Emotional Traffic

Emotional Traffic
Studio album by Tim McGraw
Released	January 24, 2012 (2012-01-24)
Studio	Dark Horse Recording (Franklin, Tennessee) Blackbird Studio and Ocean Way Nashville (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Country
Length	51:50
Label	Curb Records
Producer	Byron Gallimore Tim McGraw Darran Smith
Tim McGraw chronology
Number One Hits (2010) Emotional Traffic (2012) Tim McGraw & Friends (2013)
Singles from Emotional Traffic
"Better Than I Used to Be" Released: November 28, 2011 "Right Back Atcha Babe" Released: June 25, 2012

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(62/100) [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
American Songwriter	[3]
Country Weekly	(favorable) [4]
Entertainment Weekly	B [5]
Los Angeles Times	[6]
The New York Times	(average) [7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Uncut	[1]
USA Today	[10]
The Washington Post	(average) [11]

Emotional Traffic is the eleventh studio album by American country music artist Tim McGraw, ^[12] released on January 24, 2012. It is his final album to be released by Curb Records, a label he has been with since his self-titled 1993 debut album. ^[13]

Background

Emotional Traffic was originally completed in late 2010, but was held by Curb Records. In an interview with "The Boot", McGraw expressed his frustration with the label saying "All the songs have been done for a long time, and the label has had it; It's the last album that they have of mine, so they're trying to hold on to it as long as they can." ^[14] On May 13, 2011, Curb Records filed a breach-of-contract suit against McGraw, alleging that McGraw recorded tracks for the album too early prior to its delivery to the label. ^[15]

Several days later, McGraw filed a countersuit against the label seeking advance payment and recording-fund reimbursement, unspecified damages, and a jury trial, which began in July 2012. ^{[16] [17]}

NPR featured Emotional Traffic in its website's First Listen series, streaming the album in its entirety beginning January 16, 2012. ^[18]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Halo"	Jedd Hughes, Luke Laird	4:57
2.	"Right Back Atcha Babe"	Dave Pahanish, Joe West	4:51
3.	"One Part, Two Part" (featuring Faith Hill)	Dee Ervin	3:32
4.	"I Will Not Fall Down"	Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Brad Warren, Brett Warren	4:35
5.	"The One"	Angie Aparo, Brad Warren, Brett Warren	3:52
6.	"Better Than I Used to Be"	Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson	3:22
7.	"Touchdown Jesus"	Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip	4:04
8.	"The One That Got Away"	Pahanish, West	4:44
9.	"Felt Good on My Lips"	Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brad Warren, Brett Warren	4:39
10.	"Hey Now"	B. Beavers, J. Beavers, Brad Warren, Brett Warren	4:15
11.	"Only Human" (featuring Ne-Yo)	Aparo, Ty Lacy, Shaffer Smith	3:52
12.	"Die by My Own Hand"	David Tolliver, Chad Warrix, Rivers Rutherford	5:07

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes. ^[19]

Musicians

• Tony Harrell – Wurlitzer electric piano (1, 3, 5, 10), acoustic piano (4, 8, 9) synthesizers (8)
• Rami Jaffee – Hammond B3 organ (1, 3-5, 8-10)
• Jamie Muhoberac – synthesizers (1-5, 7-12), Hammond B3 organ (2), acoustic piano (8, 9), Wurlitzer electric piano (9)
• Steve Nathan – synthesizers (2, 12), acoustic piano (6), Hammond B3 organ (6, 7, 12), Wurlitzer electric piano (7)
• Jeff McMahon – Hammond B3 organ (11), synthesizers (11)
• Rusty Anderson – electric guitar (1, 4, 5, 8-10), acoustic guitar (3, 8)
• Dan Dugmore – acoustic guitar (1, 4, 9, 10), steel guitar (1-3, 5-8, 12)
• Dave Levita – electric guitar (1, 3-5, 8-10), acoustic guitar (8)
• Troy Lancaster – electric guitar (2, 6, 7, 12)
• Jerry McPherson – electric guitar (2, 6-9, 11, 12)
• Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 7, 12)
• Byron Gallimore – electric guitar (4, 8, 9, 11), 12-string guitar (11)
• Jay Joyce – electric guitar (9)
• Denny Henningson – electric guitar (11)
• Bob Minner – acoustic guitar (11)
• Darran Smith – electric guitar (11)
• Deano Brown – mandolin (11)
• Paul Bushnell – bass (1-10, 12)
• John Marcus – bass (11)
• Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums (1, 3-5, 8-10), percussion (3, 10)
• Shannon Forrest – drums (2, 6, 7, 12), percussion (2, 12)
• Billy Mason – drums (11)
• David Dunkley – congas (11), percussion (11)

Background vocals

• Tim McGraw – lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (10)
• Greg Barnhill (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 12)
• Perry Coleman (2, 7, 9, 12)
• Faith Hill (3)
• Angie Aparo (5)
• Wes Hightower (6)
• Byron Gallimore (9)
• Jim Beavers (10)
• The Warren Brothers (10)
• Ne-Yo (11)

Production

• Missi Gallimore – A&R direction
• Byron Gallimore – producer, mixing
• Tim McGraw – producer
• Darran Smith – producer (11)
• Julian King – engineer
• Sara Lesher – additional recording, Pro Tools engineer
• Erik Lutkins – additional recording, Pro Tools engineer
• David Bryant – assistant engineer
• Lowell Reynolds – assistant engineer (1, 3-5, 8, 10)
• Colin Heldt – assistant engineer (11)
• Jason Hall – guitar overdub engineer (9)
• Christian Baker – vocal recording (11)
• Adam Ayan – mastering
• Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, design
• Danny Clinch – photography

Studios

• Ne-Yo's vocals were recorded at Germano Studios (New York City, New York).
• Edited, overdubbed, and mixed at Essential Sound Studios (Houston, Texas).
• Mastered at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine).

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (2012) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [20] 14 Australian Country Albums (ARIA) [21] 1 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [22] 7 UK Country Albums (OCC) [23] 2 US Billboard 200 [24] 2 US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [25] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position US Billboard 200 [26] 104 US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [27] 23

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US Country	US	CAN
2011	"Better Than I Used to Be"	5	52	71
2012	"Right Back Atcha Babe"	59	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

1. "Critic Reviews for Emotional Traffic". Metacritic . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
2. "Emotional Traffic - Tim McGraw". Allmusic. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
3. Baxley, Jaymie (January 24, 2012). "Tim McGraw: Emotional Traffic". American Songwriter . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
4. Nicholson, Jessica (January 23, 2012). "Emotional Traffic by Tim McGraw". Country Weekly . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
5. Wood, Mikael (January 27, 2012). "Emotional Traffic review - Tim McGraw Review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
6. Lewis, Randy (January 24, 2012). "Album review: Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
7. Caramanica, Jon (January 23, 2012). "Tim McGraw: 'Emotional Traffic'". The New York Times . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
8. Rosen, Jody (January 24, 2012). "Emotional Traffic". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
9. Keefe, Jonathan (January 31, 2012). "Tim McGraw: Emotional Traffic". Slant Magazine . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
10. Mansfield, Brian (January 24, 2012). "Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic' is a retro jam". USA Today . Retrieved May 4, 2013.
11. Stewart, Allison (January 23, 2012). "Music review: Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic'". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
12. Morris, Edward (November 28, 2011). "Tim McGraw to Ask Court to Allow Him to Record for Another Label". CMT . Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
13. "Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic' Arrives Jan. 24". Billboard . January 3, 2012.
14. "Tim McGraw Laments Label's Hold on Upcoming Album". The Boot. April 20, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
15. "Curb Records Files Breach-of-Contract Suit Against Tim McGraw". Billboard . May 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
16. "Tim McGraw Files Counter Suit Against Curb Records". Billboard. May 24, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
17. "Court Says Tim McGraw Is Free to Record and Shop for Another Label". CMT. November 30, 2011. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
18. "First Listen: Tim McGraw, 'Emotional Traffic'". NPR.org.
19. Emotional Traffic (CD booklet). Tim McGraw. Curb Records. 2012. 79320.
20. "Australiancharts.com – Tim McGraw – Emotional Traffic". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
21. "Top 20 Country Chart - Australian Record Industry Association". Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
22. "Tim McGraw Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
23. "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
24. "Tim McGraw Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
25. "Tim McGraw Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
26. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2012". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
27. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2012". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.

External links

• Emotional Traffic at Metacritic