Love on the Inside

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Love on the Inside
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 22, 2008 (2008-07-22)
Recorded2007–2008
GenreCountry
Length46:48
LabelMercury Nashville
Producer
Sugarland chronology
Enjoy the Ride
(2006)
Love on the Inside
(2008)
Live on the Inside
(2009)
Singles from Love on the Inside
  1. "All I Want to Do"
    Released: May 19, 2008
  2. "Already Gone"
    Released: September 8, 2008
  3. "It Happens"
    Released: February 9, 2009
  4. "Joey"
    Released: July 6, 2009

Love on the Inside is the third studio album by American country music duo Sugarland, first released on July 22, 2008, as a Deluxe Fan Edition, including five bonus tracks, with the standard edition one week later, on July 29, on Mercury Nashville Records. The album has produced three chart singles in "All I Want to Do", "Already Gone" and "It Happens", all number one hits on the Billboard country singles charts. The fourth single, "Joey", reached Top 20. The release of the fifth single "Keep You" was cancelled. It is also the first album of the duo's career to reach Number One on Top Country Albums and The Billboard Top 200. The album has been certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA with sales of over 2 million copies in the United States.[1]

Release[edit]

The deluxe fan edition of Love on the Inside was released on July 22, 2008, which included 17 tracks in special packaging with an expanded CD booklet and access to download exclusive music video and behind the scenes footage.[2] The deluxe fan edition was also released on vinyl record. Love on the Inside regular edition consisted of 12 songs and a regular CD booklet and was released on July 29.[3]

Content[edit]

"All I Want to Do", the album's lead-off single, debuted on the Hot Country Songs charts at No. 27 for the chart week of June 7, 2008 and became the duo's third Number One hit on that chart. Following it was "Already Gone" and "It Happens", which also went to Number One on the same chart in January and May 2009, respectively. All three of these singles were co-written by Sugarland's members (Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles) along with Bobby Pinson, with whom the duo also co-wrote their 2006 single "Want To". "Joey", which Sugarland wrote with Bill Anderson, was released in July 2009 as the fourth single.

Originally instead of "It Happens", "Love" was scheduled to be the third single from the album. A live music video was made to promote this song and was ranked No. 46 on GAC's Top 50 Videos of 2009 list. The song "Keep You" was planned as the fifth single from the album; although a music video was made for the song, its release to radio was cancelled.

Of the five bonus tracks included on the Deluxe Fan Edition, two are live recordings of cover songs: "Life in a Northern Town", originally by The Dream Academy, and "Come On Get Higher", originally by Matt Nathanson. The former, which features guest vocals from Little Big Town and Jake Owen, had charted earlier in 2008 (before the release of "All I Want to Do") based on unsolicited airplay that brought the live recording to No. 28 on the country charts. Footage of the live performance also aired as a music video on CMT.

Chart performance[edit]

The album debuted at No. 2 on US Billboard 200 chart as well as No. 1 on Top Country Albums chart, with 313,734 copies sold in its first week.[4] The album was held off the top spot by Miley Cyrus' album Breakout which sold 371,660 in its first week. The second week, the album climbed to No. 1 on US Billboard 200, becoming the duo's first No. 1 album. The album has been certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America with sales of over 2 million copies in the United States.

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[6]
Blender[7]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
Engine 145[10]
The Phoenix[11]
PopMatters[12]
Robert Christgau(choice cut)[13]
Slant[14]
USA Today[15]

Love on the Inside has a score of 83 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "universal acclaim" from many critics,[5] with many reviews focusing on the song selection and Nettles' vocal performance, as well as the production of Byron Gallimore, who also produced the duo's 2006 album Enjoy the Ride. Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the album four stars out of five, commends the use of minimal overdubs in the production. Of the song choices, he said, "While this set is saturated with hunger and ambition, it's also confident and sophisticated — the album sounds as if they meant every word but had a great time making it." He cited "We Run", "Joey" and "Love" as standout tracks.[6] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly gave it an A− rating, saying that the album's ballads recalled Mary Chapin Carpenter and Rodney Crowell, while other tracks such as "All I want to Do" were "goofy, arena-ready crowd-pleasers".[8] Billboard critic Ken Tucker also gave a positive review, saying that Gallimore's production was "finely crafted" and that "All I Want to Do" was a "tantalizing tease" of the album's breadth.[16]

Chuck Eddy of Blender magazine gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that the album recalled 1980s rock bands such as The Bangles, and that by doing so, it kept "their more tepid tendencies in check."[7] The album received a three-star rating (out of five) from Slant Magazine reviewer Jonathan Keefe, who said that the songs recalled rock acts such as Def Leppard, R.E.M. and Concrete Blonde, and called "All I Want to Do" the "most grotesque thing shipped to radio since Jessica Simpson's cover of 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin''." He also said that "Genevieve", "Keep You" and "Already Gone" were the best songs of the duo's career and described the "Life in a Northern Town" cover favorably.[14]

Matt C. was less favorable in his review for Engine 145, giving Love on the Inside a two-and-a-half star rating out of five. He considered the album's melodies, themes and instrumentations to be largely homogeneous, and criticized the ballads for containing underdeveloped choruses, but cited "Steve Earle" and "Very Last Country Song" as standout tracks.[10]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All I Want to Do"Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush, Bobby Pinson3:33
2."It Happens"Nettles, Bush, Pinson3:01
3."We Run"Nettles, Bush, Scooter Carusoe3:56
4."Joey"Nettles, Bush, Bill Anderson4:02
5."Love"Nettles, Bush, Tim Owens4:29
6."Genevieve"Nettles, Bush3:18
7."Already Gone"Nettles, Bush, Pinson4:35
8."Keep You"Nettles, Bush, Pinson4:35
9."Take Me as I Am"Nettles, Bush, Jeff Cohen4:02
10."What I'd Give"Nettles, Bush, Clayton Mitchell5:57
11."Steve Earle"Nettles, Bush3:36
12."Very Last Country Song"Nettles, Bush, Owens3:44
Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Fall into Me"Nettles, Bush, Carusoe4:45
14."Operation: Working Vacation"Nettles, Bush, Owens3:59
15."Wishing"Nettles, Bush, Carusoe4:11
16."Life in a Northern Town" (featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen) (live))Gilbert Gabriel, Nick Laird-Clowes4:15
17."Come On Get Higher" (live)Matt Nathanson, Mark Weinberg4:49

Personnel[edit]

As listed in liner notes.[17]

Sugarland[edit]

Additional musicians[edit]

String orchestration on "Keep You" by Kristin Wilkinson, strings arranged by Brandon Bush.

Chart performance[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification
Canada (Music Canada)[28] Gold
United States (RIAA)[1] 2× Platinum

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "American album certifications – Sugarland – Love on the Inside". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ^ More details emerge about new Sugarland album
  3. ^ First On COD: New Sugarland Album Release Details
  4. ^ "Miley Cyrus To Debut At No. 1 On Billboard 200". Billboard. July 29, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Love On The Inside". Metacritic. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Love on the Inside - Sugarland". Allmusic. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  7. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck (July 22, 2008). "Sugarland: Love on the Inside". Blender. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  8. ^ a b Willman, Chris (August 1, 2008). "Love on the Inside Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  9. ^ Powers, Ann (July 29, 2008). "Nashville duo good for what ails you". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Matt C. (July 22, 2008). "Album Review: Sugarland - Love on the Inside". Engine 145. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  11. ^ Wood, Mikael (August 4, 2008). "Sugarland: Love on the Inside". The Phoenix. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  12. ^ Heaton, Dave (July 30, 2008). "Sugarland: Love on the Inside". PopMatters. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  13. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Sugarland". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  14. ^ a b Keefe, Jonathan (August 3, 2008). "Sugarland: Love on the Inside". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  15. ^ Barnes, Ken (July 29, 2008). "Listen Up: Sugarland goes sweet on 'Love'". USA Today. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  16. ^ Tucker, Ken (August 2, 2008). "Love on the Inside". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  17. ^ Love on the Inside (Deluxe Fan Edition) (CD booklet). Sugarland. Mercury Nashville. 2008. 11476.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 27.
  19. ^ "Sugarland Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  20. ^ "Sugarland Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  21. ^ "Sugarland Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  22. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  23. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  24. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  25. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  26. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  27. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  28. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Sugarland – Love on the Inside". Music Canada.

External links[edit]