Rascal Flatts - Fast Cars and Freedom
Ah, so here's the thing. Some time, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I decided that I no longer liked bands or singers. I liked songs. I derided ideas of having a favourite artist, or liking albums as a cohesive whole - only wanting to listen to mixes and the best songs by everyone around rather than have to deal with a lot of baggage that I just wasn't interested in.
Which is a good idea. Because it means you can enjoy "Fast Cars And Freedom" while giving only the smallest amount of consideration to the fact that RF's last single, "God Blessed The Open Road" was awful, trite and downright irritating. What's surprising, though, is that this new single is bearable - great even, and a large part of the appeal is that it's taken ideas from that much-maligned, and usually correctly, genre of late 90s, early 00s "alt-rock". Honestly, I'm not making this up.
It could almost be Lifehouse, you know, if it were scruffed-up a little bit. But what I really am taken by is the fact that it's perennially in flux between verse, pre-chorus and chorus - the actual chorus itself bleeds straight into the verses on its first play-through, into some quite impassioned "yeah"-ing, a very short break on the second, and an outro on the third. It's not just compact, it's also hooky, and all three parts are sing-along-worthy.
Lyrically, it's two parts fuzzy romanticism, one part bad imagery and two parts cornball platitude, but musically, it works. Warm piano, a solid rock base with its twang being limited other than the main riff, but there's a pleasing earnestness and honesty in the delivery - my favourite part being a slightly excitable, genuine "look at me" interjected in the second verse - and the whole thing comes out affectionate, and deserves affection in return.
I like it. You probably don't. But it's my blog.
Which is a good idea. Because it means you can enjoy "Fast Cars And Freedom" while giving only the smallest amount of consideration to the fact that RF's last single, "God Blessed The Open Road" was awful, trite and downright irritating. What's surprising, though, is that this new single is bearable - great even, and a large part of the appeal is that it's taken ideas from that much-maligned, and usually correctly, genre of late 90s, early 00s "alt-rock". Honestly, I'm not making this up.
It could almost be Lifehouse, you know, if it were scruffed-up a little bit. But what I really am taken by is the fact that it's perennially in flux between verse, pre-chorus and chorus - the actual chorus itself bleeds straight into the verses on its first play-through, into some quite impassioned "yeah"-ing, a very short break on the second, and an outro on the third. It's not just compact, it's also hooky, and all three parts are sing-along-worthy.
Lyrically, it's two parts fuzzy romanticism, one part bad imagery and two parts cornball platitude, but musically, it works. Warm piano, a solid rock base with its twang being limited other than the main riff, but there's a pleasing earnestness and honesty in the delivery - my favourite part being a slightly excitable, genuine "look at me" interjected in the second verse - and the whole thing comes out affectionate, and deserves affection in return.
I like it. You probably don't. But it's my blog.
posted by Edward O at 11:45 PM
3 comments
