Wayne Bledsoe: Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic' finally gets released from the garage

Danny Clinch/Special to the News Sentinel Tim McGraw's new album almost didn't get released.

Danny Clinch/Special to the News Sentinel Tim McGraw's new album almost didn't get released.

"Emotional Traffic," Tim McGraw (Curb)

Nothing spurs interest in an album more than when the company contracted to put the album out says the artist contracted to put the album together created something the company doesn't want. Suddenly, thoughts rush to something either entertainingly awful or so groundbreaking that the suits at the company can't understand it.

The classic case is Wilco's 2002 album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." Completed in 2001, Reprise Records executives were mystified by the disc and refused to release it. After a very public battle, Wilco was allowed to leave the label and released what remains the band's most critically praised and commercially successful album. In fact, it's a classic.

Capitol Records refused to distribute John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Two Virgins," which featured the couple nude on the cover and audio experiments on the disc. They probably made the right call.

Then there was the time Geffen Records sued Neil Young for making albums that didn't sound enough like "Neil Young" for them.

That's the sort of the argument that held Tim McGraw's "Emotional Traffic" hostage for a year. While a blurb on the cover of the finally-released album from McGraw himself declares "My best album, ever," Curb argued that the disc simply wasn't up to snuff. McGraw contended that Curb Records was just trying to hold him to a contract even though his obligations were up. Listening to "Emotional Traffic," you'd tend to agree with McGraw — except maybe his cover blurb.

McGraw has come further from the pit of mediocrity than just about any other popular country artist. Listening to him as a mature performer in 2012 you'd never think it was the same guy who started out with the purely awful "Indian Outlaw" and "Don't Take the Girl" in 1993.

McGraw still isn't creating classics, but he has a stack of respectable music in his catalog, and he packs a powerful punch in concert.

You have to wonder what Curb Records wasn't hearing. "Emotional Traffic" is the same combination as McGraw's previous albums — with all the good, the bad and the corny.

However, this disc does begin with an edge with the song "Halo."

Maybe the line "Let's just cut it down the middle/Let it bleed and bleed out/I'll clean up the mess/While you just stand there and shout ..." was a little too graphic of a introduction for Curb. But, it's also one of McGraw's most powerful songs, and it's a lot deeper than the typical country radio fare. If McGraw had followed through on the promise of that first track, he might have, in fact, made his "best album ever."

There are good moments. "I Will Not Fall Down" and "Better Than I Used to Be" fall into the "I'm gonna be OK" category of song that makes up the better part of modern country, and McGraw is not relying on the cuteness that continues to trivialize country songwriting.

"Felt Good On My Lips" and "Hey Now," are, like most modern country, actually pop, but they feature good hooks.

Faith Hill (McGraw's wife) and Ne-Yo make guest appearances. Both are OK, but neither is inspiring..

Unfortunately, "Emotional Traffic" contains as much corn-based filler as meat. "Touchdown Jesus" is as artless and contrived as the title would make you imagine. "Right Back Atcha Babe" is a breezy little tune with about as much weight as that breeze.

After all the legal fuss, it's a little disappointing that "Emotional Traffic" is sort of just another Tim McGraw album.

But now that McGraw has fullfilled his obligation to Curb Records, he is now a free agent.

It will be interesting to see if he uses that freedom to truly create something great or remains satisfied at the level he's at.

© 2012, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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