Storm in the Heartland is the third 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

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...

. Released in 1994 on

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, it produced the singles "Storm in the Heartland", "Deja Blue", and "One Last Thrill", the first two of which entered the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

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 ...

) charts. The album itself was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of over 500,000 copies. "Only God (Could Stop Me Loving You)" was recorded in 1998 by

Lari White Lari Michele White Cannon (, ; May 13, 1965 – January 23, 2018) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her debut in 1988 after winning ''You Can Be a Star'', a televised talent competition ...

as a duet with

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

on White's album '' Stepping Stone'', and again in 2002 by the Canadian country band

Emerson Drive Emerson Drive is a Canadian country music band consisting of Brad Mates (lead vocals), Danick Dupelle (guitars, backing vocals), Mike Melancon (drums), and Dale Wallace (keyboards, backing vocals). The band was founded in 1995 as 12 Gauge, which ...

on their self-titled album. Emerson Drive's rendition was released as a single in 2003.

Critical reception

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 stars out of five, saying that he considered it an improvement over ''

It Won't Be the Last ''It Won't Be the Last'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Billy Ray Cyrus. Certified Platinum in just under a year after release by the RIAA, the album has sold over 1 million copies in the US and over 3 million copies ...

''. Chris Dickinson of ''New Country'' magazine gave it 2 out of 5. He wrote that "On ''Storm in the Heartland'', Cyrus kept the pop, the rock, the bombast, and the bluster, but tossed out the memorable hooks." He thought that the album lacked personality and had "cluttered" production, but praised "A Heart with Your Name on It" and "Roll Me Over" as "fun", and "Patsy Come Home" as "sentimental but moving." Giving it a "C",

Alanna Nash Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer. Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1950, Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books. She is a 1972 graduat ...

of ''

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 ...

'' wrote that Cyrus "sticks to the tried-and-true" but added that "the yahoo factor figures heavily on 'Redneck Heaven' ��nd on 'The Past,' Cyrus misses his notes by a mile. An achy-breaky embarrassment."

Track listing

#" Storm in the Heartland" (Billy Henderson, Donald Burns, Curt Ryle) — 3:53 #"Deja Blue" (

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American Country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, ...

, Donny Lowery) — 3:36 #"Redneck Heaven" (Billy Ray Cyrus, Terry Shelton, Michael Joe Sagraves,

Mark Collie George Mark Collie (born January 18, 1956) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer, and fundraiser for Type 1 diabetes study. He has won awards and acclaim for his music, his acting, and his philanthrop ...

Danny Shirley Danny Shirley (born August 12, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of the country rock band Confederate Railroad, a role he has held since its formation in 1987. Before the band was foun ...

) — 4:03 #*featuring Mark Collie and Danny Shirley #"Casualty of Love" (Cyrus,

Don Von Tress Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a v ...

) — 4:29 #"One Last Thrill" (

Dave Loggins David Allen Loggins (born November 10, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Musical career Loggins is best known for his 1974 song composition "Please Come to Boston", which was a No. 5 popular music success (No. 1 Easy Listen ...

Reed Nielsen Nielsen Pearson was an American duo consisting of Reed Nielsen and Mark Pearson. They are a one-hit wonder known for their only top 40 single, " If You Should Sail". Mark Pearson was also a member of The Brothers Four. Discography Albums * ''The ...

) — 3:38 #"I Ain't Even Left" (Cyrus, Corky Holbrook, Joe Scaife) — 3:51 #"How Much" (Gregg Sutton,

Danny Tate John Daniel "Danny" Tate (born November 10, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, composer, producer, and former Virgin Records recording artist, best known for penning songs covered by Jeff Healey, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tim M ...

) — 5:30 #"Patsy Come Home" (Ronnie Scaife, Katie Wallace) — 3:53 #"A Heart with Your Name on It" (

Brett Beavers Brett Beavers (born in Waco, Texas), is an American country music songwriter and producer and the co-author of the book ''Something Worth Leaving Behind''. Education and early career Beavers attended Baylor University, where he earned a bachelo ...

, Phillip Douglas) — 2:44 #" Only God Could Stop Me Loving You" (

Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...

) — 5:10 #"Roll Me Over" (Cyrus, Barton Stevens, Greg Fletcher, Shelton, Holbrook, Sagraves) — 2:33 #"Enough Is Enough" (Cyrus, Von Tress, Keith Hinton) — 3:43 #"The Past" (Cyrus) — 4:06 #"Geronimo" (Cyrus, Von Tress, Hinton) — 3:51

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Personnel

As listed in the album's liner notes. ;Sly Dog * Billy Ray Cyrus -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* Greg Fletcher -

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 ...

, background vocals * Corky Holbrook - bass, background vocals * Michael J. Sagraves -

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, ...

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 ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, background vocals * Terry Shelton -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, background vocals * Barton Stevens -

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 ...

, background vocals ;Additional musicians *

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

- drums * Mike Brignardello - bass guitar * Clyde "Butch" Carr -

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, background vocals *

- background vocals on "Redneck Heaven" * Jim Cotton - Indian chants on "Geronimo" *

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 ...

- steel guitar,

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

* Sonny Garrish - Dobro * Keith Hinton - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Indian chants on "Geronimo" * Mike Lawler - keyboards *

- background vocals on "One Last Thrill" * Gary Lunn - bass guitar * Randy McCormick - keyboards *

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was change ...

- background vocals on "I Ain't Even Left" *

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...

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 ...

* Joe Scaife - background vocals * Ronny Scaife - acoustic guitar, background vocals * Danny Shirley - background vocals on "Redneck Heaven" * Joe Shirley - background vocals * Don Von Trees - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including " I Wanna Dance with You", " That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and " ...

- acoustic guitar *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

- electric guitar

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Billy Ray Cyrus albums Mercury Nashville albums