Lonestar

One Liner: The cheesiest cheese on the poster, but also a few good classics

Wikipedia Genre: Country

Home: Nashville

Poster Position: Small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Oh yeah, the "Amazed" guys!  I remember that one.  They also have classics like "Tequila Talkin'" and "No News."

Oh, their original name was the tragically bad Texassee.  Ouch.  Good call on changing that up. The reason for the name was that all five members were from Texas, but met in Nashville at Opryland theme park.  Five guys formed the band in 1992, including John Rich who is half of the comically terrible Big & Rich.  The lead vocalist has also changed a few times.  But since that formation, they've nailed nine #1 songs on the Hot Country Chart, and three of their albums have been certified as platinum or higher.  According to Wikipedia, their first two albums were more normal neotraditionalist country, but then they shifted into a country pop mode.

Their first big hit was from their eponymous debut, and it is one that I definitely recognize.  "Tequila Talkin'" peaked at #8 on the charts and has a surprisingly low 4.9 million streams.

Classic two-steppin' song right there.  A little bit sentimental, the hard rim shot to keep time, just right.  That song also had the more rockin' "No News," which I also think is pretty good.  It even mentions Pearl Jam, in a country song, which had to have been a first (and maybe a last?).  Their second album in 1997 didn't spawn many big songs (although their cover of "Amie" is fun), and after that one Rich left the band, but then their 1999 album Lonely Grill spawned the biggest track of their catalog.  198.6 million streams for "Amazed."

Spent eight weeks at number one on the country charts, and helped this album go double-platinum.  It also went to #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts, crossing over into dentists' offices everywhere.  They look like some Nickelback shit in that video, and that is such a slick piece of country pop schlock.  That being said, I would absolutely two-step to it immediately.  Will there be a dance floor in front of the stages for this festival?

After that, they released a parade of Greatest Hits, Christmas album, and other albums with generally less and less interest.  The top remaining song is the imminently cheesy title track to their 2001 album I'm Already There, which has 53.1 million streams.

FOR THE TROOPS!  That is a tearjerker extraordinaire  - I mean, I'm still definitely a sucker for those damn videos of people being surprised by their loved ones showing up after deployment.  While the lyrics of this song make it sound like this Dad is actually just a long-haul truck driver or something, and is just off being a bad dad somewhere else (see the "hotel room" in the lyrics), but this video for sure turns it into a message from the troops back home to their loved ones.

I'm not loving these guys as much as some of the other classics on here.  The transition into slick, adult-contemporary blandness, and leaving behind the more classic country sound, makes me less interested.  From their stream counts, it looks like most of the world agrees with me.