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Top 20 Singles of 2014

12/23/2014

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Here it is, TICM's third annual top 20 of the year list! Yes, hard to believe this is the third time I've compiled this list, and looking back to 2012, the writing on that list was pretty embarrassing. In any case, I'd like to again thank sabre14 and zack97 for the help in contributing to this fine list. Here's to more great singles in 2015! Have a safe and happy holidays folks!
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#20
Kristian Bush, "Trailer Hitch"


It's interesting to see Kristian at the front of the mic after all these years with Sugarland. A story about how we all need to relax and enjoy what we have since someday we won't have it anyway. It is an interesting topic with a great hook to boot. - zack97

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#19
Easton Corbin, "Clockwork"

With clever lyrics, a killer vocal performance, and a contemporary sound, it's a mystery to me as to why this song failed to strike a chord with radio. Nevertheless, this song is a great reason why we need traditional leaning guys like Easton around. - zack97

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#18
Keith Urban, "Cop Car"


Sure, it's an interesting composition to begin with, and it's certainly enjoyable from a sonic standpoint, but what really makes "Cop Car" shine is Urban's vocal. When Keith Urban is on his game, he wraps his voice around the lyric and places emphasis on certain syllables to make for an intriguing listen. That's exactly what he does here, making it his best single since "I Told You So". - Markus Meyer

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#17
Joe Nichols, "Yeah"


Some might call this song "bro" with its bro-like lyrics and subject and there is something to that argument. But what this song does do that most with similar subjects don't is have superb vocals from one of the genres best male voices and clever lyrics. "Then she played me some band on her iPod. Kind of hit me kind of hippie and I thought, No. But I said yeah, yeah, yeah". The production was spot on as well and "Yeah" ended up being one of the years biggest hits. - sabre14

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#16
Chris Young, "Lonely Eyes"


While Chris Young certainly knows how to execute a neo-traditional number, he also knows how to hold his own when doing pop-country. Case in point, "Lonely Eyes". "Lonely Eyes" is a story about a bar room hookup, with vivid details painted throughout, backed by a restrained pop-tinged arrangement and a killer vocal from Young, making it one his best singles to date, and one of the best of 2014. - MM

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#15
Kacey Musgraves, "Keep It to Yourself"


This was the final release from Kacey's critically acclaimed Same Trailer, Different Park album. It was also probably the most radio friendly track on the disc but don't let that make you think this wasn't a great song. I love the production and arrangement and Kacey's vocals are easy on the ears and makes you want to hit that repeat button. - sabre14


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#14
Tim Hicks, "She Don't Drink Whiskey Anymore"


Hands down the best single from a Canadian artist in 2014. "She Don't Drink Whiskey Anymore" is an authentic, emotional song about the narrators' ex no longer feeling the pain of their breakup, and thus not drinking whiskey anymore. It's a tender mid-tempo ballad that recalls Jason Isbell at his most proficient. - MM

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#13
Dakota Bradley, "Won't Be Young Forever"


I know what most are thinking. Who the heck is Dakota Bradley and what is this song? That's because this did next to nothing on the singles charts. All you need to know about this song is the lyrics, the lyrics and more lyrics. Did I mention the great lyrics. This song is a great song to put in perspective for anybody of youth, which is don't waste it. - sabre14

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#12
Eric Paslay, "She Don't Love You"


Newcomer Eric Paslay executes this heart wrenching number with the wisdom and finesse of a seasoned veteran. "She Don't Love You" acts as a warning to the men who find themselves in a relationship with the woman in question, as she'll simply end up breaking their hearts, because she doesn't actually love them. Paslay's debut album was one of the best projects of the year, and "She Don't Love You" may have been its finest moment. 
- MM

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#11
Luke Bryan, "Roller Coaster"


Even though Luke Bryan has to me put out questionable material lately, this song is definitely not among them. "Roller Coaster" might be Luke's best effort since his debut album and paints a nostalgic picture in the listeners mind. This is the Luke I enjoy. - sabre14

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#10
Brantley Gilbert, "One Hell of an Amen"


Brantley's gritty vocal and the edgy country-rock production adds the right amount of punch to a tear jerking lyric. Simply put, the best single of 2014. Oh, and it will also probably smash due to Brantley being one of the genres fastest rising stars. Major win for country music. - MM

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#9
Jake Owen, "What We Ain't Got"


Jake said he was going to start releasing more serious music in the future and boy did he mean it. This song is a perfect example of what country music was built on and he delivers the song with arguably the best vocal performance of his career. Jake wasn't afraid to release it, and was even the one who insisted it be released. This song proves Jake Owen is more than a beach bum. - zack97

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#8
Josh Turner, "Lay Low"


Like UMG head Mike Dungan said a few weeks ago when talking about Josh's upcoming music - "This is a guy our genre needs right now". "Lay Low" fits the perfect balance of traditional country music with modern style production that makes it fit wonderfully on country radio. This could be one to watch out for in 2015. - sabre14


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#7
Dierks Bentley, "Drunk On A Plane"


From his amazing Riser album, Dierks gives us a fun song that actually has meaning. The story of a man looking to drown his sorrows on a plane might not seem funny, however, it is. The man is having the time of his life even though his woman is gone. He is getting drunk for a reason, and there's no tailgate in sight! "Drunk on a Plane" is also Dierks' first platinum certified record. - zack97

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#6
Dierks Bentley, "Say You Do"


One of the strongest tracks of a masterful project, "Say You Do" is a dialed-back, melancholy, purely country tune that conveys heartfelt, bittersweet emotion. A fine lyric, a moody arrangement, and an excellent vocal makes "Say You Do" one of 2014's best moments. - MM

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#5
Craig Morgan, "We'll Come Back Around"


I've mentioned before to people that Craig needs to make it mandatory for him to record these songs on every project he puts out. This one has pretty much everything I need in a Craig ballad. Good production, great lyrics and one of his best vocal performances. - sabre14

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#4
Eli Young Band, "Dust"


Country and arena-rock mixed to perfection. "Dust" is an invigorating, exciting single that fins the perfect balance between an anthem, and a story, while Mike Eli's vocal brings life to the lyric. It all adds up to one hell of a single. - MM

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#3
Keith Urban, "Somewhere In My Car"


Keith's second car song from his Fuse album is one that tells the story of a man who is tortured by a lost love, and copes with it by revisiting fond memories. While it does go more in the pop direction, Keith makes sure to own the song and delivers the story with a passion that is found in many of his recordings. - zack97

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#2
Jon Pardi, "What I Can't Put Down"


With Jon Pardi comes a welcomed helping of the way country music in my opinion needs to go. Great genuine country instrumentation and relatable lyrics takes the listener back about 10 years back with this tune. - sabre14

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#1
Maddie & Tae, "Girl In a Country Song"

This is more than just a song. It's a stamp on the timeline of country music. These two young ladies created a song that slams the bros and gives power to females in country music. Many "bro country" songs are name dropped throught the song, however they are done so in a clever way that only bolsters the argument these ladies are trying to make. It is also the first country song by females in over two years, as well as the first debut song to hit #1 in over 10 years by a female not named Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, or Taylor Swift. This, ladies and gentlemen, is evolution to country music, not adding rap or R&B to your music. - zack97

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Worst 20 Singles of 2014

12/23/2014

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Hello folks, and welcome to the 2nd annual This Is Country Music 20 Worst Singles of 2014 list. This year, in addition to myself and sabre14, we have Pulse Music Board member zack97 contributing to our list. Without further ado, here are the twenty worst radio singles of 2014, as voted on by TICM contributors. Stay tuned for our Best Of list, coming soon!
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#20
Little Big Town, "Day Drinking"


After "Your Side Of The Bed" and "Sober" under performed at radio, it was obvious that Little Big needed something upbeat and fun in the vein of "Pontoon" to catapult themselves back into top five territory. With that we have "Day Drinking". This song is lazy and annoying, the whistles throughout make it hard to enjoy, and do we really need more songs about how fun drinking is? It's an overdone topic as is, throw in a grating production and you have a mess of a single. - zack97

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#19
Darius Rucker, "Homegrown Honey"


While "Homegrown Honey" was already a dull, unoriginal song to begin with, what makes it even worse is the fact that it's such a blatant attempt to return to radio after "Miss You" bombed. Bro-country is dead dude, get with the times. "Ooo, I dig the way that you move" is an embarrassing line. *sigh* - Markus Meyer 

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#18
The Band Perry, "Chainsaw"


While "Chainsaw" is fairly unoffensive upon first listen, it grows worse upon each listen. When The Band Perry is on their game, they're interesting, and they hold up after repeated listens. "Chainsaw" is neither, it's boring, and it's grating. - MM

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#17
Eric Paslay, "Song About A Girl"


This song spends three and a half minutes telling you what this song is not about but at the same time never going in depth about what the song "is" about. I'm sorry but Eric's song about "nothing", or at least nothing we haven't heard a million times before about a heartbreak queen rockin' the jeans before, if you ask me, and one I wish was never a single. - sabre14

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#16
Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, "Somethin' Bad"


I expect better from both of these two. Lambert and Underwood have produced some of the most compelling material of the past five years, and this is what we get from their duet? Disappointing. This is all style, no substance, it's loud for the sake of being loud, and worst of all, it's pointless. Somethin' bad indeed. - MM

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#15
Sam Hunt, "Leave the Night On"


This song shouldn't even qualify for the worst "country" song. It's anything but country. If you called it pop or R&B, then you'd be right. Now, I'm no staunch traditionalist, but come on. A line has to be drawn somewhere. The lyrics are nothing special either, just a song about a guy who is spending all night with a girl, hmm, where have we heard that before? Evolution of country? Please.
- zack97

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#14
Brantley Gilbert / Justin Moore / Thomas Rhett, "Small Town Throwdown"


This obnoxious piece of trash is easily the worst song on what was an otherwise brilliant album in Just As I Am. It's cliched, it's loud, and Thoma Rhett sounds terrible with his exaggerated twang. No thanks. - MM



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#13
Maggie Rose, "Girl In Your Truck Song"


Maggie, why? When you put out three dynamite songs out to radio that barely make a dent with them its frustrating. So she thought that combining the names of a lot of famous "bro country" hits("Thats My Kind Of Night", "Chillin' It", etc.) would be a great idea. Unfortunately for her, this song doesn't work at all, largely due to the fact that the lyrics are lazy and stupid. Seriously Maggie. get on Maddie & Tae's side. At least they mentioned the bro songs cleverly and stood up for the females. - zack97

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#12
Florida Georgia Line feat. Luke Bryan, "This Is How We Roll"


With this song came the same song and dance (literally) with FGL. A catchy melody but God awful lyrics. The overproduction is nothing new with them but the rapping by Tyler during the one of the song's verses was (on radio at least) and easily the worst part of the song. - sabre14

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#11
Rascal Flatts, "Payback"


Sure, Rascal Flatts have had some bad singles over the years, but this one takes the cake. Gary LeVox sounds laughably bad here, as does everything else about this obnoxious, immature, and just plain bad "song". Apparantely country radio agreed, as it missed the top 20. You're better than this guys. - MM

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#10
Jason Aldean, "Burnin' It Down"


The only country sounding thing to me in "Burnin' It Down" is Jason's vocals. This is more Pop than Kelleigh's song which is saying something. The production has more of a Hip-Hop and R&B feel than a country one. The lyrics are another look away moment. There's nothing "offensive" or "taboo" about saying "Naked in my bed". But the reason most don't use it, is because it sounds, well, stupid. Probably my least favorite Aldean song but most obviously disagree as it topped the Mediabase and Billboard charts for multiple weeks... - sabre14

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#9
Kelleigh Bannen, "Famous"


I know country radio is trending more into the Pop sound as time goes on but "Famous" takes it to a new level. The chorus made me though I had tuned into a Hot AC station when it first came on the radio. Quite the change from Kelleigh's country sounds on her first single, "Sorry On The Rocks". Kelleigh has immense talent but "Famous" masks it. - sabre14

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#8
Chris Lane, "Broken Windshield View"


A song about small town pride with an obnoxiously loud chorus? Yeah, that pretty much sums up this song. It's obvious he's trying to cash in on the bro crowd like Cole Swindell and Chase Rice did, but unfortunately, he's a little too late. Try again with a better song next time Chris. - zack97

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#7
RaeLynn, "God Made Girls"


People wanted more females in country music so god made Raelynn....unfortunately, neither she, nor this song are the remedy to the problem. "God Made Girls" basically states that women were made to be subservient to men. Great, nice step forward right? Ugh, to back it up too, her voice sounds so annoying that it makes this almost unlistenable. 
- zack97

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#6
Jake Owen, "Beachin'"


Sometimes I don't mind talking verses in songs, even country songs. They can be executed. Take "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" and "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" as exapmles. But "Beachin's" verses comes off as awkward and unnecessary. I actually don't mind the production and the chorus is passable, but the verses absolutely kill any chance of being decent

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#5
Joey Hyde, "Get It On"


This is a perfect example of what not to release as your debut single. "Get It On" is uncreative in every way, shape and form. The lyrics are unoriginal. The instrumentation is repetitive, and the production is overbearing. Not a good first step into country radio. - sabre14

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#4
Florida Georgia Line, "Sun Daze"


The boys of Florida Georgia Line took it a little too far with this song. Getting stoned is nothing new in country music, but the problem with this song is that the entire song talks about NOTHING other than getting stoned, oh and getting laid (classy). I don't think anyone will be able to forget the infamous "pink umbrella" line. Ugh. - zack97

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#3
Dylan Scott, "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm"


We've heard this type of song 100000 times. A guy thinks a girls so hot that he wants to express that by showing how it makes him feel and how country he is. This song is one of the worst examples of this, nothing but cliche country boy lyrics that sound so stupid. The title doesn't even have an actual word in it. - zack97

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#2
Tim McGraw, "Lookin' For That Girl"


When I first heard this song, something happened that had never happened to me before - my jaw dropped in disbelief. I couldn't imagine that this was indeed Tim McGraw. It sounded like some awful computerized auto-tune machine sputtering out odd and strange lyrics. I never thought Tim would outdo "Truck Yeah" in the horrendous department but he did so with flying colors. - sabre14



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#1
Jerrod Niemann, "Donkey"


I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said a million time about this atrocity. This is embarrassing to Jerrod Niemann, his label, the songwriters, the producer, and country music. Everything about this is just terrible. An absolute no-brainer for my most hated single of 2014. Jaw droppingly bad. - MM

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