Tough All Over

Tough All Over
Studio album by Gary Allan
Released October 11, 2005
Recorded 2005 at The Sound Kitchen and House of Gain
Genre Country
Length 47:13
Label MCA Nashville
Producer Mark Wright
Gary Allan
Gary Allan chronology
See If I Care
(2003)
Tough All Over
(2005)
Greatest Hits
(2007)
Singles from Tough All Over
  1. "Best I Ever Had"
    Released: May 23, 2005
  2. "Life Ain't Always Beautiful"
    Released: January 17, 2006
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Entertainment Weekly A[2]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Tough All Over is an album by American country music artist Gary Allan. It was released on October 11, 2005 on the MCA Nashville label, and has been certified gold by the RIAA. Recorded after his wife's suicide, the album is more somber than his previous works, with several songs termed "excruciatingly sad."[3]

Two songs from the album were released as singles: "Best I Ever Had", a cover of the 2001 Vertical Horizon song, and "Life Ain't Always Beautiful" . Both placed on the Billboard Top Ten Hot Country Songs charts.

Contents

Critical Acclaim

Rhapsody (online music service) ranked the album number 7 on its "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" list.[4] "Allan's sixth album was the first one released after his wife of three years committed suicide. This collection of haunting, heartbreaking songs chronicles his pain and, ultimately, his path back to living. Steeped in grief, Tough All Over is one of Allan's most consistent efforts to date, thanks in part to his gift of conveying emotions like regret, heartbreak and emptiness in a single, well-phrased line. Country Universe said the album was the 3rd best of the decade.[5] The 9513 country music blog list it number 7 on the "Top Country Albums of the Decade" list.[6] Country Universe ranked the album number 3 on its end of the decade list.[7]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Tough All Over"   Jim Lauderdale, Odie Blackmon 3:21
2. "Best I Ever Had"   Matthew Scannell 4:11
3. "I Just Got Back from Hell"   Harley Allen, Gary Allan 4:03
4. "Ring"   Kostas 3:47
5. "Promise Broken"   Deric Ruttan, Margaret Findley 3:11
6. "Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption)"   Jamie O'Hara 4:15
7. "Life Ain't Always Beautiful"   Tommy Lee James, Cyndi Goodman 3:44
8. "He Can't Quit Her"   Casey Beathard, Ed Hill 3:32
9. "What Kind of Fool"   O'Hara 3:57
10. "Puttin' Memories Away"   Allan, Matt Warren 3:32
11. "No Damn Good"   O'Hara, Allan, Blackmon 3:44
12. "Putting My Misery on Display"   Allan 6:07

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.[8]

Strings by the Nashville String Machine.

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2005) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 1
U.S. Billboard 200 3

Singles

Year Single Peak chart
positions
US Country US
2005 "Best I Ever Had" 7 51
2006 "Life Ain't Always Beautiful" 4 61

Certifications

Region Certification
United States (RIAA)[9] Gold

References

  1. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Tough All Over review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r792998. Retrieved July 15, 2011. 
  2. ^ Nash, Alanna. "Tough All Over review". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1117146,00.html. Retrieved July 15, 2011. 
  3. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (May 29, 2006). "Rascal Flatts and Gary Allan: The Yin and Yang of Stoicism". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/arts/music/29flat.html. Retrieved 2009-03-13. 
  4. ^ "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  5. ^ [1] Retrieved 17 March 2010
  6. ^ [2] Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  7. ^ [3] Retrieved 26 March 2010
  8. ^ (2005) Album notes for Tough All Over by Gary Allan [CD]. MCA Nashville (B0003711).
  9. ^ "American album certifications – Gary Allan – Tough All Over". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Tough+All+Over%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
Real Fine Place by Sara Evans
Top Country Albums number-one album
October 29, 2005
Succeeded by
Timeless by Martina McBride