Big Dreams & High Hopes

Big Dreams & High Hopes
Studio album by Jack Ingram
Released August 25, 2009
Genre Country
Label Big Machine
Producer Radney Foster
Jay Joyce
Doug Lancio
Jeremy Stover
Jack Ingram chronology

This Is It
(2007)		 Big Dreams & High Hopes
(2009)
Singles from Big Dreams & High Hopes
  1. "That's a Man"
    Released: October 13, 2008
  2. "Barefoot and Crazy"
    Released: March 30, 2009
  3. "Seeing Stars"
    Released: October 12, 2009
  4. "Free"
    Released: January 25, 2010
  5. "Barbie Doll"
    Released: May 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Roughstock (favorable)[2]
Slant Magazine [3]

Big Dreams & High Hopes is the eighth studio album by American country music singer Jack Ingram. It was released on August 25, 2009 via Big Machine Records as his third release for the label. The album includes the singles "That's a Man" (a Top 20 hit) and "Barefoot and Crazy," which is Ingram's first Top 10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts since 2005's "Wherever You Are".

Content

Regarding the album's content, Ingram told CMT that the album will have "more guts" than his previous albums.[4] It was originally to have included Ellis Paul's "The World Ain't Slowing Down,"[4] which was cut from the album.

"That's a Man" served as the lead-off single, reaching No. 18 on the U.S. country charts in mid-2009. The album was originally to have been released at that point, but the release was moved as "That's a Man" fell from the charts weeks before the album's first release date. "Barefoot and Crazy" was then issued as the second single, "Seeing Stars" the third and "Free" the fourth.

Also included on this album is a re-recording of "Barbie Doll," which Ingram previously recorded on his 1999 studio album Hey You. The version here features guest vocals from Dierks Bentley, Randy Houser, James Otto and members of Little Big Town and The Lost Trailers. A radio edit of the same song, featuring only Ingram and Bentley, was issued as the fifth single.

Critical reception

Allmusic reviewer Thom Jurek gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five. He considered the production reminiscent of 1970s rock music, and said that most of the songs were well-written but not distinctive.[1]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Free"  Jay Knowles, Trent Summar 3:06
2. "Barefoot and Crazy"  Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson 3:31
3. "That's a Man"  Ed Hill, Steven Dale Jones, Mark D. Sanders 3:57
4. "Seeing Stars" (duet with Patty Griffin)Jack Ingram, Chris Tompkins 3:54
5. "Not Giving Up on Me"  Ingram, Jeffrey Steele, Tom Hambridge 4:01
6. "Barbie Doll" (featuring Dierks Bentley, Randy Houser, Little Big Town, The Lost Trailers and James Otto)Ingram, Todd Snider 3:56
7. "Big Dreams & High Hopes"  Ingram, Gary Burr 3:52
8. "Heartache"  Ingram, Radney Foster, Darrell Brown 4:27
9. "Man in Your Life"  Ingram, Foster 3:35
10. "King of Wasted Time"  Tom Shapiro, Jim Collins, Tony Martin 3:39
11. "In the Corner"  Ingram 4:54

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2009) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 21
U.S. Billboard Top 200 61

Singles

Year Single Peak chart
positions
US Country US
2008 "That's a Man" 18 104
2009 "Barefoot and Crazy" 10 64
"Seeing Stars" (with Patty Griffin) 54 —
2010 "Free" 42 —
"Barbie Doll" (with Dierks Bentley) 56 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jurek, Thom. "Big Dreams & High Hopes review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  2. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (2009-08-25). "Big Dreams & High Hopes review". Roughstock. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  3. ↑ Keefe, Jonathan (2009-08-24). "Big Dreams & High Hopes review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shelburne, Craig. Jack Ingram’s New Music Will Have “More Guts”. CMT Blog, Sept. 29, 2008. Retrieved Oct. 29, 2008.