The Reason Why
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
The Reason Why is the fourth studio album by American country group Little Big Town. It was released on August 24, 2010 via Capitol Nashville. "Little White Church," which was released in March 2010 as the album's lead-off single, has since become a Top 10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Content
The album's title track was released as a digital single on July 27, 2010 to begin an iTunes countdown to the album release on August 24, 2010. Three further digital singles — "Kiss Goodbye," "Why, Oh Why," and "All the Way Down" — were released weekly leading up until the album release. "Little White Church," the album's first single release to radio, was a Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs charts, with a peak of number 6. "Rain on a Tin Roof," written by Chris Stapleton and Trent Willmon, previously appeared on Julie Roberts's 2004 self-titled debut album.[1] "Kiss Goodbye" and the title track were released as the album's second and third singles, respectively; both reached a peak of number 42 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Mojo Radio | (8.7/10)[2] |
| American Twang |    [3] |
| Allmusic | [4] |
| Country Weekly | [5] |
| Slant | [1] |
The Reason Why received primarily positive reviews from music critics. Giving it four stars out of five, Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine thought that it was the band's most consistent album, praising the vocal harmonies as well as the cuts on which Karen Fairchild sang lead. He also thought that the band's sound was less derivative of Fleetwood Mac on this album than on previous works.[1] Jessica Phillips of Country Weekly rated it three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that the group had "renewed energy" on it, also highlighting Fairchild's lead vocals.[5] Both Keefe and Phillips compared "Little White Church" favorably to Little Big Town's 2005 single "Boondocks." Thom Jurek of Allmusic also thought that the album showed a growth in sound over the band's two albums for Equity Music Group, giving it four stars out of five.[4] Jim Malec of American Twang thought the group’s vocal arrangements were "overbearing and gimmicky," claiming that the album often "sounds like the soundtrack to a Broadway musical." However, he complimented the group member's individual voices, in particular Karen Fairchild's.[3]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Reason Why" | Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook, Wayne Kirkpatrick | Fairchild, Westbrook | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Runaway Train" | Westbrook | Westbrook | 3:45 |
| 3. | "Kiss Goodbye" | Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson, Steve McEwan | Sweet | 4:02 |
| 4. | "Shut Up Train" | Lindsey, Chris Tompkins, Luke Laird | Fairchild | 3:48 |
| 5. | "Why, Oh Why" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Jonathan Singleton, Chris Stapleton | Schlapman | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Little White Church" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick | Fairchild | 3:06 |
| 7. | "You Can't Have Everything" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick | Schlapman | 3:28 |
| 8. | "All the Way Down" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick | Fairchild | 3:08 |
| 9. | "All Over Again" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick | Sweet | 4:08 |
| 10. | "Rain on a Tin Roof" | Stapleton, Trent Willmon | Westbrook | 4:24 |
| 11. | "Life Rolls On" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick | Westbrook, Sweet | 3:10 |
| 12. | "Lean Into It" | Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick | Sweet | 4:19 |
Personnel
Little Big Town
- Karen Fairchild - vocals, tambourine
- Kimberly Schlapman - vocals, tambourine
- Phillip Sweet - vocals, piano
- Jimi Westbrook - vocals, acoustic guitar
Additional Musicians
- J.T. Corenflos - 12-string electric guitar, electric guitar
- Steve Dale - bass guitar
- Dan Dugmore - pedal steel guitar
- Shannon Forrest - drums, tambourine
- Greg Hagan - electric guitar
- Jedd Hughes - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
- Jay Joyce - electric guitar
- Gordon Kennedy - electric guitar
- Wayne Kirkpatrick - banjar, 12-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, hi-string guitar, national steel guitar, piano, shaker
- Phil Madeira - Hammond B-3 organ
- Chris McHugh - drums
- Jeffery Roach - keyboards
- Caleb Sherman - steel guitar
- Adam Shoenfeld - electric slide guitar, electric guitar
- Steve Sinatra - drums
- Jimmie Lee Sloas - bass guitar
Chart performance
Album
The Reason Why debuted at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and became their first number 1 record on the U.S. Billboard Country Albums charts, with first week sales of 41,939.[6] As of the chart date January 8, 2011, the album has sold 150,298 copies in the U.S.[7]
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Country Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 5 |
End of year charts
| Chart (2010) | Year-end 2010 |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top Country Albums | 50[8] |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | ||
| 2010 | "Little White Church" | 6 | 59 |
| "Kiss Goodbye" | 42 | — | |
| 2011 | "The Reason Why" | 42 | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
References
- ^ a b c Keefe, Jonathan (9 August 2010). "The Reason Why review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
- ^ Rose, Rustyn. "Review: The Reason Why". Mojo Radio. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
- ^ a b Malec, Jim. "The Reason Why review". American Twang. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "The Reason Why review". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
- ^ a b Phillips, Jessica (30 August 2010). "Reviews". Country Weekly. 17 (35): 52. ISSN 1074-3235.
- ^ NAME: (2010-09-01). "Little Big Town Scores First #1 Of Career | New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video". Roughstock.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Final Holiday Sales #s of 2010 Are Huge for Country Artists". Roughstock. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
- ^ "Best of 2010 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-31.