Three country CDs make Billboard top 10
Sunday, May 15, 2016 – Three country discs are on the Billboard top 10 led by Keith Urban's "Ripcord."
Urban debuted in fourth with 106,000 units (93,000 in pure album sales). He did slightly better than 2013's "Fuse," which debuted at number 1 with 98,000 copies sold.
Cole Swindell's "You Should Be Here" debuted in sixth with 76,000 units and 65,000 copies sold. That surpassed his 2014 debut, which entered the charts at number 3 with 63,000 units sold.
Chris Stapleton closed out the top 10 with "Traveller," selling 31,000 units, down 2 percent.
Drake was first on the chart with "Views" moving 219,000 units in its second week out. Numbers include total track and sales equivalent albums.
The charts will be officially released on Tuesday.
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CD reviews
All of It
Cole Swindell's" All Of It" is a little different from many of contemporary artists' current releases in that there is a whole lot of country - thematically anyway - in it. The 40-plus minutes are all about drinking, regret, appreciation of people who matter and breakups.
It starts off with a bang with the up-tempo rocker "Love You Too Late." The best track is its most poignant song penned by Jessi Alexander and Chase McGill, "Dad's Old Number," »»» |
Graffiti U
It's telling how two songs on Keith Urban's "Graffiti U" album chug along to a reggae beat because pop rhythms and non-country elements are the obvious inspirations for this collection. Opener "Coming Home" may borrow (steal?) a guitar riff from Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried," but this is where that country road begins and ends.
Urban follows "Coming Home" with "Never Comin' Down," which is introduced with a funky bass line »»» |
From A Room: Volume 2
There is no bigger artist in country music today, perhaps even in American music, than Chris Stapleton. His appeal reaches beyond just the commercial country fans for his gritty bluesy approach. 2015's "Traveller" set a high bar, which was met by this year's release of "From A Room: Volume 1," which won Album of the Year in the 51st CMA Awards. Stapleton also garnered the Male Vocalist of the Year for his second time. Now seven months after that release, "From »»» |
Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: The Lil Smokies provide the perfect antidote –
On a night when the world to be falling further apart thanks to coronavirus (this would be the night the NBA postponed the season), there stood The Lil Smokies to at least in some small measure save the day.
The quintet is part of a generation of musicians with bluegrass as the basis, but not totally the sum of the music either.... »»»
Concert Review: White makes the case for himself, no matter how dark the music –
John Paul White opined with a glint in his eyes that his songs were not of the uplifting variety. In fact, they were downright dark. How else to explain "The Long Way" with the line "long way home back to you." Or "James," a song inspired by his grandfather who suffered from dementia.
But lest you think that the Alabama... »»»
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