Jive One posted:

I'm wondering how to appreciate popular contemporary country because so far it's not clicking. I've tried a few recommendations from friends such as Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, and a few others but they all seem to only have two types of songs. They either make a serious ballad or they write more upbeat but superficial songs like "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off". The former is fine and all but the direct, matter-of-fact lyrical approach seems so simple as to render it almost boring. The latter category, at least to me, so far sounds like nothing but gimmicks and novelty songs; something teenage girls might sing along to in their car. The actual instrumentation tends to be better but it still sounds subdued. There's a few moments that have caught my attention but the majority of the time it seems the instrumental melodies are leashed-in and they don't seem to go anywhere interesting.

I can easily enjoy older country, especially some of the older guys like Hank Jr., Waylon Jennings and Kenny Rogers. With a few exceptions, radio music was always a bit on the safe side but I assumed there would be some standouts I would enjoy in pop-country. Are my initial impressions too narrow and there are artists out there who do more interesting song-writing or is this type of music just not for me? It may just be the case that the music is just too big of a contrast to what I normally listen to(80's and 90's alt/indie rock), and that contrast is diminishing what I'm hearing. I am aware of a sub-genre called alternative country but at this point I'd like to focus on mainstream acts if possible. I know this music is astonishingly popular and while I can usually appreciate most pop music on at least a superficial basis, the popular country I've listened to so far seems uninspired, dispassionate, and much of it borders on being trite.