Florida Georgia Line released their second installment to their discography Anything Goes on Oct. 14.
Since the duo released their first single “Cruise” in 2012, their career has exploded. Every single released since then has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. Their debut album Here’s to the Good Times was certified double-platinum earlier this year. It is very rare for an artist to be this successful on their first try, but Florida Georgia Line has been breaking records since they launched onto the music scene. Given their success up until now, the latest album appeared at No. 1 on the day of its release.
If you’re looking for an innovative, enlightening country album, avoid this like the plague. From the first song, it’s clear the album is just a washed-up bundle of repetitive songs. Their first single from this album, “Dirt,” gave listeners the assumption this album would be more mature and possibly revert back to country’s traditional roots. But it appears that may be the only stand-out song on the album. Just by looking at the song titles, one can infer that they all sound relatively the same. Their debut album was mainly about partying as well, so it would be expected a second album should move on from that scene. Unfortunately, it doesn’t and basically repeats everything they’ve already covered, but in a less unique way. The songs overlap and cover the same material. The album begs the question, “If the song doesn’t reference alcohol, did Florida Georgia Line really sing it?”
While their first album contained much of the same material, it didn’t rely nearly as heavily on techno or drum beats through each song. There was more reliance on instrumentals, which helped the duo to still have some ties to country music. Any of the last remaining ties to the genre were thrown out on this album. Country artists are free to be innovative and break away from “traditional country,” much like in any genre. This is generally welcomed among newer generations of fans.
Many criticize the duo for not staying true to the genre, but the real issue is not making good music. This album belongs to a whole different genre of fans, specifically pop. The duo is following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift, who was reluctant to be called a “pop” artist until this year despite the undeniable shift in her music that occurred soon after she got her start. But her success hasn’t faltered, and I doubt the duo’s will either.
Fortunately, the album doesn’t contain much of their “hick-hop” style like on songs such as “This is How We Roll.” The album is more consistent than their debut, but in a way that makes it almost boring. Despite how repetitive it may be, the duo built up an enormous fan base with their touring and first couple of singles. Because of the massive amounts of fans they’ve acquired, this album will likely rise to the top just as their debut did, despite the differences between the two.
2/5