Sony Music Entertainment
Release Date: October 6th 2023
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Old Dominion– Memory Lane (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Stay Drunk
- A Million Things
- Memory Lane
- Different About You
- Can’t Break Up Now (feat. Megan Moroney)
- I Should Have Married You
- Both Sides Of The Bed
- How Good Is That
- Some Horses
- Easy To Miss
- Sleep Without Drinking
- Beautiful Sky
- Love Drunk And Happy
- Ain’t Got A Worry
- Easier Said With Rum
- Hot Again
- Freedom Like You
- Ain’t Got A Worry (feat. Blake Shelton)
Life is like a box of chocolates. Or a bed of roses. Or… what’s the other saying again? The point is… that it’s full of ups and downs. 2020, 2021, 2022 and now 2023 have taught us (through pandemics and wars and actors and writers strikes) that nothing is guaranteed in life and that you just have to roll with the punches sometimes, you probably also just have to sometimes take things each day, and you also have to be grateful for what you got, because you don’t know how long you have it for. In terms of this reviewing website though, the general feeling is that it probably will cease to exist around 2026. Maybe at a stretch 2029. But the fact remains is that while we enter into the last stretch of this site’s existence, we do want to review and explore artists that we wouldn’t normally. Sort of like a ‘carpe diem’ sort of thing, and allowing God to speak through whatever he chooses despite how it looks and sounds like. Recently I’ve been receptive to country music and the messages and emotive melodies surrounding that genre. I recently reviewed Chris Stapleton’s flawless masterpiece Higher. Of course, I thought that the next album that I would review would be impressive too. But, as life can’t all be sunshine and rainbows, so too must I ‘review’ the albums I don’t connect with that much. Because maybe someone might connect with it. Old Dominion’s Memory Lane is the band’s fifth overall, but my first listening to an album of theirs from start to finish. And can I say… completely indifferent to this album?
No shade on the band members. I’m sure they’re pretty cool as people. But Memory Lane did nothing for me. Nothing positive, but nothing negative either. I’m sure a deep dive would have presented powerful themes and lyrics. But the album was a blur (as probably most albums north of 15 tracks usually are, unless there’s a few ‘wow’ songs present, which there weren’t!), and though the songs were pleasant enough, they weren’t memorable, and I couldn’t describe their distinctive sound or style even if my life depended on it. That’s saying something, isn’t it? Have you read my review of Tyler Hubbard’s self-titled album? How about my review of This Is The Heavy by Mitchell Tenpenny? Walker Hayes’ New Money? Then you probably know my thoughts of Memory Lane which is… pretty similar.
That’s not to say that everything is bad. The title track encourages and inspires us to not live in the glory days of the past, but instead look to the future and to forge something better in life. “Can’t Break Up Now”, a powerful ballad and stirring duet with up-and-comer Megan Moroney, speaks about being dedicated to someone so much that they choose to stay in the relationship and not break up when it gets hard, because they both have too much history; while the summer-y jam “Ain’t Got A Worry”, speaks about celebrating the good days in your life, and is elevated through the presence of Blake Shelton on guest vocals. “Beautiful Sky”, a heartbreaking, emotional ballad, speaks about the persona letting the other person go simply because other than the fact that she may not love him anymore, they ‘make a beautiful sky’ and light up the room wherever they go. “Some Horses”, an emotional break up song, speaks about two people incompatible with each other because one person is a free spirit and believes that they can’t be tamed and will go wherever the wind takes them; while “Freedom Like You” seems to be the sequel to “Some Horses”, as the country-rocker delves into the fact that the persona seems to have met his match, as ‘…you hit me, like straight white lightnin’ out of Tennessee, wild horses ain’t got nothin’ on you, I never felt no freedom like, two in the mornin’, got you down to your bare feet, take me to the limit, burnin’ up the back seat, makin’ my American dream come true, I never felt no freedom like you…’.
However, these gems in the meandering and unnecessary long track list of Memory Lane are few and far between. I thought about finding a quote from an interview about the album to find the heart behind the album. but I just couldn’t care for the album on a whole to do that, you know what I mean? There’s no denying the passion here as some songs shine better than others. But while there are no outright stinkers here; there’s mostly filler on this bloated 53-minute project, on an album that feels generally tired and forced. There are some powerful melodies mixed in with some underwhelming ones; and because I’ve heard the good with the bad, I believe that Old Dominion can still succeed in this ever-changing country industry. At this rate though, this new album is only ok… but if you resonate with all of it, that’s more than ok because we all have different tastes. I’m still hanging out for what Old Dominion do next, whenever that may be, because I’ve heard enough to be intrigued. But for this album, I’ll only cherry pick some tracks. Should you all do the same? Up to you. Maybe I’m not a fan of bro-country or boyfriend-country like Dan & Shay or Blake Shelton or Luke Bryan or Brad Paisley. But… give this album a chance because you may just resonate with it.
4 songs to listen to: Memory Lane, Can’t Break Up Now (feat. Megan Moroney), Freedom Like You, Ain’t Got A Worry (feat. Blake Shelton)
Score: 2.5/5
RIYL: Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line, Zac Brown Band, Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban