Brothers Osbourne - “Skeletons” Review
Brothers Osborne are two brothers, TJ and John, from Maryland who became famous in 2014 from their hit “Stay a Little Longer.”
These brothers, who are fairly new, have only won five industry awards. In the country world, however, that is actually quite a lot.
Nevertheless, they have had a very successful career. Since their 2018 album “Pawn Shop,” the Brothers have needed to continue making successful music if they want to remain relevant in the industry.
However, this wasn’t necessarily the case with the band’s latest album “Skeletons.”
“Skeletons” is Brothers Osborne’s longest album yet. Since their last album, “Port Saint Joe,” the brothers have more to prove in their musical and lyrical abilities.
Starting off their album is the single “Lighten Up,” where listeners get thrown right into the country aspect. With an electric muffle over the lyrics and a strict guitar, this is a great way to jump start right into the album.
Right from the beginning, you hear the exquisite work of John on the guitar and that perfect country feel of TJ’s twangy voice. All in all, a great start to the exciting album.
Next is the song “All Night,” making the great transition between these songs most apparent.. With the guitar and the drum rhythm, these two songs go hand and hand.
But unfortunately, All Night” has no significance. While it is very energetic, it lacks substance and deeper meaning, as it is primarily about just having a good time.
This can be classified as a minor problem, but listeners can find the same problem in many other songs.
The singles “All the Good Ones Are,” “I’m Not for Everyone” and “Skeletons” kind of fall into that category. These songs are musically great songs, but not from a lyrical aspect. They have no significance in telling any type of story or situation.
While not every song must contain a deeper story, the song has to at least make some point in the lyrics. Listeners can easily find themselves lost in trying to find a way to connect to the lyrics.
In “Skeletons,” listeners get thrown all over the place. It’s not the vocals that make it this way but the lyrics.
On the other hand, it’s safe to say the fantastic guitar and drum rhythm carries this album, proof of the brothers’ musical talents. Listeners can definitely hear this in “High Note.”
“High Note” starts off with a single light strum of John’s playing on an acoustic guitar, great for a nice summer feeling. As the song develops, there is another guitar added but for the slight twangle in plucks.
Not only that, but it also has a slight beat of a box drum, making it fantastic “in the bar” song. Ultimately, not many instruments and a nice range of vocals make this slower song stand out on this energetic (to the extreme) album.
After this, the album continues with single sided songs with not much to them, the generic sound and vocals of a country song.
This album was not bad, but if Brothers Osborne wanted to gain more awards in the country music genre, this was not the album to do so. It is almost as if they threw each song together to get an album out before a deadline, no matter the quality.
Rating: 5/10
Reviewer’s Favorite Song: “High Note”
Reviewer’s Least Favorite Songs: “All Night,” “All the Good Ones Are,” and “Hatin’ Somebody”
Cade Miller is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email at cam7095@psu.edu.
