Pain Killer (Little Big Town album)

Pain Killer
Studio album by Little Big Town
Released October 21, 2014 (2014-10-21)
Genre Country
Length 46:19
Label Capitol Nashville
Producer Jay Joyce
Little Big Town chronology
Tornado
(2012)		 Pain Killer
(2014)		 Wanderlust
(2016)
Singles from Pain Killer
  1. "Day Drinking"
    Released: June 9, 2014
  2. "Girl Crush"
    Released: December 15, 2014
  3. "Pain Killer"
    Released: August 24, 2015

Pain Killer is the sixth studio album by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on October 21, 2014, through Capitol Nashville.[1] Little Big Town co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen tracks.[2][3] Pain Killer was produced by Jay Joyce.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Billboard[7]
Country Weekly[8]B+
Los Angeles Times[9]

Critical

Giving it a "B+" Bob Paxman of Country Weekly praised the group's vocal harmonies and the songwriting, particularly the songs written by Lori McKenna, but criticized the "overly cluttered" production on some tracks.[8] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called the album as "the rarest thing in contemporary country, a record with an expansive world-view delivered with a kinetic kick and infallible melodies, a record that gives no indication of where it's going upon first listen but remains compelling upon further spins".[6]

Commercial

The album debuted at No. 7 on Billboard 200 and No. 3 on Top Country Albums chart, with 42,000 copies sold in the U.S. in its first week.[10] The album has sold 480,000 copies in the U.S. as of June 2016.[11]

Award nominations

Year Association Category Result
2015 Academy of Country Music Album of the Year Nominated
2015 Country Music Association Album of the Year Nominated
2016 Grammy Awards Best Country Album Nominated

Track listing

The album's track listing was announced on July 14.[12][13]

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Quit Breaking Up with Me"  
  • Fairchild
  • Schlapman
3:24
2."Day Drinking"  
  • Karen Fairchild
  • Jimi Westbrook
  • Phillip Sweet
  • Troy Verges
  • Barry Dean
Fairchild2:58
3."Tumble and Fall"  
Westbrook4:41
4."Pain Killer"  
Fairchild3:11
5."Girl Crush"  
  • McKenna
  • Rose
  • Lindsey
Fairchild3:13
6."Faster Gun"  
  • Jeremy Spillman
  • Ryan Tyndell
  • Westbrook
  • Sweet
  • Sweet
  • Westbrook
4:10
7."Good People"  
Schlapman3:41
8."Stay All Night"  
  • Sweet
  • Westbrook
2:45
9."Save Your Sin"  
  • McKenna
  • Rose
  • Lindsey
Schlapman2:46
10."Live Forever"  
  • Fairchild
  • Westbrook
  • Sweet
  • Schlapman
  • Spillman
  • Tyndell
Sweet4:14
11."Things You Don't Think About"  
Fairchild3:36
12."Turn the Lights On"  
  • Fairchild
  • Westbrook
  • Sweet
  • Schlapman
  • Hemby
  • Joyce
  • Spillman
Fairchild4:08
13."Silver and Gold"  
Westbrook3:33

Personnel

Adapted from Allmusic and Pain Killer liner notes.[6][14]

Little Big Town

Musicians
Production
  • Richard Dodd — mastering
  • Jason Hall — engineering, mixing
  • Jedd Hughes — engineering
  • Scott Johnson — production assistant
  • Jay Joyce — engineering, mixing, production
  • Reid Scelza — assistant
  • Matthew Wheeler — assistant

Visual and imagery
  • Karen Fairchild — art direction
  • Kelly Jerrell — art direction
  • Meritocracy — art direction
  • Matthew Welch — photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2014–16) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[15] 49
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 143
UK Country Albums (OCC)[17] 2
US Billboard 200[18] 7
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[19] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[20] 54
Chart (2015) Position
US Billboard 200[21] 38
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[22] 10

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US Country Airplay US US
AC		 US
Adult		 CAN Country CAN
2014 "Day Drinking" 4 2 40 — — 1 50
"Girl Crush" 1 3 18 29 23 11 29
2015 "Pain Killer" 49 38 — — — 35 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 480,000[11]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Horton, Carrie (July 16, 2014). "Little Big Town Announce 'Pain Killer' Album, Reveal Track Listing". Taste of Country. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ Hicks, Gregory (July 20, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' prescribed for October". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ Wyland, Sarah (July 16, 2014). "Little Big Town to Release Pain Killer on October 21". Great American Country. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  4. ↑ Ragusa, Tammy (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town to Release New Album, "Pain Killer," in October". Country Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Pain Killer Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  6. 1 2 3 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pain Killer - Little Big Town". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ Newman, Melinda. "Little Big Town Finally Ready for the Big Time With Tour De Force 'Pain Killer'". Billboard.
  8. 1 2 Paxman, Bob (3 November 2014). "Pain Killer by Little Big Town". Country Weekly. 21 (44): 66. ISSN 1074-3235.
  9. ↑ Wood, Mikael. "Little Big Town revisits the song doctor on 'Pain Killer'". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ↑ Wade Jessen, Nashville (October 30, 2014). "Little Big Town Leaps Onto Top Country Albums". Billboard.
  11. 1 2 "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016.
  12. ↑ Betts, Stephen (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' Fills October Prescription". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  13. ↑ Nicholson, Jessica (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' To Release in October". MusicRow. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  14. ↑ Pain Killer (CD booklet). Little Big Town. Capitol Records Nashville. 2014. B0021360-02.
  15. ↑ "Little Big Town – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Little Big Town.
  16. ↑ "CHART: CLUK Update 19.03.2016 (wk11)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company.
  18. ↑ "Little Big Town – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Little Big Town.
  19. ↑ "Little Big Town – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Little Big Town.
  20. ↑ "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Billboard 200 Albums: 2015 Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
  22. ↑ "Top Country Albums: 2015 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  23. ↑ "American album certifications – Little Big Town – Pain Killer". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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