Metalheads Respond to Pistol Annies

Pop country is glam metal with pedal steel in place of guitar histrionics. Warrant's "Heaven" is a perfect modern country song.

i think i heard that song i posted on THE RIVER here which is kind of a boomer americana npr-ish station.

yeah I completely agree w EZ; I'm surprised no country superstar has covered "Heaven" yet

also kinda embarrassed at how "Heaven" was like one of my favorite songs when I was 7

Glad to hear THE RIVER soldiers on. It always struck me as somewhere between npr and Paste magazine.

THE RIVER playlist is kinda fun to look at:

http://wrsi.com/pages/8936738.php

Pop country is glam metal with pedal steel in place of guitar histrionics. Warrant's "Heaven" is a perfect modern country song.

Well it's hardly a new observation, Chuck had it pegged two decades back and the introduction on country in the recent essay collection sums up the reasons and the functions why for a certain age group. But obviously it didn't stop there, otherwise there'd be no younger fans! Still it was amusing when my girlfriend agreed on the hair metal front.

says it all really:

Time: 02/02/2012 11:38 AM Artist: They Might Be Giants Title: Ana Ng
Time: 02/02/2012 11:30 AM Artist: Wilco Title: Whole Love
Time: 02/02/2012 11:26 AM Artist: Old 97's Title: Murder (or A Heart Attack)
Time: 02/02/2012 11:22 AM Artist: Bob Marley Title: Get Up Stand Up
Time: 02/02/2012 11:20 AM Artist: J.j. Cale Title: Call Me The Breeze
Time: 02/02/2012 11:12 AM Artist: Dr. Dog Title: That Old Black Hole

It definitely isn't a new phenomenon or an original observation.

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That's a weird playlist

Cool music you can listen to with yr kids?

aw i like the pistol annies album a lot. i know very little about country music, though, so m@tt's observation likely applies to me.

also not a metalhead i probably shouldn't be here, huh

Tangential but interesting note -- in Erin MacLeod's story on Celine Dion ruling Jamaica she also mentions this as a side note:

If you expect Jamaica to be the home of reggae and dancehall, you’d be right, but it’s also home to one of the most committed groups of smooth adult contemporary and country music fans. If there’s one thing that Jamaicans love, it’s darned good singers singing darned good songs. From bad men to rude bwoys to Rastafari to uptown top-ranking folks, Jamaicans are just as, if not more, likely to love Kenny Rogers and Air Supply as they are the Marleys, Buju and Kartel.

I'd love to know more about country in Jamaica, makes perfect sense, really.

i believe this album is classified by the record biz as "down home country" i.e. not exactly old-timey but with more or less traditional instrumentation and more or less traditional chord changes, no matter how glossily produced.

this is a tremendously fun and cathartic record imo. the only track that doesn't really do it for me is "beige", which i want to like but the singing doesn't feel strong enough

i am not a metalhead but i played one in junior high school

you must have heard some of the zillion reggae country covers over the years?

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I never found it odd Toot's covered John Denver. Just kinda made sense in my head.

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yep ok listened to housewifes prayer and i think i might hate it more than hell on heels actually. i can not stand this main singers voice, and the delivery is so mannered, its a total non-starter for me. lyrically edgy shania twain = DNFW. are there songs that are not ploddingly slow that someone can point me at, because thats the other thing - both this and hell on heels just draaaaaag

they really love marty robbins in jamaica. i can appreciate that.

that's my favorite track

xp

oh and another amendment - i forgot the lana del rey track so actually i need to bump hell on heels to third worst track result

you must have heard some of the zillion reggae country covers over the years?

Not as much as I should have, obv!

my favorite country rock cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDy7-eq7OGM

"The Hunter's Wife"

http://youtu.be/apBPxoM7o9o

^give this a shot, JJJ! It has a cool honkytonk vibe to it

"takin' pills" is a good uptempo pistol annies song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjAa40YDELs

Okay, that "Midnight Rider" cover is amazing.

idk who's heard miranda lambert's solo stuff in this thread but she's basically the reason people paid attention to pistol annies in the first place - "gunpowder & lead" is so bad-ass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHGPmbu3QNk

its not very uptempo lex (and thats coming from someone who listens to the slowest doom metal out there)

I have a lot of love for "Gunpowder & Lead"

i think miranda lambert might be the one whose voice jjusten hates :(

Jim reeves is popular in nigeria

i don't think i am an actual metalhead either, but i don't know where i fit in ever

imo:
lana - dislike, strong
pistol annies - dislike, with caveats
gucci gucci - love in moderation
marty robbins - love immoderately

make of that what you will

NKOTB was really popular in Colombia in the mid 90s.

Well, maybe not "really popular" but I knew a few people who genuinely thought they were good. New Kids.

I like "Gunpowder & Lead" more than any Pistol Annies song I've heard.

yeah, jim reeves was huge in jamaica too. lots of great jim reeves reggae covers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeNzhpX2vGI

When I was on Grand Cayman, it seemed like every other song on the radio was Kenny Rogers. And "Members Only" by Bobby Bland. It was not what I was expecting at all.

ok i just listened to gunpowder and lead and now i am wondering why they watered this lady down so much on the pistol annies album.

well she was a willing participant! i think they were going for a specific sound for the personae they were presentin on the pistol annies album.

the title of this thread reminds me of this:

http://youtu.be/uLAJ0v_5THQ

oh wait is this pistol annies some sorta country concept album because ugh then

idk I was under the impression that Miranda wanted to do a country girl-group?

Longtime friends, Monroe, Miranda Lambert and newcomer Angaleena Presley debuted their trio girl band Pistol Annies, with their song "Hell on Heels," on April 22, 2011 on CBS' airing of ACM Girls Night Out. The trio surprised the audience in place of Miranda singing with now husband Blake Shelton. The girls, who all met through working in the industry, have dubbed nicknames for themselves via their band name. Lambert serves as "Lonestar Annie," Monroe "Hippie Annie," and Angaleena as "Holler Annie," as she is from the hills of Kentucky. Per Lambert, whether or not the Annies would release an album will "be up to the fans." The single "Hell on Heels" was released for purchase via the Pistol Annies' website on June 12, 2011. The Pistol Annies' album Hell on Heels was released on August 23, 2011.

Lonestar Annie
Hippie Annie
Holler Annie

^^^ poll

Hippie Annie all the way

None of these Annies

which yeah makes some sense because country stepford wives is pretty much my exact reaction, so if you are saying theres sort of an intent behind the sorta plasticated neutered vocals and the slogging tempos then huh. i mean i still dont like it but if its intentional then i think it worked i guess? thats weird tho.

xpost oh i guess not? well then sorry peeps this album just sucks

that was all wrt concept album which is apparently not true but idk

haha i don't read the personae as stepford wives!

I mean, there are three female stereotypes there and I am not identifying with any of them whatsoever. That makes me kinda sad tbh.

Little Annie Fanny

New album is pretty good. Who is playing guitar, that dude is killing it.

― Josh in Chicago,

My first thought on hearing "Sugar Daddy."

Gonna pick this up when the vinyl comes out later this month.

Hell on Heels is so classic. I think it's weird there was a lot of criticism about the album's perceived glossiness and sheen bc it seems to me it would appeal to a lot of people who have issues with mainstream country music. The songs themselves are just a great mix of pensively sad and unabashedly outlaw.

and country music has had gloss and a sheen since the LBJ era

i can understand if people don't like certain production styles that make the music sound brittle or over-compressed but i think a lot of country production (this album included) is very warm and generous to the songs.

and separately, a lot of country music is where you want to turn if you miss hard rock chops from the '70s and '80s.

i feel bad every time this thread pops up
i do not begrudge anyone their enjoyment of this band or their personas or production choices.

it's good that pistol annies are loved by people

imo I think Pistol Annies are a synthesis of all three artists and their styles, though i think for anyone I've ever tried to gateway-drug into this corner of country I recommend Angaleena Presley's solo albums, which are exceptionally good and far more low-key in their production and their eye is cast pretty strictly on small-town issues with a POV from a blue-state type who loves living in her red state.

the new album is kinda rootsy and doesn't really have much of an audible sheen except in that it's really well-recorded and the guitar tones kick ass

(i love sheen) (but also i think this album sounds really cool)