Pain Killer (Little Big Town album)

Pain Killer
Studio album by Little Big Town
Released October 21, 2014
Genre Country
Label Capitol Nashville
Producer Jay Joyce
Little Big Town chronology

Tornado
(2012)		 Pain Killer
(2014)
Singles from Pain Killer
  1. "Day Drinking"
    Released: June 9, 2014
  2. "Girl Crush"
    Released: December 15, 2014

Pain Killer is the sixth studio album by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on October 21, 2014, through Capitol Nashville.[1] Little Big Town co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen tracks.[2][3] Pain Killer was produced by Jay Joyce.[4]

Critical reception

Giving it a "B+" Bob Paxman of Country Weekly praised the group's vocal harmonies and the songwriting, particularly the songs written by Lori McKenna, but criticized the "overly cluttered" production on some tracks.[5]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 83/100[6]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic[7]

Track listing

The album's track listing was announced on July 14.[8][9]

No. TitleWriter(s)Lead vocals Length
1. "Quit Breaking Up with Me"  busbee, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnallyFairchild, Schlapman 3:24
2. "Day Drinking"  Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Troy Verges, Barry DeanFairchild 2:58
3. "Tumble and Fall"  Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose, Hillary LindseyWestbrook 4:41
4. "Pain Killer"  Fairchild, Westbrook, Blair Daly, LindseyFairchild 3:11
5. "Girl Crush"  McKenna, Rose, LindseyFairchild 3:13
6. "Faster Gun"  Jeremy Spillman, Ryan Tyndell, Westbrook, SweetSweet, Westbrook 4:10
7. "Good People"  Jay Joyce, Hemby, SpillmanSchlapman 3:41
8. "Stay All Night"  Westbrook, Sweet, Brent Cobb, Jason SaenzSweet, Westbrook 2:45
9. "Save Your Sin"  McKenna, Rose, LindseySchlapman 2:46
10. "Live Forever"  Fairchild, Westbrook, Sweet, Schlapman, Spillman, TyndellSweet 4:14
11. "Things You Don't Think About"  Hemby, McAnally, Ross CoppermanFairchild 3:36
12. "Turn the Lights On"  Fairchild, Westbrook, Sweet, Schlapman, Hemby, Joyce, SpillmanFairchild 4:08
13. "Silver and Gold"  Jedd Hughes, Joyce, Schlapman, FairchildWestbrook 3:33

Personnel

[7] Little Big Town

Visual and imagery

Musicians

  • Johnny Duke — acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel
  • Jedd Hughes — acoustic guitar, banjo, electric guitar
  • Jay Joyce — acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, bells, electric guitar, keyboards, mando, pump organ, synthesizer
  • Seth Rausch — drums
  • Giles Reaves — drums, keyboards, percussion, synthesizer horn, synthesizer pads, vibraphone, vocoder
  • John Thomasson — bass
  • Ryan Tyndell — acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar

Production

Chart performance

The album debuted at No. 7 on Billboard 200 and No. 3 on Top Country Albums chart, with 42,000 copies sold in the U.S. in its first week.[10] The album has sold 183,000 copies in the U.S. as of April 2015.[11]

Weekly charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[12] 7
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] 54

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US Country Airplay US CAN Country CAN
2014 "Day Drinking" 4 2 40 1 50
"Girl Crush"A 1 19 18 33 34

References

  1. ↑ Horton, Carrie (July 16, 2014). "Little Big Town Announce ‘Pain Killer’ Album, Reveal Track Listing". Taste of Country. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ Hicks, Gregory (July 20, 2014). "Little Big Town’s ‘Pain Killer’ prescribed for October". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ Wyland, Sarah (July 16, 2014). "Little Big Town to Release Pain Killer on October 21". Great American Country. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  4. ↑ Ragusa, Tammy (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town to Release New Album, “Pain Killer,” in October". Country Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ Paxman, Bob (3 November 2014). Country Weekly 21 (44): 66. ISSN 1074-3235. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Pain Killer Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pain Killer - Little Big Town". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  8. ↑ Betts, Stephen (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' Fills October Prescription". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  9. ↑ Nicholson, Jessica (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town’s ‘Pain Killer’ To Release in October". MusicRow. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  10. ↑ Wade Jessen, Nashville (October 30, 2014). "Little Big Town Leaps Onto Top Country Albums". Billboard.
  11. ↑ Matt Bjorke (April 22, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For April 22, 2015". Roughstock.
  12. ↑ "Little Big Town Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Little Big Town.
  13. ↑ "Little Big Town Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Country Albums for Little Big Town.
  14. ↑ "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.