Get Closer (Keith Urban album)

Get Closer
Studio album by Keith Urban
Released 16 November 2010
Recorded 2010
Genre Country
Length 33:38 (standard edition)
74:21 (deluxe edition)
Label Capitol Nashville
Producer Dann Huff
Keith Urban
Chris McHugh (live tracks)
Keith Urban chronology

Defying Gravity
(2009)		 Get Closer
(2010)		 The Story So Far
(2012)
Singles from Get Closer
  1. "Put You in a Song"
    Released: 13 September 2010
  2. "Without You"
    Released: 7 February 2011
  3. "Long Hot Summer"
    Released: 27 June 2011
  4. "You Gonna Fly[1]"
    Released: 24 October 2011

Get Closer is the seventh studio album by Australian country music artist Keith Urban. It was released 16 November 2010 on Capitol Nashville.[2] The lead single, "Put You in a Song", was released 13 September 2010, and debuted on Billboard Hot Country Songs charts at number 29 for the week of 2 October 2010.

Content

The lead single, "Put You in a Song", was co-written by artists Sarah Buxton (who co-wrote Urban's 2006 single "Stupid Boy") and Jedd Hughes.[3] From 26 October to 9 November 2010, one track from the album was released to the US iTunes Store each week (a trend Urban's previous album Defying Gravity followed). These songs were "Long Hot Summer", "Without You", and "You Gonna Fly" respectively.

"Long Hot Summer" was released to the Australian iTunes store on 22 October 2010. "Without You" was released to the Australian iTunes Store on 29 October 2010. "You Gonna Fly" was also released to the Australian iTunes Store on 5 November 2010. The full album was released on 12 November 2010 in Australia.

Urban co-produced the studio tracks with Dann Huff, and the live bonus tracks with Chris McHugh.

Cover art

Before the album's release, Urban announced a contest in which fans vote for which photo to be the album cover.[4] On 11 October 2010, the official album cover was revealed; it depicts Urban sitting in front of a bed with his guitar beside him.[5]

Reception

Commercial

The album debuted at number seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number two on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, selling 162,000 copies its first week of release.[6] As of 4 August 2013, the album has sold 743,000 copies in the US.[7]

Critical

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [8]
The Boston Globe (favorable)[9]
Country Weekly [10]
Entertainment Weekly (B)[11]
Los Angeles Times [12]
The New York Times [13]
Rolling Stone [14]
Roughstock [15]
Slant Magazine [16]
The Washington Post (favorable)[17]

Upon its release, Get Closer received generally positive reviews from most music critics.[18] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 7 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[18]

Jessica Phillips with Country Weekly gave it a four star rating, saying "the sugared tunes would be easy to dismiss except for the credible guitar riffs, foot-tapping rhythms and fiery passion with which Keith sings".[10] Andrew Leahey with Allmusic gave it a four star rating, calling it "a lean collection of country-rockers and bedroom ballads".[8] Sarah Rodman with The Boston Globe gave it a favorable review, calling it "lean but enjoyable".[9] Blake Boldt with Engine 145 gave the release 3½, saying it "On Get Closer, the affable Aussie celebrates life with a group of eight uplifting songs offering one cohesive message: love is grand".[19]

Matt Bjorke with Roughstock gave it a 3½ star rating, saying "this album is all about happiness with your romantic life. Every song on this short 8 track album discusses matters of the heart with each song discussing various ways that relationships can have on a life".[15] Bill Friskics-Warren with The Washington Post gave it a favorable review, saying "if you're not in the mood for love, the music here - highly burnished country-rock - affords pleasures of its own".[17] Jonathan Keefe with Slant Magazine gave it 3½ stars, calling it "vintage Urban", Keefe commented on it saying Get Closer is "his most carefully edited album, if not necessarily his best".[16] Rolling Stone critic Jon Dolan gave it a 3 star rating, calling it "good-natured country rock".[14]

Track listing

Standard/CD/MP3 download
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Put You in a Song"  Keith Urban, Sarah Buxton, Jedd Hughes 3:39
2. "You Gonna Fly"  Preston Brust, Chris Lucas, Jaren Johnston 3:36
3. "All for You"  busbee, Chris Eaton 3:37
4. "Long Hot Summer"  Urban, Richard Marx 4:32
5. "Without You"  Joe West, Dave Pahanish 3:54
6. "Georgia Woods"  Urban, Darrell Brown 5:17
7. "Right On Back to You"  Urban, Brown 4:47
8. "Shut Out the Lights"  Urban, Monty Powell 4:16

Personnel

Technical
  • Justin Niebank – engineer, mixing
  • Drew Bollman – engineer, mixing assistant
  • David Bryant – assistant engineer
  • Joanna Carter – art direction
  • Mark Dobson – engineer
  • Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordination
  • Mark Hagen – engineer
  • Michelle Hall – art producer
  • Jean-Philippe Piter – photography
  • Matt Rausch – assistant engineer
  • Jason Spence – assistant engineer
  • Max Vadukul – photography
  • Hank Williams – mastering
Musicians
  • Keith Urban – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, bouzouki, whistle, EBow, producer
  • Sarah Buxton – background vocals (on "You Gonna Fly")
  • Eric Darken – percussion
  • Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
  • Stuart Duncan – fiddle
  • Karen Fairchild – background vocals (on "You Gonna Fly")
  • Dann Huff – acoustic and rhythm guitar, banjo, EBow, mandocello, mandolin, producer
  • David Huff – percussion, programming
  • Charlie Judge – keyboards, string arrangements, strings
  • Chris McHugh – drums, percussion
  • Gordon Mote – piano
  • Kimberly Schlapman – background vocals (on "You Gonna Fly")
  • Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass
  • Russell Terrell – background vocals
  • Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic and rhythm guitar, banjo, guitar resonator, mandolin

Charts and certifications

Album

Chart (2010) Peak
Position
Australian Albums Chart[21] 11
Australian Country Albums Chart[22] 2
Canadian Albums Chart 8
UK Country Albums Chart[23] 13
US Billboard 200 7
US Billboard Top Country Albums 2

Certifications

Region Certification
Australia (ARIA)[24] Platinum
Canada (Music Canada)[25] Gold
United States (RIAA)[26] Gold

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US CAN AUS
2010 "Put You in a Song"[27] 2 53 49 —
2011 "Without You"[28] 1 52 69 —
"Long Hot Summer" 1 45 35 82
"You Gonna Fly" 1 54 66 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

  1. ↑ Conaway, Alanna (11 October 2011). "Keith Urban Ends His ‘Long Hot Summer’ by Topping the Country Singles Charts". Taste of Country. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "CMT : News : Keith Urban Announces New Album and Single". CMT. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  3. ↑ Coniff, Tamara; Ray Waddell (11 November 2006). "Urban Developments". Billboard: 32.
  4. ↑ "Help Keith Urban Choose His New Album Cover - Country Music Is Love". Country Music Is Love. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  5. ↑ Duvall, Erin (11 October 2010). "Keith Urban's 'Get Closer' Cover and Track List Unveiled - The Boot". The Boot. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  6. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (24 November 2010). "Susan Boyle's 'Gift' Tops Rihanna, Kid Rock on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
  7. ↑ "I.B. bad previews the big race". Hits Daily Double. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Leahey, Andrew. "Get Closer - Keith Urban". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Rodman, Sarah (15 November 2010). "Keith Urban, 'Get Closer' - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Phillips, Jessica (12 November 2010). "Get Closer : Keith Urban - Reviews - Country Weekly Magazine". Country Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  11. ↑ Wood, Mikael (10 November 2010). "Get Closer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Randy (16 November 2010). "Keith Urban reveals a piece of himself on 'Get Closer' - latimes.com". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  13. ↑ Chinen, Nate (22 November 2010), CDs from Ne-Yo, Lloyd Banks and Keith Urban - Review - NYTimes.com, The New York Times, retrieved 2010-12-11
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Dolan, Jon (16 November 2010), "Get Closer by Keith Urban", Rolling Stone, retrieved 2010-12-11
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Bjorke, Matt (15 November 2010). "Keith Urban - Get Closer | Country Music Reviews". Roughstock.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Keefe, Jonathan (14 November 2010). "Keith Urban: Get Closer | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Friskics-Warren, Bill (16 November 2010). "Click Track - Album review: Keith Urban, "Get Closer"". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Get Closer Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  19. ↑ Boldt, Blake (24 November 2010). "Album Review: Keith Urban – Get Closer". Engine 145. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  20. ↑ Hughes, Donna (18 October 2010). "Keith Urban Gets Even 'Closer' With New Album - The Boot". The Boot. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  21. ↑ "Keith Urban – Get Closer – World Charts". Ultratop 50. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  22. ↑ ariacharts.co.au accessed on 2012-1-6
  23. ↑ "2011 Top 40 Country Artist Albums Archive". UK Country Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  24. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  25. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Keith Urban – Get Closer". Music Canada.
  26. ↑ "American album certifications – Keith Urban – Get Closer". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  27. ↑ "Put You in a Song - Keith Urban". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  28. ↑ "Without You - Keith Urban". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-03-12.