| This Is Country Music | ||||
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| Studio album by Brad Paisley | ||||
| Released | May 23, 2011 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 64:49 | |||
| Label | Arista Nashville | |||
| Producer | Frank Rogers | |||
| Brad Paisley chronology | ||||
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| Singles from This Is Country Music | ||||
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This Is Country Music is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Brad Paisley. The album was originally scheduled to be released April 19th, but was pushed back to May 23, 2011 by recording label Arista Nashville.
Contents |
Brad Paisley debuted the title track from the album on the 44th CMA Awards on November 10, 2010, and he received a standing ovation. [1] This performance got Brad's fans excited for the release of his new album.
Brad Paisley wrote this album to pay tribute to various artists that have shaped his career. This includes Dick Dale for the song "Working on a Tan" and Ennio Morricone for the song "Eastwood". [2] The majority of the songs were written or co-written by Brad Paisley, and are based on the themes of love, loss, hope, and heartache.[3] The title track, This Is Country Music, starts off the album, and small verses of that song, that were not included in the original track, act as interludes between some of the songs. This ties the album to a common theme. [4]
The album contains numerous collaborations with other artists, including Don Henley, Sheryl Crow, Blake Shelton, and Marty Stuart.[5] Carrie Underwood also performs a duet titled "Remind Me", which is about a couple trying to regain their spark. [6] Clint Eastwood contributes by whistling during an instrumental track called "Eastwood", which is named after him. Comedian Larry the Cable Guy uses his catchphrase "Git-R-Done" several times in the background, during the song "Camouflage". It was announced at Sony's annual boat show Country Radio Seminar that Brad would collaborate with Alabama for the song titled "Old Alabama" The song would be the next single following the title track. "Old Alabama" became the 19th #1 single for Brad[7] [8] The song was released to country radio on March 14, 2011. 
This Is Country Music debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200, and sold 153,000 copies in the first week of release.[9] Keith Caulfield with Billboard magazine noted that Paisley was at a disadvantage releasing the album the same week as Lady Gaga's Born This Way, which was expected to sell up to one million copies. Cualfield stated, "With all this talk about Gaga, you've got to feel a little bad for country superstar Brad Paisley, whose This Is Country Music album will likely debut in the runner-up slot next week with maybe 150,000 copies sold. Paisley has yet to earn a No. 1 album -- after six top 10's, two of which hit No. 2. (Had his new album come a week earlier, perhaps he could have secured his first No. 1.)"[10] As of July 16, 2011, the album has sold 324,658 copies in the US.[11]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [12] |
| The Boston Globe | (favorable)[13] |
| Robert Christgau | (A-)[14] |
| Country Weekly | [15] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A)[16] |
| Los Angeles Times | [17] |
| The New York Times | (favorable)[18] |
| Rolling Stone | [19] |
| Slant Magazine | [20] |
| The Washington Post | (favorable)[21] |
Upon its release, This Is Country Music received general acclaim from music critics.[22] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 11 reviews. This indicates "universal acclaim".[22]
Chris Willman with Entertainment Weekly gave the release an 'A'. He stated that "the whole record plays like a best-of sampler — not just for Paisley, but for the history of the art form".[16] Jody Rosen with The New York Times was in high praise of the album, saying "Mr. Paisley is once again preaching to his choir. It’s a bright, brisk record, packed with the polished country-pop songs that Mr. Paisley’s devotees have come to expect. It’s a study in the politics of 21st-century Nashville stardom, the delicate maneuvering that a performer like Mr. Paisley must do to keep his pews filled. But listen closely and you hear some surprises — and a more expansive definition of country music than the album’s title track at first suggests".[18] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau complimented Paisley's songcraft as "undiminished [...] he remains the smartest and nicest guy in his world", and gave the album an A- rating.[14] indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction".[23]
Jonathan Keefe with Slant Magazine called the album less satisfying than Paisley's previous albums saying the album "threatens to become a great country album instead of an album simply about great country music. That's a distinction Paisley has gotten right more often than not over the course of his career [...] But even when the album isn't up to Paisley's typical standards, This Is Country Music is still an interesting, ambitious project from a man who need not apologize for the things he does awfully well."[20] Giving it four stars out of five, Jessica Phillips of Country Weekly magazine praised the album's "traditional" sound and variety of songs. She also thought that the album's more comedic songs provided a "humorous equilibrium[…]without being relentlessly clever."[15] Rolling Stone critic Will Hermes gave the album a 3½ star rating. Hermes thought the album "embraces all of what country music is today — its soul, its vivid storytelling, and, yes, its genre clichés. The lead singles, uncharacteristically, are ads more than songs; Elsewhere, the greatest country artist of his generation keeps it fresh, funny and guitar-heroic".[19] Stuart Munro with The Boston Globe gave it a favorable review, saying ""This Is Country Music" encapsulates Paisley’s status as a premier upholder of traditional country within a contemporary framework, and the 15 songs that follow confirm that status; The sentiment here isn’t prescriptive but descriptive, in the self-referential manner that frequents today’s country [...] Yes, this is country music".[13]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic gave it a favorable review. Erelwine stated that "Paisley narrows his definition of what constitutes modern country on his seventh collection of new songs [..] here’s where Paisley’s skills as a craftsman come into play. Always a traditionalist, he builds a song with care but is keenly aware that he’s living in 2011, not 1965".[12] Emily Yahr with The Washington Post gave the release a favorable review, saying "While it’s an enjoyable listen, there are no real surprises — at this point, Paisley knows what works. And by the time the western actor shows up to guest-whistle his way through an instrumental track appropriately called “Eastwood,” it’s clear that Paisley has tackled so many topics and sounds that he thinks country music is . . . well, pretty much whatever you want it to be".[21] Dan MacIntosh with Roughstock gave the album a four star rating. He believes that "buying new music can sometimes be a gamble. However, Brad Paisley is the closest artist to a sure thing that you’ll likely find. This is country music – at its best".[24]
Randy Lewis with the Los Angeles Times gave it a 2½ out of 4 star rating, calling a lot of the material "overworked". Lewis explained that "[Brad's] skills as a songwriter, guitarist extraordinaire and distinctively expressive singer are obvious at many turns on his latest album. But on this outing Paisley doesn’t move the musical conversation forward the way he’s done in several previous albums".[17] Deborah Evans Price with Billboard called the album "musically diverse" and commented by saying that "vocally, Paisley has never sounded better, and the ace guitar player struts his stuff throughout, skillfully complementing the mood and timbre of each tune. Country music's most talented young ambassador has delivered the ultimate love letter to his art form with This is Country Music".[25]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Is Country Music" | Brad Paisley, Chris DuBois | 5:14 |
| 2. | "Old Alabama" (with Alabama) | Paisley, DuBois, Dave Turnbull, Randy Owen | 5:02 |
| 3. | "A Man Don't Have to Die" | Rivers Rutherford, George Teren, Josh Thompson | 4:19 |
| 4. | "Camouflage" | Paisley, DuBois, Kelley Lovelace | 4:26 |
| 5. | "Remind Me" (with Carrie Underwood) | Paisley, DuBois, Lovelace | 4:32 |
| 6. | "Working on a Tan" | Paisley, DuBois, Lovelace | 4:04 |
| 7. | "Love Her Like She's Leavin'" (with Don Henley) | Paisley, DuBois, Ashley Gorley | 4:09 |
| 8. | "One of Those Lives" | Paisley, Lovelace, Lee Thomas Miller | 4:13 |
| 9. | "Toothbrush" | Jon Henderson, Joel Shewmake, Danny Simpson | 3:09 |
| 10. | "Be the Lake" | Paisley, DuBois, Gorley | 3:56 |
| 11. | "Eastwood" (with Clint Eastwood, William "Huck" Paisley and Jasper Paisley) | Paisley, Kendall Marcy, Robert Arthur | 5:02 |
| 12. | "New Favorite Memory" | Paisley, Arthur, Frank Rogers | 4:11 |
| 13. | "Don't Drink the Water" (with Blake Shelton) | Paisley, Tim Owens | 3:46 |
| 14. | "I Do Now" | Paisley, DuBois, Owens | 4:00 |
| 15. | "Life's Railway to Heaven" (with Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow and Carl Jackson) | Traditional | 4:52 |
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Total length:
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64:49 | ||
Credits for This Is Country Music adapted from Allmusic.[26]
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Album
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Certifications
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| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | CAN | |||
| 2010 | "This Is Country Music"[34] | 2 | 58 | 67 | |
| 2011 | "Old Alabama"[35] (with Alabama) | 1 | 38 | 41 | |
| "Remind Me" (with Carrie Underwood) | 1 | 17 | 33 | ||
| "Camouflage"A | 15 | 88 | |||
| Preceded by My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean |
Top Country Albums number-one album June 11–18, 2011 |
Succeeded by Ronnie Dunn by Ronnie Dunn |
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