Golden Hour

It was just alright. Slow Burn as one would say.

that was great. my best friend loves kacey musgraves but i've never sat down and listened to a full album of hers. oh what a world was awesome

Country rubbish

I love Slow Burn but the rest of the album is too repetitive for me and lovey dovey/sad girl.

Very pleasant listen

I could maybe give this a 3.5, but I just think this is "good." She rips off a lot of great stuff (mainly Sufjan Stevens), and I think her music probably accomplishes her goal of mixing indie folk with pop country, but I find her voice rather plain, and the music doesn't explore enough new ideas or do anything else in a fun enough way for me. However, I could see myself listening to her Christmas album and wouldn't be upset if my daughter got into Musgraves' music instead of many other pop artists out there...

bad day for it because this was putting me to sleep at work. decent tunes and pretty voice though

Genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed this!

Meh

What the pop country fuck is this doing here? Let's see, better artists that scratch the Kacey Musgraves itch (like an STD) but are significantly better and far more deserving of a spot on the list: Taylor Swift, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood. I don't even like country and I did that off the top of my head. Influence 1. Hits 2. Quality 2. Intangibles 1. Pop country might be the worst country 1.

Perfectly pleasant pop ballads with a country flavour. She's got a lovely voice and there's some nice melodies in there. I think there's enough variance in the songs, and enough hooks and whatnot to keep you interested. It works well as a pop package, but I'm really struggling to see how this can be elevated beyond that. There's nothing profound here. The lyrics are genuinely woeful, just so basic and surface-layer. There's nothing wrong with that for what it is, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying this as a favourite album.. but this really shouldn't be up there with the very best albums of all time in my opinion. You need to have something a BIT more.

Not for me. After every song I was checking how long I still had to go

Feels very..average.

Not my jam

Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Short Review: Warm, floaty, cosmic country-pop perfection. It’s the sound of a heart opening like a window. Kacey blends sincerity with psychedelic sparkle — steel guitars wrapped in stardust. It’s romantic without being corny, dreamy without being dumb, and so effortlessly pretty it feels illegal. This is the rare album that glows. Favorite Track: “Slow Burn” — a whole manifesto disguised as a whisper. If patience had a heartbeat, this would be it.

Pretty good country/pop

Here’s more than a touch of Taylor Swift to these ear, but the opening pair hard-sold me with some excellent chord choices, shifts that rouse with surprise, and a line that starts in Tennessee before taking a hard left turn to Beijing. High quality MOR is good for a Monday.

Inoffensive indie/pop-country. Reminded me of Josh Rouse who does this sort of thing with a bit more elan.

Good but I think it’s overrated. It’s a pleasant listen but nothing really stands out. I don’t remember much on the next day. But overall still good, very good production, and good arrangement, and good voice. It’s like the anime demon slayer. Many people love it. It has the best CGI, amazing bgm, huge production, burnt tons of money. But the core storyline is fairly mediocre.

I like pop, I like some country/folk, and I like some pop mixed in with country and folk. That being said, if she dialed down the pop by 10% I could’ve seen this as a 5. Solid 4. It was enjoyable, artistic, passionate, skillful and catchy. It’s hard to explain because repetition is the entire point of a song, in some form or another. But I found a few of the songs to be slightly dulled by what I would consider gratuitous repetition. Especially for someone who clearly can write a good lyric or tell a story.

a very pleasant listening experience. i don't think a ton really stood out to me, but i enjoyed having it on during the work day. could see myself maybe throwing this on for a road trip, but otherwise i don't see myself going back to it a ton

There’s something to be said about the simplicity of this album. Mostly acoustic, not too many frills, beautiful voice, and just good old fashioned songwriting. I would definitely understand arguments against it but I just really liked it. Also, a rare album to have the last song be the best. Rainbow is just so good. Beautiful piano ballad.

I definitely enjoyed the second half of the album more than the first, and that’s because of the different genres blended with country. I think Kacey Musgraves has a great voice and I was reminded of Norah Jones more than a few times. The biggest drawback of this album is the few times there’s predictable rhymes in the lyrics it really stands out and I find it hard to take the next little bit of the song seriously.

I really like this album! I think a lot of problems people have with modern country music is the simplicity of its lyrics i.e. beer, trucks, and freedom. One thing I didn't think about is changing up the perspective from male to female. A country song from the female perspective feels much more meaningful. It's more of a singer songwriter who happens to have a country accent, rather than stereotypical pop country. I enjoyed the whole album from front to back. I'll be looking out for a copy on vinyl. I could see myself rating this a 5 with a few more listens.

Far more interesting than one would think. It's better than most other pop country. Ultimately, not my cup of tea, but I can see why folks like this one.

Best Track - "Space Cowboy"

Terrible album, even considering that I hate country.

A fun exploration of blending multiple more contemporary genres with modern country. I’m not the biggest fan of modern country, but this album still had some nice offerings.

I've never listened to any of Kacey's catalog at all, as I am not a country fan, so color me surprised when I really liked this album. I get why some would be turned off by this, in part because it is a country album at heart, or the fact that if anything it is bordering on adult contemporary music, but I found this pleasant to listen to. The first half of this album is packed with good songs, including Slow Burn (which was my favorite), Lonely Weekend, and Butterflies. Even Mother, which was a bit of a throw away given how short it is, was a decent tune. The second half isn't quite as good to me, though I think it is more diverse - e.g. wouldn't expect a dance song like High Horse on here. What keeps this from being a 5-star album to me is that I think the song writing lacks at times. It's just too simple and/or disconnected in the lyrics for me to think this is an amazing album. That said, the song structure is solid and the songs are generally catchy, even if they are a leisurely stroll. I see in Wikipedia that she is credited for throwing in yacht rock, electronic, or disco elements, but if anything this feels like a mid 90s album that calls back to something that could have been created by Sarah McLaughlin or Natalie Merchant. All in all, I understand why this was so well received and it's included here. A 4-star record.

it's alright for what it is but rly not my thing

Blah. She’s got a good voice but it just doesn’t do much for me. Nothing offensive enough to abandon the listen but nothing that compels me to listen further either. Standard faire pop country.

I’m not a country fan at all, but Kacey Musgraves is one of the few artists I actually enjoy. You can hear the pop influence in a lot of these tracks, and that definitely softens the country edge, but honestly her voice is what makes this album work. She sounds smooth and effortless on every song. The whole album just has this warm, floaty vibe that’s really easy to sink into. Even when the production leans more country, it never turns into that twangy stuff that usually makes me check out fast. For someone who normally avoids the genre, I ended up liking this a lot. Kacey just has a way of making everything sound better. Favorite song: Happy & Sad

This is produced and mixed very oddly. Weird panning and odd placement for the vocals. I expected this to be more country, but it ended up being more chill indie. I can see the Taylor Swift comparisons, but this is more relaxed.

So this started quite nicely - quite over produced pop country. Lost it's way midway through and basically became pretty straight pop towards the end with High Horse being one of the better songs from the second half. Frankly I found it more memorable and catchy than the Taylor Swift offerings we've had so far but it was otherwise nice but quite average.

reminds me of the early taylor swift albums. this was fine. i don’t think i’ll ever put it on again, but also didn’t mind having it on now.

This was alright. Felt more pop than country, which is likely a good thing for me. I'm not overly familiar with the genre so it's not surprising that could hear some similarities between this and some of the Taylor swift stuff I've heard, but this was all of the softer, less exciting, nature. A few of the ambient sounded reminded me of soft pop of the 90s, like savage garden or that ilk. I'm not blown away, I won't be seeking out more, but I didn't dislike it.

Bore off mate

Surprisingly good. While I might not be a fan of her voice it fits the narrative and melody within the songs.

Sounds like Taylor Swift. Maybe a little less poppy and sung a little better. But still, it's a boring sound for me.

7/10 Favorite: Velvet Elvis

It was fine, didn't click with me personally

Taylor Swift

Not bad, not familiar.

Listened. Mellow country pop. Pleasant voice, but I was left feeling dulled by the experience. Could be a mood mismatch.

Only prior knowledge of Kacey Musgraves is the fantastic Zach Bryan tune "I Remember Everything". I knew walking in that Kacey has a fantastic voice so my expectations were reasonably high. And a great voice she has, but that's where the praise largely finishes. The album admittedly starts out strong with Slow Burn. It's followed by Lady Antebellum/early Taylor Swift regens that didn't grab my attention as much as I was hoping. The album largely continues in this mushy country pop nature. Despite her great vocals (which I have no doubt could make great country music), this album just wasn't that interesting to me. Also confirmed for me that I very much fall on the country-folk side of the fence rather than the radio-friendly country pop. Not offensively bad by any means but just not something I'll be revisiting. 4/10 Favourite: Slow Burn, Least Favourite: Lonely Weekend

Medium pop

Contemporary country definitely isn't my thing. I actually recognized one of the songs from the album though! It wasn't absolutely terrible, but definitely won't be revisiting. Did a couple of interesting things musically here and there. Lyrics were generic and god-awful throughout -> "I'm not wonder woman, I can't lasso the truth out of you". 2/5

Rainbows, butterflies are my favorites. Beautiful lyrics

A bit immature and twangee. Not for me.

Discovered this site today. Country isn't really my thing, so it was a interesting start! The songs are chill and her voice is lovely, it fits a end-of-summer-afternoon kind of mood. "Slow Burn" is a cool song. But that's it, none of the songs reeeeally stood out to me. After the first 3 or 4 songs, they all started to sound kind of the same.

I'm pretty out if it so while I had heard of her, I never consciously heard her before. What a delight! I'm in.

I always appreciate seeing something in this collection released in the past decade (as of 2025), but I'll admit that these selections feel even more arbitrary than earlier albums that presumably have stood the test of time. I enjoyed this album, as well as the nominal foray into country-esque music (a major shortcoming of this collection), but I also don't feel like Musgraves' music is all that distinctive or memorable, and verges on too saccharine on this album. My favorites are probably the opening "Slow burn", the pop-oriented "Butterflies", and the more subdued "Space cowboy". But it was hard to escape the feeling that I was listening to some Hallmark Channel movie soundtrack (despite that Musgraves apparently took LSD for the inspiration for "Slow burn" and "Mother").

Kacey Musgraves seems to have a box for her music: inoffensive lyrics with the occasionally clever or occasionally clumsy twist; inoffensive backing tracks with never a surprise or an interesting musical twist; nice vocals which risk nothing, etc. It adds up to a boring album.

Nice

enjoyable

Pap. Absolutely nothing original or exceptional about it. Her debut album is MUCH better.

i'm not a huge fan of hers, but have heard a bit of her music through osmosis with people in my life. i think her music can be quite charming, but ends up not being quite my thing. i like her voice, which has a certain sweetness to it, but sometimes her songs fall flat for me. on a scale, i would say this is a light 'good' to me, solid but somewhat uninteresting.

Great country album. Good lyrics.

Pretty good

I mean, this is an okay album! Aside from the hits, not much else stands out to me. I struggle to enjoy albums where a majority of the songs are lowkey and emotional. The album is not life-changing by any means, but is a good album to listen to if you like chill country/pop songs about love.

You And Your High Horse. 1001 Albums Generator 149 (10/28/2025) If I wanted to listen to an album where nothing happens, I would throw on John Cage's 4'33". Golden Hour is a boring piece of pop "country" that just completely fails to stand out in any way. High Horse is fun and the title track is okay, while the opener Slow Burn has hints of Sufjan inspiration, which is great. However, I really wanted more from this album, since I get excited to see newer albums on a list like this, hoping to find the artists of today that are making music worth hearing. When it comes to Ms. Musgraves, it feels like I'm missing something. 1.5/5, rounded up to a 2 because it wasn't necessarily unpleasant in any way. Favs: Slow Burn High Horse Golden Hour Least Fav: Love Is A Wild Thing

Admitting that he dumbed down his music for a wider appeal, Jay Z famously rapped “Truthfully, I want to rap like Common Sense/But I did 5 Mil/I ain’t been rappin like Commin since” I think Kacey Musgraves is Taylor Swift’s Common. Proof that pop-country doesn’t have to suck if you have a talented songwriter, this album is mostly good. It gets a little cheesy at times (you can have your space……cowboy) but pretty solid for the most part. I think “slow burn” was my favourite.

4.3 Ive always had kind of a soft spot (and a hard-on for that matter) for Kacey Musgraves without really listening to her stuff. In what I have heard in passing, I thought she had a great voice. The album was really fantastic with a couple of caveats. The great voice; yeah its there but there is ALOT of autotune throughout especially on the the double tracked vocals. The lyrics; are they the most deep and impactful thing I have ever hear, no, but they are fun enough for a pop/country album. For me the production (aside from the vocal manipulation) is a masterpiece. Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk deserve alot of the credit in the arrangements. Nashville guns for hire. This will be my guilty pleasure when we are through the 1001 (1084 and counting) albums

This album is so chill! 420 LFG.

Ще ми се тази музика да не се създава изобщо. Дрънкай си на китара у вас, пей си, НЕ издавай албуми. Хората трябва да имат повече самокритика

Nothing to write home about, its a pleasant enough listen but not quite getting what the significance behind it might be

4.5

country album from a young woman who recently got engaged. floaty and pleasant, according to wikipedia this has influences from disco, yacht rock, electronica? i don't know, that's what it says but i can't hear it at all. i'm sorry, it's not for me. straight up. i don't like country a lot of the time. this music is uninteresting to me, there's nothing special when it comes to vocal or instrumental variety, a lot of the songs are about love... it's just nothing. i'm not hooked. i don't know how this album is significant.

Hmmm!... Not quite country, not quite pop, and the result is rather bland. I imagine this is what an album created and performed by AI might sound like. In fact, I don't have to imagine, because the other day my friend generated a song using AI, and the style was very much like the songs on this album. All very nice, but instantly forgettable. I certainly don't understand the significance of this album that makes it a must-listen, but I'll give it three stars because I would have no problem listening to it again... and forgetting it all over again.

2.5/5

MAGA brain rot music

Made my top 20 for 2018, a perfect record for a summery walk with the dog. I love this.

Not a must hear!

This one surprised me. Beautiful, understated songs. Her voice is great. Maybe the production was a little too “slick,” but this was a very nice album.

Not for me

Ugh, country pop is the worst. These songs are so generic and unmemorable. It's not horrible, but there are so many other albums that aren't this drab and joyless.

Nada interesante

Genuinely surprised to see an album made after the early 2000's. It's unfortunate that they didn't choose a better one.

lovely voice. elements of pop, folk, electronica all swirled together. very eclectic.

I'm not usually a fan of country music, but this is truly excellent. It has that mix of sincere-almost-wholesome and brutally-real, which reminds me of Dolly Parton.

It’s not bad but everything sounds the same.

It was fine, I guess? Melodically it was easy listening. Breezy country-pop with a few frills but nothing that seemed especially interesting. Lyrically it was drab. I didn't find much that jumped out to me on listen number 1, and more regularly I felt it was quite basic and lacking in emotional heft. I don't know, I didn't hate it. It was a decent enough album to listen to on a drive, I just don't think it will get any replay value from me.

Rating: 5.5/10 It’s got a certain charm to it, a lot of it is pretty pedestrian though.

Not many thoughts, but it worked very well as background music while working on some coding. I really liked Velvet Elvis and Space Cowboy, but can't really put into words why.

Instead of wasting words on this, let's just summarize: this is disgusting radio pop garbage and I hate it Nononononono aint no way I'm sitting through a fucking ballad after that shit fucking album fuck off

Country pop at its best

Acceptable countryish pop music. I found it fairly bland.

Thoughts whilst listening to Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves Is it possible to award 0 stars? Are Kacey's family involved in this venture? Is this album generated by AI? Can AI be embarrassed? Are Throbbing Gristle actually quite good? If Dido met Kacey could they develop a song that would put half the world to sleep? What's for tea? Is it chicken?

Gave it a couple listens, didn't mind it but I don't think St.Peter will be allowing her entry to my girl-pop pantheon any time soon.

Oh please. Nobody has to hear this paint by numbers country pop before they die, unless you happen to be a teenage girl with terminal cancer. Some songs are well written (probably with major input from established songwriters) but it’s just bang average pop fayre.

Not my cup of tea. Poppy generic pop.

1. Slow Burn - 7 Instrumentally and vocally very strong. Lyrically very forced and random at times. Still a very good and enjoyable track. 2. Lonely Weekend - 6 Instrumentally very good but lyrically extremely repetitive. Very much a good track that felt like it could be a lot more if the title line was just repeated for two minutes. 3. Butterflies - 9 Brilliant country song. Absolutely awesome from the sound to the vocals to the lyrics. Superb track. 4. Oh, What A World - 7 The autotone part is the only thing keeping this song from a ten. It's very good and really inspiring otherwise. 5. Mother - 4 It's a pretty stale slow song. 6. Love Is A Wild Thing - 10 Brilliant track. Excellent lyrics and a brilliant sound make this song absolutely fantastic. Musgraves does have an amazing voice for a track like this too. Simply superb. 7. Space Cowboy - 7 Standard country song. Some really fantastic lyrics on this track. It's good. 8. Happy & Sad - 8 Brilliant country track. I don't usually like an upshift in octave through the bridge, I usually like a guitar solo or a more mellow bridge. This and Space Cowboy both have that upshift and which I don't necessarily enjoy it in Space Cowboy, it works really well here with the lyrics that guide it the whole way. 9. Velvet Elvis - 5 Drums are really good but it feels like the guitar is being suffocated on this track and lyrcially it's no where near the other stuff on the album. 10. Wonder Woman - 6 It's a good track. It's nothing phenomenal but it's well written and enjoyable. 11. High Horse - 6 Not so much a country song as it is a pop song but overall it's not a bad track. 12. Golden Hour - 4 It's okay. It's not really a great track. Feel lyrically very forced. Insturmentally it's good. 13. Rainbow - 10 Brilliant slow song. Really enjoyable love song. Fantastic way to end the album. Average Rating: 6.85 Adjusted to a 5-Point Scale: 3.42 Rounded Down: 3 Stars

Def a vibe. A couple of the songs were extra enjoyable but in general I couldn’t distinguish one from the other. I might throw this on in the background but nothing more

Eh, middle of the road, boring country

Did not like this one. A couple cute songs but it all felt so insincere. Mall crawler music. Denver Colorado cowboy outfit music. Not good.

#734. The description of this says country, but it surely isn't that. This is pop music in the same category as Natasha Bedingfield or Norah Jones. It's fine as far as easy listening pop music goes, I guess. 3/5: acceptable

Franchement je m'attendais à détester et j'ai trouvé ça cool

Great. Really enjoyed

I tried to like this but just couldn’t really. It just didn’t really do anything of note and by the end felt like it was just dragging to its inevitable conclusion.

I bet that when Kacey goes for a curry she orders a Korma and a plain Naan bread. Every song sounded like the vomit inducing montage music to a teenage b movie where our heroine looks whimsically back at her summer of romance. I didn’t hate it, the vocals are ok and occasionally you think it is going to get spicy, but no back to your bland korma with Kacey! The correct order in a curry house (in case you are interested) is Lamb tikka korai, pilau rice, keema naan, and lashings of lime pickle. Go on Kacey give it a try.

You are kidding me this is what counts as country music these days!? It’s just indie pop with an occasional slide guitar and sung in a mild southern accent innit? Either way it’s utterly utterly devoid of anything interesting, novel or particular unique musically. Given I gave Prince 1* yesterday, I’m afraid Kacey, your fate is sealed.

Nice

When I think of the albums that aren't on this list so that this crap can be... Impossibilly dull, lyrically pointless

12/10/2025 Surprisingly I had never heard of her. This was okay, can't imagine I would give it another listen. Spotify listeners: 17 million

This is #day430 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… it makes me wonder what someone has to do in their life to need to hear this album before they die. What makes me wonder even more is how much more of this kind of crap is on this list. Like, fucking seriously. This is a 1 out of 5. Looking forward to #day431.

Nearly a year of daily albums and this is maybe the worst. It just felt so bland, none of the songs stood out, the lyrics are bad, her singing is ok but nothing amazing. Just felt so generic.

Lovely album. Her voice is very easy on the ears. I like the mix of country with modern sounds.

3.5

3.5

This is actually fourth out of her five albums for me, with *star-crossed* being my least. My favorites are truly her first two albums which really have an earnest charm to them. Her writing even somewhat reminded me of John Prine in its matter of fact style lyrics and aiming straight to the point with a humorous wink. (*Same Trailer, Different Park*, *Pagent Material* and *Deeper Well* I have all at 4½★s) I guess what gets me about this album is I think she traded some of earnestness in for a glossier more modern production. In fact the production of this album really reminds me of Jenny Lewis's *Voyager* album from four years earlier, for some reason. That's not to say this album doesn't work it actually works pretty well and it is a gorgeous listen. Both the opening "Slow Burn" and closing "Rainbow" are as good as anything she's done. And I still love her turn of phrase (I really dig the coy comma in "Space Cowboy") But then there's the disco fuled "High Horse" and the not even fun goofiness of "Velvet Elvis". The rest of the album is fine, I just wish the sonics focused on her and her writing rather than the shine around it. (8.65) ★★★★

This is too much in the pop realm for me. I would have prefered a more straight up country record. 3.5 stars

I thought this was a pretty good album. My main beef with it is probably that it leans too far into pop a lot of the time -- there's like a pop sheen that I don't think needs to be there, and somewhat related is I find Kacey's vocal delivery kind of off-putting at times. It's like she's trying to walk the line between country and pop and it comes off kind of weird on some of the songs. Still, there's a number of good, catchy songs on here, including "Slow Burn", "Butterflies", and the highlight for me, "Rainbow". 3.5 stars.

3.5

Kacey Meh-graves. There’s some nice elements of indie, soft rock, disco and electronica but it is all delectably swished into a basically yucky corny girly country pop album. Not even a golden minute on this. Worst Cowboy Bebop episode ever because tracks like Space Cowboy I will not wanting to be ‘seeing again’.

Do I really have to review this when I had to skip multiple tracks? Let me put it this way — I enjoy country so if you're going to pitch this album as "country music" that's going to frame my expectations. I appreciate Kacey Musgraves is authentic, as in she was raised yodeling and isn't just some karaoke artist who transitioned to country because her face could sell records in America. I liked the 1st track, and got a headache on the 2nd track. Call me a hater, but auto-tune doesn't belong in a country song. I skimmed the rest of the album and started writing this review — funnily enough, the YT algorithm queued "Stonecutters" by DOPE LEMON once the album was done. I'd never heard them before. It was immediately and immeasurably more enjoyable than the album experience. Oh, then it queued "Merry Go 'Round" by Kacey, it was okay. Back to the album — bland lyrics, beats, and instrumentation. Bottom-shelf Americana. It's extremely telling that the entire album has a music video (yes, filmed with a "golden hour" lighting aesthetic because eyes > ears). This album is "when xmas shopping comes round, we need an artist for the market of gruff men with pop-girl daughters" and it sucks for the average listener (i.e. people seeking musical inspiration before they die). It's an insult to feature this album while some truly great modern works of Americana/country are absent. I will list some tracks by recent artists I recommend, some of them incorporate similar cross-genre styles. So in order to repair the bad rep this genre has earned due to cookie-cutter artists who've forgotten its root and soul, please give these a go: Brace For Impact - Sturgill Simpson (country GOAT) 24 Frames - Jason Isbell (genius lyricist) Hurtin' (On The Bottle) - Margo Price (that voice...) Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton (soulful) Feathered Indians - Tyler Childers (beautiful, earthy sound) Note that all of these tracks and their respective albums came out before "Golden Hour", so passing over them is truly crazy work. Even when Kacey Musgraves shows her take on "just country", the sound is bland and uninspired — think Hallmark film, TV advert, or MTV. Bonus, thanks to YT algorithm reminding me these artists also exist while I finished up this review: Tennessee River Runs Low - The Secret Sisters (country harmonies) Jolene - Ray Lamontagne (this song is so gorgeous)

what a lovely record. such a pleasant listen

Pop cheese, I am not her audience. Super boring milquetoast.

This album goes down easy. Couldn't be more appropriately named. But essential? Maybe in the way a perfectly broken in warm blanket is essential on a cool fall night.

A nice surprise when you don't even know the existence of this album! A country pop record, Golden Hour also contains elements of disco, electropop, electronica, and yacht rock.And it is so good from start to finish,great album! Slow Burn is so beautiful,crystal clear divine vocals,amazing lyrics and everything else! Lonely Weekend has blissful,nostalgic melodies and pop stucture,really nice vibe, Butterflies is a great song,happy pop times, Oh,What A World got me from the beginning with the vocoder intro,celestial atmosphere,banjo involved beautifully,just magical, Space Cowboy has -as in all songs- strong lyrics,slightly detuned synth at times and a pop country balad structure, Mother is a heavy piano piece,more like a passage, Love is A Wild Thing,is a country pop song with great acoustic guitar and bass,the banjo played as an arp at times is just heaven,nostalgic synth sounds turns this into a masterpiece, Poppish Happy & Sad is my least favourite but still is very good especially towards the end, Velvet Elvis is super powerful and creative with electronica elements,one of my favourites if not the whole album! Wonder Woman has incredible lyrics and as a song is a bliss to my ears, Disco-infected High Horse is absolutely fantastic,it's amazing how she blends it all and it is really working,wow,my head was up and down the whole time especially at the end where banjo involves, Golden Hour,an another love song that has so beautiful lyrics that generates landscapes in your mind, Rainbow is a heavy piano balad,perfect for the end and perfect for her voice range,with a hopeful message. Wow that's an almost perfect album with all songs great and i didn't even know it. Easy 5/5 and more!

Not too bad. Doesn't really sound like the pop country out now

I really enjoyed this one, especially considering how commercial and polished it is. While it’s clearly rooted in country pop, I’d still take this over Taylor Swift any day of the week. What makes this album stand out is its seamless genre blending. You get the foundation of contemporary country, but it’s layered with dream pop textures, soft disco grooves, and subtle electronic flourishes that give it an indie pop spirit. For instrumentation you get acoustic guitars and pedal steel mixed with analog synths, ambient pads, and electric piano lines. The result is airy that feels both intimate and expansive. It’s a great example of how mainstream pop country can evolve without losing its emotional core.

# Album Name: Golden hour # Artist: Kacey Musgraves # Rating: 4/5 # Comments: Quite surprised by this one. Good voice and some pretty good tunes. First 4 songs a good and the last three. Lulls in the middle. Low 4. # Top Tunes: First 4 songs a good and the last three # Would I listen to it again? Yes

Ah yes, her honeymoon record. This album was a big deal around when I really had my finger on the proverbial pulse, so it’s strange to realize I hadn’t listened to it in full. Seven years late is better than never I suppose. She has a lovely, classic-yet-contemporary country voice and her writing is usually strong. Production is understated but not undercooked. Too bad about the marriage itself I guess, but what it's a good record.

What a beautiful album cover. Oh shit is this country? Yeah sorry. 2 stars.

Quite a pleasant surprise. Like a nice summer breeze that cools you off but is also carrying just the slightest whiff of manure or fermenting silage. But just the slightest.

Gentle country

This is alright but not really my kind of music

A singer songwriter, nominally country, inoffensive unlike many vocalists in the genre who are primarily annoying, but also nothing really memorable on here either.

First third of the album I was into. I just can't do 30-40min of this type of music in one go.

Unexpectedly great. This has emotional depth that I just wasn't ready for, but very welcome here in the streaming era. Sweet voice and good songwriting that hits the sweet spot between rock and country. In a sea of negativity on this list, here's a rare work of sincerity and optimism. Real.

Not my vibe, but very nice, if I were to listen to country this is what I would listen to

Was expecting to dislike this, but actually it's quite a pretty album! Will probably give it another spin in the future.

Temu Taylor Swift completely over-produced vocals highlight dead plain lyrics

Listening to the first song I expected this to be a straight forward modern country album, not knowing anything about Kacey Musgraves. I was surprised by just how pop-y the following tracks were, though despite a heap of production I still ended up liking most of the tracks. I don't know how often I would come back to this, but I would be curious to try out more of Kacey's albums. 3.4/5

For country music, this is really good. I could see myself listening to this again for sure. Very pleasant. 3.5/5

Too pop, not enough (classic) country, but still decent. Nice voice.

Warm and cozy, an optimistic burst of pure high spec pop country production informed by 2 decades of rustic acoustic indie singer songwriters. Tasteful songs cleverly adding new shades while still coloring comfortably within the traditional lines. Distinctive melodic phrasing. Lush arrangements bringing in soaring slides, dabbling in electronic sounds, and leaning heavily into rich orchestration.

Bland.

Woulda been a 2 without the false advertising of "space cowboy". Honestly this album brings nothing to the table beyond generic country which just isn't that good.

Perfectly pleasant and listenable, but also completely inessential for me

Surprised, but just not for me and generally a little boring

Pretty good. Very chillded

3

Wow that was so bad. I hated this.

short and solid

Couldn't even get to the end...

Can’t get past the 3rd song

PAIN I've heard a lot of hype about Kacey and this album in particular. So I was excited to get into this Oh my god it was horrendous. Her voice grated on me so badly. The lyrics were terrible and cringy. And at parts she sounded like an AI bot. This is what people have been hyping up?? The musical equivalent to spending a day walking around home bargains to be honest. No offence to the woman I'm sure she's lovely, but oh my god never again please 1 ⭐️

Reminds me of saccharine coffee shop fare from the late 1990s. It's fine, but I'm not understanding how it won all these awards.

Mid country pop album. I can see the appeal but not for me.

What’s most impressive about this is that it was released nearly 8 years ago and has since become a bit of a modern country ‘classic’, appearing in this list of course but also on many music publications’ decade-end lists, including that one high-profile Apple music all time list. The music itself isn’t half bad either. I’ve noted before with Willie Nelson that whilst proper bare-bones country or ‘country pop’ isn’t something I seek out to listen, when I do it’s always very lovely. This is no exception, and its increased scope via the pop angle does it many favours. There’s plenty of writers credited here, which you may be surprised at given a lot of the songs’ seemingly juvenile lyrical content. Making up for that though is the songs that have both great lyrics alongside great sounds (Slow Burn, Mother, Happy & Sad) and the standout song whose lyrics you’ve heard a thousand times before, but never in this countrified, blended form of pure homeliness, Love Is a Wild Thing. Golden Hour got all of its critical and listener praise because of both its accessibility and its thought-out musicianship. It’ll convert most anybody to revel in its lush, darn tootin’ sound.

I've heard some of these songs in the background of life at the time, she was very popular. Enjoyed most of these songs, well produced and she has a nice voice. Some creative use of vocoder as well. Wikipedia tells me she's "woke" compared to most contemporary country singers, I appreciate that. I really like the song with the vocoder on the chorus. I'll give this three stars but probably wouldn't go back to this unless I had someone visiting that liked country and I wanted to appease their tastes while not subjecting myself to Morgan Wallen or some other crap

I found it very boring.

Country music rarely sounds like this nowadays.

Slow Burn is great and the rest of the record never gets back there.

Listens: 1 Standout Tracks: None This is exactly the type of music I dread listening to on the List. A genre I already don't like, paired with vapid lyrics and meh singing about cowboys, love, relationships and other country-lifestyle stereotypes. This album give off real "trad-wife" vibes; There's a weird pervasive focus on deference to men and self-objectification. "Knowing my place", "I'm not good enough", "I'm only human". Yuck.

I’ve always enjoyed Slow Burn, but as a whole this type of country pop just isn’t very appealing to me

I enjoyed the change of pace on this album. Although, and not trying to be rude, it felt like a generic late 20teens 2020s country pop album. However some good songs on the album, well put together with great vocals and I personally enjoy the country zeitgeist. But max it can score for me is 3

I like this one. Slow Burn sounds like a Sufjan Stevens song. …actually, there’s a bunch of stinkers in the middle. It's not as good as Madvillainy.

This was fine but not my favorite. Good voice though

Radiant & authentic country-pop album, surprised myself that I enjoyed this as much as I did. “Slow Burn” is a brilliant opening track & the general flow of the album never loses pace or appeal, despite a couple of fillers.

This album uses the lines “fear of missing out” and “I wish we didn’t Live so far from each other, I miss my mother” unironically without giving the ‘sweet earnest’ any meaningful musical contrast. I wish the pretty neat production and the at least coherent songwriting could elevate this for me, but I turned my daily scheduled mitski album off for this and so am all too aware how you do this type of music right.

Can’t call this country. This is a pop album. And it’s a good one. Great voice, good lyrics, and good production. Worthy of a relisten and then some.

Very nice - more folk that I thought it would be. Good tone, songwriting. Look forward to hearing more from her.

Not really a country fan, but this album holds a special place in my heart. My wife got well into it during Covid Lockdown so I heard it quite a bit and because she likes it so much and was singing along I have a fondness for it. So this country album bucks the trend for me for those reasons.

It's fine, not for me

This is about as country as I like my country to be. I think this is excellent, strong songwriting and vocals. I could listen to this all day. Another solid new to me album from the generator. Dig it.

Размеренный нежный альбом. Поп-музыка и кантри, плавные мелодии.

Never heard of her, never want to. So bland it makes me want to punch a wall.

Good album, albeit a little too radio friendly for my liking.

Syrupy singer. Some good songs

Fair. Great voice, not a lot of memorable tunes.

I love her earlier, cheekier country & western style albums, but this album is still great. Much more pop-oriented and straightforward.

Not 4 mee

Good god. This is not just music that is not my taste. This is simply just bad music. Some of the worst lyrics I’ve ever heard. Literally sounds like it was written by an elementary school girl with a crush on someone. It was absolutely a terrible album and should be taken off this list. 1.5/5

I had very low expectations for this, but was pleasantly surprised by enjoying it. Some of the lyrics weren't great and I enjoyed some tracks a lot more than others, but all in all a good album. Country pop is definitely not my usual thing but this was decent.

Bland boring Country Pop

High end modern female country, just not my style

A delight! Came close to 5, but didn't get all the way there (not enough range). Hope to return to this many times in the future.

I was not previously familiar with the artist or the album. After listening, I can see the appeal. She has a nice voice and the production seems to be top notch. I wouldn't mind listening to this again, but probably wouldn't seek it out either.

Love this album. It’s one of my favs. A variety songs and songs full of emotion and stories.

I think this album is awesome.. I remember listening to it the first time, being pretty blown away by Slow Burn and not totally gelling with the rest, but it’s really solid, nicely layered country pop! A really good collection of songs!

huge album that gets an incredible amount of play of play in our house... i really don't like the wonder woman song but i enjoy everything else! How could I not like my nephew's fav album...

“When I say Yee you say Haw. I DIDN’T SAY FUCKIN YEE!”

Slightly better then the garbage country today. But I still don't like it at all

She's good, but I had to turn it off part way because it was making me sad.

This is an unreal album. It deserved album of the year at the Grammy’s - glad she won. I like depressing music. Great sing along album.

Pop country is definitely not in my wheelhouse. I didn't hate this album, as much as I found it kind of boring. She's arguably a great vocalist, but I just don't like the style.

For a “country pop” album that I definitely thought I was going to hate… I didn’t hate it. It was nice, it was calming, never really thought about skipping any songs.

Maybe a little delicate for my taste, but there are some terrific songs on here. It's cool when a relative unknown hits a wave of genius.

She has a good voice, album was okay, this music is not my cup of tea.

Solid album, not really my style of music but it was ok.

I saw Kacey Musgraves on tour, opening for Harry Styles, to promote this album. What a fantastic show that was! Butterflies is my favourite song by Kacey.

Very generic white girl music. Not terrible but not exactly exciting.

Listened to before: Once Finally my first country album - and, boy, I do not like country. But: Golden Hour leans as much into pop territory as it possibly can. I heard the album once a few years ago, without me remembering any of it. And so I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually enjoy it: Golden Hour is a collection of nice little songs, without much depth, but with catchy melodies and a nice vibe. The instrumentation is interesting and every so often we get nice little instrumental hooks, like on Butterfly or Wonder Woman. Which is why I listened to the album more often, than I had expected to.

Fav: Lonely Weekend Least Fav: Mother Another lovely surprise, this album helps prove to me that country sounds best when it barely sounds like country (there are some exceptions however)

Country twinged pop music with a slightly dreamy atmosphere. Nothing bad here at all, but it's fairly forgettable. Kacey's voice is nice and some of the instrumentals are good but it's laegely by the numbers songwriting

Pretty good country

yee- and i cannot stress this enough, haw some of these songs remind me of Goldie POV Scroldie too, maybe thats a good point of inspo for future fics xd But yeah this album is good and Kacey hones in a good mix of pop and country where her voice enchants me on what love feels like.

Taylor Swift com personalidade

Middle of the road.

Dont listen to much stuff like this but i appreciate a lil variety. Realized i kinda liked kacey musgraves from a couple christmas songs so i was excited to hear the whole thing. Theres some hits and misses, its not very consisten interms of how much i like the songs but is consistent in vibe. She does have such a soft like passive voice and at times it has a "go with the flow" fun ethereal vibe to it but in some songs it sounds yearnful in a way that feels like youve given up. Not sure how to describe it any way else.

started strong and lost steam by the end but some nice tunes

The biggest surprise of this whole endeavour

OK.

4.5 stars. Pop take on country done really well. Talented songwriter and singing voice has just enough twang to match the music. Favorite is leadoff "Slow Burn". No weak tracks across the board. Last three are more overtly pop.

It was okay, I don't personally groove with what she says but I honestly can't say any flaws in the album. It's objectively 4/5

8/10

Beautiful! One of my favs :D

For an album that made me roll my eyes when I heard the singer's country twang in the first seconds, I ended up enjoying it way more than I expected and I was left very impressed on my first listening. The charming aspect of this record relies in its instrumentation and production, as I do believe it sounds gorgeous. These traits are what mainly carries a lot of the album, as I found the lyrics to be very mediocre when I gave it a more in-depth listening. What I found interesting about the instrumentation, which makes this album set apart from other country music, is that it borrows a lot of elements from pop. It has a lot of details and chord progressions that I didn't find in other country releases that I've heard, and I think the greatest example would be the song 'High Horse', having that distinguishable pop rythm and style of singing mixed with a very catchy chorus. Overall, I did quite enjoy this album and I think it is very consistent.

Ja, hva skal man si om dette da. Er jo ålreit å høre PÅ. Men når man hører ETTER så er det ganske tynt. Etter Life Is But A Dream kan jeg like når autotune brukes overdrevent med vilje. Mener bruken her var god og riktig. Trekker dessverre ikke nok opp for resten.

Sweet and mellow sound, good stories

How did this win Album of the Year at the 2019 Grammy's over Janelle Monae's 'Dirty Computer'?

Just an absolute gem

Man, they really letting anything through on this list, huh…

I hate this.

This album caught me by surprise.

Love me this Texas gurl!

Album #23 of my 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour This album isn’t a new one for me, as I listened to it for about 3 months straight when it came out. I had already been a fan of Musgraves, but this album probably tripled her fanbase, if not more. It’s a very sleek blend of country-pop. The kind of sound country music radio loves these days, except Musgraves is a woman & isn’t talking about getting her teenage queen liquored up in the bed of her pickup. I’m not sure how the song Rainbow wasn’t a huge smash crossover hit, & maybe it was, but it should have also won all the awards because it’s just beautiful. Space Cowboy & High Horse are also great jams. Even if you don’t like country music, you’ll dig this.

This album is like an endurance test of all my least favorite music cliches. First off, I cannot stand country music, I know this is barely country, but that accent and style of singing just gets right under my skin. Secondly, I just find pop music that leans more towards singer-songwriter to be some of the most boring music out there. Ok so, this album isn't unlistenable, but I find it incredibly tedious and repetitive. As soon as a new song would start I would immediately forget whatever played before. There was a lot of really good music released in these past 10 years, but apparently whoever picked these albums hasn't heard them. All of the albums that were picked for the 2010's are always whatever won some award, and they are always the most boring, inoffensive, opposite of boundary pushing album ever. Low 2.

Enjoyed this album nice and chilled with a great vocalist 7/10

love her till the day i die

This album is real good

This is very pleasant inoffensive pop country music. Not bad by any means.

So I'll start this off by saying this is the music Taylor Swift thinks she writes. Actual artistic, Americana ripe with allegory, heartful stories and just b e a utiful melodies and voicings. Ive been quietly following Kasey from about 2017, pre-grammies. And have enjoyed her throughout. My only gripe is this... While her music had touched the souls of many and have reached those who swore off country forever. Its fallen into the hands of the Coachella/Target/Labubu/Crumbl cookie demographic. Thus forcing actual country western and americana fem fatales into obscurity. The biggest crime about the alt country genre is that for the last 10-15 years its been the only good country to exsist. Please if ur reading this and like this album go listen to; Christina Vane, Riddy Arman, early Sierra Ferrell, Molly Tuttle, Esther Rose, Noeline Hoffman, and better yet get your ears on the the youtube channel "Western AF".

Pas mon délire...

je suis en terre inconnue j'aime pas du TOUT mdrrr je me fais chier je m'arrête track 4

This album was somewhere between a 3-4, and I've decided to give it a 4 because there wasn't anything I really didn't like about it (other than the fact there wasn't anything I really liked about it). I was really surprised to find that this album appears in 'Apple Music's 100 Best Albums of All Time', and similar lists written in the last few years. I can't help but feel like this is a product of recency bias, in much the same way that 'Robbie Williams - Life Thru a Lens' was considered one of the greatest albums of all time in it's time. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, but I only listened to it yesterday and I've forgotten it already.

When I say “yee”, you say “haw” Love it. I remember when I heard that some country album got Grammy for “record of the year” and “country record of the year”. I was a little confused. But it was not for long. Listening to it quickly absorbed my confusion and skepticism. Haaaw

Favourites: Lonely Weekend; Butterflies; Oh What A World; Wonder Woman; High Horse; Golden Hour

Nothing against Kacey Musgraves; I've always liked her, but there'd better be a lot of other female country artists yet to come on this list. Because there are some serious powerhouses I'd add long before I added anything by Kacey Musgraves. Overall, this album was fine. The word that kept coming to mind was "quaint". Not "memorable" or "important" or "unique" or "ambitious" or even "interesting"… just … "quaint". 3/5 Highlights: Slow Burn Rainbow

not much of a country fan. but it was pretty basic, same as back from work ride with my boss that day.

Ugh… I could tell this was going to be a long listen from the very start. Lines like "In Tennessee, the sun's goin' down / But in Beijing, they're headin' out to work" (thanks Kacey for pointing out that time zones exist) on the opening track Slow Burn already set the tone. I might be able to look past lyrics like that if the music was more engaging, but sadly, that’s not the case here. To me, it just sounds bland and uninteresting and completely forgettable. The production doesn’t help either. Everything, especially the vocals, feels too clean, too pristine, too compressed, which is often the case with modern pop albums. Her voice also has a slightly whiny quality that I personally find offputting. The lyrics throughout tend to be overly straightforward, but not in a clever or impactful way, just kind of flat. Honestly, I could imagine this music blasting in a H&M or some fast fashion clothing store, which just makes the experience feel even more nauseating. That said, there are some redeeming moments on here. Every now and then, there are some interesting sonic choices: an unexpected sounding keyboard or guitar line (Velvet Elvis), some Daft Punk-style vocal effects (like on Oh, What a World, though again, the lyrics here felt very naive and cliche), the unexpected disco influence on High Horse. These little touches are what kept me going and you can see that whoever produced this wanted to elevate songs that would otherwise be pretty uninteresting. And I’ll admit, when all the elements like banjos, keyboards, slide guitars come together just right, there are some flashes of beauty. But overall, those moments were few and far between. 1.5/5

Í can hop over this one

Country

Country feel. Good vocals

Knows exactly what it wants to be and executes it well. Very pleasing to listen to pop country album, and sometimes that’s all i need.

very very good!

Indie country. Way better than pop country. Enjoyed this as much as I could given the genre.

Not my cup of tea

type album that imma performatively act like i enjoy to impress white shordies

Another decent album that not my cup of tea. Too popish and indie. Its like the formula for making decent songs. 2 songs were really good all others are average

3.5 Lana Del Rey really is maybe the most influential artist of her generation. There’s a version of her for every genre basically, and this is her+country+a touch of disco. I’ve heard good things about this album since it came out so I was very excited to finally have an excuse to listen to it, and…it’s fine! At no point did it get tiresome or bad, but it’s also kinda one note and just, well, fine. I remember High Horse was on a playlist for work back in 2019, and tbh, that’s kinda appropriate to me. It’s the type of music that’d you hear on a playlist at work, but the good kind that stands out among the rest of the dreck. But still, ultimately, it’s music that plays at work.

Country Rock from someone I've never heard of but apparently it was quite a hit on both sides of the pond. I quite liked the album and my favourite tracks on the album are the opening track "Slow Burn" and "Space Cowboy".

A really good pop/country album form a new artist to me. I was surprised that there weren't more songs with a more upbeat tempo. Its all very slow paced but it fits her singing well.

For every good pop country album, there are 100 bad ones. Luckily this one is a good one. Remembering back on its release cycle, I think it got a little too much love from the Grammy’s, Spotify, etc etc. Dont get me wrong, this album is good and achieves what it sets out to do, but stops short at being a transcendent work of art imo. “Love Is A Wild Thing” might be the lyrical summation for the themes of this project, especially the ‘flowers in the concrete’ line. The memorable tracks are at the end of this albums nice little 45 minute runtime. “Wonder Woman” has a clever bit of lyrical imagery for such a simple pop song. “High Horse” is one of the best lyrical hooks paired with one of the best pop grooves of its time. “Golden Hour” gave everyone an instagram caption for the two years that followed its release. Then “Rainbow” is just one of those piano ballads that will hold up for decades to come. Great pop album that doesn’t overstay its welcome, perhaps slightly overheralded and responsible for the continued pervasion of cowboy hats as fashion statements and country crossovers that didn’t go nearly as well. Soft 4/5

Very nice balance of country and pop with a decent variety of sounds, immaculate production, and great hooks.

I'm very fond of Kacey Musgraves and this is some of her best work. I think I've listened to Slow Burn at least once a week since 2018. It's so dreamy and hypnotic and actually a great thesis for the rest of the album. But every song here is very well written and enjoyable. Even songs like Butterflies or Rainbow, which could easily be skips for me by any other artist - they could be too saccharine or overly embellished with belting and vocal flourishes - are frequent repeats in my house. I love the quality of her voice and the relaxed way she sings. The production on this album complements her perfectly. I was going to list my favorite songs but I might have an easier time choosing all of them and then trying to rank them. After Slow Burn, number two is Oh, What A World and number three is Happy & Sad. Number four is Space Cowboy. Five stars for Golden Hour as a whole. I also highly recommend her latest, Deeper Well. A lot of those songs scratch the same itch as Slow Burn for me.

A few years ago I would have dismissed this album immediately. Traditional American Country Music does nothing for me at all. But Taylor Swift has educated me not to be so rash. Listened and gave this album a chance in hope, considering it was on this list at all, that it would appeal to my inner Swifty. Pleasant enough I suppose but not deep or meaningful like you get from Taylor Swift. 2/5 18/7/25

Country-pop con énfasis en el pop. Una música comercial, inofensiva y perfecta para las emisoras de radio más populares. Y, al mismo tiempo, se sale de los moldes de este tipo de música al combinar no solo country y pop, sino que también se intuyen algo de indie rock y sonidos más actuales en general. No por nada algunas de estas canciones fueron compuestas bajo la influencia del LSD, según la propia Kacey Musgraves. Las letras son bonitas aunque súper cursis y nada originales, cercanas al pop más comercial. La producción y composiciones en general son muy buenas, aunque hacia la segunda mitad del álbum se empieza a hacer un poco repetitivo y demasiado poppy. A caballo entre un dos y un tres. Vamos a redondearlo hacia arriba, porque hoy no estoy motivado para escuchar algo más exigente.

I don't ever listen to country music, so have little to compare this to. Nothing here interests me, it's poppy and bland. Not unpleasant, but feels so contrived.

Good but not more

This is modern country-pop to a T. As of the past couple of years, this kind of music (but even more "canned industry faux") has frustratingly populated the charts. THAT BEING SAID, this is certainly better than that bullshit, even though track-to-track it's a bit samey. Take it from a certified country hater.

Beautiful! Especially love the Rainbow song.

I have loved this album from Day 1. So many smart songs! “Space Cowboy” is an all-time fave for me. And Musgraves’s delivery is engaging and absorbing. This is probably close to a 4.5 for me.

Not for me, sounds like generic pop country nonsense

Thought I would hate this, but it’s pretty good!

Bland. Kinda reminds me of early Taylor Swift.

To me it's just your everyday love/break-up album with cliché text

Nice!

I actually found this to be quite nice.

Þetta var frekar ljúf plata sem ég mun vonandi hlusta oftar á. Fín til dæmis sem bakgrunnur í matarboði eða bara yfir daginn. Ekkert sérstakt sem stendur upp úr samt þannig að hún dettur úr þremur og hálfri niður í þrjár

Really nice.

Well made pop

Not a fan of contemporary country music, I was positively surprised. It is a good 3, sometimes a bit bland, but overall a nice listen.

I saw this pop up on a list of best albums to get high to on 420 and still don’t understand why.

After years of having one foot in the door of fringeness and one foot out the door towards ubiquity, Kacey Musgraves broke through for good with Golden Hour, the country album of the moment that seeks to stand the test of time. While not exactly achieving that, Golden Hour still remains a solid collection of songs that encapsulated Kacey's trajectories and how it informed her music. When it is all said and done, Golden Hour could rank as Kacey's finest hour. Favorites: Slow Burn, Lonely Weekend, Butterflies, Oh, What a World, Love is a Wild Thing, Space Cowboy, Velvet Elvis, High Horse, Golden Hour.

A surprisingly fun album I don’t think I’ll listen to again. Most certainly me, not Ms Musgrave. It’s a very well put together album that, sadly, doesn’t trigger any emotional responses in me.

Oh boy, the "I like all kinds of music except rap and country" bros are out in full effect for this album. Hello there worst people in existence. Keep being terrible I guess. https://thehardtimes.net/blog/like-everything-except-rap-country-poor-people/ I like this album. I own this album. I think this is a good album. I like listening to it. I do not think that this is one of the 1001 albums you must hear before you die. Still, reading what the rest of you think about it makes me like it more out of spite. Or not spite really. More, "Oh God, I don't ever want to be like those people in the slightest." So yeah, good album. Not great, but good.

Lovely voice.

Inoffensive I guess. The kind of thing I'd expect to hear at Barnes & Noble. Bring on Napalm Death! 2/5 #117

Oh my wow, she cooked on this one. I grew up listening to country radio and I had to endure afternoons full of the same Florida Georgia Line bullshit. This is a game changer. I remember hearing a lot about it when it was around and it winning Grammys and all, but I wrote it off as country I wasn't going to understand. I was a bit skeptical about it when I started it this morning, but I am so glad to be wrong. Some of the tracks here are brilliant and though I am not a fan of this "big pop production" style and a lot of the songwriting cliches, I don't care. It's a well crafted album that pushes beyond the boundaries of country at a time where it was mostly beers, bros, country girls and the usual crap. The cowgirl gets it done alright. (I also drank a shit ton of caffeine during this listen and when High Horse dropped, that took me to another place. 8/10, 4/5)

Beautiful, ethereal contemporary country music. I love this album.

this is horrible. It sounds like construction noise. Is that why the genre is called industrial?

i really enjoyed this one! she's got a nice voice. this reminds me a lot lyrically of female-led country from the early 2000s. nice to see a woman on the list.

i enjoyed this album overall. pleasant vibes, solid songwriting, and a nice change of pace from the average album on this list. my biggest critique is that it was all a bit too mellow and quit feeling so unique and special once all the songs started feeling similar. still, i'll come back to these in the future, especially the second best song ever written about a velvet elvis. favorites: slow burn, butterflies, love is a wild thing, space cowboy, velvet elvis, rainbow

This sounds EXACTLY like those Suno AI songs - the resemblance is uncanny. That's probably the only area in which this album has been 'influential' in any capacity.

Skön singer song writer med lagom mycket personlighet. Fina klassiska arrangemang. Fyra

I really liked this!

This is dull as can be. 100% should not be on the list unless the list is saying "let's find an example of everything music can do". This has the depth of Starbucks. Man, this is so generic it finished and I didn't even notice it had moved to shuffle similar music and had gone through four other artists. All five of them sounded the same in every way.

These lyrics are doing nothing and the music sounds like a Sears catalog. No idea why this is something special. It is fine. Franchise coffee shop music.

2,8/5

She's pretty good and apparently this album crushed it with the Grammy's but it feels a bit too radio country for my tastes. There are so many better, less known female singer/songwriter country musicians. 2.5 rounding up

this wasn’t very special, is was decent but i don’t feel it adds much to anything in the genre, i won’t be going back to it

Didn't think it was spectacular but it was good, and maybe it'll grow on me. Some very pretty songs. Hard to overcome recency bias but it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Soft 5. It's well put together and an overall good vibe. Nothing too stand-outish, but still some nice instrumentals and vocal work. 'Slow Burn' was my fave.

Not for me, almost every song sounded the same. A really boring album

The lyrics are juvenile, the musical accompaniment is unchallenging/puerile and her voice isn’t particularly pleasing. This is really boring. It’s kind of like The Carpenters if they’d used a steel guitar. Or like most Nasville country music these days.

I get why it deviates from normal country but also feels extremely dated for 2018 and this convinced me that country music is like 20 years behind the times culturally, and also that it's very easy to get a Grammy if you're a country musician. This feels like Miley Cyrus meets Death Cab For Cutie and I mean that in the most derogatory way possible. Sounds like Radio Disney music from 2005. I truly don't get it. It's not as bad as Taylor Swift but I still don't like it.

An album that I’ve loved since it was released. Somehow better with age. Great tunes too to bottom.

And I think we've seen enough, seen enough To know that you ain't ever gonna come down So why don't you giddy up, giddy up And ride straight out of this town You and your high horse Mm, mm You and your high horse Mm, mm

Instant classic

non-threatening pop

Love this and her

Well, wasn’t that cute. But no thank you.

I came into this ready to hate it: I do not like pop music, and I do not like modern country music... at all. 95% of it is just pop and rock music sang with a southern accent. And this is definitely that, if not perhaps just a little elevated. There's a young girl in the midwest or the south, however, wearing a sundress and cowboy boots and a flower crown for whom this is soundtracking her whole life, and for that, I reckon I'm stoked she has this record to lean on. Although I didn't totally hate it, I'm also relieved it's over now. Being into a lot of shoegaze bands, I did appreciate the choice to use an airy, ethereal production quality in a lot of the compositions, but this simply isn't for me. I totally could have died without ever hearing this.

It's very pretty sounding, homestead, country pop dappled in sunshine. It's very pleasant to listen to but the melodies are samey, so ultimately it works best as generic background music.

Is this country music in disguise?

Terrible

Vapidity perfected