Australian country singer Adam Brand has been recording—with notable success in his home country—since 1998, but “Are You Ready For Love” marks his first foray into the American market. It will probably be one of his last.
The track opens with a lead riff swiped from the Brent Mason (“Chattahoochee”) songbook, but a little bit of juicy guitar can’t save these abominable lyrics. “Are you pickin’ up what I’m throwin’ down?” Brand asks, before imploring that, “You better listen up, because I’m serious.”
Well, now that I know you’re serious…
When it comes to knowing if you’re ready for love, Brand is really serious. So serious, in fact, that he asks you 20 times over the course of this poppy, three minute song.
Repetition isn’t always a bad thing, but this hook isn’t strong enough to stand on its own legs, and neither the rest of the song’s lyrics nor its elementary melody provide much of a cushion to fall back on. The whole thing is very hackneyed and falls well short of country radio’s structural benchmark.
On top of that, Brand has a raspy voice that doesn’t exactly mesh with the song’s bubblegum vibe. Brand’s vocal tone is weathered and gritty, so there’s something awkward about hearing him sing lyrics like, “I’m feelin’ like a giddy little kid in a candy store.”
It makes me think of what Billy Ray Cyrus (whose voice has similar vocal qualities) would sound like singing “Wrapped Up In You.”
I don’t think Brand is playing to his strengths here, and whether this is the music that’s in his heart or an attempt to meet the demands of the market, it doesn’t work—commercially or artistically.
The fact that Arista signed on to distribute it in the States is perplexing.
To the writer of this article: My god you are a deuche bag.
Well, I guess now that I know that…
Well each to their own however I have to disagree and the fact that Arista has signed him on and have also chosen this song to be released as a single means that Sony Arista (experts in the industry) also disagree.
Many songs with a repetive nature have been the bomb in record sales. Trace Adkins “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”, Kenny Chesney’s “When The Sun Goes Down”, to Skynards “Sweet Home Alabama”…the list could be endless. Gary Allan, Bret Michales, Bryan Adams….even Rod Stewart…have that undeniably sexy rasp that many find irresistable. I know I do. Our Country genre isn’t exclusive. Billy Ray….I don’t even see a valid comparison. Adam Brand is new, fresh, and a needed addition to our Country Radio, and Sony Arista has very established artsits under their wing…so I am guessing the professionals know who/what sells. I personally am excited to hear more from this artist. I also enjoyed what I have heard in the song “Ready For Love.” It is a fun, uptempo, catchy love song. LOVE IT!!!
Adam Brand has built one of the largest and most dedicated fan bases in the country, and established a reputation as a powerful, passionate and dynamic performer. Industry heavyweights have been universally blown away by the calibre and class of Adams album Hell of a Ride, which has taken his music to a whole new level. When Adam sings his songs he sings them with plenty of power, passion and plenty of heart. To the reviewer of this article it is obvious that you are not picking up what Adam is putting down …. each to there own i guess. We love Brandy!
@Natalie; Trust me, Arista has been wrong before. Check the track record. And even then, it’s not really about being right or wrong—it’s just really difficult to make a single a hit. You’ve got to have an excellent record, promoted the right way and at the right time. The odds aren’t in anyone’s favor.
@Cindysme; Please, please tell me you’re not going to compare the quality of this song to the quality of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.”
I Have to agree with Jasmin. The writer is a douche bag.
Adam Brand is a wonderful country singer who has a massive following in Australia, not only due to his wonderful voice but also the way his songs are about life and things that we have all experienced. Added to that is also the fact that Adam is a genuinely nice bloke who always has time for his many fans (spending more than an hr or two after gigs signing merchandise and having photos taken with the fans) now how many artists treat their fans like that??? America’s lucky to be being exposed to an artist like Adam!!!! I don’t care what this writer thinks i will continue to purchase hias albums and tickets to his gigs. After all it’s the public that makes the decisions not some jumped up frustrated writer who cant sing himself so has to knock those who can
@Bridie: Thank you for that succinct criticism. Now that I know I’m a frustrated “douche bag” writer who can’t sing, I will certainly change my ways.
I hate to ever truly compare…just making a statement supporting tunes with repetivie catch phrases amd that aweome rasp some artists possess. I respect songwriters and musicians, so to seriously compare any is like apples to oranges. They may be fruit…but they look, feel, and taste so wonderfully different. The great thing about being a consumer of music, is that we all can choose what we want to listen to an buy. Hearing the particular song you have critiqued made me look into the artist closer. I feel Adam Brand fits into a much needed empty place in Country Radio. Love his sound and loved his song. I plan to be pickin’ up what Adam Brand is throwin down and enjoying feelin’ like a giddy little kid in a candy store as I listen! Maybe you’ll embrace his next song. Can’t wait to hear/learn more. Googling shows quite the Aussie following, so I am wagering he will have a promising US career!
Cindy in Chesapeake VA
A link to this piece was posted on the Australian Country Music Channel facebook page, which may account for the fan revolt.
But why settle for being a consumer of music? Why label yourself with such a cold, industrial term? When used by industry, the word has a very literal meaning. But when used by a person, I have to wonder what that says about the person. Do you see yourself as one who consumes, rather than one who appreciates, enjoys or seeks to understand? Because you can consume without doing any of those things, or any of a large number of other things.
@Steve: Ah, that makes sense.
Hey, I don’t mind the discussion—my use of the word “crazy” (just for reference) was only related to people calling me a “douche bag.”
This Jim Malec bloke is exactly that……a Critic. It’s his job to review CD’s and Artists etc, and to express his opinions.
He is very “Critical” of our Favourite Country Music Star here in Australia ..ADAM BRAND, but believe me, he will be eating his words when Adam is successfull over there in the States……Arista have faith in him, the Australian Public absolutely LOVE him, and already the American public are embracing him and are getting very excited about this “new” Country singer from Australia. Ready for Love is a fantastic song, so lets not let one person’s opinion ruin it for everybody else. Give him a chance Jim, and if you ever get the opportunity to meet Adam Im sure you will change your mind about him.
Adam Brand- remember the name, and remember the song Ready for Love because this is only the beginning of spectacular things to come.
Consumer: One that consumes, especially one that acquires goods (music) or services (concerts) for direct use (personal enjoyment) or ownership (CD collection & itune library) rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing.
Yeah, I know what the word means. But that’s not what I was asking you.
@Rebekah: I genuinely hope he does well. He seems like a nice guy. I don’t review songs based on that, but I hope he proves me wrong.
Now, are there any male Adam Brand fans?
Adam Brand was sort of my introduction to Australian country (other than Keith Urban, obviously), and he’s done some pretty good songs. This is not one of them. He would have been better served going with “Kissing The Phone” or “Blue Sky Cathedral”. But on the whole, Hell of a Ride is not nearly as good an album as Blame it on Eve, so there aren’t a lot of good alternatives on the album that could have been singles.
I liked ‘Blame It On Eve’ a lot, especially the title track. Haven’t heard ‘Hell of A Ride’ yet, so I can’t judge.
@Steve, I agree about “Blame it on Eve”……one of his best.
I’ve been a huge Adam Brand fan for over 10 years now and I agree that “Ready For Love” is not his best but it’s still good and certainly doesn’t deserve a review like that.
As for Honkytonk Badonkadonk………..that would have to be one of the worst songs ever and it was probably the sleezy filmclip that sold it.
well Adams been around since 1998, he MUST being doing something right, he aint no one hit wonder!
hey mate u may not like that song and u r allowed an oppinion but he has other songs like good friends dirt track cowboys and you should encourage him not criticise he gave up a lot to come to your country and follow his dream we all have to start somewhere cheers from one of adams many fans from down under australia
Jasmin says:
July 31, 2010 at 4:30 pm
To the writer of this article: My god you are a deuche bag.
+1
Thats a man/blue sky cathedral r by far the best songs on the Hell of a Ride album
A lot of these articles seem to be defending ‘Are You Ready For Love’ by bringing up other songs from Brand’s catalogue they think are better. This seems a nonsensical to me. The fact that Adam Brand has recorded many good songs that are not ‘Are You Ready For Love’ does not negate a negative review of ‘Are You Ready For Love’.
Nowhere in this review does Mr. Malec assert that ‘Dirt Track Cowboys’ or ‘Blame It On Eve’ are poor songs, that Brand is not a nice person or that he is a poor vocalist. This is a review of ‘Are You Ready For Love’, a song which Mr. Malec finds fault with. This review does not appear to be a personal attack on Adam Brand, so why are so many of the comments personal attacks on Jim Malec?
If anyone from any ‘walk of life’ took to heart what they heard the negative critics say.. many would get nowhere! Look at the criticism Adam received on DWTS for instance and who won.. Adam Brand!! Criticism can be helpful if taken in the right vain.. and Adam will rise above these or any negative comments as he has always done, because he is a positive thinking person! Adam has won the inaugural CMC Oz Artist Award for four consecutive years.. what does that tell anyone.. that he is a great talent and much loved by his loyal fans!!! I heard Keith Urbin say, “at one of my concerts three people turned up and two of those were the barmen” wonder what the critics said about that!! Enjoy your success in the US Adam!!!!!!
·
How can you win an inaugural award for four consecutive years?
I enjoyed every minute of Adam Brand’s live acoustic set here in Chesapeake, VA this afternoon. His performance was well received, and a very positive response was given by the radio folks to the song critiqued. In setting the song up, Adam mentions how the song relates to his love…Jade, making refernce to DWTS. He said he has no idea if the song will be a hit, but it will always be special to him because it helped get him his wife. (paraphrasing, as my recall isn’t perfect) The audience got a chuckle out of the story, and I am sure the more it is shared, more can and will relate to the story in the song. Also fun is now I have a hint now to what other songs will be on his US CD, and I am tickled! I think the release of the single is Aug 30th (or 31st) and the CD in February. I am ready to preorder! Thanks for letting me post.
A review is just that, one persons thoughts.
Given that in Australia Adam Brand has a very devoted & loyal following, being both Males & Females I might add, and the communication via various media in USA has been extremly positive I would have to say..one mans feelings, thoughts on what he has reviewed may well change in time.
We wish Adam Brand as much success there as he has back here in Australia
Personally I know many Americans (family) who have been enjoying Adam’s music with me over the past decade & are now eagerly awaiting his new CD.
Every one is entitled to an opinion, I do hope you will listen to further tracks of Adam’s as I’m sure once you do you will Like what you hear :)
I loved “Ready for love”a the first time I heard it, my sister put it on her ipod and she only ever has ‘Top 40′ on it – that’s a tough critic. I think you should check out Adam Brand on Utube – you will see the diversity of his vocals, music and talent. The article above has grammatical errors which makes me think twice about the writer’s credentials.
Hey Jane: Care to point those out?
@Jane T: Stones and glass houses. Just saying.
To Julia:
I’m not getting paid to write my comment….. and I’m not a writer, if I was I would get my work proofed and edited before it went to print. But thanks for pointing our my error/s.
Hey Jim -
Thanks for your reply – I can’t seem to make sense of this sentence:
“Repetition …….. the rest of the song’s lyrics nor the its elementary melody provide much of a cushion to fall back on.
and
On top of that, ………. so there’s something awkward about hearing him sings lyrics like, “I’m feelin’ like a giddy little kid in a candy store.”
I’m not being ‘smart’ as Julia perhaps thinks I just get annoyed when I see glaring grammatical errors as people expect 100% accuracy these days with all the technology to help us out.
I wonder what Julia thinks??
Thanks for the review, I don’t agree, but I’m not a music critic. Interestingly, I think it’s fair to note that most Australian singers stay down under because the US market is so critical of our musicians, yet you love our actors. Even Keith Urban struggled to ‘make it’ and many of us think that Nicole had a big hand in his success. Olivia Newton-John only made it big because she surrounded herself with big US people and she was helped along the way, ie Peter Allen who penned “I honestly love you”. There’s also Rick Springfield, however, I’m not sure where he fits in. He did however, change his name (to an American city) and then he never came back home, he even changed his accent. We are very loyal, we still call him an “Aussie”.
I am not a critic, just a music lover and I tend to pick up the ‘strays’ whom I stumble upon and Adam Brand is one of them. I do think he is an individual with strengths and he has some wonderful history in our country. I think maybe the critics could cut our musicians some ‘slack’ they do have a lot to offer. Check out Adam’s song “Blue sky cathedral” it’s truly beautiful.
Thanks for reading my very long, reply. Best wishes, Jane.
There’s a big difference between obvious typos and “grammatical errors” that indicate an amateur writer. I appreciate you pointing those extra four letters out, but come on. CNN.com has more typos and American Twang.
Quick reply, Jim: this was the other one:
…The fact that Arista signed on the distribute it in the States is perplexing.
I think the final sentence, not making sense, is grammatically incorrect. But if it’s a typo – my apologies.
By the way, I don’t read CNN.com, so I will have to take your word for it.
I’m glad Arista signed Adam Brand – someone will have to eat his words in six months’ time.
I appreciate you bringing the errors to my attention; I think I inadvertently scheduled a draft copy of this post to be published. After reading something 20 times, it becomes really easy to gloss over typos like those you’ve noted here. Until, however, I can hire a full time copy editor…
Jane,
I like Nicole Kidman and I believe she’s been very good for Urban’s happiness, but he was quite successful in his own right before she came along. I actually liked his albums before the “kidman period” better than his last two albums.
I totally agree with you, Lee Ann. Defying Gravity was a really disappointing record.
@Jane T
I simply subscribe to the belief that if you are going to take the time to call attention to a writer’s faults (in this case grammar) then similar faults should not be present in your own critique.
You established some minor errors and I will leave it at that as I have no desire to form an extended dialog on the topic.
@Leeann
Like Jim, I also agree with you. For me, Defying Gravity had one or two standout tracks (“If I Could Ever Love” and “‘Til Summer Comes Around”) but fell short creatively as an overall project.
Julia
– mine wasn’t a critique – it was a comment – big difference. I simply pointed out blatent errors that should have been picked up prior to print. I am not an author or critic and I only replied because I found the errors – I wish I hadn’t bothered because you obviously can’t let one typo go and please don’t compare me to someone whose job it is to do the writing. I too, am not interested in your reply because it would only be another attack because I picked up something and you didn’t like it – sad that you had to ‘get me back’ it’s extremely immature.
As regards Keith Urban – check out this website and you will see what he had to do before he got any attention in the States – Adam Brand would never sink so low!!
http://danasdirt.com/2009/03/05/keith-urban-in-playgirl-in-2001/
I believe the Playgirl publicity shots rocketed his popularity – I can’t imagine how taking your shirt off is related to your music – confused over that one!!
Your opinions regarding the Urban period of music are personal I was referring to his popularity increase being because of Nicole, maybe I am wrong – maybe it was perfect timing – we will never know….
Errors and ommissions excused…. (that’s for Julia)
Jane,
Perhaps your perception is different in Australia, but if you look at the numbers, Urban’s sales have actually decreased since his marriage to Kidman. Golden Road (3x platinum) and Be Here (4x platinum) were on an upward trend, but Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing sold 2x platinum with his latest album selling 1x platinum so far.
Of course, these decreased numbers have many different factors, Kidman absolutely NOT being one of them, but I remain confused by those who claim that Urban’s “popularity” rose because of his association/union with Nicole Kidman when he was clearly doing quite well pre-Kidman and technically better.
Jane T, Urban broke through because he had a number one with ‘But For The Grace of God’, not because of a photoshoot.
I only noticed this review now because I just bought an album on I-Tunes called “Melinda Schneider, Hits & Rarities” which included a duet she sang with Adam Brand called “Love Away the Night”. It’s an uptempo he said-she said duet in which Brand’s voice contrasts well with Melinda’s. I don’t care too much for the Brand song you reviewed here but I’m certainly not anti-Australian. It’s a beautiful country. Love Melinda’s album. I saw her at the Bluebird Cafe just over 3 years ago and she was great. I find it hard to understand why artists like Melinda, Catherine Britt, Gina Jeffreys and others have had very little chart success here. Jamie O’Neal started off great with “There Is No Arizona” but not much since. Saw her in concert in ’01. Great singer.
I like the song! I hope he does well.
I agree with this guy Jim. I have been following Adam Brand for years and lately he is going on a downhill spiral quicker than you can say “Brandy”. How many Aussies have tried and failed. His loyal fan base won’t get him through the tough US market no matter how hard he tries. I love Adam, he is a nice guy but you have to be open to criticism. I know the song is “cute” but it takes a lot more to break into a tough market like the US market. I know I will be hunted on the brandwagon for this. The last two albums I have seen no growth in at all. His earlier stuff, such as the first album is way better than the stuff he has been dishing out lately.
to the writer of this piece….didn’t your mother ever teach you that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?? Adam Brand is just gorgeous and his music is awesome, this song may not have appealed to your tastes but he has plenty more available for you to listen to!
Yes, what an interesting and productive world that would be! Never criticize anything. Let’s all just pretend that everything in the world is completely subjective.
Adam said way back: win, lose or draw, he will never regret trying. I guess that’s all that matters, what’s the point in making music if you can’t share it around and that’s what Adam does best. He’s a genuinely nice guy, with a huge heart. No one can say he doesn’t give 110% on stage and there in lies his niche, he’s a brilliant live performer and that has never changed. Good luck, Adam, give it your best shot, that’s all you can do.
I am in two minds about this guy. One side of him is nice and open to anything and loyal to his fans. Another side of him I have seen is nasty and rude. He is nice to one person and rude to another. He loves women you can tell and many fans including myself have had experience with his scummy flirting. I just don’t know what to think about this guy anymore. His personal life is none of anyone’s business and really nobody wants to know about his private life. The last few albums have been downhill including the shows. To tell you the truth I don’t bother buying his cds anymore or going to anymore shows. I like the guy a lot and have a lot of time for what he has achieved. I am happy he is with Jade and finally happy. He needs a partner like her. I just don’t think he is all that at times.
Well, Susan – I don’t quite know where your comment fits – I imagine you were involved with Adam at some stage and like a scorned woman you are now venting. I appreciate your comments about Adam’s music and shows, but bringing up his personality and the like seems a bit pointless. I’m sorry that you have left your personal feelings dictate your views on his music. Hope it all works out for you.
Is this guy really that much of a sex symbol?
Hugely proud of Adam who has scored the support act for Taylor Swift’s Speak Now November concerts in U.S. Adam received rave reviews on Saturday when he opened the rehearsal concert for Taylor in Nashville. Well done, Adam, not bad for your first year with Sony.
As an Aussie, I’m with you. He can do much better, and this sounds like that mistake they all make of trying to judge American tastes when they should just go out and be who they are.