American Idol 2011 runner up Lauren Alaina is back with her second studio album Road Less Traveled. With a single co-penned by popstar Meghan Trainor, I think it's safe to say that we can start expecting bigger things from this country star. But will this album be enough to put her up there with recent success' Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini? Let's find out!
As always, here is our wonderful ratings system!
1 - Shouldn't have been recorded
2 - Filler
3 - Above average filler
4 - Killer
5 - Career defining masterpiece
Track 01 - Doin' Fine
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 02 - My Kinda People
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 03 - Three
John - 3/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 04 - Road Less Traveled
John - 4/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 05 - Queen of Hearts
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 06 - Think Outside the Boy
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 07 - Painting Pillows
John - 3/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 08 - Next Boyfriend
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 09 - Crashin' the Boys' Club
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 10 - Same Day Different Bottle
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 11 - Holding the Other
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 12 - Pretty
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Conclusion
John - This was definitely what I was expecting. Road Less Traveled is more or less your average country-pop album. It contained one song that stood out from the rest, which was the title track - 3 and a half minutes of catchy, well written country music. The unfortunate thing is that none of the other tracks came close - in fact the album seemed to get worse as it went on, and started dragging a little. What Lauren Alaina has done here, is written a record aimed directly at teenage girls, and it shows. The majority of the songs are either about self-confidence or boys, which, don't get me wrong, isn't a bad thing - if you're a teenage girl.
In conclusion then? This isn't a bad album, but it's not really anything to shout about either. I'd like to see a little more creativity in Lauren Alaina's next release.
Overall Score - 2.5/5
Tilly - Road Less Traveled was unfortunately exactly what I'd been anticipating. There were a couple of good, catchy songs - the title track, Doin' Fine, Think Outside the Boy and Queen of Hearts - but the album was riddled with fillers. It's very apparent that it's aimed at teenage girls - as talk of boys, self confidence, and spray tans were just a few of the things mentioned during this thirteen track sophomore album. So no, as a twenty one year old, I'm not the target audience for this record. I'm sure that for those who are it's probably going to be very relatable and meaningful and if I were a parent, I would buy my kids a copy. I don't think this album is enough to propel her into country superstardom yet, and given it was called 'Road Less Traveled', it felt like a very cliché record. However, there was definitely still some potential shown.
Overall Score - 2.5/5
For Fans Of - Lucy Hale, Jamie-Lynn Spears, Aly & Aj and Cassadee Pope.
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