If you listen closely, off in the distance you can hear SEC sororities and Rust Belt auto mechanics alike cheering for the same reason: Morgan Wallen has a new album out soon.
The biggest name in country music announced via social media the fourth album of his short but explosive career will be released on May 16th, just in time to score another “song of the summer”. It’s titled I’m The Problem, after the single Morgan Wallen dropped back in January. In addition he put out two new singles, “I’m A Little Crazy” and “Just In Case”, at midnight Friday as part of the lead up:
“My new album ‘I’m The Problem’ will be out May 16th. Preorder available tonight at midnight ET with two new songs, ‘I’m A Little Crazy’ and ‘Just In Case.’”
Obviously, country fans blew up with the news. For better or worse, there’s no bigger name in the game than Morgan, and even though most post online are ecstatic, there were a few that started complaining when we got some clarity on what the project will look like.
Apple Music tends to load a “preview” of the album before any other streaming services (which is why we knew of Eric Church’s upcoming album Evangeline vs. The Machine before he confirmed in to the Church Choir) seemingly whether the artist wants it to or not. In Wallen’s case, we didn’t know the name of the project beforehand but we now know how many songs it has…
37.
Yes, thirty seven. And for reference, his 2023 album One Thing At A Time had 36, and his 2021 Dangerous: The Double Album had 30… two 15-song albums, so to speak. So no, this is nothing new for Morgan Wallen, but I think it’s time we admit that this feels pretty excessive.
Morgan Wallen’s new album, ‘I’m The Problem,’ has 37 songs. pic.twitter.com/ulzhTQp0W0
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 20, 2025
Long Albums Are Bad For Music
If you think albums have been getting longer lately, you’re right. In the streaming age, it financially makes sense to pump out as many songs as possible, effectively creating playlists instead of albums for the public to consume. But this financial incentive waters down the product.
Throughout the years, artists have always arrived at the studio with more songs than they would wind up releasing. When physical music was still king, they had to whittle it down to the 10 or so that fit on an LP, but through that limitation the cream rose to the top.
Sure, you can find a story about a song that was cut which went on to be a big hit, no one says that everyone always made perfect decisions, but on the whole, constraints empower creativity, not detract from it.
Let’s play it out with an example.
Say you were writing your boyfriend or girlfriend a Valentine’s Day poem. If you put no constraints on what phrases you could use, it would probably end up being a bunch of platitudes like “I love you more than anything” and “You’re my forever Valentine” and “My heart is only with you”, at least something to that extent. No one says they aren’t true but also no one would deny that those have all been said many times before in various different ways. Now, say you decided write the poem without using the words “love” or “heart” or “Valentine”. All of a sudden it would take a lot more creativity to express those feelings, even though the end result is you implying the same emotions.
Therefore, limitations increase creativity, not stifle it…
Money Over Music?
If Morgan Wallen is going to release an album with 37 songs, there’s going to be a lot of filler. Tracks that otherwise would have (and probably should have) been cut are now kept just for the purpose of increasing the amount of available streaming content. If each song is 3 minutes long, that makes the run time nearly two hours.
Two hours of music. Does anyone believe that any artist on the planet is capable of producing a project that captivates even the most rabidly attentive audience for two straight hours? Do we not think there’s a reason Tyler Childers’ albums are so short? The guy knows that fluff needs to be cut, even though fluff for Childers is gold for most others. Wallen is playing a game of financialization at this point, not artistry.
Wallen isn’t alone in this by any stretch of the imagination, but given he’s one of the biggest musical acts on the planet, his actions set the president for the industry at large. Other artists see his success and try to copy the formula, at least the visible and easily replicable parts. Unfortunately for us, the part easiest to replicate is the size of albums, meaning we need to sift through 37 different songs from 37 different artists to find the few worth listening to. At scale, it means a tidal wave of music that previously would never have seen the light of day will continuously be released and publicized by the industry.
Hard to form a case that it’s a good thing… even if his diehard fans argue otherwise.
Call me old school, tell me the times have changes, say whatever you want, but I will always believe that albums are meant to be a cohesive body of work. There should be a throughline linking each song to a higher theme, some deeper meaning that’s only apparent by taking in the entire body of work. Filling an album with 37 songs eliminates even the possibility of some golden thread connecting them all unless the writer is some Tolkien level thinker. Knowing that most of these new Wallen songs will have 5 or so people credited as co-writers means no single mind was guiding the process, and even if one tried, it’s impossible to maintain a single focus with that many hands in the pot. Groupthink takes over and everyone sinks to the level of the lowest common denominator, which in country music’s case is pandering, cliche songs set to a snap-track.
Will there be stand outs on this album? For sure, Wallen’s always good for putting out a handful of great songs on every project, but the problem is, they tend to fade into the background when lined up along 30 other songs. Make no mistake, Morgan Wallen has achieved levels of music fame that only a handful of country artists have ever even sniffed… he’s arguably the biggest thing in music anywhere right now, this album will be a chart monster, and I’m sure he’ll have the “song of the summer” come July.
His music is catchy, and easy to listen to for fans of country, pop and hip-hop, but I’ll die on this hill… 37 songs is just way too many for any artist, even Morgan Wallen, to put on a single album.
2025 I’m The Problem Tour Dates:
June 20 // NRG Stadium // Houston, Texas w/ Corey Kent and Koe Wetzel
June 21 // NRG Stadium // Houston, Texas w/ Corey Kent and Koe Wetzel
June 28 // Camp Randall Stadium // Madison, Wis. w/ Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert
July 11 // Hard Rock Stadium // Miami Gardens, Fla. w/ Gavin Adcock and Miranda Lambert
July 12 // Hard Rock Stadium // Miami Gardens, Fla. w/ Gavin Adcock and Brooks & Dunn
July 18 // State Farm Stadium // Glendale, Ariz. w/ Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert
July 19 // State Farm Stadium // Glendale, Ariz. w/ Ella Langley and Brooks & Dunn
July 25 // Lumen Field // Seattle, Wash. w/ Anne Wilson and Miranda Lambert
July 26 // Lumen Field // Seattle, Wash. w/ Anne Wilson and Brooks & Dunn
Aug 1 // Levi’s Stadium // Santa Clara, Calif. w/ Anne Wilson and Miranda Lambert
Aug 2 // Levi’s Stadium // Santa Clara, Calif. w/ Anne Wilson and Brooks & Dunn
Aug 15 // Huntington Bank Field // Cleveland, Ohio w/ Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert
Aug 16 // Huntington Bank Field // Cleveland, Ohio w/ Ella Langley and Thomas Rhett
Aug 22 // Gillette Stadium // Foxborough, Mass. w/ Corey Kent and Miranda Lambert
Aug 23 // Gillette Stadium // Foxborough, Mass. w/ Corey Kent and Miranda Lambert
Sep 4 // Rogers Centre // Toronto, ON w/ Gavin Adcock and Miranda Lambert
Sep 5 // Rogers Centre // Toronto, ON w/ Gavin Adcock and Brooks & Dunn
Sep 12 // Commonwealth Stadium // Edmonton, AB w/ Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert
Sep 13 // Commonwealth Stadium // Edmonton, AB w/ Ella Langley and Brooks & Dunn
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