The other day while we were in Wal*Mart, Mom came up to the shopping cart with this sneaky look on her face. And in her hands was the new Flatts' CD. What a rascal, I thought.
The
Rascal Flatts are brought to us by fine upbringings in the O States; namely, Ohio and Oklahoma. Of course, as is the case with most country bands, the real magic happened when they got to Nashville.
With the help of a song called "These Days", their sophomore album
Melt moved a million in under two months. Further cementing their stardom,
"Mayberry" went all the way to #1.
Feels Like Today is mostly more of the same old routine. It's not ground-breaking, but it doesn't pretend to be. It basks in the comfort of being just what it is... a regular soup de country with a few pop/rock chunks thrown in there.
[tangent]
You know how that goes, though. Since the big Shania Twain crossover thing in the late 90's, country music in general has been chastized for turning pop. But with pop turning R&B, something has to fill the gap. If you listen to 80's pop like Steve Winwood's
"While You See A Chance" for example, that sounds more like today's country than today's pop.
Of course, you could take that paragraph, replace "country" with "rock" and replace "Shania Twain" with "Green Day" and it would still mostly be true.
[/tangent]
Feels Like Today leaves a nice first impression, but only gets better with time. Lead singer Gary LeVox has developed an even wider vocal range than before, to the point he could now hold his own in a Justin Timberlake imitators contest. There was an early awkwardness where I thought maybe he was overdoing it with those high notes. As with most anything else, though, I grew accustomed to it.
"Where You Are" may not be as profoundly affecting as
"These Days", but it's a lovely way to warm things up with tighter-than-ever vocal harmonies and a chorus as grand as the Titanic.
"Bless The Broken Road" promises many a request on midnight radio, at weddings, and on Casey Kasum's dedication segment. It's a bit of a surprise in that it's piano-based. It reminds me of that Marc Cohn song
"Walking In Memphis".
Lovers who broke my heart
They were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way
Into your loving arms
This much I know is true
God bless the broken road
that led me straight to you
Northern stars, dig that :) So you know I've been saying that ever since Michelle Branch did
"All You Wanted", artists have been imitating it? Well, so have the Flatts, baby.
"Then I Did" is a glamorously produced, thickly layered song about a guy who quit thinking about his dreams, and went out and did it.
And to keep the "live for today" vibe going, we are then treated to the title track
"Feels Like Today". Musically speaking, it's about as close to Styx'
"Show Me The Way" as you can get. The titles even rhyme.
I treat life like a picture
But it's not a moment that's frozen in time
It's not gonna wait
Till I make up my mind at all
My favorite of them all is
"Fast Cars And Freedom", a middle-paced rock session, but even this one is not without its adroit vocal harmonies. They even get so daring as to skip half a beat right in the middle of the chorus... just because they can.
"When The Sand Runs Out" is a pensive ballad about living life to the fullest. Imagine Avril's
"Complicated" meets Faith Hill's
"Breathe" and you pretty well got this one. And as an ode to the fans,
"Here's To You" will be that song to watch for at the concerts. It rocks fast and hard, guitar solo debauchery and all. It always brings back memories of
"What About Now" by Lonestar.
Of all the songs to get stuck in my head, I wouldn't have pegged
"The Day Before You" as that song. Repeat listens have made this my favorite ballad, possibly among my top five ballads of the year. It has a bombastic opening, with heavy drums and bursts of guitar, later settling into a soaring yet tender chorus. If there's one song that demonstrates LeVox's prowess as a singer, this is it.
Now you're here
And everything's changing
Suddenly life means so much
I can't wait
To wake up tomorrow
And find out this promise is true
I will never have to go back to
The day before you
There is a bit of a slump with
"Break Away" and
"Holes". They both strike me as just merely average. Luckily,
"Oklahoma-Texas Line" brings back the fun fun fun with its spastic violins and impossibly synchronized vocal harmonies.
Depending on where you purchase this CD, you may get any one of what I understand are four different versions of this album, all with different "hidden tracks" at the end. If you get yours at Wal*Mart (as we did), you get a short spoken message from Jay to introduce two demo tracks, followed by a third that has made it to radio in some parts of the nation.
"Don't Get Hooked On Me" (a cover of the Mac Davis tune) is a plaintive ballad with shy guitar licks and an old-timey feel. It's really an excellent song, very fun to sing along (even on first listen, you catch on), good enough to be a single if you ask me. They did a super job with it.
The second is a bit faster, still very simple. I don't have a title for it, maybe
"The Man In Love with You". It's a song of reassurance that he still loves his longtime woman.
The last song, I believe appears on all versions and rightly so. It's a story about a girl in the hospital.
Sarah Beth is scared to death
As she sits holding her Mom
'Cause it would be a mistake for someone to take
A girl with no hair to the prom
Then her boyfriend shows up at the hospital and...
(spoiler alert!)
It's a quarter to seven
That boy's at the door
And her Daddy ushers him in
And when he takes off his cap
They all start to cry
'Cause this morning where his hair had been
Softly she touches just skin
(end of spoiler)
Damn if that doesn't put tears in your eyes.
Feels Like Today boasts all kinds of excellence. It's not the second coming of Christ, but much like a good food that you just keep coming back to, it hits the spot... over and over. Err, okay.
So the
Rascal Flatts have now joined
Green Day in the mission to save this year from the demolishing mediocrity is has been for too long...
Thank y'all.
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Australia
USA
Tower Records
