Life at Best

Life at Best is an album by Eli Young Band, an American country music band. It was released on August 16, 2011 via Republic Nashville. The album includes the number one singles "Crazy Girl" and "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" as well as "Say Goodnight", which peaked at number 22 on the Country Airplay Chart. According to HITS Daily Double, the album sold 348,000 copies as of February 2014.

Life at Best
Studio album by Eli Young Band
Released	August 16, 2011 (2011-08-16)
Genre	Country
Length	50:19
Label	Republic Nashville
Producer	Frank Liddell Mike Wrucke
Eli Young Band chronology
Jet Black & Jealous (2008) Life at Best (2011) 10,000 Towns (2014)
Singles from Life at Best
"Crazy Girl" Released: March 7, 2011 "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" Released: January 23, 2012 "Say Goodnight" Released: August 27, 2012[1]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Country Weekly	[3]

Reception

Critical

Giving it four stars out of five, Steve Morley of Country Weekly said that the album "rings with roots-rock guitars and meaty, often melancholy themes".[3] A less favorable review came from Andrew Leahey of Allmusic, who thought that it was a "step backwards" because he did not consider its songs as memorable as those on Jet Black & Jealous.[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Even If It Breaks Your Heart"	Will Hoge, Eric Paslay	3:40
2.	"Crazy Girl"	Lee Brice, Liz Rose	3:20
3.	"Every Other Memory"	Chris DeStefano, Catt Gravitt, Josh Kear	4:44
4.	"On My Way"	Scooter Carusoe, Jon Jones, James Young	3:26
5.	"Skeletons"	Mike Eli, Sean McConnell, Young	3:21
6.	"I Love You"	Brice, Kyle Jacobs, Jon Jones, Chris Thompson	3:20
7.	"The Fight"	Natalie Hemby, Tim Putnam	4:25
8.	"My Old Man's Son"	Lance W Adkins, Eli, Blu Sanders	3:42
9.	"Recover"	Eli, Young, Jacobs	2:58
10.	"The Falling"	Eli, Ryan James	3:38
11.	"War on a Desperate Man"	Eli, Sanders	4:06
12.	"Say Goodnight"	Katrina Elam, Melissa Peirce, John Paul White	3:08
13.	"How Quickly You Forget"	Eli, Hemby, Daniel Tashian	3:40
14.	"Life at Best"	Eli, Young	2:51
Total length:			50:19

Personnel

Eli Young Band

• Mike Eli- acoustic guitar, lead vocals
• Jon Jones- bass guitar, background vocals
• Chris Thompson- drums, percussion
• James Young- electric guitar, harmonica, background vocals

Additional Musicians

• Eric Darken- percussion
• Fred Eltringham- percussion
• Kree Harrison- background vocals
• Natalie Hemby- background vocals
• Greg Leisz- steel guitar
• Tony Obrohta- acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Russ Pahl- steel guitar
• Oran Thornton- acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Michael Webb- Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards
• Mike Wrucke- acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar, harmonica, mandolin, background vocals

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2011–12)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[4]	75
US Billboard 200	6
US Billboard Top Country Albums	3

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Certifications (sales threshold)
		US Country [5]	US Country Airplay [6]	US [7]	CAN [8]
2011	"Crazy Girl"	1	—	30	66	CAN: Gold[9] US: 2× Platinum[10]
2012	"Even If It Breaks Your Heart"	1	—	29	56	US: Platinum[11]
	"Say Goodnight"	31	22	110	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

1. Wyland, Sarah (August 4, 2012). "Eli Young Band's Crowds Get Loud". Great American Country. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
2. Leahey, Andrew. "Life at Best review". Allmusic. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
3. Morley, Steve (August 10, 2011). "Life at Best review". Country Weekly. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
4. "Australiancharts.com – Eli Young Band – Life at Best". Hung Medien.
5. "Eli Young Band Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
6. "Eli Young Band Album & Song Chart History - Country Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
7. "Eli Young Band Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
8. "Eli Young Band Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
9. "Canadian digital certifications – Eli Young Band – Crazy Girl". Music Canada.
10. "American single certifications – Eli Young Band – Crazy Girl". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
11. "American single certifications – Eli Young Band – Even If It Breaks Your Heart". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH.