It's America

It's America
Studio album by Rodney Atkins
Released March 31, 2009
Genre Country
Label Curb
Producer Ted Hewitt
Rodney Atkins chronology
If You're Going Through Hell
(2006)
It's America
(2009)
Take a Back Road
(2011)
Singles from It's America
  1. "It's America"
    Released: November 24, 2008
  2. "15 Minutes"
    Released: May 26, 2009
  3. "Chasin' Girls"
    Released: October 26, 2009
  4. "Farmer's Daughter"
    Released: March 29, 2010

It's America is the third studio album by American country music singer Rodney Atkins. It was released on March 31, 2009 (see 2009 in country music) on Curb Records. The album's first single, its title track, was released on November 24, 2008 and has become Atkins' fifth Number One hit on the Billboard country singles charts. It was followed by "15 Minutes" (a Top 20 hit) and "Chasin' Girls." The album was re-issued in mid-2010 with a new single, "Farmer's Daughter."

The album debuted at No. 15 on Billboard's album chart selling 34,877 copies.

As of August 2010, the album has sold 129,820 copies in the US.[1]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Tell a Country Boy"  Neal Coty, Jon Henderson 3:31
2. "Chasin' Girls"  Rodney Atkins, Ted Hewitt, Steve Dean 3:29
3. "Got It Good"  Atkins, Casey Beathard, Ed Hill 3:33
4. "Best Things"  Beathard, James T. Slater 2:55
5. "Friends with Tractors"  Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins 3:31
6. "15 Minutes"  Tony Mullins, Jamie Lee Thurston 2:39
7. "Simple Things"  Atkins, Dave Berg, Rivers Rutherford 3:18
8. "It's America"  Brett James, Angelo Petraglia 3:31
9. "Rockin' of the Cradle"  Doug Johnson, Kim Williams 3:28
10. "When It's My Time"  Berg, Connie Harrington, Wendell Mobley 3:35
11. "The River Just Knows"  Berg, Sam Tate, Annie Tate 3:39

Personnel

Singles

The album's first single release was its title track, written by Brett James and Angelo Petraglia. Released in late 2008, the song went on to become the fifth Number One single of his career. It was followed by "15 Minutes" at number 20, and "Chasin' Girls", which failed to make the Top 40. The latter was partially re-written for its radio edit.[2] The song debuted in September 2009 but failed to reach the country Top 40, peaking at No. 48.

In March 2010, the album was re-released with "Farmer's Daughter" added to the tracklist, and the radio edit of "Chasin' Girls" in place of the original recording.[2] "Farmer's Daughter" has reached Top 20 on Hot Country Songs.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[3]
Allmusic[4]
People[5]
Robert Christgau[6]
Roughstock[2]
Engine 145[7]

Todd Sterling of Allmusic rated the album three stars out of five, saying that Atkins "plays it safe and sticks to the same formula used on If You're Going Through Hell."[4] Also giving it three stars, Roughstock critic Liz Jungers thought that the album was "feel-good through and through" and that it had "killer musicianship," but criticized it for lacking musical variety.[2] Pierce Greenberg of Engine 145 also criticized the album for having too many "frothy feel-good, I-am-blessed" songs, saying that it such songs "would benefit from being on a more diverse album." He rated the album two stars out of five.[7] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a "dud" rating,[6] calling it "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."[8]

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2009) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 3
U.S. Billboard 200 15

Singles

Year Single Peak chart
positions
US Country US
2008 "It's America" 1 44
2009 "15 Minutes" 20 115
"Chasin' Girls" 48
2010 "Farmer's Daughter" 5 47
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

  1. NAME: (2010-08-04). "Last July 2010 Album Sales Chart Still the Domain of Lady Antebellum | New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video". Roughstock.com. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Jungers, Liz (29 June 2010). "Rodney Atkins - It's America". Roughstock. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  3. Sexton, Scott. "Rodney Atkins - 'It's America'". About.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  4. 1 2 Sterling, Todd. "It's America - Rodney Atkins". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  5. Arnold, Chuck; Herndon, Jessica (2009-04-13). "Picks and Pans Review: Rodney Atkins (It's America)". People. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  6. 1 2 Christgau, Robert. "CG: Rodney Atkins". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  7. 1 2 Greenberg, Pierce (2009-03-31). "Album Review: Rodney Atkins - It's America". Engine 145. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  8. Christgau, Robert. "CG 90s: Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
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