* AccidentalInnuendo: The mere title of "Bob That Head" spawned many, ''many'' blowjob jokes.
* AudienceAlienatingEra: ''Me and My Gang'', ''Still Feels Good'', and ''Unstoppable'', despite having several radio hits and strong sales, were largely derided by critics for [[LoudnessWar overly bombastic production]], [[{{narm}} cheesy lyrics]], and [[CarefulWithThatAxe ear-splittingly loud and shrill vocals]] (the only exception being the highly-acclaimed "What Hurts the Most"). While the move to Creator/BigMachineRecords after Lyric Street's closure in 2010 saw their critical acclaim return to where it was pre-''Me and My Gang'', their radio performance began to falter around that point.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Bless the Broken Road," "I'm Movin' On", and "What Hurts the Most" are usually heralded as among their best.
** Their take on “Life Is A Highway” too.
* CoveredUp:
** "Bless the Broken Road" had been recorded by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marcus Hummon, Melodie Crittenden, and Sons of the Desert[[note]]for their never-released second album[[/note]] before Rascal Flatts released it. Crittenden's version was also a single in 1997.
** "What Hurts the Most" has also been released by both Jo O'Meara and Cascada. Music/MarkWills originally recorded it and almost released it as a single in 2003, and Music/FaithHill cut it for her 2005 ''Fireflies'' album but dropped it from the album at the last minute.
** Thanks to its appearance in ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'', their cover of "Life Is a Highway" is more familiar than the Tom Cochrane original to CountryMusic audiences and younger people.
* FanonDiscontinuity: Even their biggest fans generally pretend that "Bob That Head" never happened.
* FranchiseOriginalSin: The heavier production style and emotional lyrics of "What Hurts the Most" are what helped it stand out in their catalog at the time, and likely the reason behind it being their SignatureSong. However, five years of bloated Dann Huff production later, the bombast became unbearable.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: "My Wish" was written by Jeffrey Steele after he became a father, and later became this after Jay [=DeMarcus=] also became a father.
* {{Narm}}:
** Almost all of their Lyric Street material ever since ''Me and My Gang,'' the first album that Dann Huff produced. Most of their Huff-era songs rely on lightweight, trite lyrics that are given a wall-of-sound production drenched in blaring strings and guitars. There are a few exceptions such as "What Hurts the Most", however.
** Although it was their last single before Huff, "Skin (Sarabeth)" is a particularly Narmy little song about a girl who frets about going to the prom with no hair after cancer treatment... until she meets a boy who shaved his head out of sympathy and they go to the prom together.
* SignatureSong: "Bless the Broken Road", "What Hurts the Most", and "Life Is a Highway".
* SongAssociation: Their cover of "Life Is a Highway" is heavily associated with the ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'' franchise. This may be a cheat, however, since it was made specifically for the soundtrack of the [[WesternAnimation/Cars1 first film]].
* WinBackTheCrowd: ''Nothing Like This'' and ''Changed'', their first two Big Machine albums, were less overproduced (despite still being produced by Dann Huff) and had generally stronger songs. The upward trend continued with ''Rewind'', where they finally ditched Huff in favor of producing by themselves.
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