End of Year Round-up

So, we are at the end of the year, which means plenty of Christmas shopping to be done.  I am sure many of you are considering buying music for your loved ones, so I thought it would be handy to do a round-up of  all the albums we have reviewed here, ranked from highest to lowest.  Each album will have two links.  The artist name will be a link to the review that we did here.  The album title will be a link to Amazon where you can purchase it if you so choose.  The ratings we gave are also included.

Brantley Gilbert - Halfway to Heaven (Deluxe Edition): 10/10
Eric Church - Chief:  9.5/10
Justin Moore - Outlaws Like Me:  9.5/10
Lady Antebellum - Own The Night:  9.5/10
Pistol Annies - Hell On Heels:  9/10
Martina McBride - Eleven:  9/10
Kevin Fowler - Chippin' Away:  9/10
Eli Young Band - Life At Best:  8.5/10
Jake Owen - Barefoot Blue Jean Night:  8.5/10
Blake Shelton - Red River Blue:  8/10
Brad Paisley - This Is Country Music:  8/10
Lauren Alaina - Wildflower:  8/10
Colt Ford - Every Chance I Get:  8/10
Scotty McCreery - Clear As Day:  7.5/10
Montgomery Gentry - Rebels On The Run:  7.5/10
Rodney Atkins - Take A Back Road:  7.5/10
Chris Young - Neon:  7.5/10
Toby Keith - Clancy's Tavern:  7/10
Trace Adkins - Proud To Be Here:  7/10
Miranda Lambert - Four The Record:  6.5/10
Joe Nichols - It's All Good:  6.5/10
Luke Bryan - Tailgates & Tanlines:  6/10

Overall, country music had a pretty surprising year.  Some new artists, such as Brantley Gilbert and the Pistol Annies put out fantastic albums.  Some staples (Toby Keith, Trace Adkins) had mediocre releases.  New First Couple of Country Music (Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert) had huge years.

This is far from the only country albums to come out this year.  These are only the ones that we had the chance to review.  Check out releases from Thompson Square (Self-Titled), Sunny Sweeney ("Concrete"), Steel Magnolia (Self-Titled), Sara Evans ("Stronger"), Ronnie Dunn (Self-Titled), Josh Kelley ("Georgia Clay"), Josh Gracin ("Redemption"), Jeff Bridges (Self-Titled), The JaneDear Girls (Self-Titled), Hunter Hayes (Self-Titled), George Strait ("Here For A Good Time"), Craig Campbell (Self-Titled), Corey Smith ("The Broken Record"), Ashton Shepherd ("Where Country Grows"), Allison Krauss & Union Station ("Paper Airplanes"), and Aaron Lewis ("Town Line").  Many of these are great albums that we just did not have time to review.

Thanks for a great first year at "Low Down For A Hoe Down" and Merry Christmas from both Lynzee and I.  We look forward to reviewing all the great albums coming in 2012.  Look for reviews of albums from Kellie Pickler, Tim McGraw, and Dierks Bentley early in the year and many more as the year moves on.  Also coming in 2012, I plan on reviewing any concerts I attend as well as finally getting around to the line dances I promised from the beginning.  See you next year!