''Relentless'' 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

Jason Aldean Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 album, '' My Ki ...

. It was released on May 29, 2007 via Broken Bow Records. The album debuted at number 4 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and at number one on the Top Country Albums chart, selling about 98,000 copies in its first week.Katie Hasty
"R. Kelly Flirts His Way To No. 1 Album Chart Debut"
Billboard.com, June 6, 2007. On October 4 of the same year, the album was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

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/ ...

. It was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in September 2012. ''Relentless'' has produced three chart singles for Aldean on the

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 sa ...

charts. The lead-off single "

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

" (originally recorded by Tracy Byrd on his 2004 album '' Greatest Hits'') and "

Laughed Until We Cried "Laughed Until We Cried" is a song written by Kelley Lovelace and Ashley Gorley and recorded by American country music artist Jason Aldean. It was released in August 2007 as the second single from Aldean's 2007 album ''Relentless (Jason Aldean albu ...

" both reached No. 6 on that chart, and the title track reached No. 15 in late 2008. Thus, it is Aldean's only album to date to not produce a number one single.

Critical reception

Ken Tucker of ''

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 adverti ...

'' gave a positive review, saying that "every cut features full, guitar-driven production". He considered "Johnny Cash", "Back in This Cigarette" and "I Break Everything I Touch" standout tracks.

Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

Personnel

*Jason Aldean – lead vocals *Kurt Allison –

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 gu ...

*Tony Harrell –

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 ...

, Hammond B-3 organ,

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 ...

*Wes Hightower – background vocals *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 conv ...

*Tully Kennedy –

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 ...

*Steve King – Hammond B-3 organ on "Johnny Cash" * Miranda Lambert – vocals on "Grown Woman" *Liana Manis – background vocals * Wendell Mobley – background vocals *Mike Noble –

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, ...

* Danny Rader – acoustic guitar * Rich Redmond –

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

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 ...

* Adam Shoenfeld – electric guitar *Jack Sizemore – electric guitar on "Johnny Cash"

References

External links

* ''Relentless'' at ''allmusic.com'' {{Authority control 2007 albums Jason Aldean albums BBR Music Group albums Albums produced by Michael Knox (record producer)