Revolution
Studio album by
Miranda Lambert
ReleasedSeptember 29, 2009 (2009-09-29)
Recorded2009
StudioBlackbird Studios
Wrucke's House Studio
OmniSound Studios
GenreCountry
Length50:52
LabelColumbia Nashville
ProducerFrank Liddell
Mike Wrucke
Miranda Lambert chronology
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
(2007) 		Revolution
(2009) 		Four the Record
(2011)
Singles from Revolution
  1. "Dead Flowers"
    Released: May 4, 2009
  2. "White Liar"
    Released: August 17, 2009
  3. "The House That Built Me"
    Released: March 8, 2010
  4. "Only Prettier"
    Released: July 26, 2010
  5. "Heart Like Mine"
    Released: January 10, 2011

Revolution is the third studio album by American country music singer Miranda Lambert. It was released on September 29, 2009, via Columbia Records Nashville. The album includes the singles "Dead Flowers", "White Liar," "The House That Built Me," "Only Prettier" and "Heart Like Mine," all of which have charted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Revolution won the Album of the Year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards[1] and at the Country Music Association Awards[2] in 2010.

Content

Lambert began working on Revolution in February 2009. She wrote or co-wrote all but four of the album's 15 tracks. The album includes co-writes with her ex-husband, then boyfriend, Blake Shelton,[3] who also provides background vocals on "Maintain the Pain",[4] and former Columbia Records artist Ashley Monroe. Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum co-wrote "Love Song," on which they also sing background vocals.[3][5] The album also includes covers of Fred Eaglesmith's "Time to Get a Gun" and John Prine's "That's the Way the World Goes 'Round".

To help promote the album, an EP titled Dead Flowers was released on September 8, 2009.[6]

The album's lead single, "Dead Flowers", was released in May 2009 following Lambert's performance on the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The song reached a peak of number 37 in July 2009 after spending sixteen weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. "White Liar" was released as the album's second single in August 2009. In November 2009, Lambert performed "White Liar" on the 2009 CMA Awards; following this performance, the single became her first Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, jumping from number 66 to number 38. It reached a peak of number 2 in February 2010 on the U.S. country chart. "The House That Built Me," the third single, was released in March 2010. It became Lambert's fastest-rising single to date, and became her first Number One hit for the week of June 12, 2010, on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, staying at number 1 for 4 consecutive weeks. "Only Prettier" was released as the fourth single on July 26, 2010, and debuted at number 45 for the week of July 17, 2010. It reached a peak of number 12 in December 2010. The fifth and final release, "Heart Like Mine", was released on January 10, 2011.

On September 24, 2009, Lambert performed all the tracks on Revolution in sequence at the Ryman Auditorium, five days before the album's scheduled release date.[3]

Promotion

In promotion for Revolution, Lambert made appearances on Good Morning America, Late Show with David Letterman, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show throughout the first week of the album's release.[7] Additionally, she was featured on the cover story of Country Weekly magazine; she also made appearances in several other magazines, including Rolling Stone and US Weekly.[7]

Lambert began her first headlining tour in support of Revolution. The Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars tour kicked off in March 2010 and included at least 22 stops, including a performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Billboard[11]
Entertainment WeeklyA[12]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)A−[13]
PopMatters8/10[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Slant Magazine[16]
Spin7/10[17]

Upon its release, Revolution received universal acclaim from most music critics.[9] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 85, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[9]

Rolling Stone magazine praised the album saying, "Lambert remains country's most refreshing act, and not just because she makes firearms seem like a matter-of-fact female accessory." Entertainment Weekly magazine said, "She's found stylistic shades of songwriters twice her age..." and that the album is "...a portrait of an artist in full possession of her powers, and the best mainstream-country album so far this year." The Boston Globe commented that “Revolution’’ is the sound of Miranda Lambert coming into her own." Slant Magazine also had high praises reserved for the album saying, "Miranda Lambert expands on her fascinating, fully realized artistic persona on Revolution."

The song "The House That Built Me" was ranked number 1 on Engine 145's Best Country Songs of 2009.[18] Two additional songs from Revolution also made the list; "White Liar" at number 11 and "Only Prettier" at number 37.[18]

Commercial performance

Revolution debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart, her third consecutive Number One album on the chart.[19] It also debuted at number 8 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album sold approximately 66,000 copies in the first week of release, her highest first week total to date.[19] In February 2010, Revolution was certified Gold, and in October 2010 the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of 2016, the album has sold 1,790,000 copies in the US.[20]

Awards and nominations

Award Category Result
45th Academy of Country Music Awards Album of the Year Won
1st American Country Awards Album of the Year Nominated
2010 Teen Choice Awards Choice Album – Country Nominated
44th Country Music Association Awards Album of the Year Won
2010 American Music Awards Favorite Country Album Nominated
53rd Grammy Awards Best Country Album Nominated

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."White Liar"Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby4:47
2."Only Prettier"Lambert, Hemby3:09
3."Dead Flowers"Lambert3:59
4."Me and Your Cigarettes"Lambert, Ashley Monroe, Blake Shelton2:24
5."Maintain the Pain"Lambert2:17
6."Airstream Song"Lambert, Hemby2:48
7."Makin' Plans"Lambert3:50
8."Time to Get a Gun"Fred Eaglesmith3:55
9."Somewhere Trouble Don't Go"Julie Miller3:21
10."The House That Built Me"Tom Douglas, Allen Shamblin3:56
11."Love Song"Lambert, Shelton, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood2:49
12."Heart Like Mine"Lambert, Monroe, Travis Howard2:57
13."Sin for a Sin"Lambert, Shelton3:28
14."That's the Way That the World Goes 'Round"John Prine3:25
15."Virginia Bluebell"Lambert, Hemby, Jennifer Kennard3:46
Total length:50:51

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[30] Gold 40,000^
United States (RIAA)[31] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Miranda Lambert Wins ACM Album of the Year". Theboot.com. April 18, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  2. ^ Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton Clink Their CMA Awards
  3. ^ a b c "Lambert Planning A "Revolution At The Ryman"". MusicRow. August 6, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  4. ^ "Miranda Lambert Cut-By-Cut Revolution". Gactv.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  5. ^ "Miranda Lambert Schedules New Album, Revolution, for Sept. 29". CMT. June 10, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  6. ^ "Revolution: Pre-sale & Bonus Offers". Mirandalambert.com. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Miranda Lambert News: Upcoming Media Appearances". Mirandalambert.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  8. ^ "Miranda Lambert News: Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars – The Stops". Mirandalambert.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  9. ^ a b c "Reviews for Revolution by Miranda Lambert". Metacritic. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Revolution – Miranda Lambert". AllMusic. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  11. ^ Tucker, Ken (September 18, 2009). "Miranda Lambert, "Revolution"". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  12. ^ Pastorek, Whitney (September 23, 2009). "Revolution". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  13. ^ Christgau, Robert (October 2009). "Consumer Guide". MSN Music. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  14. ^ Useted, Tom (September 27, 2009). "Miranda Lambert: Revolution". PopMatters. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  15. ^ Hermes, Will (September 28, 2009). "Miranda Lambert: Revolution". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  16. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (September 27, 2009). "Miranda Lambert: Revolution". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  17. ^ Eddy, Chuck (October 2009). "Miranda Lambert: Revolution". Spin. 25 (10): 80. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  18. ^ a b "The Best Country Songs of 2009". Engine 145. December 21, 2009. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  19. ^ a b "Miranda Debuts At No. 1 Again – Read The Rare Stats!". Mirandalambert.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  20. ^ Matt Bjorke (January 8, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For January 8, 2015". Roughstock.
  21. ^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company.
  22. ^ "Miranda Lambert Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Miranda Lambert Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  25. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  26. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  27. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  28. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  29. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  30. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Miranda Lambert – Revolution". Music Canada. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  31. ^ "American album certifications – Miranda Lambert – Revolution". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
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