Riley Green may be the most consistent artist in country music today. In 2023, country music has never had more sub-genres and cross-genre experiments, but from Green, you can always expect straight, down-the-middle country music tinged with a bit of heartland rock. Excepting a few missteps like “I Hope She’s Drinking Tonight,” he usually shows up with high-quality, endearing Southern storytelling. While it does seem like Riley Green is a part-time singer to fund his full-time hunting career, he proved that he is a lot more devoted to his career than some may have thought with his new album Ain’t My Last Rodeo.
It has been over two years since the last studio album from Riley Green, and fans had high expectations. Since his LP Behind the Bar, the Alabama star has released some singles, and teased even more on his social media. One of the things fans will notice about this record is that six of the 12 songs have already been released. It doesn’t really feel like a full album just came out; between pre-released songs and Instagram teases, fans have already heard most of these tracks. In fact, one of the songs on this album is a re-release of his 2019 tune “Different Round Here,” this time featuring Luke Combs. Yes, the song has had a rebirth on TikTok, and including it here is great for the album’s overall streaming numbers. Still, on an album that already felt thin on new material, a four-year-old song doesn’t help much.
That being said, there isn’t a bad song on the album. Green stays true to himself and never tries too hard. In turn, most of the album won’t blow anyone’s mind or be considered on any Album of the Year lists; Riley Green has a tendency to stick to a formula, and he continues that on this album. There is either an emotional acoustic song about a breakup or his family or an upbeat song about new love. Ain’t My First Rodeo sees a little bit of everything in terms of tempo, but nothing production-wise that would surprise listeners. The one song that does mix it up musically is “Ain’t a Damn To Give.” Produced by Dan Huff, the crisp harmonica line does wonders to make this break-up tune stand out. It’s still very much a Riley Green song, but nevertheless, it’s nice to see something slightly different.
If there’s a singular best song on this record, it’s undoubtedly the title track “My Last Rodeo.” This is a solo written by Green and is without question one of the most emotional songs he’s ever recorded. The song is a look into one of the last conversations Riley had with his late grandpa, with whom he was very close. Pensive and passionate, this is just a man and his guitar. Green has become somewhat of a master at these sentimental, family-centric songs with two of his biggest hits being “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” and “Hell of a Way to Go.” “My Last Rodeo” will fit in well at his show alongside those other two songs, and already feels like a fan favorite.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Riley Green album without some fun songs sprinkled in as well. Green teams up with Jelly Roll for “Copenhagen In a Cadillac;” This is a great example of an utterly meaningless song that’s still fun to listen to. As with many of Jelly Roll’s recent collabs, there isn’t much chemistry between the two; this song is just passably vibey. Songs like this aren’t emotionally taxing, and they can be thrown on for a good drive to clear your head. As a result, none of them are going to stand out on the album as big favorites; as we discussed, Riley Green is about consistency first and foremost, often at the expense of variety.
If one wanted to describe Ain’t My Last Rodeo as briefly as possible, it would be apt to simply say “It’s a Riley Green album.” This record is unwaveringly good but rarely great. Indeed, a lot of these songs could fall into the background and never really come back up again, even in a conversation about Riley Green’s best music. That said, many country fans have complained ad nauseam about artists who are too “formulaic.” But then again, if a formula yields good results this often, is it really deserving of criticism? Riley Green proved that taking his time with this album was worth it, and silenced a lot of his detractors in the process.
8.2/10
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