The Editorials
The Year In Review 2002
Written by Jeff Krasky
Towards the end of the year I like to take time and reflect back on some of the changes I’ve seen in the country music industry, some of the artists you should be listening to if you aren’t already, some of the disappointments and anything else that comes to mind. It’s been an interesting year to put it lightly.
The big stars have pretty much across the board done nothing but disappoint. New music from the likes of Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Lee Ann Womack have all been weak. The pop influence in country music is getting to the point where it’s ruining all of the positive aspects of the music form. Pop music isn’t a bad thing. I listen to it myself. Country artists just don’t make good pop superstars. There are countless other pop vocalists out there that do it better. The end result is bland, lifeless albums. These artists are still managing to sell huge amounts of records off of their star power. It makes you wonder how long they can keep doing that before people grow tired of it and start to keep their money instead of purchasing these types of albums.
The Dixie Chicks on the other hand have again proven how utterly talented they are. They fought their record label and won the battle. Shortly after the dust settled they released Home, an acoustic/bluegrass gem that rivals anything they’ve done in the past. However, a change like this could only result in poor sales and no airplay right? Wrong. The Dixie Chicks have sold millions of copies of the record already, scored their highest first week record sales ever, and placed a couple of singles high up on the Billboard chart. It’s great to know that this kind of music can sell and sell well. There is no excuse for not allowing this style of music to coexist on the airwaves with modern country. Maybe the radio stations will wake up sooner or later.
There have also been some exceptional albums by smaller artists. These people deserve to be mainstream and deserve to be bringing in the number one hits. Kelly Willis continued her string of excellent albums with Easy. She managed to follow-up her incredible What I Deserve release with another worthy record. It’s amazing how consistently great her music is. If you haven’t heard of Kelly Willis you really need to pick up one of her records. You’ll never go back. Tift Merritt also burst onto the scene with an excellent album. If she can capitalize on the promise of Bramble Rose she’s going to be in this business for a long, long time. Allison Moorer also returned this year with Miss Fortune, which is hands down her most versatile and impressive album to date. Lets hope that Universal South sticks with her. She’s got an amazing voice and is a great songwriter. No one is doing the kind of thing she is right now. Then you have Patty Griffin. Her ATO Records release 1000 Kisses is stunning. This stripped down record is a winner in every sense of the word. She’s a great writer, an unbelievable acoustic guitarist, and has a hell of a voice to back it up. It was great to see her on CMT. We can only hope that they continue to support these kinds of artists. It will be good for the industry in the long run.
The awards shows really need to do something fast. They’ve become boring, routine and meaningless in the long run. I’m not sure what the answer is to this problem but the last few years worth of shows haven’t been entertaining except for a good performance here and there. This year was no different.
Radio still hasn’t learned and I don’t think they’re going to. Another one of the stations in the Bay Area went under leaving us with really nothing. This trend is going to continue in other areas if they don’t stop forcing the same 10 song play lists down listener’s throats. I’m not sure why they are having such a hard time figuring this out. Maybe we can get some relief from this all with satellite radio. Then again, a commercial free station filled with the same songs could be even duller. Time will tell but radio isn’t going to learn.
Is anyone other than me sick of listening to the industry blame all their problems on music downloads? I know it couldn’t possibly be because you’re putting out weak albums. That would just be too simple. Allthat record labels are doing is hurting their image with their stream of lawsuits and that's going to end up hurting album sales in the long run as well.
It’s been an interesting year in country music. It seems that we’re all struggling with our identity. The artists are trying new things. You have to respect that but most of it isn’t working. Lets hope that next year shows us a more consistent quality of music and maybe a few surprises. We could use them.
Share your thoughts on to the message board!