Play On | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 3, 2009 | |||
Recorded | July 2008 – September 2009 | |||
Studio | Starstruck Studios (Nashville) Maratone Studios (Stockholm) Germano Studios (New York City) | |||
Genre | Country pop | |||
Length | 48:20 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Carrie Underwood chronology | ||||
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Singles from Play On | ||||
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Play On is the third studio album by American country music singer Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States on November 3, 2009, through Arista Nashville. Play On was produced by Mark Bright who also produced Underwood's Carnival Ride and seven other songs off of Some Hearts. [1]
The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 318,000 copies, which was rated as the highest first-week sales for a female artist in 2009 upon release. It is her second album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, and her third to debut atop the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. As of October 2016, the album has been certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA, Platinum by the CRIA and Gold by the ARIA. Play On has since sold over three million copies worldwide. "Temporary Home" and "Mama's Song" were both nominated for Grammy Awards, while Play On was nominated for Album of the Year at both the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards and 2010 Country Music Association Awards, and won Favorite Country Album at the American Music Awards of 2010.
The album spawned three consecutive Billboard Hot Country Songs number one singles — "Cowboy Casanova", "Temporary Home" and "Undo It", all of which certified Multi-Platinum or Platinum by the RIAA. The fourth single, "Mama's Song", reached number two on the chart and received a Gold certification from the RIAA. "Cowboy Casanova" achieved one of the biggest single-week upwards on the Billboard Hot 100 of all time, when it climbed from 96 to 11 in its second week.
Songwriter Luke Laird said of writing the album's title track, "Carrie had pretty much blocked out three months to write for this album, and she probably wrote over 60 songs during that period. This was the first time Natalie and Carrie had met, and "Play On" was actually the second song we wrote that day. When we finished writing the first song, Carrie went downstairs to get a drink, and I told Natalie, "I'll bet she's going to want to write another song." Because when Carrie comes in to write, she's ready to work all day." [2]
The album was originally to have included some songs that Underwood wrote with Ne-Yo. [3] One of the tracks entitled "Look at Me" was previously recorded by country singer, Alan Jackson, on the Billy: The Early Years soundtrack. Vince Gill sang background vocals on the track. [4] "Mama's Song" sold more than 31,000 copies in its debut week. [5]
Prior to the release of Play On, three promotional singles were made available by iTunes. "Mama's Song" released on October 12 followed by "Temporary Home" which was released on October 20 and "Undo It" released on October 27. Billboard.com also posted a 60-second clip of each song being released on iTunes.
On October 16, 2009, Underwood performed in Singapore to promote the album to the Asian media. The album was released on November 2 in various parts of Asia, followed by a November 3 release in the United States. Underwood performed on Late Show with David Letterman on November 2, and performed a special outdoor concert at Lincoln Center on Good Morning America on the release day, and rounded out her week with a visit to Live with Regis and Kelly on November 5.
She debuted several of her singles at the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards.
She also appeared on several shows to promote her album including Late Show with David Letterman , The Ellen DeGeneres Show , Live With Regis and Kelly , Good Morning America , The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien , Jimmy Kimmel Live! , American Music Awards, CNN International , and at the Grand Ole Opry.
On the November 16, 2009, episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien , Underwood performed "Temporary Home", which became the second official single from Play On.
"Cowboy Casanova" served as the lead single for Play On. The song was released on September 14, 2009, two months before the album's official release and debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs at number 26, the fifth highest debut by a female artist on the chart. It jumped from number 96 to number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its second week, one of the biggest single-week upwards on the chart of all time. The song received a nomination for Song of the Year at the 45th ACM Awards where Underwood was nominated as an artist and a composer. The music video for "Cowboy Casanova" was released in October 2009. The song has sold 2,300,000 copies in the United States and has been certified 2× platinum.
"Temporary Home", the second single, was released to country radio starting the week of December 14, 2009. The song has hit at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs becoming her ninth number one song in the process. It has also hit number 41 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the song was released in February 2010. Underwood won the CMT award for Best Live Performance at the 2010 CMT Awards for her performance during her personal CMT Invitation Only. The song received a nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal performance. The song sold 1,093,000 copies and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
The third single, "Undo It", was released on May 24, 2010. Underwood performed the song on the season finale of American Idol and at the 2010 CMT Music Awards. The song peaked at number 23rd on the Hot 100, giving Underwood her eleventh Top 40 single and reached number one on Hot Country Songs chart. "Undo It" was nominated for the 2010 Teen Choice Award for 'Choice Country Song' and sold 1,600,000 copies making it a certified Platinum single.
The fourth single, "Mama's Song", was officially released to radio on September 13, 2010. Underwood announced its release in an interview after her performance on The Today Show on NBC on July 30. The music video premiered on VEVO on September 24, 2010. "Mama's Song" reached the number two position on the country charts. It has been certified Gold and has sold 443,000 copies. At the 54th Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance.
Year | Song | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | CAN | ||
2009 | "Cowboy Casanova" | 1 | 11 | 16 |
"Temporary Home" | 1 | 41 | 65 | |
2010 | "Undo It" | 1 | 23 | 43 |
"Mama's Song" | 2 | 56 | 68 |
Prior to the release of the album, three promotional singles were released exclusively on Apple's iTunes Store. These promotional singles should not be confused with ordinary singles.
"Mama's Song" was the first promotional single and was released on October 12, 2009. It was released to radio as the fourth official single off the album on September 13, 2010. "Temporary Home" was the second promotional single and was released on October 20, 2009. It was released to radio as the second official single off the album on December 14, 2009. "Undo It" was the final promotional single and was released on October 27, 2009. It was released to radio as the third official single off the album on May 24, 2010.
"Temporary Home" received multiple forms of promotion, including performances on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien,;; the television special A Home For the Holidays, Underwood's personal CMT Invitation Only event, Underwood's Christmas variety show, Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special, at the 45th ACM Awards, and on her Play On Tour.
After Underwood performed the track "Change" during the 2010 Idol Gives Back , the song received a 2,001% gain in sales, selling 9,000 to a total of 53,000 digital downloads. [6] "Look at Me", a cover of a song originally by Alan Jackson, debuted at No. 22 on Country Digital Songs in 2014 after it appeared in a viral video, [7] and sold 18,000 copies for the week for a total of 80,000 sold. [8]
Song | Peak chart positions | Sales | |
---|---|---|---|
US | CAN | ||
"Mama's Song" | 56 | 68 | 39,000 |
"Temporary Home" | 41 | 65 | 31,000 |
"Undo It" | 23 | 43 | 28,000 |
Underwood began the Play On Tour on March 11, 2010. The tour includes several legs traveling across the globe, with the first and second leg focusing on the United States and Canada. Her opening acts/guest performers for the spring tour were Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia. The second leg included Sons of Sylvia and country singer Billy Currington. The first leg began in Reading, Pennsylvania on March 11, and concluded in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the Minnesota State Fair on August 31. The second leg began on September 25, in Portland, Oregon, and concluded on December 19, in Calgary, Canada.
The tour was ranked at number 15 on the Top 100 Tours in July 2010 for the first half of the year. Within four months of the tour's first leg, it raked in an approximate total of $18,400,000, and sold over 375,000 tickets.
In December 2010, the tour ranked at number 19 for the largest North American tours of 2010, [9] and again at number 31 for the largest tours worldwide for the 2010 touring year. [10] The tour made a collective total of $38,300,000 [9] and reached to over one million fans, [11] becoming Underwood's largest tour to date.
On May 16, 2011, Sony Music and Underwood collectively announced the singer would travel to Australia in June 2011 to promote her Play On album for her first international headline tour. During the tour's duration, Underwood would also release the Play On: Deluxe Edition exclusively to Australia. The album included six previous number one singles of Underwood's, as well as a studio recording of "Home Sweet Home", a recording in which has never been featured on an album before. [12]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (54/100) [13] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [15] |
Los Angeles Times | [16] |
Paste | 5.7/10 [17] |
PopMatters | [18] |
Slant Magazine | [19] |
St. Petersburg Times | [20] |
USA Today | [21] |
Play On had a score of 54 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "mixed or average reviews" from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stars. He argues that "Carrie is still nominally a country artist and sometimes will sing supported by fiddles and steel guitar, but this is crossover pop pure and simple, whether it's the thundering rhythms on the Shania-styled strut "Cowboy Casanova" or the succession of maudlin melodies on the preponderance of power ballads." [22] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a "dud" rating ( ). [23] Leah Greenblatt rated it B in Entertainment Weekly , saying "If it seems vaguely insulting to call the smashingly successful AmericanIdol alum's material formulaic, know at least that it is, three albums in, one of the most well-honed formulas in the business." [24]
Sean Daly from the St. Petersburg Times argues that Play On is Underwood's "weakest album to date," but predicts that the album will "sell like gangbusters." Daly says that "Cowboy Casanova", "co-written by 50 Cent buddy Mike Elizondo, brazenly bites from both 'Before He Cheats' and 'Last Name'." Daly highlights the song "Someday When I Stop Loving You". He says that it "is so good. It has a vague '70s feel, reminiscent of all those great old Chicago songs." [25]
Award | Category | Result |
---|---|---|
45th Academy of Country Music Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated |
1st American Country Awards | Album of the Year | Won |
2010 Teen Choice Awards | Choice Album - Country | Nominated |
44th Country Music Association Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated |
2010 American Music Awards | Favorite Country Album | Won |
Play On debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart, as well as the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 318,000 copies, and rated as the highest first week sales for a female artist in 2009, before being overtaken by Susan Boyle a few weeks later. [26] In its second week, the album slipped to number three with sales of 128,000. Play On spent nine consecutive weeks at number two in Top Country Albums Chart, and stayed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for its first eight weeks of release. By October 2015, the album had sold 2,300,000 copies in the US, and it was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA on October 24, 2016, for three million units in sales and streams. [27] [28]
The album debuted at number 114 on the Japan Oricon Albums Chart and number 93 on the UK Albums Chart, [29] becoming Underwood's first entry on both charts. In Canada, the album debuted at number two on the Canadian charts with 15,000 sales. [30] In Australia, it debuted at number three on the Top 20 Country Albums chart and at number 80 on the National Album Charts ARIA Top 100. Underwood traveled to Australia for a promotional tour for the deluxe edition of Play On during June 2011. For the chart week following her promotional tour, the album re-entered both the Top 20 Country Albums chart and the National Album Charts ARIA Top 100 at number two and number 14. The album rose to number one on the Top 20 Country Albums chart the following week giving Underwood her first number one album in Australia, and remained stable on the National Album Charts ARIA Top 100, at number 15. It has reached Gold status in Australia and it is her first album to do so. [31] Play On has since sold over three million copies worldwide. [32]
Play On charted at number seventy three on Billboard 200 and at number 15 on Top Country Albums for the year ending 2009. [33] In December 2010, the album was placed on Billboard's Year-End Charts, landing at number four for Country Albums, and at number twelve for Billboard 200 Albums. The following year, it charted at number 37 for Country Albums [34] and number 176 for Billboard 200 Albums. [35]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cowboy Casanova" | Mark Bright | 3:56 | |
2. | "Quitter" |
| 3:40 | |
3. | "Mama's Song" |
| Bright | 4:00 |
4. | "Change" | Bright | 3:13 | |
5. | "Undo It" |
| Bright | 2:58 |
6. | "Someday When I Stop Loving You" | Bright | 4:03 | |
7. | "Songs Like This" |
| Bright | 2:37 |
8. | "Temporary Home" |
| Bright | 4:29 |
9. | "This Time" |
| Bright | 3:52 |
10. | "Look at Me" (featuring Vince Gill) | Bright | 3:16 | |
11. | "Unapologize" |
| Bright | 4:38 |
12. | "What Can I Say" (featuring Sons of Sylvia) |
| Bright | 3:57 |
13. | "Play On" |
| Bright | 3:41 |
Total length: | 48:20 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
14. | "Don't Forget to Remember Me" |
| Bright | 4:00 |
15. | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" |
| Bright | 3:46 |
16. | "Before He Cheats" |
| Bright | 3:19 |
17. | "So Small" |
| Bright | 3:45 |
18. | "Just a Dream" |
| Bright | 4:44 |
19. | "Last Name" |
| Bright | 4:01 |
20. | "Home Sweet Home" | Bright | 3:38 |
Notes
Vocals
Musicians
|
|
The Nashville String Machine (4)
Group vocals (1)
|
|
Production
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|
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [52] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [53] | Platinum | 80,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [28] | 3× Platinum | 2,300,000 [27] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date |
---|---|
United Kingdom [54] | November 2, 2009 |
Singapore [55] | |
Norway | |
Finland | |
Sweden | |
United States [55] | November 3, 2009 |
Canada [56] | |
Spain | |
Denmark | |
South Africa | |
Luxembourg | |
Belgium | |
Netherlands | |
Austria | |
New Zealand | |
France | |
Switzerland | |
Portugal | |
Ireland | |
Thailand | |
Germany | |
Greece | |
Australia [57] | November 6, 2009 |
Japan | May 19, 2010 |
Australia (Deluxe Edition) | June 10, 2011 |
New Zealand (Deluxe Edition) |
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the first country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The next studio album, Carnival Ride (2007) had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), produced the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.
Some Hearts is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood, released on November 14, 2005, by Arista Nashville. The album contains the number one country singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Don't Forget to Remember Me", "Wasted", and "Before He Cheats". The album contains the Billboard Hot 100 number one single, "Inside Your Heaven", as a bonus track.
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released on October 18, 2005, as the first single from Underwood's debut album Some Hearts (2005). The ballad tells of a woman seeking help from Jesus in an emergency and surrendering control to a higher power.
"Before He Cheats" is a song by American singer Carrie Underwood from her debut studio album, Some Hearts (2005). Written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, it was released as the fourth single from the album. The song tells the story of a woman taking revenge on her unfaithful partner.
American country music singer Carrie Underwood has released nine studio albums, one greatest hits album, and 29 singles. Underwood rose to fame after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was released in 2005 and is the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. It also became the best-selling solo female country debut in Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) history, as well as the top-selling debut album of any American Idol contestant in the United States.
"So Small" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in August 2007 as the first single from her 2007 album Carnival Ride. Underwood co-wrote this song with Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird.
Carnival Ride is the second studio album by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States on October 23, 2007, by Arista Nashville. On this album, Underwood was more involved in the songwriting process; she set up a writers' retreat at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium to collaborate with Music Row tunesmiths such as Hillary Lindsey, Craig Wiseman, Rivers Rutherford, and Gordie Sampson.
"I Told You So" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis from his 1987 album, Always & Forever. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard and Canadian RPM country singles charts in June 1988. Travis had first recorded it on his 1983 album Live at the Nashville Palace under his stage name "Randy Ray". It became a local hit and one of his most requested songs at the club. In 2007, the song was covered by Carrie Underwood on her album Carnival Ride. Her version was released in February 2009 and was re-recorded and re-released in March as a duet with Travis. Underwood's and Travis' duet peaked at number two on the U.S. country charts in 2009.
"Cowboy Casanova" is a song by American singer Carrie Underwood. It was written by Underwood, Mike Elizondo, Brett James. It was released on September 14, 2009, by Arista Nashville as the lead single from her third studio album, Play On. The song sold 2,300,000 copies, making it the fourth-biggest single of her career behind "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Before He Cheats", and "Blown Away".
"Mama's Song" is a song recorded by American country music singer Carrie Underwood, co-written by her along with Kara DioGuardi, Marti Frederiksen, and Luke Laird. It was released in September 2010 as the fourth and final single from her third studio album, Play On. These songwriters also wrote her previous single, "Undo It".
"Temporary Home" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in December 2009 as the second official single from her third studio album, Play On. Before being released as a single, the song was made available to iTunes on October 20, 2009. A promotional music video for the song was released in November 2009, and an official music video followed in February 2010. In December 2010, the song was ranked at number 25 on Billboard's Top Country Songs of 2010.
"Undo It" is a song written by Carrie Underwood, Kara DioGuardi, Marti Frederiksen, and Luke Laird. It was made available to digital retailers on October 27, 2009, and was released as an official single on May 24, 2010. The song is the third single from Underwood's third studio album, Play On.
Blown Away is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States and Canada on May 1, 2012, by Arista Nashville. After finishing her successful Play On Tour in December 2010 to promote her third studio album Play On, Underwood started working on the album, but took her time, as she "wanted to change things up", and needed to step away from the "celebrity bubble" to "have real things to write about and to sing about". It took her over one year to finish the album, which, according to Underwood, ended up having a "darker storyline" than her previous efforts.
"Blown Away" is a song by American recording artist Carrie Underwood, taken from her fourth studio album of the same name (2012). The song served as the album's second single on July 9, 2012, through Arista Nashville. Written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, who previously wrote Underwood's single "Before He Cheats" (2006), "Blown Away" is a country pop song; the lyrics are about a young woman who locks herself in a storm cellar while her abusive, alcoholic father is passed out on the couch in the path of a tornado. Producer Mark Bright drew inspiration from 1980s music.
Greatest Hits: Decade #1 is the first greatest hits double album by American country music singer Carrie Underwood, released on December 9, 2014, by Arista Nashville. The release contains every single from Underwood's first four studio albums: Some Hearts (2005), Carnival Ride (2007), Play On (2009), and Blown Away (2012), except "Some Hearts" from its album of the same name. Two newly recorded songs were included: "Something in the Water" and "Little Toy Guns". The album also contains four additional tracks.
"Smoke Break" is a song recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood from her fifth studio album, Storyteller. It was released on August 21, 2015, through Sony Music Nashville, as the album's lead single. It was written by Underwood, Chris DeStefano, and Hillary Lindsey, and was produced by Jay Joyce. Musically, it has lyrics about escaping life's many stresses.
Storyteller is the fifth studio album recorded by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood. It was released on October 23, 2015, by Sony Music Nashville. Following the release and success of her fourth studio album, Blown Away (2012), Underwood began working on Storyteller in early 2014. However, she tentatively suspended most work on the album because of her pregnancy with her first child. In the midterm, Underwood released her first greatest hits record, Greatest Hits: Decade #1, on December 9, 2014, to much success. After the birth of her son, she took some additional time off before going back into the studio in early 2015 to finish working on the album.
"Church Bells" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood from her fifth studio album, Storyteller. The song was written by Zach Crowell, Brett James, and Hillary Lindsey, with production from Mark Bright, and was released as the third single from the album in the United States, being shipped to radio on April 3, 2016, and had an official impact date of April 11, 2016.
"The Fighter" is a song by New Zealand Australian country music singer Keith Urban featuring American country music singer Carrie Underwood. It was released on 6 February 2017 as the fifth and final single from Urban's 2016 album, Ripcord. Urban co-wrote and co-produced this song with busbee. The song has entered the record charts of Australia, Canada, the United States, Belgium, and Scotland, where it became Urban's first song to enter the Scottish and Belgian charts. The song is certified Triple Platinum in the US, Quadruple Platinum in Australia, and Platinum in Canada.
Cry Pretty is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood. The album was released on September 14, 2018, as Underwood's first album with Capitol Records Nashville after signing a global deal with Universal Music Group at the start of 2017. The album marked the first co-producing effort by Underwood, who partnered with David Garcia for the record.
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