Carolina (Eric Church album)

Carolina is the second studio album by American country music artist Eric Church. It was released on March 24, 2009 via Capitol Records Nashville. "Love Your Love the Most", the album's lead-off single, became Church's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. This song follows the non-album single "His Kind of Money (My Kind of Love)", which peaked outside the top 40 in mid-2008. As of November 29, 2013, the album has sold 715,000 copies in the US,[1] and it has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2016.

Carolina
Studio album by
Eric Church
ReleasedMarch 24, 2009 (2009-03-24)
Recorded2008–09
Genre
Length43:21
LabelCapitol Nashville
ProducerJay Joyce
Eric Church chronology
Sinners Like Me
(2006)		 Carolina
(2009)		 Chief
(2011)
Singles from Carolina
  1. "Love Your Love the Most"
    Released: February 9, 2009
  2. "Hell on the Heart"
    Released: October 12, 2009
  3. "Smoke a Little Smoke"
    Released: June 21, 2010

Singles

"Love Your Love The Most"
Main article: Love Your Love the Most

"Love Your Love the Most" was released as the album's lead-off single. It entered the top 40 on the Hot Country Songs in April 2009, becoming his first top 40 hit since "Guys Like Me" in early 2007, as well as his first top ten country hit peaking at No. 10 in October 2009.

"Hell On The Heart"
Main article: Hell on the Heart

"Hell on the Heart" was released as the second single in October, and entered the top 40 in November.

"Smoke A Little Smoke"
Main article: Smoke a Little Smoke

"Smoke a Little Smoke" was released as the album's third single in June 2010.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The 9513[4]
Slant Magazine[5]

Upon its release, Carolina received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the album for AllMusic and gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five. He said that "Church sings like a manicured model, striking all the poses and hitting all the notes, but missing that essential grit. Of course, he isn't helped out by the production of his second album Carolina, a recording that gleams pristine, designed for two drinks at an after-work smokeless bar, not a long booze-filled night at a honky tonk dive. It's a commercial sound, one that puts Carolina firmly within the mainstream, and it also fits the contours of Church's voice."[3]

Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine was less favorable, calling it "a strident stab at the mainstream commercial acceptance that has thus far eluded the singer-songwriter." He cited the production of "Smoke a Little Smoke" and "Longer Gone" for "that actually reinforc[ing] the tones of those songs," giving the album two stars out of five.[5]

Commercial performance

As of November 2013 the album has sold 715,000 copies.[1] The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for combined sales and streams of one million units on August 31, 2016.[6]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ain't Killed Me Yet"
3:22
2."Lotta Boot Left to Fill"
  • Church
  • Jeremy Spillman
3:24
3."Young and Wild"
  • Church
  • Spillman
3:15
4."Where She Told Me to Go"
4:48
5."Longer Gone"
  • Church
  • Stephanie Chapman
3:08
6."Love Your Love the Most"
  • Church
  • Michael P. Heeney
2:50
7."Smoke a Little Smoke"
  • Church
  • Jeff Hyde
  • Driver Williams
3:11
8."Without You Here"
  • Church
  • Brandon Church
  • Spillman
2:42
9."You Make It Look So Easy"Church4:15
10."Carolina"Church4:39
11."Hell on the Heart"
  • Church
  • Ruttan
  • Spillman
2:44
12."Those I've Loved"
5:03
13."My Heart's Got A Memory (Bonus Track)"
  • Church
  • Chapman
2:52
14."Faster Than My Angels Can Fly (Bonus Track)"
  • Church
  • Heeney
3:49
15."His Kind Of Money (My Kind Of Love) (Bonus Track)"
  • Church
  • Beathard
  • Shane Minor
3:42
Total length:46:57

Personnel

Credits adapted from the Carolina liner notes.[7]

Musicians
Production
  • Jay Joyce – producer
  • Reid Shippen – mixing (Soundstage Studios)
  • Andrew Mendelson – mastering (Georgetown Masters)
  • Scott Johnson – production assistance
Imagery
  • Joanna Carter – creative direction
  • Wendy Stamberger – art direction and design
  • Jim Wright – photography
  • Lee Moore – wardrobe
  • Debra Williams – grooming
  • Michelle Hall – art production
  • Jill Lamothe – art production

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[6] Platinum 1,000,000 / 715,000[1]

sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. Price, Deborah Evans (November 29, 2013). "Eric Church: The Billboard Cover Story". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  2. Metacritic (March 24, 2009). "Critic Reviews for Carolina". CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  3. Erlwine, Stephen Thomas. "Carolina - Eric Church". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  4. Wilcox, C.M. (March 20, 2009). "Eric Church - Carolina". The 9513. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  5. Keefe, Jonathan (March 20, 2009). "Eric Church - Carolina". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  6. "American album certifications – Eric Church – Carolina". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  7. Carolina (booklet). Eric Church. Capitol Nashville. 2009. 509995 20810 2 6.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. "Best of 2010 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
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