Garth Brooks - Classic or Dud?

Classic

i lucked across a used copy of the hits real cheap about two yers ago, and there's some utter crap ("unanswered prayers," for sure, and i don't particularly like "standing outside the fire"). but the two highest points—"friends in low places" and "rodeo"—are about as high as country got in the early 90s for sure, maybe the whole decade. maybe as good as pop got.

and against everything, too—simpleminded, straightforward, none of the narrative/perspective complexity that so much great country has, a pretty limited voice, not much emotional nuance. but he distilled all that into some really remarkable stuff. when you hear "friends" in a redneck dive when you're half-drunk, it's enough to make you fall in love with every other person in there.

that said, i doubt i'll ever expand my collection beyond this disc. i do wish it had "beaches of cheyenne" on it.

Isn't he fairly socially liberal (We Shall Be Free)? I'm not sure what the "menace" is in "what he represents" that some posters are talking about upthread. GB always struck me as twangy exurban c&w pop more than the kind of populist right-wing id that many people here seem to associate with country sometimes. That's why he was so popular.

b double e double r. u. n. = genius.

Borrowed from Todd Snider, though.

The Billy Joel of country, he's shameless and a craftsman and that's OK. "Rodeo" -- I like that one.

he did have a hit called "shameless."

there's some dumb shit posted upthread.

Without a doubt, the most commercial music I have ever heard, by far. And not commercial in a bad way, either.

I know this is a compliment, but wtf at the last sentence.

The Billy Joel of country, he's shameless

he did have a hit called "shameless."

And it was a Billy Joel cover!

I actually think he improved on those Todd Snider and Mark Chestnut songs, too. (Never really got what people think "Beer Run" was one of Garth's best songs, though -- It doesn't even seem all that clever, and I say that as somebody who goes on lots of beer runs. Way way way prefer Gary Allan's version of Snider's "Alright Guy," for instance.)

he did have a hit called "shameless."

and on it, he growls louder and more frequently than gary stewart. 'at's how you know he means it.

but that same lack of subtlety is part of what makes 'rodeo' great. i'm not sure a more capable singer could've given into that v. dramatic minor key and keyboard line of the verses the way he did. he'll show you drama, all right. and that's all before the guitar noise he makes with his mouth at the final rodeoooooooooooooooowowo-ow.

Gotta say, though, especially working at Billboard, I kinda soured on the guy some. It's not like he's put out much (any?) especially notable music this decade, yet he's been obsessive to point of insanity about driving his world-record lifetime sales numbers up with limited edition for a limited time only box sets, Walmart exclusives, that sort of thing. That's part of his genius too, of course, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I wish Garth was as worried about still making good music as he seems to be about selling it. Once upoin time, he at least made sure fans got their money's worth.

xpost: i swear i did not know that was a billy joel song!

I actually think he improved on those Todd Snider and Mark Chestnut songs, too.

i said this on the keith whitley thread: chesnut's version of "friends" is unimpeachable—classic sad-sack honky tonk, a beautiful performance of a nice, above average song. it's nice enough that i wouldn't think it could be improved upon. except garth's is better, even though it's less emotionally complex and he's not as "good" a singer. one of the great pop kiss-offs ever.

I wish Garth was as worried about still making good music as he seems to be about selling it.

you heard him sing recently? eep. his control is gone. (granted, what i heard was live, but golly. and it's not a surprise, given how he used his voice.)

Todd Snider didn't get any songwriting credit for Garth's "Beer Run".

P.S. Wikipedia tells me that One Fierce Beer Run is the title of The Bloodhound Gang's first DVD. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the One Fierce Beer Coaster tour based on the album of the same name. Most of the footage is from the tour bus and has almost no concert footage. The .

he's not as "good" a singer

So, in what way is Mark Chestnutt a "better" singer than Garth? (Not saying I disagree with ; have nothing against Chestnutt. His songs have just never really hit me, at all. Guess it's possible I just haven't heard the right stuff by him, though.)

Well, you call Chesnut's performance (there, I spelled his name right for once) emotionally complex and sad and beautiful, and upthread m coleman calls it "like a dose of some self-immolating drunk's bitter humor." Those all sound like good things. Gotta say, though, he's always hit me as pretty drab. But again, probably I just need to explore him more.

Re: Chesnutt. His best song has to be "Bubba Shot The Jukebox". David Cantwell's Heartaches by the Numbers has it ranked at #300. Also, the best way to enjoy Chesnutt was through his various TV appearances, which he made often when he was charting. Although he still appears on the TV version of the Grand Ole Opry. He was a guest on Ralph Emery's RFDTV show in the summer of 2008 and he was very funny, with a quick wit. I always felt he would be perfect to host one of those Country awards shows.

When one hears "Friends in Low Places" emanate from the male-only third floor (which generally smelled of vomit) of your Uni dormitory for the 100th time, its very easy to become predjudiced against Garth.

Or male-only dormitories.

So, in what way is Mark Chestnutt a "better" singer than Garth?

i obviously think garth, at least on "friends," is the more effective. hence the scare quotes in the first reference.

but chesnutt does have a sonorous baritone and range and control. he's the one who'd fit into the old songbook tradition better, i guess. less dynamic than garth, for sure, but more subtle.

That might explain a lot, actually, given that sometimes I'm convinced my ears have a mental block against subtle sonorous baritones. But I obviously still need to listen to the guy more someday.

Get ready.

Although, noting this, I assume they're not going to bill him as 'our replacement for Danny Gans!'

oddly, i seem to have passed the '90s without consciously hearing a single one of his songs. i'm still not sure i've ever heard one.

Um, seriously? I didn't think it was possible to breathe during the '90s and not have at least heard "Friends in Low Places".

nope.

"that summer" is so classic. best lyrics ever.

i covered "friends in low places" at a charity show for my friends' bands' stolen van/gear and ppl went ape shit. granted, i live in mississippi.

also, flying over the crowd and crying at the end of your show = classic.

Some of the best lessons he learned from Kiss there.

"Friends in Low Places" is a song I'm always singing to myself, out of its insane there-ness.

this lawsuit is hilarious, particularly because Garth supposedly was offered major roles in Twister and Saving Private Ryan: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/1557505/garth-brooks-sued-by-ex-partner-claims-singer-ruined-opportunities

GB did a little duet with George Strait last week at the ACM awards and it was really just staggering how hammy and cringe-inducing his stage presence is, how much he was outclassed by Strait to an even greater degree than you'd expect

"He got bored one day down in Houston and decided to fuse George Strait with Styx and Journey." -- Jim Hunter

What are some of the best examples of GB doing this?

Gotta be testing the waters for a tour:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5770637/garth-brooks-cbs-teaming-up-for-live-concert

The special will feature Brooks, in an intimate setting, paying tribute to the musicians he grew up listening to along with those who have influenced him, including Merle Haggard, George Jones, Simon & Garfunkle, James Taylor, Otis Redding, Bob Seger and George Strait. Throughout the show, Brooks will perform some of their classic songs and show how they influenced his greatest hits.

Poor Artie, can't get Billboard to spell his name right.

I've always been curious about that Vegas show--sounded like it's been Garth solo in sweats with an acoustic guitar, playing whatever he wants to play. I'll watch.

Still chasing the Beatles, I see.

http://themusicuniverse.com/garth-brooks-set-to-release-new-8-disc-boxed-set-nov-28th/

I’ll be at walmart at midnight to get this box set. I’m so damn excited. Can’t wait. I wish walmart would release info to find out how much it will be. GARTH IS BACK!

forgot my tags but, uh, obvs a comment from ned's link. i'll buy this at Reckless instead.

Haha, thought this was a whole other side to you for a minute, j.v.c.

$24.96 for 6 discs?!

Suck on that, Eagles!

Annnnd he's back

http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1718683/garth-brooks-confirms-2014-world-tour.jhtml

the guy said around 2001 that he wouldn't perform again until is youngest daughter was 18, and she turns 18 in 2014. While he did the vegas thing and some big charity shows in between, it's kind of impressive that he put the same kind of restraint and discipline into NOT doing a lot of work that he used to put into doing a lot of work.

should say "Effort" and discipline rather than restraint. restraint's definitely the wrong word to describe garth's way of doing things

'Tis the season for box set. If one of you has extra dough to spend I would not be offended if you got his for me.

does anyone else care about us at all

its martial law west of the Shannon my ppl tell me

Even Nashville hates us!

I heard that the Dail or certain factions therein were trying to see if they could rush legislation in to allow the Garth Brooks gigs to go ahead.
Saw WSM on Facebook complaining that it was the same people who had dragged abortion rights legislation amendments out for the 20+ years I've been in Ireland. But when it came down to something that needed prioritising like stadium country fans being able to see their hero it would obviouls y need to be rushed through the Dáil in a couple of days.

Still haven't actually heard what the story was in why it was given the initial go ahead then stopped but that's a gig by somebody I'm not very interested in on the far side of the country.

Right, just seeing that it was supposed to be happening in Croke Park stadium. Having lived about 4 doors down from there on Jones Rd for about a year and a half 20 years ago I know what it was like to be living there if you didn't have any interest in what was happening in the stadium.

I used to go to the cinema all day on match day afternoons cos I wasn't going to be able to hear myself think otherwise. & the entire area would be flooded with people.

Looks like the Dublin council would only give a license for 3 out of 5 concerts after the gigs had all sold out. I don't understand that, like how could tickets go on sale before a license was granted?

heh yr kinda catching up to the basics here stevo

common enough to wing the permission after being certain there's a crowd to cover yr costs apparently, all tickets sold subject to licence. but there's very specific agreements in place here covering large events and the gaa are 100% the most culpable party here in knowingly planning for blatant and egregious breaches of these clear guidelines once the one direction gigs used up their quota for the year.

Aiken never dreamt that these would be upheld (or more likely never dreamt that the residents association weren't just holding out for more cash- which idk, IMO they probably were but it steamrollered on them so that they couldn't handle it in the end).

DCC, when pushed, absolutely could not but act as they did in refusing the two gigs that were above quota (idk maybe even three allowed was already above the allowed?) but I think they mis-stepped in refusing to countenance any compromise after delivering the shock.

brooks' petulance may be justified ito the economies, again idk. attempting to push around an authority clearly bent on flexing its muscles was a real mistake.

DCC making a clear and legit decision along prescribed guidelines and unapologetically telling whoever didn't like it to read it and weep is a v v v v good thing IMO. same thanks they'll get but hey more of that please from our public bodies.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-garth-brooks-ghost-tunes-itunes-alternative-competition-20140904-story.html

As the opening salvo for GhostTunes, Brooks introduced “The Bundle,” a $29.99 digital package that will include all eight of his studio albums, a new studio album coming this fall and another he’s planning to release next year, plus a 25th anniversary edition of his “Double Live” album.

I hope "The Bundle" is some obscure cowboy terminology I'm unaware of.

his new single sounds poorly recorded :\

I still think he should have called it "Ol' Pumpkinhead is Back."

I hope he reads his breakfast bowl recipe over every song

Since then, we have flown the "B 13" on the guitar in her honor

i wonder if someone's ever spotted that in the audience and assumed garth got into parkour

So I realize that this is from a year ago but I can't deal with this.

http://menbat.tumblr.com/post/132745236559/moragbong-this-video-of-garth-brooks

I decided to buy the Garth Brooks vinyl boxset on Amazon. I know what you're thinking, don't buy vinyl on Amazon, support your local retailer, blah blah blah. But this thing was 15 bucks, and it shipped for free. That's fucking crazy! Shipping this probably cost like $7-8 alone! And it's seven records and seven CDs!! If anything, I'm doing my part to bankrupt them! Plus, every album I actually want was delayed 6 months because they had to press a million copies of this stupid thing, so I might as well grab it while I'm waiting.

The thing is, I actually don't know anything about Garth Brooks!! I am sure I have heard his hits but country music is so in one ear and out the other for me. And so I'm listening to No Fences now, trying to figure out how the fuck this thing sold 18,000,000 copies in the US alone. It's some of the blandest shit I have ever heard in my life. The songs are fine, but not exactly great. Garth's voice is about as "generic country dude" as it gets. I actually managed to somehow memory hole "Friends in Low Places" because it's that fucking dumb. And yet this was the breakthrough album for the greatest selling solo artist of all time not named Elvis Presley. It's not like he was only popular for a minute like Lou Bega, he fucking dominated the charts for a solid decade after this. How am I supposed to explain this to my kids?

Credit where it's due, though...the pressing itself is really great!!

ok that's a funny story

oooh wait I think I get it now, it's that "Unanswered Prayers" song isn't it? must've soundtracked the wedding to every shithead guy who cheated endlessly on their first girlfriend

by the way I don't wanna make it sound like I'm down on Garth Brooks. he's one of the original "dudes rock" guys. everything he does is funny for reasons I can't really explain

Dude is doing crazy business this year. Just gargantuan shows. And is finally going to get to do the five nights in Ireland that he canceled back in '14. Still not streaming, though.

Am I the only one kinda blown away by this tour? He sold 86,000 tickets in both Boise and Lincoln, Nebraska. 140,000 in Minneapolis. 120,000 in Edmonton. The show in Baton Rouge registered on a seismograph.