Fuse (Keith Urban album)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Fuse
Keith Urban Fuse album cover.jpg
Studio album by Keith Urban
Released 10 September 2013 (2013-09-10)
Genre
Length 44:35
Label
Producer
Keith Urban chronology
The Story So Far
(2012)The Story So Far2012		 Fuse
(2013)		 Ripcord
(2016)Ripcord2016
Singles from Fuse
  1. "Little Bit of Everything"
    Released: 14 May 2013
  2. "Shame"
    Released: 28 August 2013
  3. "We Were Us"
    Released: 16 September 2013[4]
  4. "Cop Car"
    Released: 13 January 2014
  5. "Somewhere in My Car"
    Released: 23 June 2014
  6. "Raise 'Em Up"
    Released: 26 January 2015[5]

Fuse is the eighth studio album by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It was released on 10 September 2013 via Capitol Nashville.[6] The album includes features from Miranda Lambert and Eric Church and has spawned six singles, four of which have topped the newly introduced Billboard Country Airplay chart, making it his first album to produce four chart-topping singles.[7]

Upon release, the album debuted atop both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top Country Albums charts, making this Urban's fourth (non-consecutive) number one album on the latter. It received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, who complimented the more diverse musical styles explored on the songs.

Background

Regarding the sound of the new album, Keith said during an interview with Rolling Stone that "I just wanted to see how far I could go before it's not me." He also said he was inspired by U2's album Achtung Baby, saying "Bono said, [Achtung Baby] had to be the sound of [U2] chopping down The Joshua Tree, which I thought was great. That's where I found myself at. I can keep making the same record, but I don't want to do that."[8] The album cover was revealed on 1 August 2013.[9]

Singles

The album's lead single "Little Bit of Everything", written by Brad and Brett Warren (both of The Warren Brothers) along with Kevin Rudolf, was released on 14 May 2013.[10] This song reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in September 2013, as did "We Were Us", which was released as the album's second international single.[11] in September 2013.[4] "Shame" was released as the second single in Australia and New Zealand only in August 2013.[12] The third international single, "Cop Car" was released in January 2014. The fourth international single, "Somewhere in My Car", was released on 23 June 2014. This single also reached number one on Country Airplay late that year. The fifth international single, "Raise 'Em Up" was released on 26 January 2015. It became the fourth (of the five North American releases) to top the Country Airplay chart in May 2015.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74/100[13]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[1]
Country Weekly A[14]
Edmonton Journal 4/5 stars[15]
HitFix B[16]
The Montreal Gazette 1/5 stars[17]
Newsday A-[18]
The Oakland Press 2.5/4 stars[19]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[20]
Roughstock 5/5 stars[21]
USA Today 3/4 stars[22]

Fuse garnered generally positive reception from music critics to critique the album. At Metacritic, they assign a weighted average score based upon selected mainstream critics reviews and ratings, which based upon four reviews, the album has a Metascore of a 74.[13] At Country Weekly, Bob Paxman said that the release "mesh[es] Keith's usual blend of pop and country with some R&B touches and even some New Age-y sounds." He praised the variety of sounds and thought that the vocals were more prominent than on Urban's previous albums.[14] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone highlighted that "What is surprising, though, is how unforced and fun the record sounds", and this was because "Sometimes, leaving your zone is the best way to find yourself."[20] At Allmusic, Thom Jurek wrote that "For all the piecemeal recording, technological obsession and sheer ambition on the Fuse, Urban manages to fashion it all into a (mostly) working whole and maintain his identity as a contemporary country artist, even as he reaches for the mainstram pop fences."[1]

Jerry Shirver of the USA Today suggested that "Deleting generic material would have made the gems pop more, but that's minor since there are plenty of keepers".[22] At The Oakland Press, Gary Graff told that "'Fuse' does lean a bit heavy on same-sounding arrangements (gentle verses swelling into bombastic choruses) but the songs are consistently strong, and Urban's performances on both guitar and vocals - including duets with Miranda Lambert ("We Were Us") and Eric Church ("Raise 'Em Up") - certainly help the new sonic approaches go down easy."[19] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday found that the album was "filled with plenty of pleasant surprises. The biggest one, though, is how high Urban raised his ambitions and then delivered impressively on them."[18] At Edmonton Journal, Amanda Ash stated that the release was "a thrill that's for sure, although the sentimental ups and downs may be hard on those with pop-sensitive stomachs."[15]

At The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote a mixed review, and evoked that "The words are working hard here, and the music is, too, but Mr. Urban is gliding through, barely quaking at all."[23] Melinda Newman at HitFix affirmed that even though Urban "plays beyond country's confines on a few tracks, most tunes hew closely to what the faithful have come to love: mid-tempo tunes anchored by banjo or guitar and Urban’s instantly recognizable vocals."[16] Bobby Peacock of Roughstock praised the variety of production and songwriting, saying of the latter that some of the songs "have different details and/or phrasing than his usual songs."[21] In addition, he wrote that "All of the changes are just right, fitting into his signature sound while offering something new and creative at every turn."[21] At The Montreal Gazette, Bernard Perusse wrote that "the album is mind-numbingly predictable arena pop-rock. Every singsong chorus, every wailing guitar solo and every heartland lyric sounds so written by committee that it’s almost impossible to tell one radio-friendly track from the other."[17]

Commercial performance

In the first week of release, the album sold 98,000 copies in the US, after debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and the US Top Country Albums chart.[24] As of April 2016, the album has sold 478,000 copies in the US.[25] The album also debuted at number one in Canada and Australia, and in the top 10 in the United Kingdom. It is Urban's second album to chart in his native New Zealand, after 2012's The Story So Far.

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Producer[26] Length
1. "Somewhere in My Car"  
3:56
2. "Even the Stars Fall 4 U"  
3:59
3. "Cop Car"  
  • Urban
  • Crowell
 4:16
4. "Shame"  
3:03
5. "Good Thing"  
  • Urban
  • Elizondo
 3:52
6. "We Were Us" (featuring Miranda Lambert)
3:11
7. "Love's Poster Child"  
  • Copperman
  • Heather Morgan
3:29
8. "She's My 11"  
  • Urban
  • Copperman
 3:17
9. "Come Back to Me"  
  • Urban
  • Walker
 3:52
10. "Red Camaro"  
  • Urban
  • Elizondo
 3:59
11. "Little Bit of Everything"  
  • Urban
  • Chapman
 3:25
12. "Raise 'Em Up" (featuring Eric Church)
  • Urban
  • Chapman
 3:04
13. "Heart Like Mine"  
  • Urban
  • Walker
 3:52

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes.[26]

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

"Somewhere in My Car"
"Even the Stars Fall 4 U"
  • Jake Sinclair — bass guitar, programming, keyboards, percussion
  • Mark Stepro — drums
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ganjo, mandolin, percussion
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, keyboards, programming
  • Stephanie Wu — fiddle
"Cop Car"
  • Zach Crowell — programming, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, percussion, synthesizer, background vocals
  • John Fields — bass guitar
  • Devin Malone — dobro, pedal steel guitar, electric guitar
  • Chris McHugh — drums
  • Russell Terrell — background vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, EBow
"Shame"
  • Benny Blanco — instrumentation, programming
  • Ammar Malik — bass guitar
  • Stargate — instrumentation, programming
  • Keith Urban — ganjo, electric guitar
"Good Thing"
  • Mike Elizondo — programming, bass guitar, keyboards
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, ganjo, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
"We Were Us"
  • Nathan Chapman — programming, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards
  • Miranda Lambert — lead vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo
"Love's Poster Child"
  • Fred Eltringham — drums
  • Jay Joyce — baritone guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, programming
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, ganjo, electric guitar, drums on verse 2
"She's My 11"
  • Ross Copperman — background vocals, piano, accordion, programming
  • Jerry Flowers — bass guitar
  • Matt Mahaffey — keyboards
  • Jaren Johnston — background vocals
  • Chris McHugh — drums
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, ganjo
"Come Back to Me"
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, programming
"Red Camaro"
  • Mike Elizondo — programming, bass guitar, keyboards, electric guitar
  • Caitlin Evanson — fiddle
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo
"Little Bit of Everything"
  • Nathan Chapman — drum programming, synthesizer bass, ukulele, piano, keyboards
  • Kevin Rudolf — guitar riff on chorus
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, ganjo, electric guitar, slide guitar, guitar solo
"Raise 'Em Up"
  • Nathan Chapman — programming, bass guitar, keyboards, background vocals
  • Eric Church — lead vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
"Heart Like Mine"
  • Jake Sinclair — bass guitar
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, piano, mandolin, acoustic guitar
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, programming
  • Patrick Warren — strings
"Black Leather Jacket"
  • Danny Rader — mandolin, bouzouki, accordion
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, acoustic guitar, ganjo
  • Butch Walker — background vocals, bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, programming
"Gonna B Good"
  • J. Bonilla — programming
  • Jerry Flowers — background vocals
  • Wes Hightower — background vocals
  • Dann Huff — electric guitar, bouzouki
  • Charlie Judge — synthesizer
  • Tony Lucido — bass guitar
  • Gene Miller — background vocals
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, ganjo, bouzouki, baby sitar
"Lucky Charm"
  • Jared Champion — drums
  • Jay Joyce — electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, Mellotron, programming
  • Keith Urban — all vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar

Charts and certifications

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
AUS
[43]		 CAN
[44]		 CAN Country
[45]		 US
[46]		 US Hot Country
[47]		 US Country Airplay
[48]
2013 "Little Bit of Everything" 40 35 1 33 6 1
"Shame"[A] 35 — — — — —
"We Were Us" — 25 2 26 1 1
2014 "Cop Car" — 38 5 41 4 8
"Somewhere in My Car" — 32 4 49 3 1
2015 "Raise 'Em Up" — 47 1 56 8 1
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that region
Notes
  • A^ "Shame" was released in Australia and New Zealand only as the second single from Fuse in August 2013.[12]

Other songs

"Even the Stars Fall 4 U" and "Good Thing" have charted at number 49 and number 50, respectively, on the US Hot Country Songs chart.[47]

Preceded by Top Country Albums number-one album
28 September 2013		 Succeeded by
Off the Beaten Path by Justin Moore

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/1564963/keith-urbans-fuse-is-lit-talks-up-diversity-of-new-album
  3. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/08/23/keith-urban-fuse-album-10-things-you-should-know/2694231/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ http://www.myfoxny.com/clip/10998547/keith-urban
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Little-Bit-Of-Everything/dp/B00CRTNTD2/
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Keith Urban – Fuse". Hung Medien.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ "Keith Urban – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Keith Urban.
  30. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Keith Urban – Fuse". Hung Medien.
  31. ↑ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  32. ↑ "Keith Urban – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Keith Urban.
  33. ↑ "Keith Urban – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Keith Urban.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/305660/Keith+Urban/chart?f=379
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Fuse_(Keith_Urban_album)&oldid=719167854"