Hope on the Rocks

Hope on the Rocks is the sixteenth studio album by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released on October 30, 2012 via Show Dog-Universal Music.[1] The first single is "I Like Girls That Drink Beer".[2] The album's second single is its title track. As of October 2013, the album has sold 300,000 copies in the US.

Hope on the Rocks
Studio album by Toby Keith
Released	October 30, 2012 (2012-10-30)
Genre	Country
Length	31:33
Label	Show Dog-Universal Music
Producer	Toby Keith
Toby Keith chronology
Clancy's Tavern (2011) Hope on the Rocks (2012) Drinks After Work (2013)
Singles from Hope on the Rocks
"I Like Girls That Drink Beer" Released: July 30, 2012 "Hope on the Rocks" Released: November 5, 2012

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(71/100)[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
American Songwriter	[5]
Country Weekly	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
Music Is My Oxygen Weekly	[8]
Roughstock	[9]
Taste of Country	[10]
USA Today	[11]

Hope on the Rocks by Toby Keith received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns an averaged score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 5 reviews.[3] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the effort "a satisfying set of strong songs."[4] Jewly Hight of American Songwriter highlighted that "Beer and partying once again play starring roles on Hope On The Rocks", but Hight wrote that it "comes off as rather objectifying."[5] Joseph Hudak of Country Weekly stated that this album showed "maturity" over Keith's past works.[6][12] Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times surmised that "Keith has clearly become a skilled listener, a vital trait for any songwriter — or bartender."[7] Music Is My Oxygen Weekly's Rob Burkhardt found that "Taken together, Hope On the Rocks, while perhaps a tad predictable, still contains the basic building blocks that have helped Toby Keith achieve the success he has today: not just the celebration of booze, but the making of great music, as well."[8] Roughstock's Matt Bjorke wrote that "Hope On The Rocks is a lean 10 track collection and for my money, it's a great mixture of classic Toby Keith sounds", which the album seems "never over-produced or feeling like a record that was made to just be a couple radio singles and filler", and he called it a "cohesive album and ranks right up there with Toby's best."[9] Taste of Country's Billy Dukes criticized Hope on the Rocks as "a loud and sudsy collection of songs about beer, barrooms, heartbreak… and beer. Much like a Saturday night out at your favorite watering hole, it’s rowdy and fun, but difficult to remember the next morning."[10] Brian Mansfield of the USA Today found that "Most of Keith's latest is a brawny drinker's paradise of horndogs, truckers and whiskey-running outlaws. But those shouldn't distract from its brooding country-pop, especially when Keith flaunts his inner Orbison on the title track."[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hope on the Rocks"	Toby Keith	3:39
2.	"The Size I Wear"	Keith, Rivers Rutherford	3:00
3.	"Scat Cat"	Keith, Rutherford	2:55
4.	"I Like Girls That Drink Beer"	Keith, Bobby Pinson	2:47
5.	"Get Got"	Keith, Pinson	3:45
6.	"Haven't Had a Drink All Day"	Keith, Pinson	2:33
7.	"Haven't Seen the Last of You"	Keith, Pinson	3:16
8.	"Cold Beer Country"	Keith, Pinson, Marc Fortney	3:15
9.	"Missed You Just Right"	Keith, Pinson	3:39
10.	"You Ain't Alone"	Keith, Scotty Emerick	2:44
Total length:			31:33

Deluxe edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Red Solo Cup" (Johnny Mac remix)	Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brad Warren, Brett Warren	3:28
12.	"Beers Ago" (Jason Nevins remix)	Keith, Pinson	4:45
13.	"Whiskey Girl" (live)	Keith, Emerick	4:17
14.	"Get Out of My Car" (live)	Keith, Pinson	5:22

Personnel

• Perry Coleman - background vocals
• Chad Cromwell - drums
• Eric Darken - percussion, tambourine
• Scotty Emerick - gut string guitar
• Kevin "Swine" Grantt - bass guitar
• Kenny Greenberg - electric guitar
• Aubrey Haynie - fiddle
• Steve Hermann - trumpet
• Jim Hoke - clarinet, dobro, harmonica, saxophone
• Charlie Judge - accordion, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer
• Toby Keith - lead vocals
• Brent Mason - electric guitar
• Rob McNelley - electric guitar
• Steve Nathan - Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer
• Russ Pahl - electric guitar, steel guitar, jews harp, lap steel guitar
• Mica Roberts - background vocals
• Ilya Toshinsky - acoustic guitar, resonator guitar, mandolin

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[13]	6
US Billboard Top Country Albums[13]	3

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US Country	US Country Airplay [14]	US BU Hot 100	CAN Country [15]	CAN
2012	"I Like Girls That Drink Beer"	18	17	2	—	86
	"Hope on the Rocks"	29	18	13	40	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Year-end charts

Chart (2012)	Position
US Billboard Top Country Albums[16]	62

Chart (2013)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[17]	36

References

1. "Toby Keith Reveals Cover Art, Track Listing for Upcoming 'Hope on the Rocks' Album".
2. McDonnell, Brandy (July 23, 2012). "Toby Keith to release "I Like Girls That Drink Beer," first single from upcoming album, Tuesday". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
3. Metacritic (October 30, 2012). "Critic Reviews for Hope on the Rocks". CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (November 13, 2012). "Hope on the Rocks - Toby Keith : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
5. Hight, Jewly (November 6, 2012). "Toby Keith: Hope On The Rocks". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
6. Hudak, Joseph (October 29, 2012). "Reviews". Country Weekly. 19 (44): 50. ISSN 1074-3235.
7. Lewis, Randy (October 30, 2012). "Review: Toby Keith finds wisdom at the watering hole". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
8. Burkhardt, Rob (October 30, 2012). "Toby Keith "Hope On the Rocks": Album Review". Music Is My Oxygen Weekly. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
9. Bjorke, Matt (October 30, 2012). "Album Review: Toby Keith - Hope On The Rocks". Roughstock. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
10. Dukes, Billy (November 5, 2012). "Toby Keith, 'Hope on the Rocks' – Album Review". Taste of Country. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
11. Mansfield, Brian (October 29, 2012). "Listen Up: Toby Keith, Meek Mill, Calvin Harris". USA Today. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
12. Hudak, Joseph (October 29, 2012). "Hope on the Rocks by Toby Keith". Country Weekly. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
13. "Chart listing for Hope on the Rocks". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
14. "Toby Keith Album & Song Chart History - Country Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
15. "Toby Keith Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
16. "Best of 2012 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
17. "Top Country Albums: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.