Author: Amber

Old Dominion by Old Dominion

Album: Old dominion

Artist: Old dominion

Genre: Country/Country Pop

Record label: RCA Records Nashville

Recommended Tracks: Track 6- Midnight Mess Around  and Track 8- Hear You Now

Old Domination album came out on October 25, 2019. The band is an American country band that consists of five members that was founded in Nashville Tennessee. The band consists of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung, and Brad Tursi. Their music is contemporary country with rock instrumentation, and has pop and hip hop overtones. Old Domination has won the Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year in 2018 and 2019. I am going to give this album a two out of five rating. I’ll explain at the end.


Midnight Mess Around is about what you guessed it to be. It is about being out in the middle of nowhere and wanting to have sex before they return to the city. The person singing the song “know[s] which road, which road to take you down”. This song reminds me of a country song that people would slow down to. It has a very soothing and slow beat that it would be perfect for a slow dance song. If you like slow country, then this song is perfect for you. Old Domination does have a guitar playing in the background, like most country music. But, the guitar is smooth and not overpowering. It is perfect for anyone who likes slow music.


Hear You Now is about someone who is in a relationship who is taking their significant other for granted. The significant other has told them multiple times to change or they will leave, but the artist is barely hearing them. They finally heard them when the person left. In the song they sing: “[I] Hear you now, hear you now, hear you now. Now that you ain’t talking to me.” This song is pretty depressing, because of the message behind it. This song is just like Midnight Mess Around, it has a very slow beat. The guitar isn’t overpowering in this song either. Just like the other song, if you like slow music then this is the perfect song for you.


The reason why I gave this album a two out of five rating isn’t because it is a terrible album, it’s actually pretty good. I gave this albuma two out of five because the genre is misleading. It is country, but slow country not pop. I was expecting more upbeat songs, not what the album contained. However, if you are a lover of country, slow country to be exact, then this album is perfect for you. You won’t be disappointed, the songs are actually pretty good for slow country. 

Surviving by Jimmy Eats World

Album: Surviving

Artist: Jimmy Eats World

Genre: Alternative/Indie 

Record label: Exotic Location Recordings

Recommended Tracks: Track 2- Criminal Energy  and Track 6- All The Way (Stay)

Surviving is Jimmy Eats World tenth studio album. It was released on October 18, 2019. The band produced Surviving with Justin Meldal-Johnson. Meldal-Johnson co-produced Jimmy Eat World’s previous song in 2016 Integrity Blues, as well as the 2018 songs Love Never and Half Heart. A new version of Love Never is on Surviving. Jimmy Eats the world is an American rock band that formed in Arizona in 1993. The band members are Jim Adkins, Tom Linton, Zach Lind, Rick Burch, Courtney Marie Andrews, Mitch Porter, and Rachel Haden. The band is most known for their song The Middle that came out in 2001. I recognized them once I heard this song. I am going to give this album a four out of five. I will explain at the end.


Criminal Energy definitely has alternative rock written all over it. It is very upbeat and fast pacing. This song reminds me a lot of Jimmy Eats World older music they made in the 90’s. It hasn’t really changed, like most artists who developed in the 90’s. This song is very energetic. This song is about having that unexplained feeling of doing something bad. Jimmy Eats World is saying that they have felt that same feeling and they understand it. You will like this song if you like upbeating rock music. It was my favorite song out of the rest of the album. 


All The Way (Stay) is another upbeat alternative rock song in the album. It is not as fast paced as Criminal Energy, but it is still as good as that song.  All The Way (Stay) is about wanting someone as a boyfriend or girlfriend but not knowing how to show their feelings to that person. They are trying to ask the person to “stay” so that they can go “all the way” and express their feelings to them. So yes, the song is about sex. It is about going all the way with someone no matter how awkward it is in the beginning. This song is perfect for anyone who loves to listen to chill rock music. It is also pretty catchy.


I gave this album a four out of five rating because most of the songs on the album are great, while others are not. I liked the overall beat of the entire album. When I read that the genre  for the band was alternative/indie, I was dreading doing this review. But after listening to the album, most of the songs made my low expectations go away. If you are interested in alternative rock and indie and where a band has changed much from the 90’s, then this album is the one for you.

Fire & Brimstone by Brantley Gilbert

Album: Fire & Brimstone

Artist: Brantley Gilbert

Genre: County 

Record label: The Valory Music Co. 

Recommended Tracks: Track 1- Fire’t Up  and Track 7- Tough Town 

The album Fire & Brimstone was released on October 4, 2019. I has been Gilbert’s latest album since 2017. The album contains fifteen songs. Each song is a bit different from each other. Some songs are upbeat, while others are slow. But, each song definitely has the country twang to it. Brantley Gilbert is an American country singer, writer, and record producer from Jefferson Georgia. He is well known for his song Bottoms Up that came out in 2010. I have heard many of his songs, but I would have to give this album a 3 out of 5. I will explain towards the end why I gave this rating.


Fire’t Up is the first song on the album and was also the first song I listened to on the album. Out of the entire album, it was my personal favorite song from the album. The song has a great beat, it forces you to move along to the music.  The song is about having a fun night with your friends. It is about leaving out your daily life and focus on the fun that is happening right in front of you. When I heard this song, I could picture it in a commercial The scene would people driving off into the sunset, rocking out to this song. This is a great song for a car ride if you like upbeat music and want to rock out on the road, especially to the part with the guitar solo. 


Tough Town is a song about an old, historic town where the people who lived their literally built the town. They poured “blood, sweat, and tears” into building the town. The song in this town is similar to the town Gilbert grew up in. This song is perfect for anyone who has a great connection to their childhood home town. Gilbert explains that even though the town it old and broken down, that it is a tough town. The song is very upbeat. Like Fire’t Up, it forces you to groove to the music. The guitar in this song, however, it better than in Fire’t Up, it has a more important role in the song.


The two songs that I recommended were the two best and most catchy from the whole album. I love country but this album wasn’t the best country album I have heard. There were more slow songs in the album than upbeat and catchy. So if you are into slow, sadder songs, this album is for you. There are a lot of songs in the album that talk about missing/wanting someone or regret. They are not good songs for an upbeat person. Overall, this album was okay compared to other country I have heard.

Joanne (Deluxe) by Lady Gaga

Album: Joanne (Deluxe)

Artist: Lady Gaga

Record Labels: Cherrytree/ Interscope Records, Universal Music Group, Def Jam Recordings,
 Kon Live, The Island of Def Jam Music Group, Streamline, and Geffen Records.

Recommended Tracks: 6- “Perfect Illusion”,  7- “Million Reasons”

Joanne (Deluxe) is an album done by Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga’s real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. She has six Grammy Awards and has been nominated for twenty-four awards in total. Although Joanne is also one of Gaga’s middle names, when Gaga announced the album, she explained that it was named after Joanne Germanotta, her late aunt. Gaga had never met her aunt. Her aunt died with lupus, tweleve years before Gaga was born. Joanne has been Gaga’s solo record in three years. Joanne shows Gaga to have swerve from high-octane pop synths to Americana-style blues and rock, to critical praise.

Perfect Illusion, which is quite obvious, is a song about love. But, it isn’t about a happy love story, it’s about an illusion that seemed like love. This song helps to refer to social media. Many people fall in love over social media, however, it is not real love: it’s an illusion. Even though this song isn’t about actual love, the meaning behind it is different. Gaga wants her fans to take the idea that “it’s okay to have contact with people whom you don’t have a true love exchange with”. Even though this song might have a sort of saddening message, it is very upbeat. It is a perfect song to dance and sing along to at parties or just in your room. If you like pop and Lady Gaga, this is the song for you.

Million Reasons is one of Lady Gaga’s sadder songs on her album. It is about a relationship that someone shouldn’t be in, but cannot let go. This song is a country song filled with funk and rock ‘n’ roll. Whenever Gaga performs this song on stage, she always sits out with her guitar and sings. The guitar is the main feature in the song. This song is not at all a party song. It would completely kill the party, because of the meaning behind the lyrics. It wouldn’t even work as a slow dance song at a party. However, if you need some encouragement to help you get through something, this may be the perfect song for you.

A lot of songs in Joanne (Deluxe) are about moving forward, no matter how hard and painful it is. It is also about believing in yourself because only you can make things happen and change for you to be better. This album is definitely for someone who likes different types of genres because Gaga includes different types of beats in each song. It is also for someone who likes the new Lady Gaga. Gaga’s voice and presence have changed a lot over the past five years. She a different type of person. Maybe her new music might intrigue you.