10 Perfect Country Music Albums With No Bad Songs
9. Shape And Destroy - Ruston Kelly
When talking about the best in country music, you always have to take into account the sadness in the songs. Whether or not you have a fiddle in every song, the core ethos of country always comes back to music that can break your heart if you're not careful enough. Even when it's not coming from the most authentic country artist out there either.
Just listening to Shape and Destroy for the first time, it almost sounds like this would be a side gig for some rock and roll star, and that's not too far off the mark either. Along with being taught the trade of country music, the character behind Ruston Kelly's vocals seems more indebted to rock and roll's heartland, like bits of Tom Petty and Bob Seger in his delivery. His voice is all his own though, taking some dour and depressing subjects and somehow tying them to the sweetest melodies imaginable.
Compared to the other albums on this list, this is probably the closest that you could get to an emo take on the country genre. Once you listen to something like Radio Cloud, you don't see a man who is counting himself out just yet. Yes, he's aware that he's made a lot of mistakes in life, but as long as he has that acoustic guitar in his hands, he can weather even the harshest of storms.