Hunter Hayes (album)

Hunter Hayes is the debut major-label studio album by American country artist Hunter Hayes. It was released on October 11, 2011, via Atlantic Records.[1] Hayes wrote or co-wrote every track on the album and plays every instrument and sings every vocal track[2] with the exception of the Encore tracks.

Hunter Hayes
Studio album by Hunter Hayes
Released	October 11, 2011 (2011-10-11)
Recorded	Nashville, Tennessee
Studio	Castle Recording Studios, The Grip, The Good Noise Room, Dark Horse Recording, Blackbird Studios
Genre	Country
Length	44:46
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Dann Huff Hunter Hayes
Hunter Hayes chronology
Songs about Nothing (2008) Hunter Hayes (2011) Storyline (2014)
Singles from Hunter Hayes
"Storm Warning" Released: May 16, 2011 "Wanted" Released: March 5, 2012 "Somebody's Heartbreak" Released: October 22, 2012
Hunter Hayes (Encore)
Singles from Hunter Hayes (Encore)
"I Want Crazy" Released: April 7, 2013 "Everybody's Got Somebody but Me" Released: September 3, 2013

At the 55th Grammy Awards, Hunter Hayes was nominated for Best Country Album and "Wanted" was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance while Hayes was nominated for Best New Artist.[3] The album was certified Platinum by the (RIAA) on August 8, 2013.

Background

Hunter Hayes moved to Nashville in 2009, and Rascal Flatts recorded a song he co-wrote, "Play," on their 2010 album Nothing Like This. The producer on the Rascal Flatts album, Dann Huff, then teamed up with Hayes to produce Hayes' first major-label album after he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records.[4] For the album, he intended to do it his own way, "playing everything on the album, having fun and experimenting."[5] He wrote or co-wrote every songs in the album, and played every instrument, and co-produced the project with Dann Huff.[6]

The first singles released from the album was "Storm Warning" which he co-wrote with Gordie Sampson and busbee. The single was a moderate hit, but his next single Wanted became a considerable success, hitting No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

A deluxe edition of the album, titled Encore, was released in June 2013 with five new tracks, including the singles "I Want Crazy" and a duet version of "Everybody's Got Somebody but Me" that he re-recorded with Jason Mraz. Hayes said that really wanted "I Want Crazy" to be on a record and that it was a new direction for him musically.[7] "Light Me Up", a track from the Encore edition, was re-recorded for Hayes' 2015 UK-only compilation, I Want Crazy, and was released as that record's second single in March 2015.[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[9]
Roughstock	[10]
Taste of Country	[11]

The album is generally well received by the critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic thought that Hayes, "while happy with the middle of the road", "also has crisp, bright, relentless melodies designed to win over any audience.[9] Billy Dukes of Taste of Country was impressed that Hayes wrote, produced and played every instrument on his debut album, but thought that the "lack of participants leaves a tonal homogeneity." He also felt the songs "feel at times plastic," but "what Hayes lacks in "wow" he makes up for with a consistency most artists hope to achieve by album three." Matt Bjorke of Roughstock was enthusiastic and considered it a "fantastic debut album," and that it "really only feels like the beginning of a superstar career for an artist who is able to rise above looking like the next matinee idol on the cover of this record."[10]

Commercial performance

The album peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and No. 7 on the Country Albums chart, with 18,000 copies sold in the United States during its initial week.[12] With the success of the song "Wanted", sales of the album also increased. In June 2013, on its 71st week, it jumped to No, 7 on the Billboard 200 with the release of the deluxe version of the album, Encore, selling 40,000 copies for the week.[13] The album was certified platinum by the (RIAA) on August 8, 2013, and as of February 2014, the album including the Encore edition has sold 1,105,000 copies in the US.[14]

The album produced 5 singles, 3 of them were consecutive No. 1s on the country charts. A total of over 8 million singles were sold from the album.[15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Storm Warning"	Hunter Hayes Gordie Sampson busbee	3:59
2.	"Wanted"	Hayes Troy Verges	3:49
3.	"If You Told Me To"	Hayes Liz Rose	3:26
4.	"Love Makes Me"	Hayes Katrina Elam Bonnie Baker	3:20
5.	"Faith to Fall Back On"	Hayes Barry Dean	3:08
6.	"Somebody's Heartbreak"	Hayes Andrew Dorff Luke Laird	3:49
7.	"Rainy Season"	Hayes Elam Baker	5:08
8.	"Cry with You"	Hayes Dean	3:48
9.	"Everybody's Got Somebody But Me"	Hayes Dave Brainard Jennifer Zuffineti	2:40
10.	"What You Gonna Do"	Hayes	4:48
11.	"More Than I Should"	Hayes Rivers Rutherford Jeremy Stover	3:15
12.	"All You Ever"	Hayes Ellis	3:36
Total length:			44:46

Japanese bonus tracks[16]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Storm Warning" (Live)	Hayes Sampson busbee	5:28
14.	"Wanted" (Live)	Hayes Verges	4:06
15.	"Somebody's Heartbreak" (Live)	Hayes Dorff Laird	5:34
Total length:			59:54

Encore edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Storm Warning"	Hayes Sampson busbee	3:59
2.	"Wanted"	Hayes Verges	3:49
3.	"If You Told Me To"	Hayes Rose	3:26
4.	"Love Makes Me"	Hayes Elam Baker	3:20
5.	"Faith to Fall Back On"	Hayes Dean	3:08
6.	"Somebody's Heartbreak"	Hayes Dorff Laird	3:49
7.	"Rainy Season"	Hayes Elam Baker	5:08
8.	"Cry with You"	Hayes Dean	3:48
9.	"Everybody's Got Somebody But Me" (featuring Jason Mraz)	Hayes Brainard Zuffineti	2:39
10.	"What You Gonna Do" (with Ashley Monroe)	Hayes	5:38
11.	"More Than I Should" (Re-recorded)	Hayes Rutherford Stover	3:22
12.	"All You Ever"	Hayes Ellis	3:36
13.	"In a Song"	Hayes Ellis	4:18
14.	"I Want Crazy"	Hayes Lori McKenna Verges	3:56
15.	"A Thing About You"	Hayes Elam Baker	3:18
16.	"Better Than This"	Hayes Dave Haywood Charles Kelley	3:32
17.	"Light Me Up"	Hayes busbee Shane McAnally	4:04
Total length:			64:55

iTunes bonus videos[17]

No.	Title	Length
18.	"The Making of Encore"	9:32
19.	"Behind the Scenes of "What You Gonna Do" (with Ashley Monroe)	4:30
20.	"I Want Crazy" (Music video)	4:43

Personnel

• Hunter Hayes – accordion, bass guitar, bouzouki, clavinet, drums, acoustic and electric guitars, baritone guitar, electric piano, organ, mandocello, mandolin, piano, resonator guitar, sitar, slide guitar, synthesizer, vocals
• Eric Darken – percussion
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar
• Charlie Judge – programming
• Tony Lucido – bass guitar
• Ashley Monroe – duet vocals on "What You Gonna Do"
• Jason Mraz – duet vocals on "Everybody's Got Somebody but Me"
• Steve Sinatra – drums
• Matt Utterback – bass guitar
• Nir Z. – drums

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2011–2013) Peak position Canadian Albums Chart 12 UK Country Artist Albums Chart[18] 6 US Billboard Top Country Albums 1 US Billboard 200[19] 7 Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position US Billboard Top Country Albums[20] 22 US Billboard 200[21] 107 Chart (2013) Position US Billboard Top Country Albums[22] 6 US Billboard 200[23] 27 Chart (2014) Position US Billboard Top Country Albums[24] 48 US Billboard 200[25] 154

Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Billboard 200[26] 149 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 40,000^^ United States (RIAA)[28] 2× Platinum 1,138,000[14] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US Country	US Country Airplay	US	US Pop	US Adult	US AC	CAN Country [29]	CAN [30]
2011	"Storm Warning"	14	—	78	—	—	—	—	—
2012	"Wanted"	1	1	16	23	12	13	—	27
	"Somebody's Heartbreak"	7	1	54	—	—	—	5	66
2013	"I Want Crazy"	2	2	19	—	—	—	1	14
	"Everybody's Got Somebody but Me" (featuring Jason Mraz)	18	15	77	—	—	—	33	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

1. Wyland, Sarah (August 27, 2011). "Hunter Hayes to Release Debut Album October 11". Great American Country. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
2. Mahan, Kelly (September 13, 2011). "Hunter Hayes Is 'Most Wanted' on Headlining Tour". The Boot. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Hunter Hayes". 890 cJDC.
5. "An Evening with Hunter Hayes". Troubadour.
6. Donna Hughes (April 22, 2011). "Hunter Hayes is the 'Next Big Thing!'". The Boot.
7. Gary Graff, Detroit (November 5, 2013). "Hunter Hayes Talks New Music: 'I Didn't Sit and Write Another 'Wanted". Billboard.
8. "Light Me Up (UK Version) - Single by Hunter Hayes". iTunes Store (GB). Apple Inc. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
9. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hunter Hayes review". Allmusic. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
10. Matt Bjorke (April 16, 2012). "Album Review: Christmas With Scotty McCreery". Roughstock. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
11. Billy Dukes (October 11, 2011). "Hunter Hayes, 'Hunter Hayes' – Album Review". Taste of Country.
12. Matt Bjorke (October 19, 2011). "Chart News For October 19, 2011: Scotty & Lauren Make Country History!". Roughstock. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014.
13. Paul Grein (June 26, 2013). "Week Ending June 23, 2013. Albums: Yeezus!". Yahoo Chart Watch.
14. Bjorke, Matt (February 26, 2014). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of February 26, 2014: Cole Swindell's Big Debut, Eric Church Still #1; Info on Scotty, Hunter, Carrie & Taylor's Latest Albums". Roughstock. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
15. Ben Foster (December 20, 2013). "Hunter Hayes By The Numbers: The Star Wraps Eventful 2013". Roughstock. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013.
16. "Hunter Hayes / Warner Music Japan". Warner Music Japan. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
17. "iTunes - Music - Hunter Hayes (Encore)". iTunes Store. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
18. "Top 40 Country Artist Albums Archive 2nd March 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
19. "Billboard 200 chart for June 26, 2013". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
20. "Country Albums". Billboard.
21. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
22. "Country Albums". Billboard.
23. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
24. "Country Albums". Billboard.
25. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
26. "Decade-End Charts: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
27. "Canadian album certifications – Hunter Hayes – Hunter Hayes". Music Canada.
28. "American album certifications – Hunter Hayes – Hunter Hayes". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
29. "Hunter Hayes Album & Song Chart History – Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
30. "Hunter Hayes Album & Song Chart History – Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 10, 2020.