''A Rock'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in l ...

) is the debut album of American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer Hardy. It was released on September 4, 2020, via

Big Loud Records Big Loud is an American Independent business, independent multi-sector entertainment company located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It consists of a record label also known as Big Loud, along with music publisher, music publishing and t ...

Content

Joey Moi Joey Moi is a Canadian record producer, audio engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his work with the rock groups Nickelback and My Darkest Days, and country music acts Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Ow ...

and Derek Wells produced the entire album, with co-production from David Garcia on "Where Ya At" and from Jake Mitchell on "Unapologetically Country as Hell" and the title track. The album is a followup to Hardy's EP ''Hixtape, Vol. 1''. " One Beer", featuring

Devin Dawson Devin Dawson Durrett (born January 30, 1989) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He became known after filming a mashup of Taylor Swift songs with his fellow friend Louisa Wendorff on her YouTube channel, which gained popularity ...

and

Lauren Alaina Lauren Alaina Kristine Suddeth (born November 8, 1994) is an American singer and songwriter from Rossville, Georgia. She was the runner-up on the tenth season of ''American Idol.'' Her debut studio album, ''Wildflower,'' was released on October ...

, is the lead single.

Critical reception

Jeff Lincoln of

Country Standard Time ''Country Standard Time'' is a website dedicated to country music and related genres including Americana, bluegrass and rockabilly. It provides news and musical reviews pertaining to the genre. It was established in 1993 by Jeffrey B. Remz as a ...

reviewed the album favorably, complimenting Hardy's unconventional appearance for a country musician, as well as his lyrical skill and combination of country and rock influences. He concluded his review with "it's got authentic appeal, and Hardy's found the right label at Big Loud Records. Country music was always more than the hats anyhow." Zackary Kephart of Country Universe rated the album 1 out of 5 stars, stating that "he’s a detailed writer, and that’s why, I think, most people haven’t immediately written this off as an attempt at any sort of revival of the trend itself. It’s just that his details are completely unlikable". He also criticized the mixing and production of

and Hardy's limited vocal range.

Track listing

Notes * All track titles are stylized in

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock 2020 debut albums Hardy (singer) albums Big Loud albums Albums produced by Joey Moi