Own the Night
Encyclopedia
Own the Night is the third studio album by the American country music
trio Lady Antebellum
. It was released on September 13, 2011 through Capitol Nashville. It was produced by Paul Worley
. It topped the Billboard
200
, selling more than 347,000 copies in its first week, making it their second number-one album in the United States
and one of the most successful country albums of 2011. It also topped the Billboard Top Country Albums as well as the Canadian Albums Chart
, selling more than 21,000 copies in its first week in Canada
alone. Critically, the album received mixed to positive reviews, with some critics praising its production and Hillary Scott
's and Charles Kelley
's vocals, calling it an improvement over their previous two albums, while others criticized its lyrical content and lack of personally, saying that it is a step downward from their previous albums. It has spawned two singles
to date: "Just a Kiss
" and "We Owned the Night
". "Just a Kiss" was released for digital download
on May 2, 2011. It was a commercial and critical success, debuting and peaking at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their highest debut on the chart. It also topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs
, making it their fifth number-one single on the chart. "We Owned the Night" was released for digital download
on August 15, 2011 and was also a commercial success, peaking at number 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Prior to the album's release, "Dancin' Away with My Heart" and "Wanted You More" served as promotional singles and peaked at numbers 50 and 34 on the Hot 100 each. The album has been nominated at the 54th Grammy Awards
for Best Country Album
.
, which assigns a weighted mean
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 63, based on eight reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The New York Times
was very positive about Own the Night and wrote this third album "elevates this group's fecklessness to high art. It makes no apologies for its blunt-force tactics. It owns its shamelessness. That cocksure stance helps to make it one of the most convincing albums of the year, a huge leap forward for a group that threatened to become famous without leaving a true mark." Giving it a four stars rating out of five, Country Weekly
Jessica Phillips appreciated that "For the most part, Lady Antebellum strikes a nice balance between the two -creating something different while replicating some elements of the previous album, keeping the penchant for bighearted ballads and the vocal chemistry between Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott intact". Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the album a 3.5 stars out of 5 commenting "In an effort to break new ground on their just released album, Own the Night, Lady Antebellum occasionally forget their strengths and weaknesses. Not every courageous step they take lands on solid ground, but it’s difficult to criticize a band for taking artistic chances." Entertainment Weekly
gave the album a "B" grade commenting "With their easy pop-country tempos and ingratiating white-soul harmonies, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood are masters of the soft sell, an approach they employ here with characteristically genteel results." Randy Lewis of The Los Angeles Times
found that "everything sounds bigger, brighter and shinier than on Lady A's first two albums. That'll probably go over well with fans of grandiose country pop" but he noted that "the all-stops-out production gradually loses impact." However, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic was less enthusiastic about the album. He gave it a three stars rating and described it as "mood music but the aim isn't amorous; it's nothing more than a spot of relaxation, which doesn't quite amount to compelling listening no matter how immaculate the execution." American Songwriter found Own the Night not "high art" and despised the "clichéd country images" but did appreciate the singing "with the band stacking its harmonies three voices deep at every twist and turn" and that's why the album received a three stars rating. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone
Will Hermes was not convinced by the new album and gave it a two stars rating out of five. Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine
negatively reviewed Own the Night: "In the past, the trio has been able to elevate their unremarkable songwriting with spirited performances, but that isn't the case on Own the Night". He found the band "across-the-board amateurish and anonymous".
chart at number one, selling 347,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan
. The album is the largest start for any country release since Taylor Swift
's "Speak Now
" (2010). It is also their second number-one album. In Canada, the album sold 21,000 copies in its first week, ranking at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart
.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
trio Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum is an American country pop music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. The trio is composed of Charles Kelley , Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott .The group made its debut in 2007 as guest vocalists on Jim Brickman's single "Never Alone", before signing to Capitol...
. It was released on September 13, 2011 through Capitol Nashville. It was produced by Paul Worley
Paul Worley
Paul Worley is an American record producer and session guitarist, known primarily for his work in country music. Formerly a vice president at Sony BMG, he later joined the staff of Warner Bros. Records' Nashville division as chief creative officer...
. It topped the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling more than 347,000 copies in its first week, making it their second number-one album in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and one of the most successful country albums of 2011. It also topped the Billboard Top Country Albums as well as the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
, selling more than 21,000 copies in its first week in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
alone. Critically, the album received mixed to positive reviews, with some critics praising its production and Hillary Scott
Hillary Scott
Hillary Scott is an American pornographic actress.She worked in a bank selling mortgages for two and a half years after graduating from high school, but became bored with it and resented having to wear formal attire and remove her body piercings...
's and Charles Kelley
Charles Kelley
Charles Burgess Kelley is an American country music singer-songwriter and founding member of Lady Antebellum, a country rock trio formed in 2006 and signed to Capitol Nashville.-Early life and career:...
's vocals, calling it an improvement over their previous two albums, while others criticized its lyrical content and lack of personally, saying that it is a step downward from their previous albums. It has spawned two singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
to date: "Just a Kiss
Just a Kiss
"Just a Kiss" is a song by American country music group Lady Antebellum. It was released on May 2, 2011, by Capitol Records, as the lead single from the band's third studio album, Own the Night . Dallas Davidson collaborated with band members Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood to write...
" and "We Owned the Night
We Owned the Night
"We Owned the Night" is the title of a song recorded by American country music trio Lady Antebellum. It was released in August 2011 as the second single from their third studio album Own the Night...
". "Just a Kiss" was released for digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on May 2, 2011. It was a commercial and critical success, debuting and peaking at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their highest debut on the chart. It also topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
, making it their fifth number-one single on the chart. "We Owned the Night" was released for digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on August 15, 2011 and was also a commercial success, peaking at number 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Prior to the album's release, "Dancin' Away with My Heart" and "Wanted You More" served as promotional singles and peaked at numbers 50 and 34 on the Hot 100 each. The album has been nominated at the 54th Grammy Awards
54th Grammy Awards
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will be broadcasted on CBS. Nominations were announced on November 30, 2011 on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a...
for Best Country Album
Grammy Award for Best Country Album
The Grammy Award for Best Country Album has been awarded since 1994. The equivalent award, the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Album was presented in 1965 and 1966...
.
Critical reception
Upon its release, Own the Night received mixed reviews. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted mean
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 63, based on eight reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
was very positive about Own the Night and wrote this third album "elevates this group's fecklessness to high art. It makes no apologies for its blunt-force tactics. It owns its shamelessness. That cocksure stance helps to make it one of the most convincing albums of the year, a huge leap forward for a group that threatened to become famous without leaving a true mark." Giving it a four stars rating out of five, Country Weekly
Country Weekly
Country Weekly is an American tabloid style weekly magazine established in 1994. The magazine focuses on country music stars and events, and regularly features exclusive interviews with recording artists and country music news...
Jessica Phillips appreciated that "For the most part, Lady Antebellum strikes a nice balance between the two -creating something different while replicating some elements of the previous album, keeping the penchant for bighearted ballads and the vocal chemistry between Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott intact". Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the album a 3.5 stars out of 5 commenting "In an effort to break new ground on their just released album, Own the Night, Lady Antebellum occasionally forget their strengths and weaknesses. Not every courageous step they take lands on solid ground, but it’s difficult to criticize a band for taking artistic chances." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the album a "B" grade commenting "With their easy pop-country tempos and ingratiating white-soul harmonies, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood are masters of the soft sell, an approach they employ here with characteristically genteel results." Randy Lewis of The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
found that "everything sounds bigger, brighter and shinier than on Lady A's first two albums. That'll probably go over well with fans of grandiose country pop" but he noted that "the all-stops-out production gradually loses impact." However, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic was less enthusiastic about the album. He gave it a three stars rating and described it as "mood music but the aim isn't amorous; it's nothing more than a spot of relaxation, which doesn't quite amount to compelling listening no matter how immaculate the execution." American Songwriter found Own the Night not "high art" and despised the "clichéd country images" but did appreciate the singing "with the band stacking its harmonies three voices deep at every twist and turn" and that's why the album received a three stars rating. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Will Hermes was not convinced by the new album and gave it a two stars rating out of five. Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
negatively reviewed Own the Night: "In the past, the trio has been able to elevate their unremarkable songwriting with spirited performances, but that isn't the case on Own the Night". He found the band "across-the-board amateurish and anonymous".
Commercial performance
The album debuted on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart at number one, selling 347,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
. The album is the largest start for any country release since Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
's "Speak Now
Speak Now
Speak Now is the third studio album by American singer–songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010 by Big Machine Records. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 at several recording studios, and was handled by Swift and country music producer Nathan Chapman...
" (2010). It is also their second number-one album. In Canada, the album sold 21,000 copies in its first week, ranking at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
.
Track listing
Album
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
5 |
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
38 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 31 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 95 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 26 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 25 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 44 |
| French Albums Chart | 69 |
| German Albums Chart | 52 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
18 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
39 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
2 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 28 |
| Scottish Albums Chart | 4 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 77 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 39 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 8 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
4 |
| UK Country Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Top Country Albums |
1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US AC |
US Adult |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CAN Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 2011 | "Just a Kiss Just a Kiss "Just a Kiss" is a song by American country music group Lady Antebellum. It was released on May 2, 2011, by Capitol Records, as the lead single from the band's third studio album, Own the Night . Dallas Davidson collaborated with band members Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood to write... " |
1 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 72 | 13 | 78 |
|
| "We Owned the Night We Owned the Night "We Owned the Night" is the title of a song recorded by American country music trio Lady Antebellum. It was released in August 2011 as the second single from their third studio album Own the Night... "A |
1 | 32 | 29 | ||||||
- A Current single.