Hunter Hayes Storyline Review

The followup to Hunter Hayes's debut album is called Storyline, and indeed it does tell a story. Like other reviews have said, this is not an album to put on shuffle. There's a reason for its name.  It goes from the first-met-and-I-like-you feeling to when you start getting used to the person, but are still in love with them. Suddenly, the ground is ripped out from you and they're gone. You thought they loved you, guess you were wrong. The victorious track at the end of "Nothing Like Starting Over" captures that moment when you realize you don't care about them anymore — at least not enough to keep writing sad songs about them and holding onto something you're never going to get back. The album concludes with "Love Too Much", a ballad about how there's no such thing as caring too much, and that you regret nothing and wouldn't change any of the mistakes you made. 

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Track-By-Track Review

1. Wild Card - This ridiculously catchy, fast-paced song sets the bar high for the rest of the album. The rhymes aren't forced at all, there's a perfect balance between too much and not enough repetition, and the instrumentals and singing is great. 10/10
2. Storyline - The title track of this album is also pretty incredible, with some great instrumentation and production. It's a glorious love song that's definite single material. 10/10
3. Still Fallin' - This is one track on the album that makes me want to go back and re-think half of the 5-star ratings I've given to songs in the past. It's a great, romantic song with really soft, beautiful instrumentation, and would be a perfect wedding first-dance song or just a slow dance song. 10/10
4. Tattoo - Tattoo is pretty well done, but a badly-thought out rhyme in the chorus weakens the impact of the song. That being said, it definitely is single material (and is actually the second single off the album). 9/10
5. Invisible - I first heard this song when I was watching the Grammys a few months ago, and it definitely made me stop, pay attention and listen. It's not a usual choice for a single, being a ballad, but it's really beautiful and emotional. I especially like the twist at the end with "all this pain will be invisible". 10/10
6. ...interlude - This one's purely an instrumental piece, and it marks a key point in the album — the move from love songs to "What happened?" songs. The guitar instrumentation is great, as well. 10/10
7. You Think You Know Somebody - This song manages to be vulnerable while also being very strong. It’s one of the rawest songs, and feels very real. The background instrumentation is done well, too. 10/10
8. Flashlight - This song's a nice change from the ballads and sad songs, and it's well done. Some rhymes seem a little out of place, but other than that, there are no real problems. 9/10
9. When Did You Stop Loving Me/...like I was saying (jam) - This track (and the jam following it) easily make up my least favorite section of the album. The title of the song is repeated so many times, and everything's so incredibly redundant that I'm just ready for Hayes to stop singing and get on with the album, for heaven's sake. The jam following it just reinforces the redundancy. Hayes says on the album commentary that he re-wrote this track many, many times with its cowriter Sam Ellis, and I think it needed a lot more re-working. 5/10
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11. Secret Love - The verses of this song are well done, but the chorus and bridge give me the same feeling of "GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY!" The bridge is literally "We're in love and nobody knows" repeated a bunch of times, then "are we in love if nobody knows" repeated a lot, then "Guess it's a secret!" WHOA. You just realized that?! UGH. 6/10
12. Nothing Like Starting Over - This is another song co-written with Sam Ellis (like Secret Love and When Did You Stop Loving Me) and it appears that this particular co-writing duo brings a lot of repetitiveness to their songs. It's not particularly amazing but not the kind of song that I'd tear my hair out over, either. 7/10
13. If It's Just Me - This song seems like another very personal song on the record. The personality of Hayes comes out a lot in this song, and the chorus is achingly beautiful. Again, there's a bit too much repetition. 8/10
14. Love Too Much - Love Too Much was a great choice to end the record with. It's a beautiful song and certainly going to hit home for some of the more sensitive listeners of Hayes' album. There are some rhymes that are a little off, but overall it's great. 9/10

Album Rating: 8/10. 
Closing Thoughts: Someone please please please kick Sam Ellis off Hayes' writing team. Or at least really minimize his role.