Still wondering.

It started out with a douche, and ended with a bag. Neat.

That's bland and unremarkable, even for an acoustic ballad.

Alright, before the haters come out in full force, let me just say three things:

1) I like Garth Brooks, and this is a decent enough example of the guy.

2) You'd have done better to show some of his VH1 Storytellers stuff.

3) I am not the submitter.

And here is a great riff on Garth Brooks.

Link (new window)

I'm not the world's biggest fan of pop-country (Much bigger a fan of Cash, Haggard, Hank Williams I and III [but not really Jr]) but I will say that Garth Brooks puts on one hell of a live show.

fark him. Now Chris Gaines, there's an up and comer!

not a big country fan myself but the song "ticks" by brad paisely...funny ass hell

I was dragged by my dad a long time ago to see Garth at some live show, and I remember him climbing up one side of the stage in the middle of a huge ass wind storm. The thing he was onb was waving back and forth and I thought surely he would die that night. He was just singing his little country heart out. I must admit, while it doesn't hold a candle to rammstien in concert it was pretty amazing.

I'm, for the most part a metal head but this guy rocks... and he bought that shirt at Chess King

There's still a fuss about Garth Brooks?

Pfft. He's no Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, or Willy Nelson.

New Country sucks. I'm an alternative rock, new wave, punk, funk, goth kind of guy, but even I recognize and enjoy old country from musicians who had some talent... Which nobody in new country has. It's all just 50's rock-n-roll with a steel guitar. Bleh.

Garth Brooks is OK. Frankly, I liked him better as Chris Gaines. At least with that CD he showed some depth and variety. With this new country stuff, it's all the same.

And that twangy singing never sits well with me.

Sorry, that's WILLIE not "willy" -- I was still stunned by the blandness of new country when I wrote that.

Fan or not, the guy could load a stadium to the rafters every time back when he was on top of the charts. I'll give him that.

I do believe his Central Park concert still holds the record for the largest crowd in Central Park.

Megain:here he is at the opening ceremony for the arena a few days before the show i saw. i love the look on his face

It looks like he fired his personal trainer.

Tom_Slick:Megain:here he is at the opening ceremony for the arena a few days before the show i saw. i love the look on his face

It looks like he fired his personal trainer.

yeah, he'd definitely put on some weight. didn't affect his energy level at the show though

I remain completely unconvinced Subby that he is worth fussing about. Give me someone with talent.

I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

anal brazil men:I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

His SNL run ins with "Mango" were very funny.

bob_ross:Still wondering.

this

Tom_Slick:anal brazil men:I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

His SNL run ins with "Mango" were very funny.

Everything he did on SNL was outstanding.

ZeroCorpse:New Country sucks... It's all just 50's rock-n-roll with a steel guitar. Bleh.

Its 70s arena rock; pure and simple. It sucked then with the scumbag haircuts and it sucks now with the fake southern accents.

Kyosuke:Tom_Slick:anal brazil men:I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

His SNL run ins with "Mango" were very funny.

Everything he did on SNL was outstanding.

Amen to that. The Will Ferrell as Satan skit is still one of my favorites.

/It's a hell guitar!
//Forged from the bones of fornicators!

Wow... A YouTube clip of a ten year old concert performance. From Central Park, New York. Country capitol of the world...

Circle G ranch is across the street from a friend, there's always some crazy animals making lots of noise out there. There were donkeys out there last time I visited.

HEE HAW for sure!

Smaller house than you'd think.

Dry Creek / Hills Hollow

Goodlettsville

Garth Brooks is a pre-Napster Metallica. He got behind an RIAA push to make buying and selling used CD's illegal. This, of course, got a hugely negative reaction. This is all from memory, so I might have gotten details wrong. Anyway, the RIAA's cunning plan failed miserably.

I just don't think highly of Garth, for those reasons.

Yeah, I still don't understand either...isn't there an island for him yet?

I'll always wonder what all of the fuss is about.

Hopefully when the Beatles remastered cds finally come out they can push this doofus back to #2 once and for all

anal brazil men:I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

Simma down na

Eat_At_Milliways
I'm not the world's biggest fan of pop-country (Much bigger a fan of Cash, Haggard, Hank Williams I and III [but not really Jr])

That's either elitist, stupid, or trolling, but you don't like country if you don't like Jr., especially if you like Cash and Haggard

happygirl
not a big country fan myself but the song "ticks" by brad paisely...funny ass hell

He has got some funny/good songs. My favorite is Me Neither
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Td-0pvDdHQ(p)

TeddyBallGame:I'm, for the most part a metal head but this guy rocks... and he bought that shirt at Chess King


You must be some hard core metalhead to say that.

jj325:I'll always wonder what all of the fuss is about.

Hopefully when the Beatles remastered cds finally come out they can push this doofus back to #2 once and for all

Yeah, that'll teach him!

His 7 albums just sold more then their 13. Boy, I'm sure his half a billion dollars won't be any consolation.

Garth Brooks is a hell of a nice guy but if it doesn't involve an Old French Whore I'm not really interested.

Tom_Slick:Megain:here he is at the opening ceremony for the arena a few days before the show i saw. i love the look on his face

It looks like he fired his personal trainer.


That's not true, I heard that apple-smoked bacon is his personal trainer now.

/i farkin hate country balladeers.

anal brazil men:I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

Can anyone find a clip of this? I loved this sketch when I was younger, but it's been ages since I've seen it. YouTube seems to have taken it down.

Maedros:anal brazil men:I'll say one thing about Garth Brooks. The "Who's more grizzled?" SNL sketch is among the funniest I've ever seen.

Can anyone find a clip of this? I loved this sketch when I was younger, but it's been ages since I've seen it. YouTube seems to have taken it down.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/97/97ngrizzled.phtml

That's the transcript. I can't find the video anywhere. Damn you Viacom!

He's the reason I started listening to country music. The guy is loads of fun at his concerts. They're inexpensive and he puts his all into making it an entertaining experience.

III NSFW language

How many f*cking people were on that stage?

I play in a three piece that puts out 10 times more sound than that sparse and weak-ass sounding crap.

He doesn't have a very good voice.
The song doesn't have much character or any atmosphere.
Nothing in the way of "hooks"--vocal or instrumental.


/I love classic Country music. The ballsy stuff with texture.

Sorry, Subby, Thunder Rolls or GTFO

Garth Brooks is like Rush Limbaugh. (Hear me out)

He's taken a cultural niche, decided what it takes to fill it well and then given the people what they want. He fills that space unabashedly, sometimes to the point of caricature, and so they love "him."

He may have a completely different heart (maybe that's the point behind Chris Gaines - just another acting job in a different club, right?) but he knows that, to be as successful as possible, he needs to "be" the Garth Brooks character: humanistic, humble, inspiring, 'Merican. And, in the country world, that means popularity.

So, he takes pains to hit those targets beautifully, ritualistically. And for that, he gets major credit (and lots of sales).

His time on SNL showed us that he was, somewhat, just an actor. He could be in love with Mango just as convincingly as he could throw his soul into that performance of The River. Those were some really funny skits and I grew to really like him for that, although I don't purchase his music.

Things to notice about that YouTube performance: the crowd starts singing the whole thing and he's apparently spontaneously overwhelmed by their fervor. In a filmed concert, do you think it was unprompted? It was either tradition or encouraged. So, his getting ferklempt is an act.

Then, he goes into the crowd (something Peter Gabriel did when I saw him in 1984, wearing a little headset mike, too) and they pass him out into the crowd - but he makes it back to the stage just in time to get standing up for the big, humble, inspiring finish. Spontaneous? Hardly.

But this is beautiful in appearance. It convinces all the fans, including subby, that Brooks is the man. And, really, there's not much wrong with that - except I believe that "Garth Brooks" the performer is all carefully thought out, orchestrated cabaret from the song themes to the trademark shirts to the "aw shucks" attitude - and people love it.

BRILLIANT.

I need some Hank Williams to remove Garth grease from my ears.

Considering that the majority of those people in the arena are the same ones who attend megachurches and big tent revivals.... I couldn't really care less.craigdamage:How many f*cking people were on that stage?

I play in a three piece that puts out 10 times more sound than that sparse and weak-ass sounding crap.

He doesn't have a very good voice.
The song doesn't have much character or any atmosphere.
Nothing in the way of "hooks"--vocal or instrumental.


/I love classic Country music. The ballsy stuff with texture.

Balls with texture, eh? ......teabag much?

/I keed! I keed!

craigdamage:How many f*cking people were on that stage?

I play in a three piece that puts out 10 times more sound than that sparse and weak-ass sounding crap.

I dunno - as a fellow Texan, the thought of you in a three piece (bra, panties, and cowboy hat) just sort of ruined the thread for me. Maybe if you went for a five piece (add the boots) it would be more interesting.

/ I didn't even touch on the fact that you put out 10 times more

dmax:
But this is beautiful in appearance. It convinces all the fans, including subby, that Brooks is the man. And, really, there's not much wrong with that - except I believe that "Garth Brooks" the performer is all carefully thought out, orchestrated cabaret from the song themes to the trademark shirts to the "aw shucks" attitude - and people love it.

BRILLIANT.

Try finding a famous performer that not "orchestrated" in some manner. All performers play to their audience as well as for their audience. Its their job and desire to entertain and have people walk away feeling better (even if its a better rage or depression) then when they came in. Thats why they make the big money. Now those who can do it and keep close to their actual personality are blessed but there are no "authentic damn the torpedoes" entertainers.

You know what would make him even cooler? If he wrote his own songs or knew how to play guitar.

dmax:But this is beautiful in appearance. It convinces all the fans, including subby, that Brooks is the man. And, really, there's not much wrong with that - except I believe that "Garth Brooks" the performer is all carefully thought out, orchestrated cabaret from the song themes to the trademark shirts to the "aw shucks" attitude - and people love it.

That's so cute. It's REAL to you, right?

\Like wrestling?
\\ran sound for him once, when he was just a soloist opening act on the club circuit.

I Like Bread:You know what would make him even cooler? If he wrote his own songs or knew how to play guitar.

i think of him more as an entertainer than an artist (as Darkridr mentioned). and in that regard he is an incredible success. whether you like his music/performances or not, you've got to give him that. he didn't top the charts because people dislike him

LEAVE GARTH ALONE!