After failing to truly get off the ground with any of his previous three singles - "I'm to Blame" doing the best, barely scraping out a top-20 peak - Kip Moore has released his best effort to-date to radio, with the radio-friendly ballad "Running For You".

On an album full of arena-rock anthems, "Running For You" is a change of pace on the project, displaying a more tender, emotional side of Moore. With it's light, relatively-country production, Kip is able to take total control of the song and perfectly display his superb voice. There are few artists who are able to throw themselves into a lyric like Moore, and that is on full display on this record.

Lyrically, "Running For You" is a masterpiece, with it's heart-felt and relatable sentiment of "we may be finished, but I'll be here if you need be" that is a refreshing change of pace on mainstream country radio. It's both parts heartbreaking and uplifting, a blend that is seldom heard in country music, and is done to perfection here. All that said, what "Running For You" most has going for it, is it's melody. Perfectly structured and undeniably accessible, it is near perfection, and is what makes the record one that country radio - in theory - should have no problems spinning.

Kip Moore gets better and better with each single release it seems, and this one is no exception. "Running For You" is the whole package, and arguably the best thing you'll hear on mainstream radio all year.

Grade: A+
Listen: "Running For You"

By Markus Meyer
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After seeing the excellent "Withdrawals" under-perform early at radio, Columbia Records decided to pull the intense tune, after peaking at #52 on the Airplay chart and #47 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and replace with "Better in Boots", a song that recently impacted radio.

"Better in Boots" is a song about a hot woman looking better when she wears boots, and that nothing else has ever looked better in boots. That is literally it. There is nothing left to say. It's an unoriginal song that is well below Farr's proven talent level lyrically, while the production is grating, the melody's bland, and Farr appears to be on auto-pilot for the entire duration of the track.

Suffer in Peace was a very strong album that not only showcased Farr's talent as a performer, but also his willingness to grow as an artist. There were several other, accessible, unoffensive songs that could have come in and done extremely well in the current radio-climate, but also boasted a decent amount of substance. "Poor Boy" soars with its guitar hooks and vivid lyrics, "Criminal" isn't groundbreaking lyrically but showcases some interesting technical choices, and "I Don't Even Want This Beer" is a well-written breakup song with a big, catchy chorus. All would have been more substantial choices, and wouldn't cost Farr any momentum.

Tyler Farr has a lot of upside as an artist, and I commend the label's choice to pull "Withdrawals", as I'm personally sick of marathon chart runs and wish more labels would pull obviously struggling songs early. But if they're going to pull songs in favor of pandering, uninteresting records? No thanks.

Grade: D-
Listen: "Better in Boots"

By Markus Meyer