"Set This Circus Down" - one of my favorite Tim McGraw's albums was released 19 years ago! (Review) [English Version]

Hey 😉

Today I'm going to write again about Tim McGraw's album "Set This Circus Down" (I know I'm monothematic 😂), which was released on April 24th 2001. It's the artist's 6th studio album, which consists of 14 tracks:

1. The Cowboy In Me - this is the 3 single promoting the album. I like this song very much, not only for its cool musical arrangement or changing pace, but I think the lyrics of the song are significant. Everyone makes mistakes often through their stupid pride. I also like the sound of musical instruments. 

2 Telluride - although the song was never chosen for an official single, it reached No. 52 in Hot Country Songs in 2001 and No. 59 in 2002 (an important hit list published by Billboard magazine every week in the USA). I like the intro of the composition and the energetic musical arrangement you can hear here.

3. You Get Used Somebody - you can safely write that this is a piece about failed love. You can hear the emotions in the artist's voice, which shows perfectly what kind of song we are dealing with. I like the change of pace that can be seen when singing a stanza and a chorus.

4. Unbroken - this is the 4th single promoting the album. Nice musical arrangement. The song definitely talks about how love changes people.

5. Things Change - my favourite composition from this album. Here you can hear references to such Country music artists as: Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr. or Willie Nelson. I like the intro and the musical instruments used here (especially the guitar solo).  The theme of the song is also current, because as we can see things are changing.

6. Angel Boy - great intro of the track. The title and the whole lyrics of the song refer to faith. Although the composition was not chosen for the official single, the artist recorded a video clip for it (I think it's great 😀). I like the sound of electric guitars.

7. Forget About Us - a song about failed love and looking for a way to forget about it. At the end of the song, the artist doesn't sing, he just says words, which gives a bit of an unexpected but cool effect. It's worth writing that the composition was written by another famous Country singer Mark Collie.

8. Take Me Away From Here - another song I love. It is a narrator's request to a loved one to take somewhere else to be happy. It's definitely a love song with a great musical arrangement.

9. Smilin' - you can hear a nice musical arrangement here. You can write that it is a bit ironic when you pay attention to the lyrics of the song. Because you don't need so much to smile.

10. Set This Circus Down - this is the only song from this album that I don't like. The arrangement is ok, but the lyrics don't get to me somehow.

11. Angry All The Time - this is 2 single promoting this album. In my opinion, it's the calmest composition of all songs from this album. During the chorus you can hear Faith Hill's voice. It is a sad song, where the narrator realizes that he is not happy in marriage.

12. Let Me Love You - another song that I like very much. Great musical arrangement (especially guitar sound) and lyrics. Without a doubt it is a love song.

13. Grown Men Don't Cry - this is 1 single promoting the album. In my opinion it's a very emotional song that fights the stereotype that grow man doesn't cry. I love this song.

14th Why We Said Goodbye - definitely it is a song about unfulfilled love. You can hear the artist's touching voice here. I like the musical instruments used here.

As I wrote in the title post, "Set This Circus Down" is one of my favorite Tim McGraw's albums. Probably because almost all the songs I like 😃. A few years ago, I was a contributor to a Polish music forum about Country. I wrote that I'm a fan of Tim, but I like this album the most and I've listed 2 more albums. Someone wrote to me then that I'm not a "real" fan because I should like all of his albums 😂. It took me a while to understand that each of us has a different understanding of being a fan. Now I know there's nothing wrong with not liking McGraw's songs because I just won't make myself like them. I'm a little off the subject (excuse me 😅) but I want to write why I love this album. The answer is simple: the songs relate to everyday life, the emotions we experience, and the artist has communicated them wonderfully. I think everyone will find something for themselves in this album and Tim has shown great taste in choosing the songs. This is the only album where the singer does not appear on the album cover. This shows that Tim believed in the success of this album, which reached 3x platinum status.


I rate this album as 5/5. 

JP.