Stronger (Sara Evans album)
Encyclopedia
Upon its release, Stronger received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 74, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Jon Caramanica with The New York Times
referred to the album as "modest" and "sharp" calling Evans an "unjustly underappreciated country singer who’s becoming more assured as she gets older". Thom Jurek with Allmusic gave the release a three star rating, noting the "traditional country" sound of the album; but also calling the release "formulaic" saying "Evans' fans will eat this up as welcome return to form. However, a more critical listen will reveal this set as a concession to Nashville's ever more restrictive, formulaic studio system". Matt Bjorke with Roughstock gave it a three star rating, saying it "features a strong mix of contemporary country music; Stronger is an album that Sara Evans fans have been longing to have. Deborah Evans Price with Billboard
gave it a favorable review, stating "Stronger, Sara Evans' first studio album in six years, is proof that some things are worth waiting for."
Jessica Phillips with Country Weekly
gave it a 3½ star rating, calling the track "What That Drink Cost Me" "the album’s standout ballad" and compared Evans to Trisha Yearwood
and Patty Loveless
. Bill Friskics-Warren with The Washington Post
gave it a favorable review, also comparing her voice to that of Patty Loveless
. Michael McCall with the Associated Press
gave the release a mixed review, saying "the anthemic songs fall flat: On the fist-pumping "A Little Bit Stronger" and the spiritually inclined "Desperately," Evans sounds oddly detached and the arrangements sound overly dramatic" but called the track "Alone" "the album's most powerful ballad".
" was released as the album's lead-off single on September 27, 2010. It has since become a Number One Hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs
chart, and her first since "A Real Fine Place to Start
" in October 2005. The second single from Stronger, "My Heart Can't Tell You No" was released on June 20, 2011.
Additional musicians
Metacritic
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 normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
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 74, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Jon Caramanica with 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...
referred to the album as "modest" and "sharp" calling Evans an "unjustly underappreciated country singer who’s becoming more assured as she gets older". Thom Jurek with Allmusic gave the release a three star rating, noting the "traditional country" sound of the album; but also calling the release "formulaic" saying "Evans' fans will eat this up as welcome return to form. However, a more critical listen will reveal this set as a concession to Nashville's ever more restrictive, formulaic studio system". Matt Bjorke with Roughstock gave it a three star rating, saying it "features a strong mix of contemporary country music; Stronger is an album that Sara Evans fans have been longing to have. Deborah Evans Price with 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...
gave it a favorable review, stating "Stronger, Sara Evans' first studio album in six years, is proof that some things are worth waiting for."
Jessica Phillips with 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...
gave it a 3½ star rating, calling the track "What That Drink Cost Me" "the album’s standout ballad" and compared Evans to Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...
and Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
. Bill Friskics-Warren with The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
gave it a favorable review, also comparing her voice to that of Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
. Michael McCall with the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
gave the release a mixed review, saying "the anthemic songs fall flat: On the fist-pumping "A Little Bit Stronger" and the spiritually inclined "Desperately," Evans sounds oddly detached and the arrangements sound overly dramatic" but called the track "Alone" "the album's most powerful ballad".
Singles
"A Little Bit StrongerA Little Bit Stronger
"A Little Bit Stronger" is the title of a song written by Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey, and Hillary Scott, and recorded by American country artist Sara Evans. It was released in September 2010 and serves as the lead-off single to her sixth studio album, Stronger, which was released on March 8, 2011....
" was released as the album's lead-off single on September 27, 2010. It has since become a Number One Hit on the U.S. 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...
chart, and her first since "A Real Fine Place to Start
A Real Fine Place to Start
"A Real Fine Place to Start" is the title of a song written by Radney Foster and George Ducas, and recorded by American country artist Sara Evans. The song, which was released in May 2005, served as the lead-off single to Evans' fifth studio album, Real Fine Place. It reached the top of the U.S....
" in October 2005. The second single from Stronger, "My Heart Can't Tell You No" was released on June 20, 2011.
Track listing
Personnel
Technical- Jeff BaldingJeff BaldingJeff Balding is an American audio engineer, mixer and record producer. Primarily known for his work with country music acts such as Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, and LeAnn Rimes, Balding has also worked with top rock acts such as Megadeth and Giant, as well as pop stars such as Amy Grant and Celine...
- Engineer, Vocal Compilation, Vocal Overdubs - Tracy Baskette-Fleaner - Art Direction, Package Design
- Andrew Bazinet - Assistant
- Renée Bell - A&R
- Drew Bollman - Assistant
- Tony BrownTony Brown (record producer)Tony Brown is an American country music record producer.He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina.Brown played piano for Elvis Presley. He toured with the TCB Band for much of Presley's final two years and was a part of the 1976 "Jungle Room" recording sessions at Graceland...
- Producer - Jason Campbell - Production Coordination
- Tammie Harris Cleek - Imaging, Photo Production
- Mickey Jack Cones - Digital Editing
- Shawn Daugherty - Assistant
- Leland Elliott - Engineer
- Kaelin Evans - Stylist
- Matt Evans - Producer
- P.J. Fenech - Assistant, Engineer
- Kyle Ford - Engineer
- Judy Forde-Blair - Creative Producer, Liner Notes
- Amy Garges - Production Coordination
- Russ Harrington - Photography
- Jason Kyle - Engineer
- Matt Legge - Engineer
- Dave Matthews - Engineer
- Scott McDaniel - Creative Director
- Lane McGiboney - Assistant
- Andrew Mendelson - Mastering
- Justin Niebank - Mixing
- Mark Petaccia - Engineer
- Taylor Pollert - Assistant
- Lowell Reynolds - Assistant
- Colleen Runne - Hair Stylist, Make-Up
- Clarke Schleicher - Engineer, Mixing
- Todd Tidwell - Assistant, Engineer
- Scott Velazco - Engineer
- Brian David Willis - Digital Editing
Additional musicians
- Tom BukovacTom BukovacTom Bukovac is an American session musician.Bukovac began playing guitar at age ten, and started playing his first shows at age thirteen. He grew up in Willowick, Ohio and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992, where he found work playing for Tanya Tucker, Lionel Cartwright and others...
- Acoustic and Electric Guitar - Matt ChamberlainMatt ChamberlainMatthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
- Drums, Percussion - Nathan ChapmanNathan Chapman (record producer)Nathan Chapman is an American record producer who works in the field of country music. He is known primarily for working with Taylor Swift, having produced her albums Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now. The former was also the first album that he produced...
- Guitar Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Producer, Background Vocals - Stephanie Chapman - Background Vocals
- Perry Coleman - Background Vocals
- Eric Darken - Percussion
- Jerry DouglasJerry DouglasJerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
- Dobro - Dan Dugmore - Dobro, Steel Guitar
- Sara EvansSara EvansSara Lynn Evans is an American country singer and songwriter.Evans was one of the few traditional-styled singers to emerge from Nashville in the late 1990s, according to Allmusic. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Evans has made five No. 1 Country hits and Gold and Platinum-certified albums by...
- Producer, Background Vocals - Kenny Greenberg - Acoustic and Electric Guitar
- Tony Harrell - Hammond B3, Wurlitzer
- Aubrey HaynieAubrey HaynieAubrey Haynie is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle and mandolin. In his career, he has recorded three studio albums for the Sugar Hill Records label, all three of which contained mostly songs that he wrote himself...
- Fiddle, Mandolin - John Barlow Jarvis - Piano, Wurlitzer
- Brent MasonBrent MasonBrent Mason is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter...
- Electric Guitar - Greg Morrow - Drums
- Steve Nathan - Hammond B3, Synthesizer
- Jimmie Lee Sloas - Bass
- Bryan SuttonBryan SuttonBryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicked acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays many other instruments including mandolin, banjo, and electric guitar....
- Banjo, Acoustic Guitar - Glenn WorfGlenn WorfGlenn Worf is one of the premier Nashville session bassists. He was born in Dayton, Ohio but grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and has concentrated on the bass guitar since he was thirteen. He majored in music at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. Inevitably his talents forced him to abandon the...
- Bass
Album
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| 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... |
4 |
| 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... |
6 |
| US Billboard Country Albums | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
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... |
||
| 2010 | "A Little Bit Stronger A Little Bit Stronger "A Little Bit Stronger" is the title of a song written by Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey, and Hillary Scott, and recorded by American country artist Sara Evans. It was released in September 2010 and serves as the lead-off single to her sixth studio album, Stronger, which was released on March 8, 2011.... " |
1 | 34 | 75 |
| 2011 | "My Heart Can't Tell You No"A | 27 | ||
- A Current single.