''Outlaws Like Me'' is the second studio album by 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, ...

artist

Justin Moore Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released six studio albums: his Justin Moore (album), self titled debut ...

. It was released on June 21, 2011 via The Valory Music Co. The album's first single, "

If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away" is a song written by Dallas Davidson, Rob Hatch and Brett Jones. It was first recorded by American country music artist Rhett Akins, whose version was released as a single in September 2006 but did not chart. Justin ...

", became Moore's second number one hit on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. Its single, "

Bait a Hook "Bait a Hook" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Justin Moore. It was released in August 2011 as the second single from his 2011 album '' Outlaws Like Me''. The song became Moore's fifth top 20 hit on the '' Billboar ...

" reached the top 20 at number 17. The third single, " Til My Last Day", peaked at number one on the

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart. Moore co-wrote eleven of the thirteen songs on the album.

Promotion

On February 2, 2013, Moore announced his first headline tour, with

Dustin Lynch Dustin Charles Lynch (born May 14, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Broken Bow Records. Lynch has released four albums and one EP for the label: a self-titled album in 2012, '' Where It's At'' in 2014, '' Curren ...

and

Jon Pardi Jonathan Ryan Pardi (born May 20, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Capitol Nashville, he has released four studio albums: ''Write You a Song'' (2014), ''California Sunrise'' (2016), ''Heartache Medication'' (2 ...

as supporting acts, starting on March 14 in Pikeville's

Eastern Kentucky Expo Center The Appalachian Wireless Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Pikeville, Kentucky. Opened in October 2005, it hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area. The facility, which can seat 7,000 for concerts and 5,700 for sporting event ...

and ending on April 20 at The Corbin Arena.

Reception

Commercial

''Outlaws Like Me'' debuted at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200, and number one on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart after selling 65,000 copies during its first week of release. As of September 2013, the album has sold 577,000 copies in the United States.

Critical

Giving it three stars out of five,

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 ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

thought that the album was an improvement over Moore's debut. He thought that the sound was "a leaner

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

" and said that it "packs a punch that carries through on the promise of Moore's braggadocio". Dan MacIntosh of Roughstock gave the album one star out of five, referring to the album's lead single, "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away," as "an exception to an otherwise classless effort." He found the record pandering and relying heavily on country stereotypes. In 2017, ''

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in ...

placed three tracks from the album on his top 10 list of Moore's best songs: "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away" at number one, "Bait a Hook" at number four and "Til My Last Day" at number six.

Track listing

Personnel

* Jim "Moose" Brown -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Perry Coleman - background vocals * Larry Franklin -

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

* Tommy Harden -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Mike Johnson -

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

* Doug Kahan -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Troy Lancaster -

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

- lead vocals * Russ Pahl - steel guitar * Mike Rojas - keyboards * Curt Ryle -

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* Jason Kyle Saetveit - background vocals * Steve Sheehan - acoustic guitar * Russell Terrell - background vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Justin Moore albums Big Machine Records albums Albums produced by Jeremy Stover