Overall, I thought this was a good album - you can rely on Keith to make a good guitar-focused country song, and there are some really top notch moments scattered throughout the album. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the intro tracks, they didn’t really seem to add anything.

It’s that time again! A whole year of music listening gets distilled down to a choice of five top albums and seeing if any of them can break into my top ten of all time. I don’t usually enjoy this process and this year hasn’t been any different, although if I’m honest, the choice was slightly less inspiring than usual. It felt like the year was very top heavy in terms of stand-out albums, and as I was reviewing my shortlist, none of them were really jumping out.

Whilst we’re on a roll with female representation in our entertainment spaces, the Country Music Awards this year were an incredible show of women’s strength. Hosted by Reba, Carrie and Dolly, the show kicked off with a medley of songs from many, many, many women from throughout recent country music, including many I’d never heard of and need to know more about. (Who knew Delta Dawn wasn’t just the song Monica sings in a see-through shirt?)

Oof, I wanted to like this one, because I love the band and some of their previous songs. But it was just really dull. None of the songs stood out and as a body of work, it just sort of lulls you along with sweeping love songs and huge emotions.

When I told people I was going to see Charles Esten, I was usually met with a confused “who?” which, unless you are a fan of the TV show Nashville, is totally fair enough. Esten featured on that show as Deacon, one of the main guitar-playing country-singing characters through the entire run. And so, even though I didn’t really know much of him outside of this show, seeing him pop up in Bristol during a small tour of the UK meant instant ticket purchase. The pre-concert research included finding out that he doesn’t have an album because he was focused on releasing 54 singles, one a week, to break a Guinness World Record. He called it Every Single Friday, which is a bit of genius.

Yay, I loved this album. I don’t know why it’s taken my so long to listen to any Keith Urban, as his is the kind of country music I like. Somewhere In My Car is an absolute banger that I loved when it was over-played on the radio. And the rest of the album stacks up too, it’s great work from someone who isn’t a native Nashville.

I’ve been following Kelleigh Bannen for the last few years, ever since she launched the excellent podcast This Nashville Life which delved behind the scenes of trying to make a career out of country music in its homeland. She’s been working her socks off for a long time, and finally the debut album has arrived and it’s a good one. There were a few songs I was less keen on but overall, I think it’s a really strong debut.

You have to go into this album knowing that it’s old school country, but once you’ve got the right head on, it’s a really good collection of tracks. There are some great collaborators on board, including Stevie Nicks, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, James Taylor and Johnny Cash.

What a fab album this is. Great country songs, with less of the pop influence of some of my other favourite country artists but still a great feeling to the whole thing. There are some really good individual songs on here, but also as a body of work it flows well and has a great relistenability (not a word) to it.

This is Dolly’s first album, a collection of hard-core country songs in the old school style: short, snappy, thirty minute album but already showing Dolly’s take-no-nonsense rule-the-world attitude. I liked it, maybe not as much as some of Dolly’s later stuff but it’s a good start to the journey.

Somehow I have nothing really to say about the songs on this one, it was just your regular country tracks. The thing I didn’t like, as always, was the handful of tracks that were some irritating guy leaving voicemails about random stuff. I just don’t want that kind of thing interrupting my music - it wasn’t funny but even if it was, it wouldn’t stand up to more than one or two listens.

Hooray and eek in equal measure, it’s time for a round up of my year in albums! Another 100 albums listened to and enjoyed (for the most part), hours of songs consumed and pretty much the same amount of time deciding which belong in my top five of the year - and which, if any, can break through into my top ten. I feel like it’s been a good year for music, perhaps not as strong as last year, but solid. Lots of good albums were released but I found there were many that I enjoyed but had just one or two things that sort of put me off: too short, too long, one dodgy song, a change in tone that didn’t fit, that kind of thing. It’s interesting for me to feel this way because the whole point of this adventure was to teach me about the concept of an album, and to be picking up reasons why it’s not quite working for me means I’m obviously starting to understand what an album is.

Lovely Shania produced another album with lots of great crossover country/pop tunes, and there’s not a lot to dislike about this. The only thing that raises question marks is why there are three different versions - country, international, and your regular pop. And the mix and match that goes on in Apple Music is crazy. But I like what I heard and I still love her.

I was super keen to listen to this because I loved the last album from Carrie, but this one was something different. It’s clear that Carrie has been through a lot, and of course we’re in a different and more difficult world now, so it was a more contemplative and slightly more downbeat offering. Good album but not up there with Storyteller.

Yay for the third album along my journey through the history of Johnny Cash. Whilst this is very similar to the previous two albums, I felt like I preferred it to the second record but not quite as much as the first. Good songs, great guitar work, and nice rhythms that keep you entertained. What’s not to like?

I did not enjoy this. I’ve enjoyed some of Miranda’s other songs, but this one was back to the roots country, with slide guitar and crazy Southern accent and all. Not only that but it’s a double album, so lasts about 90 minutes. It was a bit of a slog to get through it twice, I’ll be honest.

This album has gained a lot of supporters in the short time it’s been out, and I have to be honest, I’m not 100% sure I get what the fuss is about. It’s a good album, and stands apart from the more traditional country and from the more pop-orientated modern stuff, but it’s darker more downbeat tone didn’t quite do it for me. Good songs, great voice, but as a whole it didn’t quite work.

I’m fond of The Shires because it takes a brave duo to try and take on the might of country music from the UK, and they’re doing pretty well and gaining respect for it. The songs are what you’d expect from a country album, my only real complaint is that there’s a disconnect between songs that celebrate being from the UK, and then others that talk about ‘dimes’ and ‘state lines’. Doesn’t quite stack up.

My obsession with Johnny Cash is growing, so this is his second album and I loved it, naturally. It’s similar to the first - lots of short snappy songs, great train-like guitars and fab beats. There were more backing vocals than before, I felt, which gave it a different ambience, but it still worked for me.

I’ve been dreading this moment pretty much from the second I hit publish on last year’s round-up of my musical adventures. Now it’s time for me to pick not only my top five albums of the year just gone but also update my top ten albums of all time. Naturally, this only includes the ones I have listened to in the course of this album adventure nonsense, so it’s actually the top ten albums of all time out of 200 options. But that’s double last year, and the more I listen, the more I learn.

This is a proper country album, good work from Faith Hill, with some classic country songs on there. It meanders through love and loss, what ifs and maybes, and is your standard country rollercoaster ride. Nice but probably not one of my favourites.

Love this album, it’s very much like the first – nice, simple, clean and crisp country songs with a youthful edge, and plenty of unique moments to make it stand out from the crowd. I thought this album indulged a little more in the ‘we’re not in high school anymore’ vibe, with plenty of references to US high school tropes that I’ve only seen in movies, but even with that, it’s still up there with the best albums of the year.

Apple Music recently launched public profiles so that you can properly share playlists. My profile is here, and it’s small at the moment, but I’m hoping to publish regular playlists. This first one, Oct 17 - Eclectic Selection, features songs that I have been listening to and loving over the past month in an effort to show just how mixed and bizarre my musical adventures can be. Some of the tracks are from albums that I’ve been listening to for On the Record, but others are songs I’ve listened to having been inspired by TV, film and musicals, as well as trying to play bass lines and generally listening to a lot of Beats1.

Something about Johnny Cash’s deep and sultry voice just washes over you and wraps you in a comforting blanket – even when he’s singing about troubling topics. Prison, death, heartbreak, and just the occasional glimpse of love going right, this is a brilliant, if short, debut album.

Lovely album from Shania, it’s incredible to think it’s her first in 15 years. The songs veer from positive life-affirming pop to serious personal pain, but all with the sheen of pop-country that you come to expect from Shania. Never gonna beat Come On Over as an album, but an incredible return.

This was recommended to me by Jeremy, and I’d not heard of the band before. It’s proper country, not pop country that I usually indulge in, but it wasn’t as hoky as I’d thought it might be. The first half of the album is quite relaxing, and it’s all got a nice rhythm to it.

I hadn’t realised quite how pop Taylor had already gone before she even got to 1989. This album’s first half is pure pop before reverting to the more familiar country sound. It’s longer than a lot of albums too and stacked with hits, plus a couple of good collaborations to boot.

It feels like Taylor really had some things to say with this album, a lot of the songs sound more personal and meaningful than previous efforts. There are some great songs on here, I love Story of Us, but some of the slower ballad types didn’t really do it for me. I like the increased amount of storytelling, though, you really can get invested in the songs.

I was expecting better things from this, if I’m honest. It’s a perfectly pleasant album but it’s just not memorable. It’s got a very laid back, relaxed, California beach vibe to it, which is nice, but the best songs are the first and last one, bookending the album. Everything in between is instantly forgettable.

I’ll admit, this only grabbed my attention because of the single featuring Sam Palladio from Nashville, but it turns out to be quite a good album. It’s sort of a mashup pop and country album, but it’s definitely more bubble gum than country – good songs but it lacks the emotion you often get from country artists.

Good second album from Ms Swift, it’s quite fun working my way through her albums knowing how she develops and where she goes in the future. This, though, is solid country pop with some great singles, and a good mix of other tracks – none of which are a letdown, which is the sign of a good album.

It has been an incredible year for me, listening to 100 albums in total across 50 weeks and learning an enormous amount about albums, artists, and music in general. The biggest lesson, though, is that there is so much more to learn. This album listening thing will continue into next year, but it seems only right to wrap up what has been a brilliant 2016 of albums for me. Firstly, it’s worth saying that whilst I’ve always been a bit skeptical of the subscription music business model, this album adventure couldn’t have happened without it. When I was a listener of “just the songs that I like” then I wanted full control over what I did with them, which playlists I put them in, and wanted to hoard them which meant subscription services weren’t the right thing.

Mr C is obsessed with Taylor so he’s planning for me to work my way through all the albums, starting at the beginning with baby Taylor. This is a cute album, so very country in places, but with good heart and good songs and just a nice start to what has become an incredible career. Particularly enjoy how very country Our Song is.

Totally what you would expect, slightly poppy country music. I so wanted the Backstreet Boys track to be amazing but I didn’t think it was, sadly. There are a good selection of guests on there, but there are no real stand out songs.

You have to love Dolly Parton, she has a voice that is both powerful but also stacked with emotion and oftentimes seeming quite vulnerable. There’s just something about her voice and her songs that draws you in. The album also features her full set from Glastonbury, as sort of a second half, so that’s an absolute bonus!

I listened to this purely because they made an appearance on Nashville, and found it to be just a bit too country for me. However, there were some good songs on there (and some not so good, what is up with Ship-faced?) So many alcohol references, too, I felt drunk just listening!

Good modern country – mentions both the moon and time machines, so I’m confident that he wrote it all with me in mind. Branches out occasionally with some ballads and some brass, but otherwise it’s a nice comfortable country album.

Totally forgot about this album, I love it so much, every song is a classic for me. Shania is my original pop country princess – only trouble is I have to be careful where I listen as it’s impossible not to sing along!

A good album, some songs are far better than others, but none are the weakest link. Brilliant stories for some of them – Choctaw County Affair and Church Bells being two specific examples. Storyteller is an apt name for this album.

Perfect country pop, little bit on the sweet side, but not a bad tune on there. Except maybe I wear my pain like stillettos.

The story was okay, although a bit cliched in places. It was far too long, but I suppose that comes of having to fit in lots of singing in amongst the story, rather than letting the songs move the story along (like in musicals). I didn’t like any of the characters and certainly couldn’t relate to them, but their story was interesting enough. I probably could have done with subtitles, because not only were they quite deep accents, they also seemed to mumble an awful lot.