![]() ![]() ![]() And that eight seconds constitutes the entirety of the “country” effort on this whole record. Ripcord starts out with eight seconds of a solitary banjo. Though his music may be unremarkable, maintaining his career at such a high level for two decades now while not really contributing anything has to be lauded as a remarkable feat in itself. What is the song that defines Keith Urban’s country music career? What is the moment when he contributed something lasting to the genre that changed its direction, and will be remembered for generations? Instead, Urban seems to be an expert at making mild efforts that are just sedate enough to be safe entertainment for the masses, and has sold millions of records now without ever doing anything of lasting value. Ripcord is a synthy, shallow, rhythmic-centric gaggle of immediately forgettable efforts that is obsessed with the doings of early adulthood in an unhealthy manner for a 49-year-old perfomrer, and offers absolutely no type of statement or expression either sonically, lyrically, creatively, or otherwise. ![]() And the ultimate result is an effort like Keith Urban’s new record. So ultimately this trickles down to the artists of popular country music, who are solely employed to lure these spend-happy younger consumers to radio to keep the mainstream country music system flush with ad revenue. But those teenagers and young adults are the ones the advertisers covet. There are way more human beings out there living regular lives, raising kids, and looking forward to retirement than there are pimple-faced teenagers trying to get laid. You may ask yourself, if you dare venture onto the radio dial these days to partake in the popular country channel, why the airwaves are filled with 40-something and 50-something performers like Keith Urban soliloquizing about teenage and young adult life? Well the answer is demographics. ![]()
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