The Blade (Ashley Monroe album)

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The Blade
File:TheBlade.jpg
Studio album by Ashley Monroe
Released July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24)
Genre Country
Length 46:40
Label Warner Bros. Nashville
Producer Vince Gill
Justin Niebank
Ashley Monroe chronology
Like a Rose
(2013)Like a Rose2013		 The Blade
(2015)		 Live at Third Man Records
(2016)Live at Third Man Records2016
Singles from The Blade
  1. "On to Something Good"
    Released: March 9, 2015

The Blade is the third studio album by American country music artist Ashley Monroe, released on July 24, 2015, through Warner Bros. Nashville.[1] The album was produced by Vince Gill and Justin Niebank[2] and includes the lead single "On to Something Good."[3] The album made numerous "Best Albums of 2015" lists and was nominated for Best Country Album at the 58th Grammy Awards.[4]

Promotion

In support of the album, Monroe toured with Little Big Town throughout the summer of 2015. Monroe then embarked on a headlining tour, "The Blade Tour," in the fall of 2015.[5]

Promotional appearances in the media included a live performance of "Winning Streak" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on July 27, 2015, "The Blade" on ABC's The View on August 6, 2015 and "I Buried Your Love Alive" on Conan on August 26, 2015.[6][7][8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 86/100[9]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[10]
The A.V. Club A-[11]
Billboard 4/5 stars[12]
Nash Country Weekly A-[13]
Newsday B+[14]
Paste 8.9/10[15]
Pitchfork 7.5/10[16]
PopMatters 8/10 stars[17]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[18]
Spin 7/10[19]

The Blade received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 86 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 14 reviews.[9]

Rolling Stone's Will Hermes gave the album four stars believing "The Blade dials it back...[for] You won't know whether to whoop or weep...It's a beautiful thing."[18] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four and a half out of five stars and states: "She rolls easy, luxuriating in that exquisite sound, her soft touch making the heartbreak and the humor seem equally alluring."[10] The four out of five star review Jewly Hight delivered for Billboard was for Monroe's ability to "sing these songs, many of which she co-wrote, with exquisite, bruised sensitivity."[12] It was Spin's "album of the week," and in a seven out of ten rating Alfred Soto writes: "A couple of wooly moments aside, Monroe's third album, The Blade, continues a remarkable hot streak for writers Luke Laird, Jessi Alexander, Chris Stapleton, and Monroe herself."[19] Robert Ham for Paste rated the album an 8.9 out of ten, succinctly sums-up the album, for being a "heartfelt and engaging" affair.[15] This album got an A- from Nash Country Weekly, Tammy Ragusa realizes the release cements Monroe "as one of the premiere and rare female neo-traditionalists in the format."[13] Sam C. Mac, gave the release an A- rating on behalf of The A.V. Club, informs the listener, "The majority of Monroe's superb third album hunkers down with heartache and struggle."[11] Judging the album to be a B+ release, Glenn Gamboa writes for Newsday, asking a hypothetical question: "Monroe is still sorting out her own sound, but who can complain when that process is so compelling?"[14] This album got an eight out of ten stars rating by PopMatters, Dave Heaton reminds its not how many questions of pain with regards to the release, rather in hearing them, "they sound splendid."[17] The release got a 7.5 out of ten from Pitchfork, Stephen M. Deusner marginally derides, "The Blade could be stronger if it was more streamlined and sequenced with some kind of overarching narrative in mind, but that's almost beside the point when the album sounds so damn good."[16]

Accolades

Year Association Category Result
2016 Grammy Awards[4] Best Country Album Nominated
Publication Rank List
AllMusic N/A AllMusic Best of 2015[20]
N/A Best Country Albums of 2015[21]
American Songwriter 18 Top 50 Albums of 2015[22]
Nashville Scene 3 Best Country Albums of 2015[23]
NPR N/A 50 Favorite Albums of 2015[24]
Paste 37 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[25]
PopMatters 38 The 80 Best Albums of 2015[26]
1 The Best Country Music of 2015[27]
Rolling Stone 38 50 Best Albums of 2015[28]
5 40 Best Country Albums of 2015[29]
Time 10 Top 10 Best Albums of 2015[30]

Track listing

[31]

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "On to Something Good"   Ashley Monroe, Barry Dean, Luke Laird 3:50
2. "I Buried Your Love Alive"   Monroe, Matraca Berg 3:14
3. "Bombshell"   Monroe, Steve McEwan, Gordie Sampson 3:17
4. "Weight of the Load"   Monroe, Vince Gill 3:59
5. "The Blade"   Marc Beeson, Jamie Floyd, Allen Shamblin 3:27
6. "Winning Streak"   Monroe, Jessi Alexander, Chris Stapleton 3:10
7. "From Time to Time"   Monroe, Justin Davis, Sarah Zimmermann 4:03
8. "If Love Was Fair"   Monroe, Alexander, Steve Moakler 3:48
9. "Has Anybody Ever Told You"   Monroe, Tyler Cain 3:52
10. "Dixie"   Monroe, Davis, Zimmermann 3:26
11. "If the Devil Don't Want Me"   Monroe, Alexander, Stapleton 3:40
12. "Mayflowers"   Monroe, Brendan Benson 3:40
13. "I'm Good at Leavin'"   Monroe, Alexander, Miranda Lambert 3:14
Total length:
 46:40

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[32]


Musicians

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Featured artists


Technical personnel

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  • Drew Bollman – assistant, engineering
  • Andrew Darby – assistant
  • Steven Dewey – assistant
  • Vince Gill – production
  • Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordination
  • Adam Grover – assistant
  • Cris Lacy – A&R
  • Joseph Llanes – photography
  • Justin Luffman – management
  • Richard Madenfort – assistant
  • Andrew Mendelson – mastering
  • Mike Moore – art direction, design
  • Justin Niebank – engineer, mixing, production
  • Matt Rausch – assistant, engineer
  • Shane Tarleton – creative director
  • Brian David Willis – digital editing

Chart performance

The Blade debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard 200 chart and number 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with 12,000 pure album sales during its first week of release.[33] The album has sold 35,600 copies in the US as of February 2016.[34]

Album

Chart (2015) Peak
position
UK Country Albums (OCC)[35] 3
US Billboard 200[36] 30
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[37] 2

Singles

Year Song Chart Peak
position
2015 "On to Something Good" US Country Airplay 53[38]

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label
United States July 24, 2015
Warner Bros. Nashville

References

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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company.
  36. ↑ "Ashley Monroe – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Ashley Monroe.
  37. ↑ "Ashley Monroe – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Ashley Monroe.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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