Two Lanes of Freedom
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Two Lanes of Freedom is the twelfth studio album by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released February 5, 2013, as his first album for Big Machine Records following a 20-year tenure with Curb Records. He co-produced the album with Byron Gallimore, producer of his previously released albums.[2] The album includes the singles "Truck Yeah", "One of Those Nights", "Highway Don't Care" featuring new labelmate Taylor Swift, and "Southern Girl".[3]
Background
McGraw talked to The Boot writer Beville Dunkerley about the lawsuit that allowed him to end his decades-long contract with Curb Records and the making of the album:[4]
Nothing good happens from anything without concentrating on what you do musically,...All this other stuff you can't do anything about...You can't make people do the things that you think are right, but you can make your music the way you want to make your music and that's what I concentrate on.
— Tim McGraw, [4]
In addition, McGraw discussed his "mindset" behind the album:[4]
There's something special about this record to me, in the optimism that it has,...I'm looking forward to more stuff than I've ever had happen before; there's more ahead of me than behind me. I feel like I've grabbed another gear.
— Tim McGraw, [4]
In conclusion, McGraw added what he sees in his future as a music artist:[4]
I don't think I'm anywhere close to doing the things I want to do. There's so much more ahead of me, and I have a lot of room to get better...Sonically, there's a freshness to this record and a drive behind it that is new to me and headed in a different place. But I won't know that until I go into the studio for the next record and see where it takes me.
— Tim McGraw, [4]
Reception
Critical
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (66/100)[5] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [6] |
American Songwriter | [7] |
Country Universe | [8] |
Los Angeles Times | [9] |
The Oakland Press | [10] |
Omaha World-Herald | [11] |
PopMatters | [12] |
Rolling Stone | [13] |
Roughstock | [14] |
Taste of Country | [15] |
USA Today | [16] |
Upon its release, Two Lanes of Freedom received generally positive reviews from most music critics.[5] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[5] The album has garnered positive reviews from the following publications: AllMusic, American Songwriter, Country Weekly, The Lantern The Plain Dealer, Roughstock, Taste of Country, and the USA Today. On the other hand, the album received mixed reviews from the following publications: Country Universe, Los Angeles Times, Omaha World-Herald, PopMatters, and Rolling Stone.
Commercial
Two Lanes of Freedom sold about 107,000 copies during its first week of release, landing at number one on the country albums chart and number two on the Billboard 200.[17] As of September 18, 2013, the album has sold 421,000 copies.[18]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Two Lanes of Freedom" | Jaren Johnston, Jenn Schott | 4:26 |
2. | "One of Those Nights" | Luke Laird, Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins | 3:56 |
3. | "Friend of a Friend" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) | Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Andrew Dorff | 5:13 |
4. | "Southern Girl" | Johnston, Clawson, Lee Thomas Miller | 4:15 |
5. | "Truck Yeah" | Chris Janson, Danny Myrick, Preston Brust, Chris Lucas | 3:29 |
6. | "Nashville Without You" | Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Ruston Kelly | 3:37 |
7. | "Book of John" | Jon Nite, Greg Becker | 3:28 |
8. | "Mexicoma" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) | James T. Slater, Brad Warren, Brett Warren | 3:33 |
9. | "Number 37405" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) | Tom Douglas, Troy Jones | 4:45 |
10. | "It's Your World" | Scott Stepakoff, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally | 4:29 |
11. | "Highway Don't Care" (feat. Taylor Swift & Keith Urban) | Irwin, Kear, Brad Warren, Brett Warren | 4:39 |
Total length: | 45:50 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Two Lanes of Freedom" | Jaren Johnston, Jenn Schott | 4:26 |
2. | "One of Those Nights" | Luke Laird, Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins | 3:56 |
3. | "Friend of a Friend" | Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Andrew Dorff | 5:13 |
4. | "Southern Girl" | Johnston, Clawson, Lee Thomas Miller | 4:15 |
5. | "Truck Yeah" | Chris Janson, Danny Myrick, Preston Brust, Chris Lucas | 3:29 |
6. | "Nashville Without You" | Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Ruston Kelly | 3:37 |
7. | "Book of John" | Jon Nite, Greg Becker | 3:28 |
8. | "Annie I Owe You a Dance" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) | James T. Slater, Tom Douglas | 3:44 |
9. | "Mexicoma" | Slater, Brad Warren, Brett Warren | 3:33 |
10. | "Number 37405" | Douglas, Troy Jones | 4:45 |
11. | "It's Your World" | Scott Stepakoff, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally | 4:29 |
12. | "Tinted Windows" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) | Irwin, Kear, Dorff | 4:13 |
13. | "Highway Don't Care" (feat. Taylor Swift & Keith Urban) | Irwin, Kear, Brad Warren, Brett Warren | 4:39 |
14. | "Truck Yeah" (live) | Janson, Myrick, Brust, Lucas | 4:16 |
15. | "Let Me Love It Out of You" | Rachel Thibodeau, Jason Sever, David Tolliver | 5:34 |
Total length: | 63:37 |
Personnel
- Greg Barnhill- background vocals
- Paul Bushnell- bass guitar
- David Campbell- horn arrangements, string arrangements
- Joanna Cotton- background vocals
- Dan Dugmore- steel guitar, lap steel guitar
- Shannon Forrest- drums, percussion
- Byron Gallimore- background vocals
- Marty Krystall- clarinet
- Michael Landau- electric guitar
- Dave Levita- acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Tim McGraw- lead vocals
- Jamie Muhoberac- keyboards
- The Nashville String Machine- strings
- Steve Nathan- organ, piano, synthesizer, Wurlitzer
- Mike Rojas- accordion
- William Roper- tuba
- Bryan Sutton- banjo, acoustic guitar, mandolin
- Taylor Swift- vocals on "Highway Don't Care"
- Lee Thornburg- trumpet
- Ilya Toshinsky- acoustic guitar, resonator guitar
- Keith Urban- electric guitar on "Highway Don't Care"
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Chart (2013–14) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] | 10 |
Canadian Albums Chart | 4 |
China Album Chart[20] | 18 |
US Billboard 200 | 2[21] |
US Billboard Top Country Albums | 1[21] |
US Billboard Top Digital Albums | 1[21] |
UK Albums Chart[22] | 43 |
UK Country Albums (OCC)[23] | 1 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2013) | Position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200[24] | 58 |
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[25] | 14 |
Chart (2014) | Position |
---|---|
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[26] | 75 |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US Country Airplay | US | CAN Country [27] |
CAN | ||
2012 | "Truck Yeah" | 11 | 10 | 57 | — | 52 |
"One of Those Nights" | 3 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 38 | |
2013 | "Highway Don't Care" | 4 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 21 |
"Southern Girl" | 4 | 2 | 42 | 1 | 61 | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Certifications
Region | Certification |
---|---|
Canada (Music Canada)[28] | Gold |
United States (RIAA)[29] | Gold |
References
- ^ "Two Lanes of Freedom - Tim McGraw". Allmusic. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ^ Wyland, Sarah (October 31, 2012). "Tim McGraw Will Release Two Lanes of Freedom February 5, 2013". Great American Country. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ "Two Lanes of Freedom track listing". Roughstock. December 13, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Dunkerley, Beville (February 5, 2013). "Tim McGraw, 'Two Lanes of Freedom' Drives Legendary Career Into Fresh Territory (Exclusive Interview)". The Boot. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Two Lanes of Freedom, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Jurek, Thom (February 5, 2013). "Two Lanes of Freedom - Tim McGraw : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (February 5, 2013). "Tim McGraw: Two Lanes of Freedom". American Songwriter. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ Foster, Ben (February 15, 2013). "Album Review: Tim McGraw, Two Lanes of Freedom". Country Universe. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ Brown, August (February 5, 2013). "Album review: Tim McGraw 'Two Lanes of Freedom'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ Graff, Gary (February 1, 2013). "Listening Room: Tim McGraw sets off into the sunset on trip of "Freedom"". The Oakland Press. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
- ^ Coffey, Kevin (February 15, 2013). "Album Review: Tim McGraw, 'Two Lanes of Freedom'". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ Leftridge, Steve (February 27, 2013). "Tim McGraw: Two Lanes of Freedom". PopMatters. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
- ^ Eddy, Chuck (February 13, 2013). "Tim McGraw: Two Lanes of Freedom (Big Machine)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Bjorke, Matt (February 6, 2013). "Album Review: Tim McGraw - Two Lanes of Freedom". Roughstock. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ Dukes, Billy (February 8, 2013). "Tim McGraw, 'Two Lanes of Freedom' – Album Review". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ Shriver, Jerry (February 4, 2013). "Tim McGraw's 'Two Lanes' finds a new country route". USA Today. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ "Tim McGraw's 'Two Lanes' Speeds to No. 1 On Top Country Albums". Billboard. February 14, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ Matt Bjorke (July 31, 2013). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of September 18, 2013: Keith Urban Lights Fuse, Debuts at #1; Sheryl Crow at "Home" at #3". Roughstock. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Tim McGraw – Two Lanes Of Freedom". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
- ^ 综合榜 2014年 第18周 (in Chinese). sino-chart.com. Retrieved 6-5-2014.
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(help) - ^ a b c "Tim McGraw's 'Two Lanes of Freedom' Debuts at No. 1". Taste of Country. February 15, 2013. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ "Official UK Albums Top 100 - 23rd March 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
- ^ "Top Country Albums: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- ^ "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- ^ "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Tim McGraw – Two Lanes of Freedom". Music Canada.
- ^ "American album certifications – Tim McGraw – Two Lanes of Freedom". Recording Industry Association of America.