Jason Aldean's latest studio album, They Don't Know, highlighted many of his greatest strengths as an artist, including melancholic performances and a nuanced emotional viewpoint. However, his most recent single, the title track, fails to capture many of those qualities, and instead relies on many of Aldean's worst habits.

While hardly a terrible record, "They Don't Know" is reliant on cliches and a formulaic structure that is reminiscent of his past work, and none of his better efforts at that. The guitar work lacks depth or nuance, while the lyrical content fails to rise above the blue collar pandering that was all the rage in the early 2010s. Aldean, who demonstrated a certain level of emotion on stellar tracks such as "Fly Over States" and "Amarillo Sky", doesn't deliver with even a subtle level of emotional intricacy. 

The track isn't particularly offensive, as the melody is relatively strong and Aldean is fairly technically proficient over the course of the record. It certainly doesn't reach the bottom of the barrel in ways that efforts such as "1994" did, but provokes an indifferent reaction more than anything. On an album with its share of strong recordings, "They Don't Know" feels like settling on Aldean's behalf.

Grade: C+
Listen: "They Don't Know"

Luke Bryan has long been criticized for failing to live up to his full potential, opting for mindless party jams over anything resembling depth. For the first five singles off his current record, Kill the Lights, one could argue this has been the truth. However, with his latest single "Fast", Bryan takes himself in a more reflective direction, with astonishing results. 

"Fast" depicts the struggles of time passing, transitioning through life's different phases and a seemingly unstoppable pace. While not an entirely complex message, it is an important one and one that is handled with more than enough proficiency here. The song's message is one that nearly everyone can relate to, and one we must all hold close to our heart. Where "Fast" thrives is not only in its lyricism, however. The production, while leaning in a pop-country direction, remains relatively rooted within country territory. The melody and hook are among Bryan's best work, while the melancholic atmosphere works to enhance the on-paper songwriting.

Bryan's own performance, from a technical and performance standpoint, easily ranks among his best work, adding a depth of realism to an already universal message. On all counts, "Fast" is one of the finest efforts that mainstream country has offered up of late, and a career highlight for Bryan, who continually shoots well below his potential as an A-lister. More of this, please.

Grade: A
Listen: "Fast"

Author: Markus Meyer

After our Worst of List, let's take a much more positive look at some music we loved this year, courtesy of, once again, myself (Markus), as well as Chris Baggs and an anonymous writer. Enjoy everybody!
​

#19 
Brandy Clark, "Love Can Go To Hell"

I quite enjoy the more liquid, breezy tones of this song, and as always, Brandy's penmanship is always an asset. A far cry from the more stripped down acoustic leanings of her last offering, 12 Stories, sure, but this is a true example of artistical evolution from one of the brightest stars in the genre right now. - Anonymous

#16
Cam, "Mayday"

The follow-up to the mega-hit "Burning House", "Mayday" might just be an improvement on the universaly acclaimed breakout. With an intricate vocal backed by a mostly-acoustic production and clever-yet-emotional lyrical content, it's near perfection coming from one of country's brightest young stars. - Markus Meyer

#14
Billy Currington, "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To"

Has Billy Currington ever sounded better? I'm not sure he has. Currington puts in blisteringly confident performance over a wonderfully melancholic lyric and a stomping production. The melody is the cherry on top of this well deserved #1 hit. - MM

#13
Artists of Then, Now, & Forever, "Forever Country"

What could have been a jumbled mess was my personal highlight of the year. A startlingly good collaboration between multiple generations, blended by a seamless modern-yet-traditional production. It's a beautiful tribute to the genre we all love, and an absolutely unforgettable record. - MM 

#12 
RaeLynn, "Love Triangle"

Colour me surprised. At the start of the year, I would have never predicted that RaeLynn, of the dreadful "God Made Girls", would be near the top in terms of 2016's best moments. An absolutely stunning lyric is propped up by a killer melody, solid production, and a strong vocal (relative to RaeLynn standards) make this a dynamite single. - MM

#10
Cody Jinks, "I'm Not the Devil"

One of the year's best-written songs, sung by one of the genre's better performers. Traditional country with a bit of an edge, and one of the highlights off of country music's best albums this year. - MM

#5
Alan Jackson, "The One You're Waitin' On"

A simple ballad turned into a stunning record by a masterful performance from Alan Jackson. The production and melody are as good as anything these days, while the lyrics are toned down but effective. In his commercial prime, this could have been a classic, and honestly, it should have been today. - MM

#3 
Tim McGraw, "Humble and Kind"

A stunning display of the power of simplicity. It's a song that says simply to be kind, and yet it turned out to be one of 2016's most touching moment. McGraw turns in a stellar performance of the universal-message turned mega-smash, making the Lori McKenna written tune one of the most memorable records of the past several years. - MM

Welcome to the first of This Is Country Music's year-end installments! In our first set, we look at the 20 worst radio singles of 2016. The list was tabulated from a points sytem, taking into account rankings from myself (Markus), as well as an anonymous user and Chris Baggs (chart guru and 91.3 podcast host). Enjoy, and stay tuned for our best-of list coming tomorrow!

#19 
Jason Aldean, "Lights Come On"

Normally I'd just write this off as another boring, overproduced Jason Aldean rocker. For God's sake though, this is seriosuly what you're giving us seven albums into your career? This song is proof that Jason Aldean is one of the worst artists out there when it comes to artistical evolution, and that line about him and his boys blowing things up really helps to establish this song's placement on this list. - Anonymous

#18
Granger Smith, "If The Boot Fits"

Honestly, this is more boring than outright atrocious, but still, can the production on this track be anymore lifeless? Even Granger doesn't sound like he cares, so why should we? The lyrics follow the typical checklist template that sound even more dated in 2016 as they did in 2014. - A

#17
Brett Eldredge, "Drunk On Your Love"

We overuse the phrase, “a nine-year could have wrote this”…but if I can’t use that phrase here, then when can I?
“I woke uh-uh-up
Still druh-uh-unk
On your luh-uh-ove, on your luh-uh-ove
Now I know why-eye-eye
I'm feeling so high-igh-igh" - CB

#15
Jake Owen ft. Chris Stapleton, "If He Ain't Gonna Love You"

This is honestly just......weird. I mean as a psychadelic rock song, I suppose it's alright albeit nothing special. However, considering this was released to country radio, it really doesn't work. The narrator's tone is way too arrogant, and honestly, do I really need to say how much Chris overpowers Jake here? The Stapleton add on might have been to help this song blow up, but it's really done the opposite, collecting very few sales thus far as well as a long, slow chart run for Jake. Maybe it wasn't the best option? -A

#14
Chris Lane, "For Her"

Holy falsetto Batman! This song has the trademarks of some of Joey Moi's worst production here (that's saying something too), and the lyrics are compiled of nothing but cliches, making this song nothing more than just something to fill time on the radio, something I'd say about every track of Chris Lane's thus far. - A

#13
Dierks Bentley, "Somewhere On a Beach"

This so, so beneath Dierks Bentley. One of the immature and arrogant records of the year, complete with a bland production and grating melody. There are some semblances of a good idea here, but it's execution is beyond poor. Perhaps the year's most dissapointing single. - Markus Meyer

#12
Brantley Gilbert, "The Weekend"

Brantley Gilbert at his worst. Re-hashed party lyrics that sound like they were passed over in 2013, obnxoxious production recalling "Kick It In the Sticks", and almost unbearable vocal performance. Literally nothing about this song is good. Gilbert can be one of the genre's best... But not when he's releasing this kind of effort. - MM

#10
Chase Rice, "Whisper"

Why hear it from me when Chase Rice himself can tell you that this sucks? 

Lol at that #56 peak too. - A

#9
Dustin Lynch, "Seein' Red"

A completely phoned-in, non-country piece of processed dreck. There is not one redeemable aspect of this song, and is further evidence that Dustin Lynch is fully content with redoing the same song, with a less country arrangement, time and time and time again. - MM

#8
Chris Lane, "Fix"

A weak metaphor backed by an even worse production style. At it's best, it's cluttered pop, and in no way, shape, or form should this record be considered country music. Chris Lane has talent, but he should either use it for country music, or make his way to the exit. - MM

#7
Jana Kramer, "Said No One Ever"

Jana Kramer has been most succesful commercially, and in terms of quality, when she records reflective and interesting songs, backed by an intimate country arrangement (see: "I Got the Boy"). Why she released a song as obnoxious and honestly, pointless, as this one, I will never know. A dreadful hook, terrible vocal, and grating production don't help matters. - MM

#5
Steven Tyler, "Red, White and You"

This song makes me more sad than anything. It's baffling that a man of his age and musical ability would feel the need to record a Chase Rice ripoff of the lowest degree. This just... Depresses me. "Free fallin' into your yum yum"? Um... No. Lyrics aside, the production and vocals are almost equally as bad. It's a rather unfortunate moment in country music history.  - MM

#4
The Band Perry, "Comeback Kid"

I’m slightly disappointed I only get two paragraphs to reflect on this one. I truly though The Band Perry couldn’t possibly release a single to Country radio worse than “Live Forever”…oops. At best, this song is bizarre. For those who don’t know, the lyrics are a direct shot at the backlash the band received from “Live Forever” and the shelved cross-over album, Heart + Beat.
“How dare you forget where I started out…uh oh, uh oh”
That’s a reference to the band’s #1 single from 2010, “If I Die Young.” 
“I believe it’s been a year, the worst one I’ve ever lived.”
It was exactly one year from the release of “Live Forever” to “Comeback Kid”.
I could go on because the entire song is a gigantic “F You” to anyone who disliked the band’s musical direction in 2015. The truth is nobody enjoys kicking you when you’re down. They express opinions over what they deem bad music. Every. Single. Artist. Is. Open. To. It. The way this band treated “Live Forever’s” chart bomb and the exiting from Big Machine Label Group couldn’t have gone any more childish (included deleted their tweets/Twitter account and removing “Live Forever” from YouTube for a short period of time). This was my vote for worst song of 2016. - CB

#2
Luke Bryan, "Move"

Okay, so imagine "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)". Okay, now imagine it's worse, and not fun. You get "Move". It takes itself way too seriously for a song about a girl moving her body, and even it didn't it would still suck. Ir's about as irritating and slam-the-P2-button-as-fast-as-you-can worthy as anything this year. It might just be Luke Bryan's worst moment. - MM

#1 
Thomas Rhett, "Vacation"

Country music really was on an upswing this year. Hell, I don't even dislike some songs on this list! However, this song may be the absolute worst song ever released not just to country radio, but music in general. Yeah, it's catchy, but that doesn't make up for the absolutely atrocious lyrical content as well as Thomas Rhett's nasally vocal tone. Plus it took sixteen fucking songwriters to pen this shit. Granted, some of them didn't actually help write it so much as just give Thomas "inspiration" for the melody, but still, there's no excuse for this song. Even Chevy Chase doesn't want to go on this vacation. - A

From all of us here at This Is Country Music, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! 

We have some awesome new year-end content coming to you before the new year, so stay tuned! Thank you to everybody for your support over the past year, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families!

- Markus Meyer

After failing to make any sort of significant commercial impact with his last radio attempt, the uptempo "Drinkin' Town With a Football Problem", Billy Currington is back in the upper echelons of the airplay chart with the melancholic "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To". When on his game, the 42-year-old hitmaker is among mainstream country's finest, and this is most certainly one of those moments.

Unlike many of his recent hits, which rely on somewhat fluffy lyrics and pleasant-if-forgettable productions, "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To" shines in it's strong narrative and even better backing track. The track depicts the story of a man who, slowly but surely, is getting over a past love, and while he won't declare victory over the pain, concedes that it is indeed getting better with time. He moves on with his life, getting married, and crafting a new path, but admittedly isn't fully over his past love just yet. In a musical society that relies heavily on either a 'tear in your beer' or a 'ha, you are so gonna miss me' mentality, finding one that takes the best of both worlds is a refreshing change of pace.

The production, meanwhile, is admirable. The strong percussion and bouncy guitars add a layer of intensity to an already strong lyric, and while it takes a back seat to the vocal throughout the verses, explodes into an anthemic chorus built for heavy repetition. Currington is, as usual, on his game from a purely technical standpoint, while seamlessly blending the line between frustration and relief through his interpretive performance. What truly makes Currington's latest hit shine, however, is its melody. The record is a textbook ear worm that makes it easy to reach for the repeat button, only helping the song's case for entry in to heavy airplay rotation. 

"It Don't Hurt Liked It Used To" fires on all cylinders, checking off every box from the vocals, to the melody, to the performance. A veteran relative to his peers, Currington has found a song that is not only developing into a commercial blockbuster, but also a definite standout among the class of 2016. Who knows what we'll get next from the often hit-or-miss Currington, but one thing's for certain, and that's that this one is a homerun.

Grade: A
Listen: "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To"

For this review, we're bringing back our former writer Louis Knoebel as a contributor for our first ever roundtable review! Both myself (Markus) and Louis will write a short review with a letter grade. We hope you enjoy!


Markus Meyer

This is one of those singles that just works. Yes, the lyrics are basic. Yes, there's some semi-rapping/spoken word stuff going on here. Yes, the production isn't fully country. But it just works. It has an 'it' factor about it, and "American Country Love Song" has a lot going for itself. The melody is (particularly throughout the course) is as strong as you'll find on a mainstream country single. The production, despite being a little overbearing in the chorus, has some edge and some flash to it and is, overall, fairly enjoyable despite failing to utilize any traditional country elements. What really makes the record, is Owen's natural charisma, which is on full display here. Unlike "Beachin'" (Owen's last major hit), where he comes across as a cheerful beach fanatic but does so in an obnoxious matter, he sounds fully convincing and full of energy. 

The lyrics are by far the weak point here, as they fail to go beyond a list style description of a small town summer, though they come across as above-average relative to other summer love anthems (hardly a high bar to scale, albeit). Overall, this won't break ground, it won't top any year-end lists, and won't take home any songwriting hardware, but for what it is, a catchy, likable summertime tune, it works. Guilty pleasure? Perhaps, but as far as shallow, anthemic earworms go, this one more than satisfies.

Grade: B

Louis Knoebel

Hey Markus! (And all of you TICM readers!) It's good to be back. You know, it doesn't seem like two people can have a reasonable discussion about things they disagree with these days. I think it's easier to be more open to the other side than we think, which is why Markus picked a song we disagreed on to discuss today. It's not really meant to be a debate per se, just a way of two people seeing each other's opinion and respecting it. 

I can sort of understand all of your points Markus. As somebody who thinks that Jake Owen is one of the few artists that can pull off a "bro" summery sound, I want to like a song like "American Country Love Song". I don't know if Sam Hunt actually started the whole trend of talking while singing, but it sure as heck is more noticeable these days. I can honestly barely get through the verses because of this. I do agree that it kicks up a notch in terms of melody when it gets to the chorus. Being a summer song, I'm not going to be as hard on the lyrics here as I probably should be, but even still it's just way too generic for my personal tastes. There's a way to make these sort of songs work, and even Owen's natural charisma seems to be missing here for me. 

Even still, I've always like Jake, and I think that he could pulling an ol' "Dierks Bentley" on us. What I mean by this is that Jake could potentially just be sending out this song to appease radio (because let's face it, "Real Life" did him no favors). Maybe he's setting up to send more substance to radio. We're slowly getting more of it (even if the songs that have it aren't usually the ones that do well). I could totally be wrong but who knows. Still, as much as I've criticized this song it's not the worst thing out there. It's just not Jake's best work. I totally see the appeal in this song, I just wish it appealed to me. 

Grade: C-

Selected as the latest On the Verge pick, Tucker Beathard has gotten a major kickstart for his debut single, "Rock On". As it stands right now, the single appears to be trudging its way through the clogged 20's of the airplay chart, and isn't selling particularly well. It may not be the breakout smash Tucker was hoping for, but in terms of quality, how does "Rock On" do? Well... It does OK.

Now, first of all, this is not an amazing record. It has flaws, and some major ones at that. The one that stands in particular is Beathard's vocals which are, to put it lightly, rough around the edges, particularly when he has to shout over the bombastic production, which leads me into my next point. The production during the chorus is loud. It's bombastic, it's over-the-top, and it's obnoxious. It doesn't work, and really drags down the single.

Of course, "Rock On" does have it's good points. The melody is fairly strong, and relatively engaging. The lyricism is strong, specifically the title hook, as it hits the melancholic sweet spot between regret and moving on. It's rather well-written, which is a pleasant surprise from a new, male artist. Additionally, as rough as the technical vocal abilities are on this track, the performance is wholly believable, and Beathard actually does a superb job in selling the story.

"Rock On" is a very up-and-down listening experience, but one that doesn't spark anger or hatred in any way. Is it a masterpiece, or a career-defining single? No, far from it, but it's hardly the worst we've seen. At its worst, "Rock On" can be described as aggressively mediocre, but at bets is nothing more than listenable radio-fluff. There's been worse, but there's certainly been better as well.

Grade: C+
Listen: "Rock On"

Among a semi-revolution in terms of breaking out new female performers, Maren Morris' "My Church" has become a huge success, doing well digitally while currently placing in the top-10 on the country airplay chart. Unlike fellow newcomer Kelsea Ballerini, however, Morris has seen a breakthrough with an interesting, substantial record that pushes boundaries at country radio.

"My Church" is a bit of a bad-ass anthem with enough self-awareness to not reach the almost self-parody that bad girl rompers from Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood (see: "Somethin' Bad") have. It has more depth and nuance to the lyrical construction, with the premise being the importance that music - specifically country music - has had on her life. From a songwriting persepctive, "My Church" smartly draws the line between edgy and reflective, making it a most interesting listen.

From a sonic standpoint, the record mostly succeeds. With a mix of acoustic and electric instrumentation, as well as handclap percussion, "My Church" is a diverse mixture of sounds that makes for a strong arrangement, and mixed with Morris' strong technical and interpretive performance, is most certainly a compelling listen.

The two minor knocks on "My Church" would be that the melody can feel a bit clunky at times - especially after repeat listens - while Morris borders on shouting by the end of the chorus. While neither are enough to dock major points, they do prevent this from being an elite-level recording.

There's easily more than enough good here, however, to say that "My Church" is a definite bright spot at country radio, and that it's success is a massive victory for the genre. If this one's just the start, Maren Morris will definitely be an act to watch going forward.

Grade: B+ 
Listen: "My Church"

Tim McGraw is on a bit of a roll right now. With the exception of lead single "Top Of the World" (which was more pleasantly bland than outright terrible), his past several singles have ranged from very strong ("Shotgun Rider") to flat-out brilliant ("Diamond Rings and Old Bar Stools"). His new single, "Humble and Kind", is no doubt one for the positive category, and is an absolute homerun of a single.

It's a simple yet elegant composition which finds the narrator passing off everyday advice such "don't steal, don't cheat and don't lie" and "hold the door, say please, say thank you", while also delving a bit deeper (with lines such as "I love you ain't no pick-up line"). It all seems so obvious, and yet sometimes, we all have the tendency to get caught up in success. Sometimes we all need a reminder to go back to our roots, and remember what it was that got us to that point, and "Humble and Kind" does a brilliant job in portraying that message.

In addition to the strong lyrical content, McGraw puts in a typically sincere and heartfelt performance, while the melody is superbly constructed. Despite all this, one thing holds the record back from reaching "instant classic" status, and that's the production. While mostly country and never really overbearing, McGraw's vocals, in spots, are especially processed, which gets in the way of the overall sincerity and realness of the song. 

That one misstep aside, "Humble and Kind" should easily be in contention for a high placement on year-end lists, and is yet another brilliant track in what has become quite the hot-streak for Tim McGraw. A single that deserves to be a hit, and comes highly recommended.

Grade: A-
Listen: "Humble and Kind"