Morgan Wallen's much-anticipated 37-track album I'm The Problem released recently. Fellow WOC writer Caleb Catlin and I cobbled together to discuss the album.
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We eventually came to the sad conclusion that the album is proof that Morgan Wallen will forever be a comfortable singer and not the innovative artist we know he's capable of.
Firstly, I'd like to preface our discussion by saying that we both know Morgan Wallen has the capacity to write incredible songs. We still didn't have very high standards, however, considering the album had just so many songs on it. And because we know he's not above throwing out songs manufactured to be hits.
After listening to the album in its entirety, we came together to share our thoughts.
General Thoughts On 'I'm The Problem'
Aidan Lambourne: You know what? It's not bad. For 37 songs, I was expecting some real stinkers, but all of them are pretty average. They may not all be creative or revolutionary, but I don't think there's a single song that would qualify as objectively bad.
[I was feeling pretty optimistic, but soon reflect to realize my standards may have been a little too low]
Caleb Catlin: I don't know, man, I think we're mostly out of the lane of 'aggressively bad' in music today in general. It's a lot of milquetoast, and maybe that's the worst part. I know Wallen can be great. But he settles for agreeable.
That said, there are a couple of really bad records.
Country has always been bad at rapping. The "Miami" song is as bad as you might imagine, lazy and ugly stuff.
A: To be fair, "Miami" isn't great in retrospect.
C: Shameless stream farming at work here, another incredibly mixed bag, where his best songs are the warm, organic heartbreakers.
Many Songs Blend Together
A: I suppose there is something to be said that the album does appear to blend together. When I was listening, I didn't always realize when a song ended and another had begun. I feel like the whole album is a lukewarm swamp, where there may be different hues, but it's all the same sort of thing. And although I wouldn't say the album is bad, I think that's my incredibly low standards speaking.
I cover so many albums every week for my weekly ranking, and the 10-track albums from these indie artists are incredibly diverse and interesting. Each song has a purpose, each was a different creative endeavor. And for someone of Morgan Wallen's status, if he's gonna make us sit down for 2 hours, it better be a d--n interesting 2 hours.
And yet, it was the same vibe stretched out for longer than it had any right to be.
C: That's why I've always leaned into this idea that he mirrors a late-stage Drake, where he wants to be everything for everybody. His natural inclination towards the problematic and controversial sees Wallen moving like he's on probation. He'll make a twangy Maroon 5 song like "Love Somebody" and or make a "Working Man's Song" like he wasn't just a jeans model in a previous record.
By the way, are you buying that crap? The latter song feels like a costume a little bit.
His music has always sounded pretty manicured despite all the muddy, humid country he pumps out.
Building A Product Over Making Music
A: His album does feel like it's been specifically crafted as opposed to sincerely produced from the heart, which is what country is supposed to be about. Pop music is a space for manufactured hits, but country is supposed to be an authentic space.
"Working Man's Song" certainly ticks all the boxes, but whether it's something he can truly relate to is hard to say for certain.
I do like the comparison to late-stage Drake. Something for everyone is something for no one, after all.
C: It's a shame, right? I'm not anti-poptimism, even in country, but when you release almost FOURTY of them, it's all hog slop. He's capable of fantastic records: "7 Summers," "More Than My Hometown," "Man Made a Bar," "Tennessee Fan," "One Thing At a Time."
C: But belabored writing like "I Ain't Coming Back" and cheap hip-hop hi-hats scattered throughout make Wallen too uneven to fully embrace.
It's Not All Bad, However
A: There were some songs I found myself enjoying, surprisingly. "20 Cigarettes," "Dark Till Daylight," and, shamefully, "Love Somebody" jumped out at me a little more. There were only a few times when listening to the album that I was reminded I was listening to an album, and those songs were playing when that happened.
In a murky sea of lukewarm, unoffensive hits, I suppose anything would do, however. I'll need more time with them to firmly say that they're good songs as opposed to just better songs than the others.
C: There are certainly good songs on here, I won't let that be lost. They aren't the mammoth records I cherry-picked out of his last two albums, but they're good. Maybe this will sound evil of me, but I do favor his songs of romantic agony. They strike me as fundamentally more honest, him wallowing about how he really screwed up and all he can do is find comfort in the bottle.
This Isn't The First Time He's Done This
A: I mean, this isn't the first time he's released dozens of songs in an album before. Would you say this is the most offensive example, however?
C: Probably, if only because it's the album without a clear, standalone fantastic song. They all mostly operate at one level to me.
You need that record that makes you jump out of your seat, you know?
A: Yeah, ain't no crocodiles in this swamp. Just a continuous lul of the same vibe
It's just a very uneventful time, you know? I mean, look at Eric Church's latest album. It only has like 8 songs, but they're all incredibly interesting and they all blend together beautifully. Evangeline Vs The Machine takes a fraction of the time of I'm The Problem, but provides a listening experience multiple magnitudes above.
One's small and mighty, the other's bloated and oafy.
C: Absolutely, I mean, these are the issues you run into when you're trying to farm streams the way that Wallen is. Artificially inflating his numbers, padding his stats. The priorities are different.
That's not to say Wallen can't be that guy, he's shown he can. But that's not who he is, we've gotta reach a level of comfort with that over time.
He'll likely never make that perfect album, I think he's capable of.
A: Yeah, if this album is anything to go by, I don't think we'll get consistent bangers that'll elevate his portfolio. Every good song of his is surrounded by a forgettable foundation.
In Summation...
A: It's not a bad album, but that's all we're likely to get from him now. Just not bad.
C: 5/10, he could be Luke Bryan or Jason Aldean.
Aaaaaaand there we have it! Our conversation talking about I'm The Problem by Morgan Wallen. It was a pretty comprehensive chat, but the album is 2 hours long.
