| Pain Killer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 21, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 46:19 | |||
| Label | Capitol Nashville | |||
| Producer | Jay Joyce | |||
| Little Big Town chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Pain Killer | ||||
| ||||
Pain Killer is the sixth studio album by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on October 21, 2014, through Capitol Nashville. [1] Little Big Town co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen tracks. [2] [3] Pain Killer was produced by Jay Joyce. [4]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic [6] |   |
| Billboard [7] |  |
| Country Weekly [8] | B+ |
| Los Angeles Times [9] | |
Pain Killer received widespread critical acclaim. In giving the album a rating of "B+", Bob Paxman of Country Weekly praised the group's vocal harmonies and the songwriting, particularly the songs written by Lori McKenna, but criticized the "overly cluttered" production on some tracks. [8] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album as "the rarest thing in contemporary country, a record with an expansive world-view delivered with a kinetic kick and infallible melodies, a record that gives no indication of where it's going upon first listen but remains compelling upon further spins". [6] The album has a score of 83 on Metacritic indicating “universal acclaim.” [10]
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Academy of Country Music | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2015 | Country Music Association | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2016 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Album | Nominated |
The album debuted at number seven on Billboard 200 and number three on Top Country Albums chart, selling 42,000 copies in its first week. [11] As of January 2017, the album has sold 511,300 copies in the United States. [12] The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units.
The album's track listing was announced on July 14. [13] [14]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Quit Breaking Up with Me" |
| 3:24 | |
| 2. | "Day Drinking" |
| Fairchild | 2:58 |
| 3. | "Tumble and Fall" |
| Westbrook | 4:41 |
| 4. | "Pain Killer" |
| Fairchild | 3:11 |
| 5. | "Girl Crush" |
| Fairchild | 3:13 |
| 6. | "Faster Gun" |
|
| 4:10 |
| 7. | "Good People" |
| Schlapman | 3:41 |
| 8. | "Stay All Night" |
|
| 2:45 |
| 9. | "Save Your Sin" |
| Schlapman | 2:46 |
| 10. | "Live Forever" |
| Sweet | 4:14 |
| 11. | "Things You Don't Think About" |
| Fairchild | 3:36 |
| 12. | "Turn the Lights On" |
| Fairchild | 4:08 |
| 13. | "Silver and Gold" |
| Westbrook | 3:33 |
Adapted from Allmusic and Pain Killer liner notes. [6] [15]
|
|
|
| Chart (2014–16) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) [16] | 49 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [17] | 143 |
| UK Country Albums (OCC) [18] | 2 |
| US Billboard 200 [19] | 7 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [20] | 3 |
| Chart (2014) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [21] | 54 |
| Chart (2015) | Position |
| US Billboard 200 [22] | 38 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [23] | 10 |
| Chart (2016) | Position |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [24] | 30 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) [25] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)