Chris Stapleton - "From A Room, Vol. 2"

OK, so I know I'm picky when it comes to a lot of things.  But Country music is quite frankly on top of the list.  I love a lot of older country like Townes Van Zandt and Johnny Cash, but the new wave of Country artists of this generation have often done nothing for me.  I see the appeal in all of it, but the Shiny Production and one dimensional songwriting sort of makes me shy away from it.  However, a friend of mine told me to give Chris Stapleton a try, and what do you know I enjoyed what I heard.  His 2015 debut "Traveler" is certainly a solid debut.  I liked Chris's bluesy approach, gruffer production, and the outlaw sort of character he painted.  Now, I still wasn't really that into some of the more ballad-like tunes like "More of You" and "Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore".  But tracks like "Was It 26", "Nobody To Blame", and "Parachutes" were good enough to win me over for the most part.  But I sort of just thought this was going to be the start and end of my Chris Stapleton listening.  But what do you know, his early 2017 short and sweet album "From A Room: Volume 1" floated through my headphones a while back, and I loved it.  I continued to love just how grimy and stripped down a lot of these tunes were.  Even Chris's vocals were just so much more powerful than I was used to hearing in modern country.  There were elements of Southern Rock and the Blues, with tracks like "Without Your Love", "Second One To Know", and "Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning" were major standouts.  Now there were still a few slower ballads I wasn't that crazy about.  But still, Chris was seriously pumping out some above average country.  So once again, I sort of thought that I was sort of done listening to Chris Stapleton for a while.  But low and behold, he's back with his second release of the year.  Let's chat about this new album, shall we?

This album starts off with “Millionaire”, a pretty straightforward intro for Chris.  Now, it may just be me, but it just gives me the chills to hear Chris sing duets like this with his wife.  They’re so in sync with one another, and you can really tell he’s doing exactly what he wants to be doing with his albums.  Then we have Chris’s standalone vocals, which obviously aren’t going to be for everyone if you’re not into Country.  But his incredibly gruff, bluesy voice is just so damn smooth.  This is nothing short of an incredibly sweet and charming ballad, with great elements of Southern Rock and Blues Rock.  It’s certainly a little cheesy, but Chris sells it incredibly and you buy every second of it.  It’s just the intro I wanted to hear.  Then we have “Hard Livin’”, and that dirty, groovy Southern Rock element to Chris’s music is just so damn special, you really don’t hear this enough these days.  What I’ve always enjoyed about Chris, is just how unpolished this comes off.  Chris isn’t some Modern Country Pop Star, he’s a rugged Country man and performance like one.  There’s a strong groove in that guitar line, making this one a real Country rocker.  Chris also here starts bringing out that real outlaw vibe that’s just so special, and it’s what I look for in Country.  If Chris’s more ballad tunes aren’t for you, you seriously may want to check this track out.  It’s moments like this that Chris comes off as some Country madman and I love it all.  Now, I honest to God love everything about “Scarecrow In The Garden”.  The bluesy licks and the breezy atmosphere is just so intoxicating.  The pacing on this one, however, is the real key.  Chris doesn’t rush into anything on this one, and it allows him to really go into some incredible detail.  But I continue to love just how stripped down this all comes off.  I don’t like to hear Country that’s all gussied up, I want to hear it in the raw.  And as sweet and as charming as this one is, that’s exactly what I end up getting.  “Scarecrow In The Garden” is one hell of a tune, and Chris’s incredibly passionate performance is incredible. 

    Now, sadly “Nobody’s Lonely Tonight” is a little too stripped down for my liking.  I do still really enjoy a lot of the bluesy vibes to this and just how incredibly somber Chris comes off.  Like, his vocals are just so pained and among this very bare atmosphere, it’s overpowering.  But for me, I would have liked to hear maybe a few more instrumentals here and there.  Maybe it’s just me, but I get chills throughout the entire guitar solo and sort of wanted to hear more of that.  However, I do still think there’s a lot to love within this tune.  Plus, I just love all of the different styles that Chris continues to bring in time after time.  Now, “Tryin’ To Untangle My Mind” to a little while to grow on me.  I’ve always enjoyed the very breezy and smooth instrumentals on this one.  But it’s Chris’s performance that really wasn’t grabbing me at first.  But since then, it’s grown on me a lot, as Chris really brings in a lot of the great Outlaw-Country elements that showed up earlier.  Chris isn’t some glamorous Country superstar, he just comes off as such a damn human that makes mistakes and surely isn’t perfect.  And that right there is just about the biggest reason that this is just such a decent Country album.  Then of course, like I mentioned earlier, some of the freakin’ harmonies between Chris and his wife Morgane Hayes - Stapleton are just chilling.  I do have to say though, a lot like Chris’s earlier work, some of these lighter tunes aren’t grabbing me as much as I would have liked.  I do really enjoy Chris’s very downtrodden and bluesy performance, and I certainly dig how personal this all is.  But some of these lighter and more folk-oriented instrumentals are certainly a little harder to swallow.  However, I give credit where it’s due, Chris’s very personal and down to earth performance once again really knocks it out of the park.

    However, it’s more Southern Rock oriented tunes like “Midnight Train to Memphis” that grab my attention right off the bat.  I mean, it may just be me, but I would really love to hear Chris do an album all in this style.  Here, his outlaw vibe is out of control, and Chris sounds so freakin’ cool in his performance.  There are some really great guitar licks and just this unhinged feeling that you really don’t know what you’re going to hear next.  If there was more Country like this, I actually think more people would appreciate Country music.  Now sadly, I feel like “Drunkard’s Prayer” is one of the weakest tunes here as far as light and bluesy tracks go.  I think Chris’s very personal lyrics once again are very commendable, and the bluesy vibe to this is once again spot on.  But outside of that, this is the biggest snoozer of the album.  Chris’s vocals are solid once again, but I feel like he really is rehashing some of the elements that made some of the earlier ballads so charming and sweet.  But I do see why some would be a whole lot more into this track than me.  On the other hand, the bluesy vibes and soulful guitar licks on “Friendship” reel me in immediately.  While this certainly is maybe a little too cheery for my liking, I feel like Chris does really pull it off and make it a sweet ballad saluting friendship.  It’s not too incredibly deep, but it’s a whole lot more enjoyable than some of the softer tunes here. 

Rating: 7.7/10

Give A Listen To: “Millionaire”, “Scarecrow in the Garden”, “Trying To Untangle My Mind”, “Midnight Train To Memphis”

Genre: Country / Southern Rock / Blues Rock / Outlaw Country / Americana

Overall Thoughts:  Chris Stapleton on his second album of the year does a whole lot more of what he does best.  He takes the modern Country sound gives it the legitimacy that it’s been severely lacking for ages.  The tracks on this album incorporate a heavy Blues element as well as some great Southern Rock.  But I think what makes this album stand out is just how human Chris is.  He’s far from just another Country Star, he comes off like a friend that you want to hear from and catch up with.  I said it before and I’ll say it again if there was more Country like this a whole lot more people would be open to listening to it.