Fuse (Keith Urban album)

Fuse
Studio album by Keith Urban
Released 10 September 2013
Genre Country
Label Hit Red/Capitol Nashville
Producer Benny Blanco, Nathan Chapman, Ross Copperman, Zach Crowell,[1] Mike Elizondo, Dann Huff, Jay Joyce, Stargate, Keith Urban,[2] Butch Walker
Keith Urban chronology

The Story So Far
(2012)		 Fuse
(2013)
Singles from Fuse
  1. "Little Bit of Everything"
    Released: 14 May 2013
  2. "Shame"
    Released: 28 August 2013
  3. "We Were Us"
    Released: 16 September 2013[3]
  4. "Cop Car"
    Released: 13 January 2014
  5. "Somewhere in My Car"
    Released: 23 June 2014
  6. "Raise 'Em Up"
    Released: 26 January 2015[4]

Fuse is the eighth studio album of Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It was released on 10 September 2013[5] via Capitol Records Nashville. The album included duets with Miranda Lambert and Eric Church and has spawned six singles, three of which have topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Background

Regarding the sound of the new album, Keith said during an interview with Rolling Stone that "I just wanted to see how far I could go before it's not me." He also said he was inspired by U2's album Achtung Baby, saying "Bono said, [Achtung Baby] had to be the sound of [U2] chopping down The Joshua Tree, which I thought was great. That's where I found myself at. I can keep making the same record, but I don't want to do that."[6] The album cover was revealed on 1 August 2013.[7]

Singles

The album's lead single "Little Bit of Everything", written by Brad and Brett Warren (both of the The Warren Brothers) along with Kevin Rudolf, was released on May 14, 2013.[8] This song reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in September 2013, as did "We Were Us", which was released as the album's second international single.[9] in September 2013.[3] "Shame" was released as the second single in Australia and New Zealand only in August 2013.[10] The third international single, "Cop Car" was released in January 2014. The fourth international single, "Somewhere in My Car", was released on June 23, 2014. This single also reached number one on Country Airplay late that year. The fifth international single, "Raise 'Em Up" was released on January 26, 2015.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74/100[11]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [12]
Country Weekly A[13]
Edmonton Journal [14]
HitFix B[15]
The Montreal Gazette [16]
Newsday A-[17]
The Oakland Press [18]
Rolling Stone [19]
Roughstock [20]
USA Today [21]

Fuse garnered generally positive reception from music critics to critique the album. At Metacritic, they assign a weighted average score based upon selected mainstream critics reviews and ratings, which based upon four reviews, the album has a Metascore of a 74.[11] At Country Weekly, Bob Paxman said that the release "mesh[es] Keith's usual blend of pop and country with some R&B touches and even some New Age-y sounds." He praised the variety of sounds and thought that the vocals were more prominent than on Urban's previous albums.[13] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone highlighted that "What is surprising, though, is how unforced and fun the record sounds", and this was because "Sometimes, leaving your zone is the best way to find yourself."[19] At Allmusic, Thom Jurek wrote that "For all the piecemeal recording, technological obsession and sheer ambition on the Fuse, Urban manages to fashion it all into a (mostly) working whole and maintain his identity as a contemporary country artist, even as he reaches for the mainstram pop fences."[12]

Jerry Shirver of the USA Today suggested that "Deleting generic material would have made the gems pop more, but that's minor since there are plenty of keepers".[21] At The Oakland Press, Gary Graff told that "'Fuse' does lean a bit heavy on same-sounding arrangements (gentle verses swelling into bombastic choruses) but the songs are consistently strong, and Urban's performances on both guitar and vocals - including duets with Miranda Lambert ("We Were Us") and Eric Church ("Raise 'Em Up") - certainly help the new sonic approaches go down easy."[18] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday found that the album was "filled with plenty of pleasant surprises. The biggest one, though, is how high Urban raised his ambitions and then delivered impressively on them."[17] At Edmonton Journal, Amanda Ash stated that the release was "a thrill that's for sure, although the sentimental ups and downs may be hard on those with pop-sensitive stomachs."[14]

At The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote a mixed review, and evoked that "The words are working hard here, and the music is, too, but Mr. Urban is gliding through, barely quaking at all."[22] Melinda Newman at HitFix affirmed that even though Urban "plays beyond country’s confines on a few tracks, most tunes hew closely to what the faithful have come to love: mid-tempo tunes anchored by banjo or guitar and Urban’s instantly recognizable vocals."[15] Bobby Peacock of Roughstock praised the variety of production and songwriting, saying of the latter that some of the songs "have different details and/or phrasing than his usual songs."[20] In addition, he wrote that "All of the changes are just right, fitting into his signature sound while offering something new and creative at every turn."[20] At The Montreal Gazette, Bernard Perusse wrote that "the album is mind-numbingly predictable arena pop-rock. Every singsong chorus, every wailing guitar solo and every heartland lyric sounds so written by committee that it’s almost impossible to tell one radio-friendly track from the other."[16]

Commercial performance

In the first week of release, the album sold 98,000 copies in the US, after debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and the US Top Country Albums chart.[23] As of April 2015, the album has sold 446,400 copies in the US.[24]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer[25] Length
1. "Somewhere in My Car"  Keith Urban, J.T. HardingUrban, Dann Huff 3:56
2. "Even the Stars Fall 4 U"  Urban, Ross Copperman, David Lee MurphyUrban, Butch Walker 3:59
3. "Cop Car"  Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Matt JenkinsUrban, Crowell 4:16
4. "Shame"  Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Benjamin Levine, Ammar Malik, Dan Omelio, Ross Golan, Justin ParkerUrban, Stargate, Benny Blanco 3:03
5. "Good Thing"  Urban, Mike Elizondo, Natalie HembyUrban, Elizondo 3:52
6. "We Were Us" (featuring Miranda Lambert)Nicolle Galyon, Jimmy Robbins, Jon NiteUrban, Nathan Chapman 3:11
7. "Love's Poster Child"  Copperman, Heather MorganUrban, Jay Joyce 3:29
8. "She's My 11"  Urban, Copperman, Jaren JohnstonUrban, Copperman 3:17
9. "Come Back to Me"  Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, Trevor RosenUrban, Walker 3:52
10. "Red Camaro"  Urban, Elizondo, Brett JamesUrban, Elizondo 3:59
11. "Little Bit of Everything"  Kevin Rudolf, Brad Warren, Brett WarrenUrban, Chapman 3:25
12. "Raise 'Em Up" (featuring Eric Church)Tom Douglas, Johnston, Jeffrey SteeleUrban, Chapman 3:04
13. "Heart Like Mine"  Urban, Butch WalkerUrban, Walker 3:52

Musicians

Compiled from liner notes.[25]

"Somewhere in My Car"
"Even the Stars Fall 4 U"
  • Jake Sinclair — bass guitar, programming, keyboards, percussion
  • Mark Stepro — drums
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ganjo, mandolin, percussion
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, keyboards, programming
  • Stephanie Wu — fiddle
"Cop Car"
  • Zach Crowell — programming, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, percussion, synthesizer, background vocals
  • John Fields — bass guitar
  • Devin Malone — Dobro, pedal steel guitar, electric guitar
  • Chris McHugh — drums
  • Russell Terrell — background vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, EBow
"Shame"
"Good Thing"
  • Mike Elizondo — programming, bass guitar, keyboards
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, ganjo, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
"We Were Us"
  • Nathan Chapman — programming, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards
  • Miranda Lambert — lead vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo
"Love's Poster Child"
  • Fred Eltringham — drums
  • Jay Joyce — baritone guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, programming
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, ganjo, electric guitar, drums on verse 2
"She's My 11"
  • Ross Copperman — background vocals, piano, accordion, programming
  • Jerry Flowers — bass guitar
  • Matt Mahaffey — keyboards
  • Jaren Johnston — background vocals
  • Chris McHugh — drums
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, ganjo
"Come Back to Me"
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, programming
"Red Camaro"
  • Mike Elizondo — programming, bass guitar, keyboards, electric guitar
  • Caitlin Evanson — fiddle
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo
"Little Bit of Everything"
  • Nathan Chapman — drum programming, synthesizer bass, ukulele, piano, keyboards
  • Kevin Rudolf — guitar riff on chorus
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, ganjo, electric guitar, slide guitar, guitar solo
"Raise 'Em Up"
  • Nathan Chapman — programming, bass guitar, keyboards, background vocals
  • Eric Church — lead vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
"Heart Like Mine"
  • Jake Sinclair — bass guitar
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, piano, mandolin, acoustic guitar
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, programming
  • Patrick Warren — strings
"Black Leather Jacket"
  • Danny Rader — mandolin, bouzouki, accordion
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, acoustic guitar, ganjo
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, programming
"Gonna B Good"
  • J. Bonilla — programming
  • Jerry Flowers — background vocals
  • Wes Hightower — background vocals
  • Dann Huff — electric guitar, bouzouki
  • Charlie Judge — synthesizer
  • Tony Lucido — bass guitar
  • Gene Miller — background vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, ganjo, bouzouki, baby sitar
"Lucky Charm"
  • Jared Champion — drums
  • Jay Joyce — electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, Mellotron, programming
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar

Charts and certifications

Album

Chart (2013-2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 1
Australian Country Albums (ARIA)[27] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[28] 1
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[29] 28
UK Country Albums (OCC)[30] 5
US Billboard 200[31] 1
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[32] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2013) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[33] 43
US Billboard 200[34] 126
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[35] 32
Chart (2014) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[36] 69
US Billboard 200[37] 108
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[38] 16

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[39] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[40] Gold 40,000^
United States (RIAA)[41] Gold 446,400[24]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
AUS
[42]		 CAN
[43]		 CAN Country
[44]		 US
[45]		 US Hot Country
[46]		 US Country Airplay
[47]
2013 "Little Bit of Everything" 40 35 1 33 6 1
"Shame"[A] 35 — — — — —
"We Were Us" — 25 2 26 1 1
2014 "Cop Car" — 38 5 41 4 8
"Somewhere in My Car" — 32 4 49 3 1
2015 "Raise 'Em Up"[B] 47 1 57 9 3
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that region
Notes

Other songs

"Even the Stars Fall 4 U" and "Good Thing" have charted at number 49 and number 50, respectively, on the US Hot Country Songs chart.[46]

Preceded by
Crash My Party by Luke Bryan		 Top Country Albums number-one album
28 September 2013 		Succeeded by
Off the Beaten Path by Justin Moore

References

  1. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/1564963/keith-urbans-fuse-is-lit-talks-up-diversity-of-new-album
  2. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/08/23/keith-urban-fuse-album-10-things-you-should-know/2694231/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "R&R :: Going For Adds :: Country". Radio & Records. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  4. ↑ http://www.myfoxny.com/clip/10998547/keith-urban
  5. ↑ Graff, Gary (28 May 2013). "Keith Urban's 'Fuse' is Lit, Talks-up 'Diversity' of New Album". Billboard. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Conaway, Alanna (12 August 2013). "Keith Urban Channels U2 for Upcoming Album". Roughstock. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "See The Official Fuse Album Cover!". Keith Urban. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  8. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Little-Bit-Of-Everything/dp/B00CRTNTD2/
  9. ↑ Mansfield, Brian (10 September 2013). "Keith Urban finds right chemistry for new 'Fuse'". USA Today. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Chartifacts - Tuesday 3rd September, 2013 - ARIA Music News". ARIA. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Metacritic (11 September 2013). "Critic Reviews for Fuse". CBS Interactive. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Jurek, Thom. "Fuse – Keith Urban review". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Paxman, Bob (16 September 2013). "Reviews: Keith Urban — Fuse". Country Weekly 20 (37): 51. ISSN 1074-3235.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ash, Amanda (11 September 2013). "Album review: Keith Urban, Fuse". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Newman, Melinda (10 September 2013). "Keith Urban's 'Fuse' marries country with other musical styles: Album Review". HitFix. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Perusse, Bernard (6 September 2013). "New music review: Fuse, Keith Urban". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Gamboa, Glenn (9 September 2013). "'Fuse' review: Keith Urban stretches". Newsday. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Graff, Gary (9 September 2013). "Listening Room: Urban's "Fuse," Crow's "Feels Like Home" walk the same country lane". The Oakland Press. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Hermes, Will (10 September 2013). "Keith Urban, 'Fuse'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Peacock, Bobby (6 September 2013). "Keith Urban — Fuse review". Roughstock. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Shriver, Jerry (10 September 2013). "Listen Up: Keith Urban, Kaskade, 2 Chainz". USA Today. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  22. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (9 September 2013). "2 Chainz, Arctic Monkeys and Keith Urban Release New Albums". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  23. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (25 September 2013). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of September 25, 2013: Justin Moore, Chris Young lead 5 country artists in all genre Top 10". Roughstock. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Matt Bjorke (April 29, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For April 29, 2015". Roughstock. Sales figure given here
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Fuse (Deluxe Edition) (CD booklet). Keith Urban. Capitol Records Nashville/Hit Red Records. 2013. B0019113-02.
  26. ↑ "Keith Urban – Fuse". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ "ARIA Report" (PDF). ARIA. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  28. ↑ "Keith Urban Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Keith Urban.
  29. ↑ "Keith Urban – Fuse". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien.
  30. ↑ "2014-05-24 Top 40 Country Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  31. ↑ "Keith Urban Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Keith Urban.
  32. ↑ "Keith Urban Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Country Albums for Keith Urban.
  33. ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2013". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  34. ↑ "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
  35. ↑ "Top Country Albums: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  36. ↑ "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 100 Albums 2014". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  37. ↑ "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
  38. ↑ "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  39. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  40. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Keith Urban – Fuse". Music Canada. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  41. ↑ "American album certifications – Keith Urban – Fuse". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 7 January 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  42. ↑ "Discography Keith Urban". australian-charts.com / Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  43. ↑ "Keith Urban Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  44. ↑ "Keith Urban Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  45. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/305660/Keith+Urban/chart?f=379
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Keith Urban chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  47. ↑ "Keith Urban Album & Song Chart History - Country Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 15 September 2013.

External links