''Road Less Traveled'' 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

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 Octobe ...

. The album was released on January 27, 2017, by

Mercury Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records N ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. It includes the number one single of the same name.

Background

In January 2013, Alaina tweeted that she had started recording for her second album. She released a new song, "

Barefoot and Buckwild "Barefoot and Buckwild" is a song by American country music singer Lauren Alaina. The song was written by Alaina with Chris DeStefano and Jon Nite. It was released on May 7, 2013 through Universal Music Group Nashville, Mercury Nashville and 19 Re ...

", as the record's purported lead single in May 2013, however it failed to perform on the charts. In August 2014, Alaina underwent vocal surgery; after her recovery, she returned to the studio to work on new material with a "more mature" feel. By June 2015, she stated that the album was nearly finished. Alaina has said that this album will be different from her

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and describes it as, " avingsome fun songs and sad songs – a little bit of what my life has been like over the past few years." The album features four tracks that are on Alaina's self-titled EP, which was released in October 2015. Alaina announced the album's title and track listing on December 5, 2016. Alaina co-wrote all twelve tracks over three and a half years. ''Road Less Traveled'' became available for pre-order on December 16, 2016.

Singles

" Next Boyfriend" was released as the album's first single on September 15, 2015. The title track, " Road Less Traveled" was released as the album's second single on July 11, 2016. It had previously served as the second single from Alaina's 2015 self-titled EP. " Doin' Fine" impacted American country radio on May 22, 2017 as the album's third single.

Other songs

"Queen of Hearts" was released to digital retailers as the album's first

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

on December 30, 2016. "Same Day Different Bottle" was released as the second promotional single on January 13, 2017.

Critical reception

''Road Less Traveled'' received generally mixed-to-positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

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 ...

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 ...

rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five and complimented Alaina on her songwriting. "She may drift into the saccharine when she slows the tempo," he writes, "but the faster cuts are usually jubilant and help propel ''Road Less Traveled''... into a strong modern

country-pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

album." Marissa Moss of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' wrote that the album "marks not just a transition from singer to writer," but " racesthe events of laina'slife," through inspiring songs that, she says, harken back to the peak of

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

's career. Katie Gill of pop culture blog The Young Folks rated the album six out of ten for its "polished" production and "uneven" songwriting. "When it's good, it's ridiculously good," she writes, "but the majority of the songs are middle of the road to outright bad." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' wrote a positive review of the album, which he says showcases Alaina's "growth" both as an artist and as a person and which "

eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

ready to make Lauren a household name." Laura Hostelley of ''Sounds Like Nashville'' praised the "carefully crafted" album for combining personal lyrics with "modern and consistent" production that "allows opportunities for Alaina's voice to hold the spotlight." In the blog's Album Spotlight feature, ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' writer Cillea Houghton gave the album a mixed review. "''Road Less Traveled'' starts off strong," she writes, "but gets a little watered down in the middle... But where it blends in melodically, ''Road Less Traveled'' stands out at the core with its lyrics, all about empowerment, positivity and loving yourself no matter what you’re faced with in life."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 31 on the Billboard 200, and No. 3 on Top Country Albums in its first week of release. It sold 9,700 copies in the first week, and a further 2,800 in the second week. The album has sold 34,500 copies in the US as of January 2018.

Track listing

Personnel

;Vocals *Lauren Alaina – Lead vocals, Background vocals *Erika Atwater – Background vocals *busbee – Background vocals *Stephcynie Curry – Background vocals *

Seth Ennis Seth Ennis (born November 30, 1992) is an American country music singer. He has released one single for Arista Nashville. History Ennis was born in Dothan, Alabama into a military family. He calls Valdosta, Georgia home. He played drums and pian ...

– Background vocals *Morgan Hebert – Background vocals * Carolyn Dawn Johnson – Background vocals *Kim Keyes – Background vocals *Kristin Rogers – Background vocals *Russell Terrell – Background vocals *Emily Weisband – Background vocals ;Musicians *busbee –

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 ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Joeie Canaday –

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 ...

*Dave Cohen –

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, piano,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

J.T. Corenflos Jerry Troy "J. T." Corenflos (November 6, 1963 – October 24, 2020), was an American session musician and country guitarist, who played on an estimated 75 Number One hit records as well as hundreds of other recordings and hits. He received 14 n ...

–

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 ...

*David Dorn – Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer, Wurlitzer *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying B ...

–

Pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

*Mark Hill – Bass guitar *Evan Hutchings –

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 ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Mike Johnson – Pedal steel guitar *Tony Lucido – Bass guitar *Pat McGrath –

Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

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, ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

*Jerry McPherson – Electric guitar *Carl Miner – Banjo,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, acoustic guitar, mandolin *Russ Pahl – Pedal steel guitar *Justin Schipper – Pedal steel guitar *

Aaron Sterling Aaron Sterling (born July 9, 1980) is an American drummer, producer, engineer, and session musician who lives in Los Angeles. The son of professional musicians, Sterling grew up in Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to L.A. in 2000. K ...

– Drums, percussion *Jason Webb – Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer, Wurlitzer *Derek Wells – Banjo, electric guitar, mandolin ;Production *Daniel Bacigalupi – Mixing assistant *Sean R. Badum – Assistant engineer *Charlie Brocco – Assistant engineer *Casey Brown – Programming *busbee – Assistant engineer, digital editing, engineering,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, programming *Dave Clauss – Digital editing, engineering *Jim Cooley – Engineering *Paul "Paco" Cossette – Mixing assistant *Jonathan Fransson – Engineering *Jesse Frasure – Programming *Evan Hutchings – Programming *Scott Johnson – Production assistant *Mason Levy – Programming *Andrew Mendelson – Mastering *Justin Niebank – Mixing assistant *Ernesto Olivera – Assistant engineering *Eric Olson – Programming *Lindsay Rimes – Programming *Juan Sevilla – Assistant engineer *Brandon Shexnayder – Assistant engineering *

Reid Shippen F. Reid Shippen is a mixer, engineer and producer, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has mixed a wide variety of records including " Cosmic Hallelujah" by Kenny Chesney, " Lights Out" by Ingrid Michaelson, "The Mountain" by Dierks B ...

– Mixing *Melissa Spillman – Production assistant *Mike Stankiewicz – Assistant engineer *Aaron Sterling – Engineering *Derek Wells – Engineering *Brian David Willis – Digital editing *Steph Wright – A&R ;Imagery *Lauren Alaina – Art direction *Karen Naff – Art direction, design

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums 19 Recordings albums Albums produced by busbee Lauren Alaina albums Interscope Records albums Mercury Nashville albums