Cowboy's Back in Town
Encyclopedia
Upon its release, Cowboys Back in Town 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 71, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Thom Jurek with Allmusic said that Adkins was good at "offer tough[ing] utterly masculine, contemporary country-rock […] convincingly". Michael McCall with the Associated Press
called the album "redneck humor and outlandish fun", he went to say that Adkins "could have drawn these songs from the comic routines of Larry the Cable Guy
[...] But, this time out, Adkins is more salacious than sensitive — and makes it work for him".
Bill Brotherton with the Boston Herald
commented that Adkins "has a heart. Who knew?" and thought that the "heartbreak" songs were the best. Whitney Pastorek with Entertainment Weekly
gave the album a "B" rating, saying that Adkins is one of "Nashville's most likable baritones" and that the album "works best when he puts his heart into it, instead of just his hat". Ken Tucker with Country Weekly
gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that it balanced the "rugged" material such as "Whoop a Man's Ass" with love songs as "Still Love You." He also thought that "Don't Mind If I Don't" was "uncharacteristically sunny" and suggested that the song could bring a new aspect to his sound.
Jon Caramanica with the New York Times compared Adkins negatively to Toby Keith
, saying that Adkins "lacks the winking cheekiness and self-deprecation". He thought that "Ala-Freakin-Bama" and "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" had a similarly "clumsy approach to sexuality" to "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
," and thought that the love songs were "mundane," but called "Hold My Beer" the album's high point. Allison Stewart with The Washington Post
gave the album a negative review, saying that it was less "cartoonish" than his previous work, but said that songs, such as "Hold My Beer," were not meant to be enjoyed by female fans.
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 71, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Thom Jurek with Allmusic said that Adkins was good at "offer tough[ing] utterly masculine, contemporary country-rock […] convincingly". 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...
called the album "redneck humor and outlandish fun", he went to say that Adkins "could have drawn these songs from the comic routines of Larry the Cable Guy
Larry the Cable Guy
Daniel Lawrence Whitney , better known by his stage name and character Larry the Cable Guy, is an American comedian, actor, and former radio personality....
[...] But, this time out, Adkins is more salacious than sensitive — and makes it work for him".
Bill Brotherton with the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
commented that Adkins "has a heart. Who knew?" and thought that the "heartbreak" songs were the best. Whitney Pastorek with 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" rating, saying that Adkins is one of "Nashville's most likable baritones" and that the album "works best when he puts his heart into it, instead of just his hat". Ken Tucker 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 three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that it balanced the "rugged" material such as "Whoop a Man's Ass" with love songs as "Still Love You." He also thought that "Don't Mind If I Don't" was "uncharacteristically sunny" and suggested that the song could bring a new aspect to his sound.
Jon Caramanica with the New York Times compared Adkins negatively to Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...
, saying that Adkins "lacks the winking cheekiness and self-deprecation". He thought that "Ala-Freakin-Bama" and "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" had a similarly "clumsy approach to sexuality" to "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
"Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" is a single, released in late 2005 by country music artist Trace Adkins. It was the last single from his album, Songs About Me. The song was a crossover hit for Adkins, peaking at #2 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, and reaching the Top 40 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot...
," and thought that the love songs were "mundane," but called "Hold My Beer" the album's high point. Allison Stewart 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 the album a negative review, saying that it was less "cartoonish" than his previous work, but said that songs, such as "Hold My Beer," were not meant to be enjoyed by female fans.
Track listing
Personnel
- David Angell - Strings
- Adam Ayan - Mastering
- 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 - Kenny Beard - Producer, Production Assistant, Background Vocals
- Steve Blackmon - Assistant Engineer
- Drew Bollman - Mixing Assistant
- Mike Brignardello - Bass
- Jim "Moose" Brown - Piano
- David Bryant - Assistant Engineer
- Pat Buchanan - Electric Guitar
- Perry Coleman - Background Vocals
- Peter Coleman - Engineer
- Mickey Jack Cones - Associate Producer, Editing, Engineer, Mixing, Background Vocals
- J.T. Corenflos - Electric Guitar
- Eric Darken - Percussion
- David Davidson - Strings
- Brandon Epps - Editing
- Shelly FairchildShelly FairchildShelly Fairchild is an American music recording artist. Signed to Columbia Records in 2004, she released her debut album Ride in early 2005...
- Background Vocals - Shawn Fichter - Drums
- Tom Flora - Background Vocals
- Ashley Gorley - Associate Producer, Background Vocals
- Tony Harrell - Clavinet, Piano
- Wes Hightower - Background Vocals
- Jim Hoke - Saxophone
- Mike Johnson - Steel Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar
- Julian King - Engineer
- Michael Knox - Producer, Production Assistant
- Jordan Lehning - Engineer
- Kyle LehningKyle LehningKyle Lehning is an American record producer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. He has produced virtually every album released by Randy Travis, who describes their partnership "an interesting relationship." The only exceptions are Travis' 1993 album Wind in the Wire, which was...
- Mixing - Sam Martin - Assistant Engineer
- Lee Moore - Wardrobe
- Natalie Moore - Art Direction
- Greg Morrow - Drums
- Justin Niebank - Mixing
- Susannah Parrish - Art Direction, Design
- Danny Rader - Banjo, Acoustic Guitar
- Rich Redmond - Percussion
- Sarighani Reist - Strings
- Scotty Sanders - Lap Steel Guitar, Pedal Steel
- Adam Schoenfeld - Electric Guitar
- Jimmie Lee Sloas - Bass
- Joe Spivey - Fiddle, Mandolin
- Pamela Springsteen - Photography
- Russell Terrell - Background vocals
- Biff Watson - Acoustic guitar
- Kris Wilkinson - String Arrangements, Strings
- Debra Wingo Williams - Hair Stylist, Make-Up
- John Willis - Banjo, Engineer
Album
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Country Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 5 |
End of year charts
| Chart (2010) | Year-end 2010 |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top Country Albums | 45 |
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... |
||
| 2010 | "Ala-Freakin-Bama" | 49 | — |
| "This Ain't No Love Song This Ain't No Love Song "This Ain't No Love Song" is the title of a song written by Tony Lane, Marcel Chagnon and David Lee and recorded by Trace Adkins for his 2010 album Cowboy's Back in Town... " |
15 | 88 | |
| 2011 | "Brown Chicken Brown Cow" | 39 | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||