At this point in Tim McGraw’s career, he’s been known for quite some time as a guy who always delivers good songs but rarely turns in anything truly great. However, his monumental sixteenth album marks a significant comeback boasting more emotional depth than we’re used to hearing from the veteran superstar. Only years since McGraw’s last record, the veteran artist has assembled a collection of songs that feel both meaningful and refreshingly nostalgic.
The album’s lead single and title track is dedicated to living life to the fullest and making such an impact on others that one’s material possessions just don’t matter. Written by Craig Wiseman, Tommy Cecil, and Patrick Murphy, the song is a proud declaration from McGraw about the illustrious career he’s had. The sunny production is some of the best we’ve heard on a Tim McGraw song in years, boldly recalling some of his best singles from the early 2000s. It has the same lust for life as ‘Live Like You Were Dying’ and really does capture the spirit of this era in a nutshell.
Like George Strait and Garth Brooks before him, one of Tim’s greatest strengths has always been his knack for finding great songs that just fit him. ‘Fool Me Again’ feels tailor-made for Tim McGraw, from the pedal steel to the electric guitar. Originally written and recorded by Kameron Marlowe for his 2022 debut album, the track speaks on falling into the same troubled pattern with an old lover repeatedly knowing how things will turn out in the end. It’s a young lyric that likely isn’t very personal to Tim, but the song has a silky flow that gives him some room to show off his romantic charisma.
All that said, this album definitely has its melancholy moments as well; McGraw pulls listeners into a lonesome story depicting a chance meet-up with a girl getting over a breakup in ‘Paper Umbrellas.’ Written by traditionalist firecracker Drake Milligan and Monty Criswell, the track builds a sharp lyrical metaphor of the paper umbrellas of an alcoholic drink not being able to protect one from the inevitable feelings of heartbreak. It projects the same sad balladry as ‘She Never Lets It Go To Her Heart’ and shows off some wise maturity from our narrator that’s very befitting of McGraw.
For all of it’s high points, “Standing Room Only” is unfortunately not without some filler. McGraw lists off a slew of common traits of your stereotypical country boy on ‘Small Town King.’ Feeling like a shelved Cole Swindell cut it is probably one of the least praiseworthy cuts here. The uptempo track has a sweet message about helping others and being a mama’s boy, but it’s clouded with generic references about being a John Deere rider and turning up on a Friday night, all wrapped up in a really boring track overall.
McGraw’s only collaboration this record features vocals and songwriting credits from Nashville veteran Lori McKenna who penned ‘Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee’ with Tim himself and Bob Minner. The references to both cities tell a tale of two people having different lives, but the same dreams of success, in a story that really hasn’t been told in country music before. McGraw has never been a guy known for his duets (barring those with his wife Faith Hill), but McKenna’s feature on the track makes us feel like McGraw could’ve done well with one or two more features on this record.
With three decades of consistent success and very few misses in his discography, Tim McGraw maintains his high standard of excellence as a perennial A-lister here. “Standing Room Only” has a bright sense of humanity throughout the whole record, despite a small handful of filler tracks. He’ll likely never get many votes in the ‘country music GOAT’ conversation, but being this consistently great and commercially relevant for over 30 years deserves a lot of props, and Tim McGraw has earned them all over again with this record.
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