Time to look at the third studio album from pop country star Thomas Rhett... and how it's... good?!
Release date: 8 September 2017
Record label: Valory Music Co., Big Machine Records
Genre: Pop country
Best songs: "Marry Me", "Craving You" (ft. Maren Morris), "Life Changes", "Sixteen", "Gateway Love", "Grave"
Worst songs: "Leave Right Now"
Rating: 8/10
To be honest, I didn’t even expect to cover this. Because to be honest, I hated Thomas Rhett when he was putting out atrocious songs like “Crash and Burn” and “Vacation”. Sure, his debut album ‘It Goes Like This’ could have been way worse, considering it was bro-country. But then, ‘Tangled Up’ was released, and oh, god, was it bad. Let’s just say, ISIS could’ve used it as torture. But, I did like “Die a Happy Man”, and “Star Of The Show”. “T-Shirt” wasn’t that bad. And then, we got the two singles, and I really liked them. And with all the promotional singles, I liked them much better than I thought, and I was excited for the album, so how was ‘Life Changes’?
Well, far better than what I expected when looking back at 2015. Pretty much everything is better. “Craving You” is a electric guitar driven song, and while it does do the overdone “love = drugs” kind of thing, it really doesn’t bother me. There’s a lot of energy to it, and Maren Morris definitely does well here. Even though she kinda blows Thomas Rhett out of the water. We also get “Unforgettable”. A pretty likable acoustic pop song. Sure, the percussion could be a little bit heavy, but the lyrical content is alright. It’s a nice love song. It’s followed by “Sixteen”, another acoustic driven song that leans a bit more country. And it’s surprisingly mature coming from Rhett. Looking back on the years, back when he thought big of things that were really pretty little. And I can get that. Then we get the obviously country “Drink a Little Beer”. Which features his father Rhett Akins. It’s not really a song like too much. It’s basically a song full of country cliches, and the little outro regarding his father’s possible comeback album, I wasn’t too fond of the advertisement. Just seemed pointless to me. And following this, we get the best song on the album, “Marry Me”. This is something I certainly didn’t expect from him. Basically, it's about if his wife (who he knew since they were like, 7) ended up marrying someone else, and the depression and alcoholism he would have to deal with, and that he'd still wish her happiness, despite loving her and having been friends forever. And I can understand that sentiment. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be in this situation soon. And this is probably one of my favourite songs to come out in 2017. Another showing a ton of maturity, and emotional intensity that you don’t expect from Thomas Rhett. Piano was a good choice for the backing, but i don’t think the drums or anything else were necessary. Still a really good song.
“Smooth Like The Summer” is a pretty breezy track that would’ve worked for the… well, summer. But like “When You Look Like That” and “Sweetheart”, they weren’t all that interesting. Definitely not bad songs, but they’re barely above average. Although we get good tracks like “Life Changes”, where he talks about how his life is changing, how he’s all of sudden got two kids. Life can change that quickly. And… yeah, it’s catchy, mature, it’s pretty good. “Gateway Love” is a weird one. I didn’t like it at first, but it’s actually pretty good. Range is diverse, and his upper range again, sounds pretty decent. “Kiss Me Like a Stranger” seems to be R&B inspired. Nowhere near my favourite, but it isn’t bad. It's a fine enough hook-up jam. Also, "Grave", It's actually pretty good, especially the hook and message behind how Thomas will take her love to the grave. Then we get “Leave Right Now”, pretty basic, an generic EDM Chainsmokers song, which is of course, stealing a guy's girlfriend. Only bad song here, but even then... it isn't abysmal.
I liked it so much more than I thought. The writing’s a whole lot more mature, the production is still all over the place, but it’s usually good. Thomas Rhett doesn’t go into asinine territory with his lyrics, and he appears to have finally grown up. Those kids are doing good on him. Solid 8/10, I definitely recommend this! I'm looking forward to the next album!
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