''Country Strong'' is a
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
album for the
film of the same name. It was released by
RCA Nashville
RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music.
Current artists
*Kane Brown
*Andrew Jannakos
*Miranda Lambert
*Niko Moon (RCA/River Hou ...
on October 26, 2010. It is preceded by two singles: the title track, performed by the film's star
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...
, which was released on July 26, 2010, and "
A Little Bit Stronger
"A Little Bit Stronger" is a song written by Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey, and Hillary Scott and recorded by American country music artist Sara Evans. It was released in September 2010 and as the first single from Evans' 2011 album '' Stronger''. T ...
", performed by
Sara Evans
Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the '' Billboard'' country songs ch ...
and released on September 27, 2010. In addition to Paltrow, the film's co-stars
Garrett Hedlund
Garrett John Hedlund (born September 3, 1984) is an American actor. His films include ''Troy'' (2004), '' Friday Night Lights'' (2004), '' Four Brothers'' (2005), ''Eragon'' (2006), ''Death Sentence'' (2007), '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010), ''Country ...
,
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
and
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...
all sing on the soundtrack, which also features
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, ...
stars
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack Liddell (; born August 19, 1966) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Her 2000 single, " I Hope You Dance" was a major crossover music hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and the Top 15 ...
,
Hank Williams Jr.
Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...
, and
Faith Hill
Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.
Hill' ...
, among others. The album has sold 479,000 copies in the US as of February 2013.
A follow-up album ''Country Strong (More Music from the Motion Picture)'', was released on December 21, 2010, originally as digital download only. The second album has sold 36,349 in the US as of January 2011.
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote the soundtrack "follows the blueprint of its star, McGraw, and the early work of his wife Faith Hill, delivering a collection of crisp, clean, and melodic country where the Hank Williams Jr. cameo is used as rowdy flavoring. If Paltrow never quite sounds convincing as a country singer -- she seems just a little too mannered to be 'Country Strong' -- ''
Gossip Girl
''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...
'' Leighton Meester pulls off the sweet 'Words I Couldn’t Say' with ease, and the rest of the soundtrack is handed over to professionals".
Empire Online
''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989.
History
David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other titles ...
's Danny Graydon gave the soundtrack a four stars rating out of five explaining Gwyneth Paltrow is really good. "
hemore than holds her own among such esteemed company as Lee Ann Womack (Liars Lie), Hank Williams Jr. (Thirsty) and Faith Hill (Give In To Me), her voice driving the stomping 'Shake That Thing', the anthemic title track, and 'Me & Tennessee', a gorgeous duet with Tim McGraw."
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' writer Mikael Wood was convinced by Paltrow in the title track but not in "Shake That Thing". For the rest, he said "Elsewhere you get solid new songs from the likes of Sara Evans, Ronnie Dunn, and Patty Loveless"
Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' described Paltrow's "Country Strong" as a "solid, down the middle 'I will survive' ballad." Though he shared the same opinion as Mikael Wood concerning her performance on "Shake That Thing" by saying the song doesn't suit her, he liked "Coming Home", calling it an "Oscar worthy ballad". He continued, "While Gwyneth acquits herself nicely on two out of three songs, the biggest surprises on the album are her co-stars Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester." He praised Hedlund's performance on "Chances Are" by saying "the best song on this album belongs to him." He noted his voice recalls
Charlie Robison
Charles Fitzgerald Robison (born September 1, 1964) is a retired American country music singer-songwriter. His brother, Bruce Robison, and his sister, Robyn Ludwick, are also singer-songwriters.
Career
After a knee injury at ''Southwest Texas ...
with a slice of
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...
which suits country music quite well. He also explained, "Meester certainly comes off sounding closely along the lines of the folksy singer/songwriters like
Colbie Caillat
Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre.
After signing with Universal Republic R ...
and
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...
and the obvious comparison,
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
.
''
Country Weekly
''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''.
Overvie ...
'' gave the release three stars saying "While the album holds together better than many soundtracks, it’s divided between country songs and pop-country songs. Some are super, some so-so; some are sung by actors (Garrett Hedlund being the most convincing of the bunch) and some are delivered by serious country singers."
''
The Boston Phoenix
''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' a ...
'' was negative about the soundtrack, "This steaming pile of songs is emblematic of the state of mainstream country music – all artifice, no heart, calculated anthems written to formula and meant, like the film itself, to do no more than capitalize on the genre's current success and rob its undiscriminating fans." He found Paltrow's performances "pointless". He also disliked the tracks by Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack, Trace Adkins, and Tim McGraw because of their lack of character. He pointed out the drinking songs – Hank Williams Jr.'s "Thirsty" and Ronnie Dunn's "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" – are the only ones "offering humor and humanity".
Track listing
Production
Original motion-picture soundtrack
According to The Boot:
*
Byron Gallimore
Byron Gallimore (born in Puryear, Tennessee) is an American record producer known for more than two decades of work in the field of country music. He has worked with artists Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sugarland, Lee Ann Womack, and Jo Dee Messina. F ...
– tracks 1, 7, 12
*
James Stroud
James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...
– track 2
*
Tony Brown – track 3
*
Frank Liddell
Frank Liddell (born November 13, 1963) is an American record producer. A former artists and repertoire director at Decca Records, he founded Carnival Music in 1999. Liddell is also married to singer Lee Ann Womack, for whom he has produced. Oth ...
and Luke Wooten – track 4
*Frank Liddell and
Chuck Ainlay
Chuck Ainlay is an American record producer and audio engineer. He has worked with Mark Knopfler on much of Knopfler's solo work, in addition to some Dire Straits material. He has 4 Grammy Awards and 5 nominations.
Along with Knopfler and Bob ...
– track 5
*Ronnie Dunn – track 6
*
Michael Knox – track 8
*
Jay Joyce
John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...
– track 9
*
Kenny Beard
Kenny Beard (February 26, 1959 - October 1, 2017) was an American country music songwriter. He wrote songs for Trace Adkins, Tracy Lawrence, and Aaron Tippin.
Biography
Kenny Beard was born February 26, 1959, in Ringgold, Louisiana. He moved to ...
– track 10
*
Nathan Chapman – track 11
*Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw, A. Martin – track 13
Chart performance
Album
''Country Strong (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)''
''Country Strong (More Music from the Motion Picture)''
Singles
Other charted songs
*
ADid not enter the Hot 100 but charted on
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
.
Certifications
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Country Strong (Soundtrack)
2010 soundtrack albums
Drama film soundtracks
RCA Records soundtracks
Country music soundtracks