Today's Pick

Rascal Flatts debuted a new video for their heartbroken ballad, "Come Wake Me Up," the second single from their eighth studio album, "Changed," is another fine example of how this trio continues to work at a level few country artists are aware of, and the track fits well with their classic ballads while also having a slightly different sonic landscape to the past songs along with a return to more of their classic harmonies on the choruses.
The drippy and introspective piano-driven ballad finds a despairing Gary LeVox conveying the pain of a broken relationship. A perfect Rascal Flatts song is easy to fall into, but not so easy that it relies on banal metaphors or country cliches. "Come Wake Me Up" is certainly a familiar story, but it's an original emotion and voice that will immediately connect with fans, especially those going through a difficult breakup. The trio simply soars above the mini-orchestra that marks the climax. It takes a few deep breathes to come down from this drama. The performance overflows with sincerity.
The music video was directed by Shaun Silva and filmed in Nashville, stars the group's guitarist Joe Don Rooney and wife Tiffany Fallon as a young, impossibly good-looking and really wealthy, yet troubled couple. They look smashing wearing designer clothes and walking around their ultra-modern house help tell the lyrical story as their love turns sour. Being young, rich and beautiful is not all its cracked up to be, at least not in this video, which explores the thrill of the chase and the blurred line between reality and dreams.
Rooney and wife Fallon's make-believe home is filled with "irreplaceable" items, and it's clear that their relationship is fractured. The raven-haired, rebellious beauty muses about how 'things' means so much to her blond beloved. He actually calls the things "irreplaceable," and it's clear that something is amiss. When do things have more value than a person? When did we become this disconnected from other people and place more worth in inanimate objects? It's food for thought and Rascal Flatts' new video effectively provokes that idea.