without its good moments. And it’s only fair to consider an artist by measuring them against their peers and the time period they’re in. He was just really good for the mainstream. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that Easton Corbin was never that exceptional. Virtually nobody has been spared a bite from the “commercial relevancy” bug, and you can now add Easton Corbin to the list of the infected. Where Bro-Country was at least compartmentalized, in 2015 it is sell out or shut up and go home. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that people weren’t yelling that the sky was falling when John Denver was winning the CMA Entertainer of the Year, or Juice Newton was topping the country charts.īut 2015 has been especially sinister in how it has turned the knife in the heart of steadfast country fans by making turncoats out of what used to be the last vestiges of substance and country roots in the mainstream. It is the ever-present conceit of the living to believe that the present times are the worst there’s ever been, and country music is no exception. Operating a site called “Saving Country Music” for the last eight years, I’ve learned the patient art of losing every single day with grace.
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