With the meteoric rise of Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan over the past two years, it seems as if Luke Combs has taken a bit of a backseat to the two. That being said, however, it would be foolish to not recognize how big of a juggernaut the Where The Wild Things Are singer has become over the past six years.
With 17 #1 singles to start his career and a plethora of awards to boot, Combs has firmly placed himself as a centerfold in the country music landscape. The question that remains is, “What album is his strongest?”
As a disclaimer, both What You See Is What You Get and This One’s For You are ranked with their deluxe versions in consideration. Without further ado, let’s hop into the ranking.
4. Growin‘ Up
Growin’ Up remains the only Combs album that I haven’t given a positive rating to. I would be dishonest if I said that this album is awful; it’s not. That being said, it is easily the most forgettable and boring entry in his discography yet. It ultimately feels like a lesser version of his first two albums, chalked full of tracks reminiscing about his youth and past loves.
I think the main problem with the album is that these song archetypes have been done better on earlier albums. Used To Wish I Was is a lesser version of Does to Me, On the Other Line is humorous but still not as strong as When It Rains It Pours and Better Back Then is a less interesting version of Be Careful What You Wish For.
That being said, Outrunnin’ Your Memory and The Kind of Love We Make are great tracks that stand head and shoulders above the rest of the album. It’s no surprise that the latter became yet another #1 for Combs; the chorus is simply too catchy.
Standout Track: Outrunnin’ Your Memory
3. What You See Is What You Get (What You See Ain’t Always What You Get)
What You See Is What You Get is far from a bad album. In fact, it’s quite a good one. That being said, it lacks the depth of Gettin’ Old and the spark of This One’s For You. I’d be lying if I said it was radically different from Comb’s debut album, but that is ultimately the issue. While This One’s For You laid the groundwork for Comb’s career, sound and style, this record simply feels like a rehash of his debut without doing anything truly new. It could be argued that not many artists drastically change their sound after a successful debut, so I might be nitpicking to a point.
There are plenty of good tracks present. Collaborations, Does to Me (ft. Eric Church), Without You (ft. Amanda Shires) and 1,2 Many (ft. Brooks & Dunn), #1 hits, Beer Never Broke My Heart and Even Though I’m Leaving, as well as deep cuts like Refrigerator Door all cover a lot of ground both sonically and lyrically. I just wish that there were more songs similar to these throughout.
I do think that the album is a bit too long in its deluxe form, however. Tracks such as All Over Again, New Every Day, My Kinda Folk and Nothing Like You, while not being bad by any means, could have easily been left off this project. The album could have cut down a bit for the sake of less repetition, but that’s truly the only glaring issue. Unlike This One’s for You Too, I’m not sure if What You See Is What You Get truly needed the deluxe edition treatment.
Standout Tracks: Does to Me, Without You, Refrigerator Door
2. This One’s for You (This One’s for You Too)
Combs’ debut album still remains an extremely solid piece of modern country. Though this record isn’t doing anything too challenging both lyrically and musically, it simply doesn’t need to be. This One’s For You is the definition of a crowd-pleaser. The #1’s are simply stellar, the deep cuts are rock-solid and the album itself feels extremely cohesive. There’s a great blend of love, drinking, break-up and nostalgic songs here. No song archetype ever overstays its welcome due to some great pacing throughout the record.
As for #1’s, One Number Away and When It Rains It Pours are the standouts in my opinion. There’s something refreshing about both tracks from different aspects. One Number Away has some super interesting melodic moments. For starters, the chorus is so strong melodically that it’s hard to think of an easier chorus to sing. When It Rains It Pours, on the other hand, sounds like it was written by Brad Paisley in his prime. It’s such a funny, clever song that ultimately shows how funny and well-written a seemingly “dumb” country song can be.
The deluxe version of the record is absolutely stacked as well. #1’s, Beautiful Crazy and She Got the Best of Me, as well as the underrated, A Long Way all make appearances. It’s hard to imagine the album without these tracks; it shows that a deluxe edition of an album is not always unnecessary if the additional tracks further the album’s narrative and overall vibe.
Standout Tracks: I Got Away With You, Memories Are Made Of, When It Rains It Pours
1. Gettin’ Old
Luke’s most recent album is easily his best work to date. It feels like everything came together here for him. There are touches of his patented romping tracks here on Hannah Ford Road, You Found Yours and Where the Wild Things Are, but there are also some interesting, more introspective songs that were missing on the majority of his first three albums.
It feels like Combs is taking a very Eric Church-esque approach on Gettin’ Old, cutting tracks that feel cohesive in his discography while simultaneously growing as an artist and person. Like Church in Mr. Misunderstood and Desperate Man, Combs focuses a lot on being a father and, well, gettin’ old. The title track as well as My Song Will Never Die, Take You With Me, and You Found Yours all play with concepts of fatherhood, mortality and aging.
Sonically, it feels a bit lighter and more traditional than his previous entries. There are touches of mandolin on tracks, there’s some solid acoustic guitar work throughout the album and the violin on tracks such as Love You Anyway are gorgeous.
The acoustic production shines on Combs’ cover of the Tracy Chapman classic, Fast Car. While I’m not going to claim that his version is superior to Chapman’s, it is a fantastic cover that stays true to the original. His vocals are dynamic throughout the track, sounding tender on the expertly penned verses and soaring on the melodic chorus.
Standout Track: Where the Wild Things Are