The Crazy Rise of Luke Combs: What You See Is Truly What You Get

Now that I’ve had a full weekend to process the new Luke Combs album, What You See Is What You Get...all I can do is give a sigh of relief and fully enjoy it. This album is the biggest album of the year, by far. We aren’t talking just in country music, but it’s an album that will be a top 5 on the all genre charts. This album has had more buzz then Miranda Lambert’s Wildcard, Jon Pardi’s Heartache Medication, and even pop-country efforts by two of country’s biggest stars Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett. To call this album a monster is even a little bit underwhelming.

To start off with this album, I can 100% say without a doubt that Luke Combs has the best marketing in country music. Somehow, in the course of 2.5 years, he has become not JUST a household name, but he has become the face of mainstream country music. While that hasn’t really come with any awards yet, I think with this album that will change. The way Combs has dove headfirst into his career has been second to none, even surpassing the Garthmania of the 1990s. Obviously, we don’t know if he will be as successful as Garth was, and is, BUT Combs has had the best start to a country music career EVER. His debut album, This One’s For You, was a solid effort. But more then that, it became one of the two biggest albums of the last five years (the other being Chris Stapleton’s Traveler and that’s some damn good company to be in). The reason it became so big is because of the connection Combs has with his audience, who are just regular, everyday people like you or I. It had 3 massive hits which became radio staples.

After the debut album sold and streamed many, many times, Luke did something that a lot of new artists do. He released a deluxe version. Typically, these deluxe albums come out to offer a few more songs before an artist’s second album. They act as a sort of bridge to keep the momentum of the artist and oh boy, did it. The deluxe album, This One’s For You Too, was issued a year after the original and offered all the previous tracks as well as 5 new songs. With those 5 songs, 2 more of them became singles and subsequently also #1 hits, with those songs being “She Got The Best of Me” and what will probably be his signature song, “Beautiful Crazy”. The interesting thing about this is that Luke was playing these songs long before there were studio recordings available. That is part of the marketing genius of Luke Combs. His fans were excited for these songs to come out before they were announced and he gave them exactly what they wanted. Part of being a great artist is giving the people what they’re asking for. This gives the listener a feeling that their favorite artist gets it and is one of them. Great artists like Eric Church and Kip Moore have been doing it for years and look at the fanbases they’ve created and this is absolutely the case for the Bootleggers as well.

So after the great sales and streaming numbers, the 5 #1 hits, and selling out an arena tour…where does an artist go? He does what he always has, continue to make good music and market that music well. He did just that, with releasing The Prequel earlier this year. Again, the marketing behind this was great. It gave a bridge to WYSIWYG and it also delivered 5 songs that Luke had already been singing in concert for over a year. Combs also teased these songs with unofficial live versions before the studio version came out. Then, as the album was announced, he released two more tracks “1,2 Many” (Which was another fan favorite at his concerts) and the title track.

So less then 5 months later, we have the full 17 track album. Of course, there’s only 10 brand new songs for us to dig into…but I think that’s ok. The album is long, and it could to withstand a couple cuts. But the brand new 10 songs equates to pretty much a full album of brand-new material anyways. At first listen, I’ll have to honestly say…I was a bit underwhelmed. For as big of an album as this was going to be I didn’t know what to think. I even threw out some immediate thoughts on the record on my Twitter and I’ll share them with you.

1.) It’s a good album, not a great one. When I said this, it was off of the first or second listen and I’ll upgrade my opinion to it’s a reaaaaaaally good one. This album is a pretty big step up quality wise from This One’s For You Too. The content is better, the songwriting is better, the production (is mostly) better. But I’m a songwriting snob. I love artists that obsess over lyrics and have numerous meanings in one line. And to Luke’s credit, he did that a bunch on this record. I’m just looking for another step up and forward for him on his next album, which will come with time because I think everybody will want to write with Luke after this album.

2.) Luke has one hell of a voice. Holy cow, this guy can belt it and he can also make you feel emotions. My favorite tracks are when it’s just him with a guitar or a piano. I love “Better Together” and “Nothing Like You” because they aren’t overproduced in the way a couple tracks on this record are (namely “All Over Again” and “New Every Day”). I also love the little nuances too. One of my favorite moments is on the “Does to Me” chorus where he sings “I’m a hell of a lover, a damn good brother, and I wear this heart on my sleeve”. The emphasis on hell and damn on this track elevate it for me.

3.) This album is overproduced in more then a few areas. We’ve already discussed that, but I also say and I think that Luke’s voice saves them from being bad songs. If he doesn’t have the voice he has, many of these tracks wouldn’t be nearly as good.

4.) “Dear Today” is great. I really do love the worktape beginning and end…but I think in general it’s not a great production choice. I get that artistically he’s trying to show before and after in a different way…but MAN, I want a complete studio version. I also think this was a perfect single choice down the road, but radio won’t play a worktape version of it. This song has fan passion for it to, which is why it’s a little disappointing that we don’t get a full studio version. Just a perplexing decision.

5.) Oh man…the collaborations. Let me start this off with they both are GREAT. Both Brooks and Dunn and Eric Church are legends and 2 of Luke’s favorite artists. The only issue is, they are on each track so little that it doesn’t feel like they add much to the songs. Give Ronnie Dunn more then a chorus on “1,2 Many”. Give Eric Church more then 20 seconds solo on “Does to Me”. Now my opinion has been less harsh after 10 or so listens now because I know the songs, but I still stand by my opinion that if Luke cuts these solo, there’s not many that would tell the difference.

6.) This is a massive album with 17 tracks and at first listen I was a bit underwhelmed. For all the hype, I was nitpicking a lot of small things on it. I said that it’s similar to the hype that surrounded the Popeye’s chicken sandwich or A Star is Born because no matter what you do, it won’t live up to the hype. A Star is Born is a fantastic movie, but is it the best movie of all time like so many people said it was? No, of course not. Mainly because everybody has their favorite and it’s all subjective to each person and that’s what happened with this record for me. But once I listened to this album over and over again, something stuck with me. This is a really good album. One of my favorites of the year, but is it my favorite? Nope. Jon Pardi’s Heartache Medication is at the top of my list, but that’s ok. Just because I like that better, doesn’t mean I have to like this album any less.

I topped off my comments with saying something like “I’m sure this album will have the Miranda effect” and what I meant about that was the more I listen to the album, the more I will connect with it and therefore like it more. That was definitely the case with this one. I do think that some of the subject matter covered on the album is pretty typical (you got your drinking songs, your love songs, and your “I’m country” songs) but I also think that there’s more of a twist on these songs then others in the genre. I’d much rather hear “1,2 Many” with it’s stupid-smart chorus then I would insert any generic country-pop or country-rock drinking song of this decade. I’d rather hear “Every Little Bit Helps” over a lot of the big break up song hits of this decade. Combs has a knack for solid songwriting that while the subject matter is typical, the little quirks that make a song memorable are here. This isn’t third or fourth layer songwriting of Tyler Childers or Jason Isbell, but this is second layer songwriting. This is also music that’s going to play well on country radio, with 2 of the songs already big hits. I think that this album can easily do 7 singles (and #1s), topping the other Luke (Bryan)’s Crash My Party and Kill The Lights album. It’s a bit unorthodox, but as we’ve seen with Combs…his career has been anything but ordinary, especially considering how fast his songs are reaching #1.

My Picks for Singles Off This Record: “Beer Never Broke My Heart”, “Even Though I’m Leaving”, “Does to Me” ft. Eric Church, “1,2 Many” ft. Brooks and Dunn, “Reasons”, “Better Together”, and ”Every Little Bit Helps”. These are my picks, but (unfortunately) I can see “All Over Again” being pushed to radio too.

Chances are, if you liked Luke’s first album, you’re going to love his second. This album is filled with big, singalong songs that can get a crowd going. It’s an album that truly has something for everyone and even though it’s a broad album, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You'll truly feel like what you see is what you get with Luke Combs and that authenticity is going to help him go a long way. I love his everyday person vibe that he shows in his music and I love the marketing behind him. To go against the Nashville album cycle and play brand new music at concerts THEN release the studio version is different, but it's a nice change of paste in the country community. I’ll give the album an 8/10. Let me know what you think in the comments or tweet at @marty_kurtz.