Two Lanes of Freedom

Last updated

Two Lanes of Freedom
Twolanes.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 5, 2013 (2013-02-05)
Genre Country
Length45:50
Label Big Machine
Producer
Tim McGraw chronology
Tim McGraw & Friends
(2013)
Two Lanes of Freedom
(2013)
Sundown Heaven Town
(2014)
Singles from Two Lanes of Freedom
  1. "Truck Yeah"
    Released: July 3, 2012
  2. "One of Those Nights"
    Released: November 12, 2012
  3. "Highway Don't Care"
    Released: March 25, 2013
  4. "Southern Girl"
    Released: July 8, 2013

Two Lanes of Freedom is the twelfth studio album by the American country music singer Tim McGraw. It was released on February 5, 2013, as his first album for Big Machine Records following twenty years with Curb Records. He co-produced the album with Byron Gallimore, the producer of his previously released albums. [1] The album includes the singles "Truck Yeah", "One of Those Nights", "Highway Don't Care" with Taylor Swift and "Southern Girl". [2]

Contents

Background

McGraw told The Boot writer Beville Dunkerley about the lawsuit that allowed him to end his decades-long contract with Curb Records and the making of the album. [3] "Nothing good happens from anything without concentrating on what you do musically,... All this other stuff you can't do anything about...You can't make people do the things that you think are right, but you can make your music the way you want to make your music and that's what I concentrate on." Of his "mindset" behind the album, he said, "There's something special about this record to me, in the optimism that it has,...I'm looking forward to more stuff than I've ever had happen before; there's more ahead of me than behind me. I feel like I've grabbed another gear." He added what he sees in his future as a music artist, "I don't think I'm anywhere close to doing the things I want to do. There's so much more ahead of me, and I have a lot of room to get better... Sonically, there's a freshness to this record and a drive behind it that is new to me and headed in a different place. But I won't know that until I go into the studio for the next record and see where it takes me."

Reception

Critical

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (66/100) [4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [5]
American Songwriter Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Country UniverseStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The Oakland Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Omaha World-Herald Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
RoughstockStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Taste of Country Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
USA Today Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [15]

On release, Two Lanes of Freedom received generally positive reviews from most music critics. [4] At Metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". [4] The album had positive reviews from AllMusic , American Songwriter , Country Weekly , The Lantern The Plain Dealer , Roughstock, Taste of Country and USA Today . On the other hand, the album received mixed reviews from Country Universe, Los Angeles Times , Omaha World-Herald , PopMatters and Rolling Stone .

Commercial

Two Lanes of Freedom sold approximately 107,000 copies during its first week of release, reaching No. 1 on the country albums chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200. [16] By September 18, 2013, the album had sold 421,000 copies. [17]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw.

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Two Lanes of Freedom" Jaren Johnston, Jennifer Schott4:26
2."One of Those Nights" Luke Laird, Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins 3:56
3."Friend of a Friend" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell) Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Andrew Dorff5:13
4."Southern Girl"Johnston, Clawson, Lee Thomas Miller 4:15
5."Truck Yeah" Chris Janson, Danny Myrick, Preston Brust, Chris Lucas 3:29
6."Nashville Without You" Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Ruston Kelly 3:37
7."Book of John" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell) Jon Nite, Greg Becker3:28
8."Mexicoma" James T. Slater, Brad Warren, Brett Warren 3:33
9."Number 37405" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell) Tom Douglas, Troy Jones4:45
10."It's Your World"Scott Stepakoff, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally 4:29
11."Highway Don't Care" (with Taylor Swift featuring Keith Urban)Irwin, Kear, Brad Warren, Brett Warren4:36
Total length:45:50
Accelerated deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Two Lanes of Freedom" Jaren Johnston, Jenn Schott4:26
2."One of Those Nights" Luke Laird, Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins 3:56
3."Friend of a Friend" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell)Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Andrew Dorff5:13
4."Southern Girl"Johnston, Clawson, Lee Thomas Miller 4:15
5."Truck Yeah" Chris Janson, Danny Myrick, Preston Brust, Chris Lucas 3:29
6."Nashville Without You" Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Ruston Kelly3:37
7."Book of John" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell) Jon Nite, Greg Becker3:28
8."Annie I Owe You a Dance" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell) James T. Slater, Tom Douglas 3:44
9."Mexicoma"Slater, Brad Warren, Brett Warren 3:33
10."Number 37405" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell)Douglas, Troy Jones4:45
11."It's Your World"Scott Stepakoff, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally 4:29
12."Tinted Windows" (featuring string arrangements by David Campbell)Irwin, Kear, Dorff4:13
13."Highway Don't Care" (featuring Taylor Swift, with Keith Urban on guitar)Irwin, Kear, Brad Warren, Brett Warren4:36
14."Truck Yeah" (live)Janson, Myrick, Brust, Lucas4:16
15."Let Me Love It Out of You"Rachel Thibodeau, Jason Sever, David Tolliver 5:34
Total length:63:37

Personnel

Musicians

Musicians on "Truck Yeah (Live)"

Production

Studios

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2013–2014)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [18] 10
Canadian Albums Chart 4
China Album Chart [19] 18
US Billboard 200 2 [20]
US Billboard Top Country Albums 1 [20]
US Billboard Top Digital Albums 1 [20]
UK Albums Chart [21] 43
UK Country Albums (OCC) [22] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2013)Position
US Billboard 200 [23] 58
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [24] 14
Chart (2014)Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [25] 75

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions
US Country US Country Airplay US CAN Country
[26]
CAN
2012"Truck Yeah"11105752
"One of Those Nights"3132138
2013"Highway Don't Care"4122221
"Southern Girl"4242161
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [27] Gold40,000^
United States (RIAA) [28] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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