Crickets (Joe Nichols album)

Crickets is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Joe Nichols, released on October 8, 2013 by Red Bow Records.[1] It includes a cover of Merle Haggard's "Footlights".[2][3] The album sold 12,330 albums its first week.

Crickets
Studio album by
Joe Nichols
ReleasedOctober 8, 2013 (2013-10-08)
GenreCountry
Length54:43
LabelRed Bow
Producer
Joe Nichols chronology
It's All Good
(2011)		 Crickets
(2013)		 Never Gets Old
(2017)
Singles from Crickets
  1. "Sunny and 75"
    Released: May 13, 2013
  2. "Yeah"
    Released: January 27, 2014
  3. "Hard to Be Cool"
    Released: September 1, 2014

Mickey Jack Cones produced the entire album, co-producing with Tony Brown on "Yeah" and "Billy Graham's Bible", and Derek George on all other tracks.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Country WeeklyB[5]
Digital JournalA+[6]
Roughstock[7]

Crickets garnered generally positive reception from the ratings and reviews of music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five, remarking how "All of Crickets is peppered with these kind of off-hand references to the modern world, but Nichols' true tell is the bright, affable sound of the record, how it finds a cozy middle ground between his burnished signature and the hyper-stylized, over-sized country of new millennial sports bars."[4] In addition, Erlewine says "his true strengths are rooted in the past, not the present."[4] At Country Weekly, Jon Freeman graded the album a B, indicating how "At times, the overstuffed (at 16 tracks) album struggles to keep the memorable hooks coming, opting instead for generic tales of women on creek banks."[5] Also, Freeman writes that "the beloved neotraditionalist may surprise some listeners by trying on some contemporary clothes."[5] Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal graded the album an A+, highlighting how the listener "can really hear Nichols' heart on this album and his love for the country genre" because Nichols' "leaves his fans yearning for more."[6] Furthermore, Papadatos states Nichols' is "stronger than ever" on a release that "contains 16 songs", which "is a real treat and its production is brilliant."[6] At Roughstock, Ashley Cooke rated the album four stars out of five, calling Nichols' a "completely underrated" musician, and this is evidenced by the "jammed packed album with many different songs and while some of the songs do fall within the cliché of country music out there, the delivery is different", which this is done with a "sound [that] is authentic and his vocals are smooth."[7]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Just Let Me Fall in Love with You"Brett Beavers, Steve Bogard, Ryan Tyndell3:56
2."Hard to Be Cool"Rob Hatch, Jason Sellers3:06
3."Baby You're in Love with Me"Dylan Altman, Eric Paslay, Chris Wallin2:51
4."Yeah"Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson3:51
5."Billy Graham's Bible"Neal Coty, Chris DuBois, Jimmy Melton3:07
6."Better Than Beautiful"Jason Delkou, Rich Herring3:38
7."Gotta Love It"Dave Berg, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Clay Mills3:11
8."Sunny and 75"Michael Dulaney, Sellers, Paul Jenkins3:26
9."Y'ant To"Justin Wilson2:52
10."Hee Haw"Michael P. Heeney, Tammi Kidd Hutton2:33
11."Love Has a Way"Bogard, John Edwards, Jason Sever3:37
12."Smile on Mine"Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip2:43
13."Open Up a Can"Davidson, Gorley, Kelley Lovelace3:17
14."Old School Country Song"Jim Collins, Rivers Rutherford4:46
15."Footlights"Merle Haggard4:13
16."Crickets"Brent Baxter, Lisa Shaffer, Bill Whyte3:36
Total length:54:43

Personnel

Chart performance

Album
Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[8] 17
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[9] 3
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[10] 4

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US Country Airplay US CAN Country
[11]		 CAN
2013 "Sunny and 75" 4 1 39 1 49
2014 "Yeah" 7 1 41 1 48
"Hard to Be Cool" 32 22 — 50 —

References
  1. "Joe Nichols' New Album Arriving Oct. 8". Country Music Television. August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  2. Whitaker, Sterling (August 26, 2013). "Joe Nichols Reveals Cover Art, Release Date and Track Listing for New Album". The Boot. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  3. Stark, Phyllis (August 26, 2013). "Briefs: Joe Nichols sets Oct. 8 release date for new album". MSN. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Crickets – Joe Nichols | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  5. Freeman, Jon (October 8, 2013). "Crickets by Joe Nichols". Country Weekly. American Media, Inc. ISSN 1074-3235. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  6. Papadatos, Markos (October 3, 2013). "Review: Country star Joe Nichols charms on new album 'Crickets'". Digital Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  7. Cooke, Ashley (October 8, 2014). "Album Review: Joe Nichols – Crickets". Roughstock. Cheri Media Group. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  8. "Joe Nichols Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  9. "Joe Nichols Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  10. "Joe Nichols Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  11. "Joe Nichols Album & Song Chart History – Canada Country". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
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