Morgan Wallen’s double down on double albums pays off

It’s been one week since country music phenomenon Morgan Wallen released One Thing at a Time and with 36 tracks it has taken me the full seven days to formulate an opinion on it. Several listens through the album in its entirety has taken a lot of time but has been well worth it.

Top to bottom I think this album is better than Dangerous: The Double Album. Despite having four more songs than its predecessor’s bonus edition, One Thing at a Time has less filler-type songs. Realistically it would be even stronger overall if the track list was closer to the 28-30 songs range. It will undoubtedly produce as many number one singles as Wallen and his team release and the album has been at number one on the charts since coming out, it’ll probably stay there for the foreseeable future too.

After the success of Wallen’s sophomore album it should come as little surprise he returned to the format for his most recent record. Nine of the songs from One Thing at a Time were available before the album’s release and three of them have already touched number one on US Country charts as preceding singles. The six songs pre-released after the the three radio singles were chosen with good reason. They’re among the album’s catchiest songs and feature a nice balance of ballads, new-age country, and genre-blending.

Just as on his previous two releases, Wallen relies on the songwriting of others to keep the content of this effort from falling into the territory of “exclusively bro-country”. Naysayers of modern country music have plenty to gripe about as usual with Wallen. The 36 songs really only rotate around three themes; women, whiskey, and Wallen’s own life. The song “Whitley” quintessentially encapsulates all three while simultaneously tugging on heartstrings of fans of 90s country. As is often the case with country music, the best written songs will likely never see a radio airwave. “Whitley”, “’98 Braves”, “Outlook”, and “Devil Don’t Know” are terrific.

The lead track “Born With a Beer in My Hand” and the finale “Dying Man” serve as the only songs whose placement on the track list matter. The born and dying theme lead us in and out of the record with quality songs that differ in both subject matter and tempo.

I’m a fan of country music of all shapes and sizes. While Morgan Wallen is never going to be mistaken for George Strait or the aforementioned song title muse Keith Whitley, he brings a level of authenticity and passion to his music one can’t help but appreciate. One Thing at a Time shows experimentation in addition to growth from prior works, both musically and personally. And that’s really all we can ask for from artists.

Header Image Credit: Brandon Douglas

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