I will have to come back to this thread later to give a more full fledged review, but I have listened to Hero a few times now. It's on Amazon Prime, so good for me, I guess that I can listen for free. My first impression of the album was much like my first impression of Maren when I heard My Church the first time - not sure I like her voice that much and that I'm not sure I like her style of music. After hearing My Church, though, it began to grow on me and you can't help but sing along to the chorus. The same has happened with Hero. The more I listen, the more I like it. The tone of her voice is probably a little more robust/dark than what I usually gravitate towards in a female artist, but I do like her music. I do feel like if this were the 90s, she would be on pop radio alongside Sheryl Crow and not on country, but Sheryl's style is as much country as anything else out there these days. I agree with a lot of what Faraway has said regarding Maren's progressive style and she does it better than most of the guys that are just trying to copy Luke and Jason. I do think Sam Hunt (like him or not) and Thomas Rhett are kind of paving their own way and Maren is kind of the female side of that coin. But I will reiterate, while what she is doing is progressive for country, is it much different than what Sheryl was doing 20 years ago?
Anyway, I like the album and I will be happy to see Maren have success in the country industry. It would be deserved if she can keep up with radio airplay and sales. I like her miles better than Brandy and Kacey - I just can't find it in myself to like their music even though I've tried to listen to it. I just hope that everyone here is still supportive of Maren when/if she starts winning FVOTY and awards that they feel Carrie should be winning. I remember a time when people on this board LOVED Miranda, before Blake and the winning streak. The only difference here is that Maren is not with WME, so with the current tide, she may not be able to win.
