It took me a while, but as part of this series on Billboard’s top of the country charts I’ve finally finished listening to Morgan Wallen’s album I’m the Problem. Why did it take so long? Because it’s thirty-seven songs long.
Thirty.
Seven.
Songs.
And yes, there is an “interlude.” And yes technically it’s a “double” album. In that case maybe thirty-seven is actually a touch short. But it was still a large task to listen through.
It was not, however, an unpleasant one. In fact, this is quite a solid Country album.
I’m tempted to go on a riff about the value of albums here. So I will–but just a short one. Garth Brooks famously said that he doesn’t write songs, he writes albums (not an exact quote, but gets the gist of it). That has historically been the case for a lot of reasons, but in the age of streaming when almost none of us (reviewers aside) listen to full albums we are at a point where we need to reevaluate the worth of the album format.
End riff.
As a Country album, I’m the Problem is about exactly what the title says: the sorts of problems we cause for ourselves in our lives. Beginning with the titular song and including a number of hits like “20 Cigarettes” (reviewed here), we see a (mostly) well-intentioned, (mostly) hard working blue collar American making some mistakes but also just trying to get by.
Like other of Wallen’s work (as well as a number of other Country artists in the Luke Bryan vein), this shows a wide range of influence from (of course) Country to Pop to Rock and Rap. And like his other work, it’s solid music that lands well in the Country tradition, if not always as well as it could. But full credit to Wallen for writing most of most of these songs. It’s probably a stretch to call him the male Taylor Swift, but he puts in the work on both ends of the music production and needs to be fully recognized for that.
Standout songs, aside from those that have already charted, are “Miami” (which has a great nod to Keith Whitley) and “Working Man’s Song.” And I mentioned it above, but it would be interesting to find out when the last time a Country album included an “interlude” and why it’s only 45 seconds…
Overall this is a solid album that you should listen to if you get the chance. While the content isn’t always family-friendly (it’s still Country music, after all), as Christians we can certainly agree with the theme that our problems are often of our own making, and there is little that we or society can do to save ourselves. That’s already a step ahead of most of the culture, and a good place for us to engage in some careful reflection.
Dr. Coyle Neal co-hosts the City of Man Podcast and is an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog). He teaches Political Science, Philosophy, and History in Southwest Missouri.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In