Pain Killer
Studio album by
Little Big Town
ReleasedOctober 21, 2014 (2014-10-21)
GenreCountry
Length46:19
LabelCapitol Nashville
ProducerJay Joyce
Little Big Town chronology
Tornado
(2012) 		Pain Killer
(2014) 		Wanderlust
(2016)
Singles from Pain Killer
  1. "Day Drinking"
    Released: June 9, 2014
  2. "Girl Crush"
    Released: December 15, 2014
  3. "Pain Killer"
    Released: August 24, 2015

Pain Killer is the sixth studio album by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on October 21, 2014, through Capitol Nashville.[1] Little Big Town co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen tracks.[2][3] Pain Killer was produced by Jay Joyce.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Billboard[7]
Country Weekly[8]B+
Los Angeles Times[9]

Rating Pain Killer a "B+", Bob Paxman of Country Weekly praised the group's vocal harmonies and the songwriting, particularly the songs written by Lori McKenna, but criticized the "overly cluttered" production on some tracks.[8] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album as "the rarest thing in contemporary country, a record with an expansive world-view delivered with a kinetic kick and infallible melodies, a record that gives no indication of where it's going upon first listen but remains compelling upon further spins".[6] The album has a score of 83 on Metacritic indicating “universal acclaim.”[10]

Accolades

Year Association Category Result
2015 Academy of Country Music Album of the Year Nominated
2015 Country Music Association Album of the Year Nominated
2016 Grammy Awards Best Country Album Nominated

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number seven on Billboard 200 and number three on Top Country Albums chart, selling 42,000 copies in its first week.[11] As of January 2017, the album has sold 511,300 copies in the United States.[12] The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units.

Track listing

The album's track listing was announced on July 14.[13][14]

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Quit Breaking Up with Me"
  • Fairchild
  • Schlapman
3:24
2."Day Drinking"
Fairchild2:58
3."Tumble and Fall"
Westbrook4:41
4."Pain Killer"
  • Fairchild
  • Westbrook
  • Blair Daly
  • Lindsey
Fairchild3:11
5."Girl Crush"
  • McKenna
  • Rose
  • Lindsey
Fairchild3:13
6."Faster Gun"
  • Jeremy Spillman
  • Ryan Tyndell
  • Westbrook
  • Sweet
  • Sweet
  • Westbrook
4:10
7."Good People"
Schlapman3:41
8."Stay All Night"
  • Sweet
  • Westbrook
2:45
9."Save Your Sin"
  • McKenna
  • Rose
  • Lindsey
Schlapman2:46
10."Live Forever"
  • Fairchild
  • Westbrook
  • Sweet
  • Schlapman
  • Spillman
  • Tyndell
Sweet4:14
11."Things You Don't Think About"
Fairchild3:36
12."Turn the Lights On"
  • Fairchild
  • Westbrook
  • Sweet
  • Schlapman
  • Hemby
  • Joyce
  • Spillman
Fairchild4:08
13."Silver and Gold"
Westbrook3:33

Personnel

Adapted from Allmusic and Pain Killer liner notes.[6][15]

Little Big Town

Charts

Chart positions

Chart (2014–16) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[16] 49
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 143
UK Country Albums (OCC)[18] 2
US Billboard 200[19] 7
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[20] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[21] 54
Chart (2015) Position
US Billboard 200[22] 38
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[23] 10
Chart (2016) Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[24] 30

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[25] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Horton, Carrie (July 16, 2014). "Little Big Town Announce 'Pain Killer' Album, Reveal Track Listing". Taste of Country. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  2. ^ Hicks, Gregory (July 20, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' prescribed for October". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  3. ^ Wyland, Sarah (July 16, 2014). "Little Big Town to Release Pain Killer on October 21". Great American Country. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  4. ^ Ragusa, Tammy (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town to Release New Album, "Pain Killer," in October". Country Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  5. ^ "Pain Killer Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  6. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pain Killer - Little Big Town". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  7. ^ Newman, Melinda. "Little Big Town Finally Ready for the Big Time With Tour De Force 'Pain Killer'". Billboard.
  8. ^ a b Paxman, Bob (3 November 2014). "Pain Killer by Little Big Town". Country Weekly. 21 (44): 66. ISSN 1074-3235.
  9. ^ Wood, Mikael. "Little Big Town revisits the song doctor on 'Pain Killer'". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ Pain Killer by Little Big Town, retrieved 2020-04-19
  11. ^ Wade Jessen, Nashville (October 30, 2014). "Little Big Town Leaps Onto Top Country Albums". Billboard.
  12. ^ Bjorke, Matt (January 22, 2017). "Top 10 Country Albums Chart: January 23, 2017". Roughstock.
  13. ^ Betts, Stephen (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' Fills October Prescription". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  14. ^ Nicholson, Jessica (July 14, 2014). "Little Big Town's 'Pain Killer' To Release in October". MusicRow. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  15. ^ Pain Killer (CD booklet). Little Big Town. Capitol Records Nashville. 2014. B0021360-02.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ "Little Big Town Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "CHART: CLUK Update 19.03.2016 (wk11)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  18. ^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company.
  19. ^ "Little Big Town Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  20. ^ "Little Big Town Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  21. ^ "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  22. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums: 2015 Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Top Country Albums: 2015 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  24. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  25. ^ "American album certifications – Little Big Town – Pain Killer". Recording Industry Association of America.
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