Eric Paslay is the debut studio album by American country music artist Eric Paslay. It was released on February 4, 2014 by Capitol Records Nashville.[1] The album includes the singles "Never Really Wanted", "Friday Night", "Song About a Girl" and "She Don't Love You".[2]

Eric Paslay
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 4, 2014 (2014-02-04)
Recorded2011–14
GenreCountry
Length40:36
LabelCapitol Records Nashville
Producer
  • Marshall Altman (tracks 2-4, 7-11)
  • Daniel Hill (tracks 1,5,6)
  • Billy Lynn (tracks 1,5,6)
Eric Paslay chronology
Eric Paslay
(2014)
Nice Guy
(2020)
Singles from Eric Paslay
  1. "Never Really Wanted"
    Released: July 25, 2011
  2. "Friday Night"
    Released: April 22, 2013
  3. "Song About a Girl"
    Released: February 18, 2014
  4. "She Don't Love You"
    Released: October 13, 2014

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Country WeeklyA[4]
The Oakland Press    [5]
Roughstock     [6]
USA Today    [7]

The eponymously titled album Eric Paslay garnered critical acclaim from five music critics. At USA Today, Brian Mansfield rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of four, stating that he held back some excellent material for himself on which "His sweet-as-Southern-tea debut finds common ground between radio-friendly and flat-out brilliant, incorporating a sense of both spirituality and '80s pop."[7] Tammy Ragusa of Country Weekly graded the album an A, writing that the album "hosts a heap of winners." In addition, Ragusa says that "The gifted songwriter has done an incredible job of showcasing his ability to create a collection that leans away from lyrical trends and toward depth and texture [...] reveal[ing] the complexity of an accomplished artist, and retains the purity of solid country music."[4] At The Oakland Press, Gary Graff rated the album three out of four stars, calling this "A strong debut from an established name on the scene."[5] Steve Leggett of AllMusic rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, noting how Paslay on the release "keep[s] it simple and catchy", but this means that the music "doesn't change the landscape of contemporary country, but it sure recognizes it, and that's Paslay's songwriting strength."[3] At Roughstock, Matt Bjorke rated the album a perfect five stars, saying that the release "showcases an artist who deserves to be placed on the same songwriting field as singer/songwriters like Rodney Crowell, John Hiatt, Jackson Browne and JD Souther with a little bit of The Band thrown in for good measure."[6] Also, Bjorke states that "There isn’t a bad song to be found on Eric Paslay and it truly is an early contender for the best Country Album of 2014."[6]

Track listing

edit

All tracks are written by Eric Paslay, with additional co-writers as noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Keep On Fallin'"
  • Matt Nolan
  • Skip Black
3:19
2."Friday Night"2:47
3."Less Than Whole"Kenny Alphin4:45
4."Country Side of Heaven"
4:15
5."Never Really Wanted"Walt Aldridge3:27
6."Here Comes Love"Anthony Cappolino3:05
7."Like a Song"Jason Delkou2:48
8."Good with Wine"3:40
9."She Don't Love You"Jennifer Wayne4:27
10."Song About a Girl"
  • Alexander
  • Sampson
3:49
11."Deep as It Is Wide" 4:27
Total length:40:36

Personnel

edit

Chart performance

edit

Album

edit

The album debuted on Billboard 200 at No. 31, and No. 4 in the Top Country Albums chart, selling 11,000 copies in the US.[8] As of February 2015, the album has sold 54,300 copies in the U.S.[9]

Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[10] 31
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[11] 4

Singles

edit
Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US Country Airplay US CAN Country
[12]
CAN
2011 "Never Really Wanted" 48
2013 "Friday Night" 6 2 47 8 53
2014 "Song About a Girl" 18 12 85 25
"She Don't Love You" 15 14 77 28
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

edit
  1. ^ Parker, Eric T. (November 22, 2013). "Eric Paslay's Debut Album To Release in February". MusicRow. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  2. ^ Bjorke, Matt (November 22, 2013). "Eric Paslay "Eric Paslay" Tracklist and Cover Art". Roughstock. Archived from the original on November 25, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Leggett, Steve (February 4, 2014). "Eric Paslay - Eric Paslay". AllMusic. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Ragusa, Tammy (January 30, 2014). "Eric Paslay (album)". Country Weekly. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Graff, Gary (February 4, 2014). "The Listening Room: Broken Bells, Eric Paslay and more". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Bjorke, Matt (February 3, 2014). "Album Review: Eric Paslay - Eric Paslay". Roughstock. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Mansfield, Brian (February 3, 2014). "Listen Up: Notable new releases". USA Today. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  8. ^ Bjorke, Matt (February 12, 2014). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of February 12, 2014: Florida Georgia Line #1, Eric Paslay Debuts Top 5; Whiskey Myers, Moonshine Bandits, Scotty McCreery". Roughstock. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  9. ^ Matt Bjorke (February 11, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For February 11, 2015". Roughstock. Sales figure given here
  10. ^ "Eric Paslay Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  11. ^ "Eric Paslay Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  12. ^ "Eric Paslay Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.