I say this every year.  Let the debate begin!!  Here's my list of the Top Ten Country Songs of 2015.  Naturally, for good measure and balance, I've included my list of the Five Worst Songs of 2015 too (this one always manages to ruffle some feathers).  And feel free to chime in.  I'm sure some folks will totally agree and others will think I'm nuts.  Either way, here we go!!

THE BEST SONGS OF 2015

#10- It Feels Good- Drake White

I don't understand why this song wasn't a hit.  It's country music infused with a big old dose of Cajun flavor.  One listen and you'll start to sweat, smell the swamp and taste the crawfish.  It feels AND sounds good.  Great, even.  And Drake White sings the crap out of the last verse and chorus.

#9- Burning House-  Cam

Simply put, the absolute best song by a country music female in 2015.  This is one of those songs that make you recall where you were the first time you heard it.  I was at BF Evans broadcasting live and Dave Spencer played it during The Drive Home.  For me, Cam instantly reminded me of old school Dolly Parton.  This song is equal parts folk anthem and country gold.  And the hints of crackling logs in the production could easily have been camp.  But, here, they're genius on fire.

#8-  Kiss You in the Morning-  Michael Ray

Everyone who knows anything about music will tell you that a hit song MUST have a great hook.  And Michael Ray's debut single had one tailor-made for every morning show in the U.S.  In fact, here at WBKR, we crafted an awesome liner for The CB Radio Show with the hook from this song.  I mean, really?  "I wanna kiss you in the morning?"  It was perfection and radio stations played the tar out of it.  Ray hit the top spot on the Country Airplay chart simply by sealing it with a kiss.

#7- Crash and Burn- Thomas Rhett

Do you hear that?  I'm right back . . . to putting Thomas Rhett on my Top Ten list again!  I suppose you could say it's deja vu again.  "Crash and Burn" is arguably the most infectious country song of the year.  The chorus is laced with chants, questions that force you to sing along and reply.  Rhett, single for single, is becoming one of the most bankable, yet genre-blurring country stars.  This song has an Amy Winehouse-infused beat.  His "Die A Happy Man" is fifty shades of Ed Sheeran.  And Thomas Rhett is proving, time and again, that he is country's chameleon.  And I am loving every single color change.

#6- Smoke- A Thousand Horses

One of the most vividly drawn lyrics of the year.  And, yes.  It's about a stripper. (Get your dollar bills!)  LOL!  Listen to this song though and notice how expertly crafted it is.  Every single word is backed by a musical note that compliments it fully.  This is one of the rare songs that actually feels like it sounds.  The music literally breathes us in and out and pulls us in nice and slow.  This song blew rings around my heart and it's one of absolute favorite songs of the year.

#5- Drunk On Your Love- Brett Eldredge

Brett Eldredge, with that ridiculously deep baritone, could easily have been an R&B star.  But, luckily, we got him in country.  And though this song is a relatively new release, it's one of my favorites of the year.  That chorus is so freaking awesome, clever and spot on.  Has a drunk person ever professed their love for you?  It kinda sounds like a hot, repetitive mess.  "I woke up, up still drunk, drunk . . . on your love, love, on your love, love, love.  Now I know why I'm feeling so high, high. Cause I'm still drunk, drunk on your love, on your love, oh yeah!"  "Oh yeah" is right!  I'll have this song straight, on the rocks, bottled, blended . . . and put an umbrella in it too.

#4-  Like A Wrecking Ball-  Eric Church

Simply put, this song is sex.  There!  I said it.  Painfully, agonizingly sexy, this song gave every country music listener a little naughty twinge in the trousers this year.  Don't try to lie.  You know it did.  It's okay.  Go ahead and own it.  You're not alone.  Eric Church seduced us all this year with this song.  He literally knocked down the front door and barged to the top of the charts like a wrecking ball.  And, I'm gonna lay it out right now.  I, for one, need a cigarette.

#3- Tennessee Whiskey/Drink You Away- Chris Stapleton & Justin Timberlake

One of the best live performances on TV ever.  And these guys have to be included on this list because of it.  What they did at the CMA Music Awards was tremendous.  Sure, they sounded great and gave us a handful of "drop the mic" moments during that 8-minute performance.  But the impact of that medley is what's most important.  There has been talk for years about how "country" music isn't "country" anymore.  And that there's too much pop and rap in it.  Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake were able to fuse those two worlds, country and pop, seamlessly.  So well, in fact, that you really couldn't tell the difference.  And, the country nation united.  These guys commanded the stage at Bridgestone Arena on a Wednesday and seized hold of every water cooler conversation on on Thursday.  They were literally as smooth as Tennessee Whiskey.

#2- I'm Comin' Over- Chris Young

Neil Sedaka once claimed that breaking up is hard to do. Chris Young goes one step further, screams "to Hell with the closure," then unapologetically asks "Why put out a fire when it's still burning?"    And this fire is burning . . . with want, desire and smoldering vocals by a man who can sing anything.  Chris Young is one of the best voices in the biz and he recorded one of the best songs of the year.  Break up sex has never sounded so good.  Oops.  That sounded better in my head than it looks typed out.

#1- John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16- Keith Urban

If you, like so many us, feel like you were baptized by rock and roll, you related to this song instantly.  This is the best Keith Urban song in YEARS!  For me, it's the absolute best song of 2015.  The pop culture references in "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" are skillfully woven together to paint a portrait of us all really.  We are undeniably shaped by music, literature, and TV just as much as we are by our parents.  We are all rebels in this "great wide open."  We've all spent time on the boulevard of broken dreams.  And we're left to look to our influences, all of them, to make sense of our experiences and create that road map that's gonna lead us to new ones.  The lyrics are clever and inspired and that key change (that brilliant modulation heading into the last chorus) just sends this song into overdrive.  Keith Urban plays and sings it expertly.  This guy . . . he's a Texaco star with a Gibson guitar!

And now . . .

THE WORST SONGS OF 2015

#5- Pain Killer- Little Big Town

The follow up to the critically acclaimed (rightfully so) "Girl Crush," "Pain Killer" sounds like a song that Blondie (or a few other bands) would have rejected in the early 1980's.  One part "The Tide is High," one part "Red Red Wine," one part "Cowboy Take Me Away" and two parts awful.  By the time the "la la la la la la la's" kick in, I'm wishing I had some Lortab to send me off to La La Land.

#4- Smokin' and Drinkin'- Miranda Lambert (featuring Little Big Town)

Oh look!  Here they are again.  Sadly, it was a rough year for Miranda in her personal life.  But it wasn't great professionally either.  I have no idea who thought THIS song was a good choice for a radio release.  Smokin' and drinkin' are, by nature, highly addictive behaviors.  But nothing about this song made we want to take another hit or swig.  It's the musical equivalent of methadone. A one-note snoozefest.

#3- Home Alone Tonight- Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild

The most painful and forced collaboration of the year (and, likely, the most uncomfortable live performance of the year).  On paper it probably seemed a good idea . . . teaming Little Big Town's amazing female lead with the most popular male in country music.  In reality, it's a disaster.  Their voices don't blend and they struggle to make sense of lyrics that sound like a 9th-grader wrote them.  While they're going "shot for shot for shot" I'm going to write a petition to have a major label release a version by Macaulay Culkin.  At least that will be entertaining on some level.

#2- Kick the Dust Up- Luke Bryan

The Devil went down to Georgia and, apparently, Luke Bryan sold his soul to him.  I mentioned that "Home Alone Tonight" sounds as if it was written by a 9th grader.  This one sounds like it was written by a 6th grader.  "Knock, knock, knock goes the diesel.  If you really wanna see the beautiful people!"  Really???  And my absolute favorite (sarcasm) line of the song . . . "Got me a jar full of clear and I got that music for your ears."  Not these ears.

#1-  Real Life-  Jake Owen

One of the worst songs I have ever heard in my life.  Truly.  It's awful.  In fact, every time I hear it I think that it sounds like it should have been used as a theme song for a 1980's television show.  When Jake starts to sing I can close my eyes an immediately picture Kirk Cameron and Tracey Gold.  Ironically, it's Jake who seems to be suffering from growing pains and he needs to figure it out quickly.  It's sad when a song called "Real Life" feels like radio death.

 

More From WBKR-FM