Temptation is the fourth studio album by American country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne is an American singer, songwriter and actress. The success of the 1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, even though she had been active in the music industry for some time...

, released July 6, 1993. Two songs, "Tell Me I'm Crazy"and "I Need a Heart to Come Home To", were released as singles and one of the tracks, "I Need a Heart to Come Home To", featured on the soundtrack to Tony Scott

Tony Scott

Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...

's 1993 film True Romance

True Romance

True Romance is a 1993 American romance crime film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette with an ensemble cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin...

.

Background and release

Following her first three albums, Lynne left her record label Epic

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

 and began working with Brent Maher. In a 2009 interview, she said of the move, "After Soft Talk

Soft Talk

Soft Talk is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne. It was released in 1991 on the Epic label. Two tracks on the album, "The Very First Lasting Love" and "Stop Me" were performed with Les Taylor. The album reached No. 55 on the Billboard Country Albums chart...

, I knew I had to take control. Hell, if I wasn’t going to be embraced by country radio, I might as well make critically acclaimed albums! I wanted to cross genres and not make that silly-ass country pop." She went on to say, "I consider Temptation the real beginning of my career." Lynne co-wrote two songs on the album, the title track and "Some of That True Love".

Temptation was released on July 6, 1993 on Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 and Morgan Creek

Morgan Creek

Morgan Creek is a stream in Mono and Inyo counties of eastern California, in the western United States.It flows from the high eastern Sierra Nevada in the Inyo National Forest, through Round Valley, to its confluence with Pine Creek near the Owens River northeast of Bishop in the Owens...

. The album reached No. 55 on the US Billboard

Billboard charts

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

 Country Albums chart and No. 21 on the Heatseekers Albums chart

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

. Two songs from the album were released as singles: "Feelin' Kind of Lonely Tonight", which reached No. 69 on the US 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 "Tell Me I'm Crazy", which failed to chart. "I Need a Heart to Come Home To" was included on the soundtrack of Tony Scott

Tony Scott

Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...

's 1993 film True Romance

True Romance

True Romance is a 1993 American romance crime film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette with an ensemble cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin...

.

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, Thom Jurek praised the album and gave it a star-rating of four out of five. He noted that the album was markedly different from Lynne's previous albums Tough All Over (1990) and Soft Talk (1993) and described it as "hardcore jacked-up Western swing and big-band country". He cited "Temptation", "Don't Cry for Me" and "Some of That True Love" as highlights and summed up the review by calling the album "hip, sassy, and tough."

Track listing

1. "Temptation" (Shelby Lynne, Brent Maher, Jamie O'Hara
   Jamie O'Hara (singer)
   Jamie O'Hara is an American country music artist. Between 1986 and 1990, he and Kieran Kane comprised The O'Kanes, a duo which charted seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts, including the Number One single "Can't Stop My Heart from Loving You"...
   
   ) – 3:04
2. "Feelin' Kind of Lonely Tonight" (Maher, O'Hara) – 3:00
3. "Tell Me I'm Crazy" (Rory Michael Bourke
   Rory Michael Bourke
   Rory Michael Bourke is a country music songwriter born July 14, 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio.Bourke moved to Nashville in 1964 and worked for a period in the promotional department of Mercury Records....
   
   , Mike Reid) – 3:44
4. "Little Unlucky at Love" (Maher, O'Hara) – 3:01
5. "Some of That True Love" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 2:47
6. "The Rain Might Wash Your Love Away" (Maher, Don Potter
   Don Potter (musician)
   Don Potter is an American musician and producer in Nashville, Tennessee. A longstanding producer for Wynonna Judd, he has become known as "the man who created the Judds' sound".-Musical career:...
   
   , Don Schlitz
   Don Schlitz
   Donald Alan "Don" Schlitz, Jr. is a country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammys, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards...
   
   ) – 4:34
7. "Don't Cry for Me" (Maher) – 2:43
8. "I Need a Heart to Come Home To" (John Jarvis, Russell Smith
   Russell Smith (singer)
   Russell Smith is an American country music singer-songwriter. Formerly the lead singer of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, Smith launched a solo country music career in 1984. He was signed by Epic Records in 1988, who released his debut album, This Little Town, the following year...
   
   ) – 4:20
9. "Come a Little Closer" (Maher, O'Hara) – 3:15
10. "Where Do We Go from Here" (Maher, Potter, Reid) – 3:38

Personnel

Music

• Jeff Bailey — Trumpet
• Eddie Bayers
  Eddie Bayers
  Eddie Bayers is an American session drummer who has played on 150 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for eight straight years, and has three times won the Nashville Music Awards 'Drummer of the Year'...
  
   — Drums
• Ernie Collins — bass trombone
• Paul Franklin
  Paul Franklin (musician)
  Paul Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville,...
  
   — steel guitar
• Dennis Good — trombone
• Barry Green — trombone
• Rob Hajacos — fiddle
• Michael Haynes — trumpet
• Randy Howard — fiddle
• Shelby Lynne — vocals
• Brent Mason
  Brent Mason
  Brent 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
• Chris McDonald — trombone
• Craig Nelson — bass, acoustic bass
• Bobby Ogdin — piano
• Don Potter
  Don Potter (musician)
  Don Potter is an American musician and producer in Nashville, Tennessee. A longstanding producer for Wynonna Judd, he has become known as "the man who created the Judds' sound".-Musical career:...
  
   — acoustic guitar, guitar
• Billy Puett — tenor saxophone
• Don Schlitz
  Don Schlitz
  Donald Alan "Don" Schlitz, Jr. is a country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammys, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards...
  
   — composer
• Buddy Skipper — arranger, horn arrangements
• Denis Solee — alto saxophone
• George Tidwell — trumpet
• Ron Tutt — drums

Production

• Mills Logan — assistant engineer
• Brent Maher — producer, engineer, mixing
• Jim McKell — assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Glenn Meadows — mastering

Design

• Daniela Federici — photography
• Shannon Gibbons — stylist
• Buddy Jackson — art direction
• Sam Knight — design
• Beth Lee — design
• Lisa Jayne Storey — make-up, hair stylist

Chart performance

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	55
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers	21