Two weeks in a row now that we’re inundated in new country albums. Yet again, I’m not complaining! We still have some power metal, metalcore and good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll spread through, too! Let’s dive right in!

Sheryl Crow: Evolution

I’ve never been the biggest Cheryl Crow fan in the world. This album hasn’t changed my mind. Don’t get me wrong, she has an absolutely incredible voice and some great hits from back in the day. But man, her albums have always been a bit of a slog. And, 30 years after her breakout hits, she still sounds like a combination of Shania Twain, Lenny Kravitz and Alanis Morrisette. I do find it slightly ironic that the album is called Evolution yet sounds exactly the same as everything else she’s put out. It’s 2024, do we really need any more of this late 90s/early 2000s pop rock?

I honestly couldn’t pick this out of a lineup of any of her other songs. All of the tracks kinda blend together, and most of the lyrics were juvenile at best. The only real one I found that stood out and I enjoyed was the closer, ‘Waiting in the Wings’. And even then, it’s probably because it was the most country-leaning track. None of it was bad, per-say, but it just feels like a wholly unneeded album. Still, if anyone reading this is a fan of her other work or any of the other artists I named in a big way, you’ll probably enjoy it. It’s not a bad album, just a safe, boring one. 3.5/10

Sum 41: Heaven :x: Hell

The final album from the pop-punk legends is a bittersweet affair. Having grown up with the band, it’s horrible to hear their last hurah (for now, at least. This is the music industry, after all…). However, what a fantastic swan song. It’s a 20-track, double album that spans all of the styles and sounds the band have covered over their illustrious career, and I love it. Whether it’s heavier, Anti-Flag-style songs like ‘Future Primetive’ or the AMAZING single ‘Rise Up’ or more typical pop-punk stuff like ‘I Can’t Wait’ or ‘Dopemine’, it’s all awesome and packed full of highlights.

Don’t get me wrong, a couple of the songs are a little Ticket to My Downfall, which isn’t a good thing. It may be a little too long, controversially. However, it’s new, final Sum 41, so I still loved it. The band are going out on a high and at the top of their games, which doesn’t happen often these days, and I admire the crap out of them for that. If you are a fan of the band or pop punk in general, I cannot recommend this album enough! I’mma be listening to it a lot going forward. 9/10

While She Sleeps: SELF HELL

Considering I was a metalcore kid, I never quite ‘got’ WSS. I was hoping that would change with the inevitable yet slower-than-usual transition into more of a BMTH sound, especially given that they seem to have gotten stuck around Sempiternal, but that sadly hasn’t happened. I got pretty excited too because when I first stuck it on, I really loved the intro track and where it was headed. Then sadly, that destination was nowhere, building up to stop, and then the following track being anti-climactic, Linkin Park-esque nothingness.

Don’t get me wrong, there were tracks I enjoyed on here. ‘RAINBOWS’ and the heavier, Malevolence-featuring ‘DOWN’ are two songs I’ve listened to a lot over this last weekend. ‘ENEMY MENTALITY’ is a fun, almost modern BFMV, too. However, there is a lot of meh on this album, including multiple interludes that feel like they go nowhere. I know the band are getting quite big and have a lot of momentum currently, but this release doesn’t reflect that at all to me. Hopefully actual fans of the band enjoy it more than I do! 6/10

Rage: Afterlifelines

We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review of it here!

Aaron Lewis: The Hill

The Staind frontman is back with another helping of his country-based solo work. If you can get past the overly patriotic, questionably political and generally cringy lyrics, it’s a pretty decent album. His voice is just as well suited to country as it is radio/dad rock. Tracks like ‘Spinnin”, ‘Only In My Mind’ and the bouncier, rockier ‘Outlaw’ are all big highlights of the album. However, with just his vocals, guitars and strings, it does get a tad samey and drags a little by the end. None of it is bad, but I wish we’d have had a little more dynamics, or heck, even some drums, just to fill things out a little more or add to the dramatics. Still, I’ve seen a lot of people praising the album so far and rightfully so, it’s a good country release! 8/10

Asomvel: Born to Rock ‘n’ Roll

One of the fastest rising stars in the UK underground rock scene currently, Asomvel finally released their highly anticipated new album last Friday. And, surprising to I’m sure no one, it’s fucking awesome! It’s the perfect blend of Motorhead and Airborne, yet also feels like a modernised version of both. It’s dripping with attitude and has a real old-school feel to it while somehow still fitting in perfectly with today’s music and climate.

It’s a balls-to-the-wall, foot stomping album from start to finish, and is full of energy and adrenaline. Of course, there is something to be said of it all being similar, and I have certainly called out other releases for doing just that in the past. However, the 45-minutes went by in a flash and I loved every minute of it! There isn’t a bad song on the album, but tracks like the opener, ‘Cold Day in Hell’ and ‘Outside the Law’ are all massive personal highlights. If this is anything to go by, this hand are going to be MASSIVE in the very near future. Any rock fan out there will love this just as much as I did. I’d recommend it to anyone! 9.5/10, great stuff!

Ash Tustain: Piece of Me

We’ve also done this album in full too, aren’t you lucky? Check it out here!

Preacher Stone: V

The southern rockers are finally back with their first new album in eight years. The hype around it has been pretty massive, with three huge, awesome singles having been dropped already. I can’t wait to hear the rest!

It’s just as good as I was expecting it to be! ‘Hard Life PhD’ is the perfect opener, setting up the sound and feel of the album fantastically. Tracks like ‘Ain’t as Easy as it Looks’, the stomping, swaggering ‘Horse to Water’, and ‘Dance with the Devil’ are also personal highlights. However, there really isn’t a bad track on the album! It’s also put together really well, with every track flowing perfectly one after another. I didn’t get bored at all and listened to it all in one sitting like no time passed at all! If you’re into anything Southern or hard rocking or even country, check this out, you won’t be disappointed! 8/10

Dylan Scott: Livin’ My Best Life (Still)

I guess a sequel album of sorts, as ‘…Still’ clearly follows on from Dylan’s 2022 release in a major way. It continues the bro country/rock country sound and trend of his previous two albums, so if that’s your thing, you’ll surely love this! Honestly, I thought this was right up my alley going into it, but personally, the album was… fine? None of it was bad, don’t get me wrong. It’s always nice to have a darker, rockier, Brantley Gilbert-like sound in country, and Dylan and the musicians he’s used are all fantastic performers and writers. But it’s a slightly outdated country style these days, the lyrics being a touch on the cringy side at times. And there is a lot of music that sounds like this that I don’t think this album will quite cut through the white noise. Tracks like the opener and ‘Killin’ Some Time’ are personal highlights, but a lot of it sounds similar and blended together. I wouldn’t turn off the album if it came on. However, I don’t think I’d go out of my way to listen to it in full much again after this. Especially at 24 TRACKS. MY GOD COUNTRY, STOP THIS. 6.5/10

Beyoncé: COWBOY CARTER

I never thought I’d be writing about Beyoncé on this site. However, given that this is advertised and claims to be a country album, I thought I’d give it a crack.

Lol, this was shit. If you’re a Beyoncé fan you’ll probably enjoy it, but if you’re a country fan, keep a wide birth. To call it country is laughable and almost insulting to the genre. It’s an R&B album that claims to be country because it’s an acoustic guitar at its heart instead of a clean electric one or electronic samples. And the fact that it’s probably going to be the ‘biggest country album of the year’ makes me sick. I’ve heard the dreadful, nonsensical ‘TEXAS HOLD ‘EM’ so much on social media and, unlike most songs that go viral, I haven’t even been Stockholm Syndromed into liking it. That’s how bad it is. The covers were the best part and that’s because she was nowhere near the writing process for them. And heck, if you want to listen to ‘Joline’ or ‘Blackbird’, I highly recommend listening to the original instead.

This will certainly have the mainstream media in love with it, but as a country fan, this is terrible. Honestly, it may be the worst album I’ve ever reviewed, and I don’t say that lightly. 1/10