Post Description

Americana, country.

I don't think I need to tell you that music coming from YouTubers usually results in an assault on the ears, but Rhett McLaughlin took a route that I don't think I've seen someone in his position do before: he decided to take the road less traveled into the world of classic country. And not only that, he decided to make it a lite concept album as well, with it all centered around his separation from the church and Christianity as a whole.

I got pretty much everything I wanted out of Human Overboard. Lyrically, there's a lot of great concept and themes explored on the record, from how his religious deconstruction impacted his wife and kids, his views on issues in the world, and it occasionally takes a jab at the hypocrisy and inconsistencies that can be found within organized religion. I find the lyrics to be the best part of this album experience, as they (usually) feel deeply personal and honest with the audience about his complex emotions on the subject. Also, the production throughout was fairly good too. Personally I would have preferred a little less studio polish on these tracks, but for what it is, I don't really mind the route they took.

Unfortunately the album falls a little short for me in the vocal department. Rhett isn't a bad singer by any means, but I think he can get a little stagnant when listening from front to back. He changes it up a bit on Kill a Man, but honestly it kind of just showed me that he doesn't quite have the vocal capability to have more of a demanding presence, as it just comes across as a little underwhelming. Again, not bad. His melodies tend to get a little stagnant too, and I wish there were more catchy choruses than what we got. He kind of had this weird habit of trying to fit a lot of lyrics at the end of a musical phrase, and it just kinda came off as him finding some way to fit in the "leftover syllables", if that makes sense. And while I enjoyed the instrumentals having good distinctions and contrasts between one another, I do wish we got some more dynamic change within the songs themselves to make them a little more interesting.

But as I said earlier, I pretty much got what I wanted out of this album! I have no idea if he is planning on releasing more work under this name, but I would be interested in seeing what other avenues his music could take, and I feel he has the potential to make really stand-out music if he leans a little bit more into his creativity.

Tracks:
01. Believe Me 
02. Flash of Rationality 
03. Give a Damn 
04. Sorry 
05. Where We're Going 
06. Creek and Back 
07. Only Thing 
08. Kill a Man 
09. In Vain 
10. Fruit 
11. Old Letters 

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen. Oh ja, MP3 doe ik niet aan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F--r3SLEPMY