Set This Circus Down
| Set This Circus Down | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Tim McGraw | ||||
| Released | April 24, 2001 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 56:16 | |||
| Label | Curb | |||
| Producer |
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| Tim McGraw chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Set This Circus Down | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com | (favorable) [1] |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Billboard | (favorable) [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B [4] |
| Plugged In | (positive) [5] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) [6] |
| Sputnikmusic | (2.5/5) [7] |
Set This Circus Down is the sixth studio album by American country music singer Tim McGraw. The album produced four singles for McGraw on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, all of which reached number one on that chart. The album was released on April 24, 2001, by Curb Records.
Content
The first single from his album is "Grown Men Don't Cry" released in March 2001 and was written by Tom Douglas and Steve Seskin. "Angry All the Time", the second single, was originally recorded by its writer, Bruce Robison, on his 1996 self-titled album. "The Cowboy in Me" is the third single, and it reached Number One one week after McGraw's duet with Jo Dee Messina, "Bring On the Rain". "Unbroken" became the album's final single in May 2002. "Things Change" is a studio recording of a song which McGraw had previously recorded as a live version, which reached #34 on the country charts in 2000 from unsolicited airplay. Another track from this album is "Telluride" Despite reaching #52, it was officially released as a single. It also appears on Josh Gracin's 2008 album We Weren't Crazy, from which it was released as a single in December 2008. "Angel Boy" was made into a music video but was not released as a single either.
Reception
Commercial performance
The album reached Number One on the Top Country Albums chart.[8] It additionally peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200[9] while breaking the Top 20 in Canada[10] and peaking at No.95 in Australia.[11] The album has since been certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for shipments of three million copies in the United States, as well as single platinum for sales in Canada.
Critical response
About.com gave a "favorable" review and said it would not "disappoint those used to the excellent song selection of Tim's previous releases."[1] Thom Jurek from Allmusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars and noted that Tim "masterfully and consistently flows from one sound style to the next[, yet] his familiar country-pop sound remains evident throughout, especially on the title track, a song about a fast-paced couple yearning to kick back and relax in the country (no one said the themes would be original)."[2] While Billboard magazine,[3] Plugged In,[5] and Rolling Stone[6] all gave it positive and favorable reviews, David Brown from Entertainment Weekly gave it a B grade and said "From the eclectic songs he and his coproducers have chosen to the simple fact that his face doesn't appear on the cover for the first time, Set This Circus Down presents itself as an Important Statement, McGraw's career defining work[, though] McGraw doesn't write any of his material" when saying that the album "feels conceptual, almost autobiographical."[4] John "weathered old reviewer" Hanson from Sputnikmusic gave it a 2.5 average after saying "Set This Circus Down, in [his] eyes his best album, shows the time where he was at both the least level of cheese, but had not yet 'sold out,' or sold out as much as you can in the Country scene."[7]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Cowboy in Me" | Al Anderson, Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele | 4:04 |
| 2. | "Telluride" | Brett James, Troy Verges | 3:49 [12] |
| 3. | "You Get Used to Somebody" | Steve Bogard, Tom Shapiro | 3:58 |
| 4. | "Unbroken" | Annie Roboff, Holly Lamar | 4:00 |
| 5. | "Things Change" | Chris Lindsey, Bill Luther, Aimee Mayo, Marv Green | 3:20 |
| 6. | "Angel Boy" | Danny Orton | 5:11 |
| 7. | "Forget About Us" | Mark Collie | 4:09 |
| 8. | "Take Me Away from Here" | Jeff Stevens, Steve Bogard | 4:35 |
| 9. | "Smilin'" | Lindsey, Luther, Mayo, Green | 3:00 |
| 10. | "Set This Circus Down" | Bill Luther, Josh Kear | 3:31 |
| 11. | "Angry All the Time" | Bruce Robison | 4:30 |
| 12. | "Let Me Love You" | Lindsey, Luther, Mayo, Green | 4:31 |
| 13. | "Grown Men Don't Cry" | Tom Douglas, Steve Seskin | 3:56 |
| 14. | "Why We Said Goodbye" | Douglas, Billy Kirsch | 3:44 |
Charts and certifications
Album
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums[8] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[9] | 2 |
| Canadian Top Albums[10] | 14 |
| Australian Top Country Albums[11] | 95 |
Singles
All singles reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and all reached top 40 on the Hot 100 chart.
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [13] |
US [14] | ||||||||
| 2001 | "Grown Men Don't Cry" | 1 | 25 | ||||||
| "Angry All the Time" | 1 | 38 | |||||||
| "The Cowboy in Me" | 1 | 33 | |||||||
| 2002 | "Unbroken" | 1 | 26 | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[15] | Platinum |
| United States (RIAA)[16] | 3× Platinum |
Personnel
- Jeff Babko – keyboards
- Larry Byrom – acoustic guitar
- Mike Elizondo – bass guitar
- Paul Franklin – steel guitar
- Byron Gallimore – baritone guitar
- Aubrey Haynie – fiddle, mandolin
- Mike Henderson – baritone guitar
- Faith Hill – background vocals on "Angry All the Time"
- Michael Landau – electric guitar
- B. James Lowry – electric guitar
- Brent Mason – electric guitar
- Tim McGraw – lead vocals
- Gene Miller – background vocals
- Val McCallum – electric guitar
- Steve Nathan – keyboards
- Chris Rodriguez – background vocals
- Pete Thomas – drums
- Biff Watson – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Lonnie Wilson – drums, percussion, programming
- Glenn Worf – bass guitar
- Curtis Wright – background vocals
- Curtis Young – background vocals
Strings performed by the Nashville String Machine, under the conduction of Carl Gorodetzky and Rob Mathes. Arranged by Michael Omartian.
References
- 1 2 About.com review
- 1 2 Jurek, Thom. Set This Circus Down at AllMusic
- 1 2 Billboard review
- 1 2 Browne, David (2006-04-23). "Set This Circus Down Review". Entertainment Weekly.
- 1 2 "Tim McGraw - Set This Circus Down". Plugged In.
- 1 2 Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived October 1, 2007)
- 1 2 Hanson, John "weathered old receiver" (2006-12-13). "Review: Tim McGraw - Set This Circus Down". Sputnkimusic.
- 1 2 "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Country Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- 1 2 "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- 1 2 "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- 1 2 Tim McGraw in Australian albums chart: Everywhere, Live Like You Were Dying, Let it Go, Southern Voice, Limited Edition: Greatest Hits Volumes 1, 2 & 3 and Emotional Traffic "Australian Charts > Tim McGraw". australian-charts.com, Hung Medien. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/songwriter-spotlight-troy-verges-20140822
- ↑ "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ↑ "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Tim McGraw – Set This Circus Down". Music Canada.
- ↑ "American album certifications – Tim McGraw – Set This Circus Down". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
| Preceded by Steers & Stripes by Brooks & Dunn |
Top Country Albums number-one album May 12 - June 22, 2001 |
Succeeded by Inside Out by Trisha Yearwood |