Upon its release, The Incredible Machine received mixed reviews from music critics. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling approximately 203,000 units in its first week and has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA. "Stuck Like Glue" served as the lead single, later peaking at number two on the BillboardHot Country Songs chart.
Content
In many interviews leading up to its release, both Nettles and Bush described the new album as "steampunk movement", best described as a branch of science fiction that imagines a world where humans evolved intellectually, but technology remained set in Victorian times.[2] Nettles described it (emotionally) "as bungee jumping and eating chocolate cake, It's terrifying and gratifying, all at the same time".[2] This description led fans and critics to believe that the album would have "steam engine sounds", and would also be a sharp deviation from the uptempo country for which they're known. Nettles apologized about the confusion in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying "That's really our fault for the way that we explained it, to be honest. It has everything to do with the visual. We wanted another world on stage. We wanted something fun, a visual aesthetic to be inspired by. We chose that one. It has nothing to do with the music".[3]
Blake Boldt of Engine 145 described the first single, "Stuck Like Glue", as "A catchy twang-pop package" and that is "a fun mixture of accordion and mandolin, is a hooky earworm that begins to zero in on Sugarland’s vision of the musical future".[4] Entertainment Weekly described the track "Wide Open" as "a propulsive rocker", and "Stand Up" as "pure inspiration in two-part harmony".[5]
Production and influences
During the recording of the album, Nettles and Bush had fun because they kept things loose in the studio and in the songwriting. "We had such a good time writing this record because we really allowed ourselves to play".[6] Nettles continued saying, "As artists, we are always wanting to better ourselves and to develop our craft and to get better at not only reaching the human heart, but at . . . stretching ourselves to see who else we can bring into the country world and who else we can speak to. I'm always satisfied, but I don't know that I'll ever be complacent. There are different artists who musically end up following different paths. Some are more of the traditionalists, and I think that's great. We need that in every genre. And then some of us, like Kristian and myself, are more of the pioneers ... the explorers. We want to explore new territory and allow the genre to grow because, as we all know, if we don't grow we stagnate. So, especially now, it's a super fertile time in country music to allow it to grow".[6]
In promotion of the album, the duo began "The Incredible Machine Tour", which kicked off in Primm, Nevada on April 23.[2] The tour visited 63 cities through October 2010.[9] The theme of the tour is inspired by steampunk, a style described by The New York Times as "a subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and ... fashion". Nettles also explained their reasoning behind the theme, saying "It started out as a literary movement in the '80s. Basically, it's based on the concept of 'if' during the Victorian era and the age of inventionism, If instead of moving and evolving toward the cyber-world that we're in now -- with plastic and computer and silicon chips -- what if we just kept it really romantic and organic and made it about steam engines and machines? So this, visually, was a beautiful launching pad for us and also the metaphors that can come from it".[9] Bush commented saying, "We have this real interesting moment -- that I'm not sure it happens a lot of the time in your career -- where we were making an album, but at the same time, we were completely redesigning our presentation of our music. So the album itself reaches a little bit further to each of the new parts of who we are and our influences and the places that we love and was inspired kind of forwards and backwards by the development of the show at the same time".[9] Prior to the release of the album, three promotional singles were released exclusively on Apple's iTunes Store as a "Countdown To: The Incredible Machine".[10] The countdown began on September 28, with the release of "Incredible Machine" and continued with "Wide Open" being released on October 5, and "Little Miss" being released on October 12.[10]
Upon its release, The Incredible Machine received generally mixed reviews from most music critics.[19] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 52, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[19]
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock was in high praise of the album, giving it four-and-a-half stars out of five and commenting, "The Incredible Machine may not be the ‘same-ol’ album and it certainly isn’t something that’s even remotely traditional country music but what the album turns out to be is a fantastic rumination on the human condition of life, love and the meaning of," and called it one of his favorite albums of the year.[17] Bill Brotherton of the Boston Herald gave it an 'A' rating, and was in high praise of the album, noting Nettles' voice, comparing it to that of Melissa Etheridge, and noted the change of their country sound, saying, "as enjoyable as their previous albums have been, few could have predicted a work as jaw-droppingly incredible as this. Country it is not, and that might peeve some fans. This is a flat-out mainstream rock record."[12] Rick Moore of American Songwriter gave it a four star rating, noting that the album was a drastic change in sound from their previous albums, and that "with The Incredible Machine, Sugarland has distanced itself even more from the Nashville mainstream [...] and this may well be the biggest country album this year that relies so much on keys; No fiddles or steel are anywhere to be found", and was in high praise of it, saying, "but as a project, The Incredible Machine succeeds big time, and may make these guys even less welcome to certain factions of Music Row as they continue to change the face of what is considered “country”."[11] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe was in favor of the album, saying the duo was "on their game" with the release.[20] She complimented the "[expansion of] the [music] playing field" that is on the album, and concluded saying "Is it country? Given the fluctuating definition of the format over the last 20 years some of it is and some of it isn’t. But the bigger question with any record regardless of genre should always be is it good? And The Incredible Machine is very good indeed".[20] Chris Roberts of BBC Music gave it a positive review and said, "Ultimately you have to admire the precision tooling, the cunningly-gauged parallel levels of bigness and blandness, the ruthlessness -- the only-too-plausible machine."[21]
Jessica Phillips of Country Weekly gave it a three-stars-out-of-five rating, saying that the songs sounded "overly calculated", and that "Overall, the album more closely resembles pop punk and arena rock than what’s generally considered "country" music."[13] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times gave it an average review.[22] He criticized the sound and songwriting on the album, referring to some of the tracks as "reggae" and "gothic", and said the songwriting "lean[s] on bland inspirational platitudes or mystical gobbledygook".[22] He noted the increased presence of Bush's voice on the album, referring to it as a "blatant error of judgment" and said "[his] anguished scrape is a heavy anchor pulling down "Stand Up," "Wide Open" and the many songs on which he sings harmony at the chorus."[22] On a positive note, he called the track "Shine the Light" an "exception", saying, "it’s just Ms. Nettles here, singing while playing the piano, tossing her big voice around with ease. There’s a terrific soul cover album in her somewhere. It would be something worth leaving country behind for."[22] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+ rating, saying, "Sugarland's latest [album] is essentially a full-blown rock album. There's nothing wrong with anthemic as an adjective, but it's troublesome when it gets made into its own genre."[14]
Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave it a 2½-stars-out-of-five rating, and largely criticized the production of the album, saying, "while much is being made of how brave and challenging this record is, it's not. The Incredible Machine is a collection of (mostly) competent if unremarkable songs, held together by slick-- often sterile --production."[8] J. Edward Keyes of Rolling Stone also gave it a 2½ rating, and criticized the sound of the album, saying, "Any remnants of country music left in Sugarland are wiped clean on The Incredible Machine, replaced by spit-shined arena pop [...] Sugarland are ruthless in their desire to leave no radio-ready trick untried, but in the end it's too much machine, not enough heart."[16] Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News gave it a 'C−' rating, criticizing Nettles' "grating" voice on the record and saying it "mak[es] the disc immediately hard-to-take".[23] Randy Lewis of Los Angeles Times gave it 2½ stars out of four, saying it "might easily have [been] subtitled, The Arena Rock Album."[15]
Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine was highly critical of the album, giving it a 1½ star rating.[18] He criticized the sound of the album, saying "The choice of imagery never resolves into a greater aesthetic, which is disappointing, but the problems with styling are far less troubling than The Incredible Machine's actual music; [it] does stand to alienate at least some portion of their core fanbase, because it isn't a country album. Not even a little bit."[18] He continued saying "What's most frustrating about the album is that Sugarland, even at their most pop-leaning, has repeatedly proven that they're capable of much better than this. Many country fans are going to dismiss the album simply because Sugarland has gone pop, when the far greater issue is that The Incredible Machine is just awful of its own accord".[18] Stephen M. Deusner of Engine 145 gave it a two star rating, referring to it "a dud" and calling it "their Coldplay moment".[24] Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the album a 1½ star rating, referring to it as a "terrible album, an unmitigated disaster that manages to fail in ways that shouldn’t even be possible."[25]Uncut gave the album only one star out of five and said, "The downhome strum of 'Stuck Like Glue' has a certain charm--at least until its horrific cod-dancehall break down--but fails to redeem a depressingly calculated record."[19]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and Top Country Albums chart, selling 203,000 copies in its first week of release.[26] In its second week of release, the album dropped to number two on the Billboard 200 selling 89,000 copies.[27] In its third week of release, the album dropped to number three on the Billboard 200, selling 60,000 copies.[28] In its fourth week of release, the album dropped to number eight on the Billboard 200, selling 60,000 copies.[29] As of the chart dated July 2, 2011, the album has sold 1,079,000 copies in the US.[30]
Singles
The first single, "Stuck Like Glue", was sent to radio stations on July 26, 2010 and debuted at #44 on the U.S. BillboardHot Country Songs chart for the week of August 7, 2010. It also debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #20 shifting 93,000 downloads, making it the highest debut on that chart by a country music group or duo.[31] Nettles commented on the song, saying it "is just plain, unashamed, Sugar-fun! It sticks in your brain, no pun intended. To me it feels young, hip and of course sassy”![32]
"Little Miss", the second single, was released on November 15, 2010 from The Incredible Machine, peaking at #11 BillboardHot Country Songs.
"Tonight" followed as the album's third and final single, released on April 11, 2011, peaking at #32 BillboardHot Country Songs.
Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. They were founded in 2002, at which point Kristen Hall was also a member. All three had experience in folk rock: Nettles had recorded in the groups Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band, Bush had recorded two albums as one-half of the duo Billy Pilgrim, and Hall had recorded two solo albums. After Hall left in 2006, Nettles and Bush continued as a duo.
Jennifer Odessa Nettles is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer.
Kristian Merrill Bush is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bush is one half of the country music duo Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles, and was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim with Andrew Hyra. In addition to his work in these two groups, Bush released one solo album, Southern Gravity, via Streamsound Records in 2015, and four solo albums via Big Machine Records, 52 ATL x BNA, 52 | In The Key Of Summer, 52 | New Blue, and 52 | This Year in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 Bush also released an EP titled Drink Happy Thoughts on his own label Songs Of The Architect. In 2015, he was also featured in the game My Singing Monsters.
"Stay" is a song recorded by American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in September 2007 as the fourth and final single from their album Enjoy the Ride. Overall, the song is the group's eighth single to enter the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, where it reached a peak position of #2 for four weeks, stuck behind Taylor Swift's "Our Song", and has become their signature song. The music video for "Stay" was ranked #10 on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos.
The American country music duo Sugarland has released six studio albums for Mercury Nashville and 18 singles, including one as a featured artist. Founded in 2002 as a trio composed of Kristian Bush, Kristen Hall, and Jennifer Nettles, they have recorded as a duo since Hall's departure in December 2005.
Love on the Inside is the third studio album by American country music duo Sugarland, first released on July 22, 2008, as a Deluxe Fan Edition, including five bonus tracks, with the standard edition one week later, on July 29, on Mercury Nashville Records. The album has produced three chart singles in "All I Want to Do", "Already Gone" and "It Happens", all number one hits on the Billboard country singles charts. The fourth single, "Joey", reached Top 20. The release of the fifth single "Keep You" was cancelled. It is also the first album of the duo's career to reach Number One on Top Country Albums and The Billboard Top 200. The album has been certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA with sales of over 2 million copies in the United States.
"All I Want to Do" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in May 2008 as the first single from their album Love on the Inside, which was released on July 22, 2008. The duo's two members, lead vocalist Jennifer Nettles and mandolinist/background vocalist Kristian Bush, wrote the song with singer Bobby Pinson, with whom the duo also co-wrote their late-2006 single "Want To". On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for August 16, 2008, "All I Want to Do" became Sugarland's third Number One hit. It was also a pop hit, peaking at No. 18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, their highest peaking single on the Hot 100 until "Stuck Like Glue" debuted at number 17 in 2010.
"It Happens" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in February 2009 as the third single from their album Love on the Inside. The duo's members, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, wrote the song along with Bobby Pinson, with whom the duo also co-wrote the album's first two singles, "All I Want to Do" and "Already Gone". To date, this is Sugarland’s last number one song.
Live on the Inside is a live DVD/CD set from country music duo Sugarland. It is their first live CD/DVD set and their fourth album overall. It was released on August 4, 2009, exclusively at Wal-Mart stores, and debuted at number one on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and Country Albums chart.
"Joey" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music duo Sugarland. The duo's two members, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, wrote it along with Bill Anderson. It was released in July 2009 as the fourth single from the duo's album Love on the Inside. Sugarland's twelfth single release, it debuted at number 50 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in July 2009.
Gold and Green is the fourth studio album and first Christmas album from American country music duo Sugarland. The album was released on October 13, 2009, through Mercury Records Nashville. It features five original songs penned by group members Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush and five traditional holiday songs that were also previously included as part of a Wal-Mart-exclusive re-release of the duo's 2006 album Enjoy the Ride.
"Stuck Like Glue" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music duo Sugarland. It was released July 26, 2010 as the first single from their album The Incredible Machine, released October 19, 2010. "Stuck Like Glue" debuted at number 44 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of August 7, 2010, and debuted at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following week. It went on to sell 2,629,000 digital copies by May 2013. The song was written by Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush, Kevin Griffin and Shy Carter.
Bullets in the Gun is the fourteenth studio album by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released on October 5, 2010 by Show Dog-Universal Music. The album produced three singles with "Trailerhood", the title track, and "Somewhere Else". "Trailerhood" peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, while the title track and "Somewhere Else" both reached number 12. This was Keith's first studio album to not produce a single Top 10 hit on the US country charts.
Charleston, SC 1966 is the third studio album and the second country album from American recording artist Darius Rucker. It was released in the United States on October 12, 2010, through Capitol Nashville.
"Little Miss" is a song written and recorded by the American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in November 2010 as the second single from the album The Incredible Machine. Before the album's release, the song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 80, due to digital downloads. It has also reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The song was featured in the pilot of The CW TV series Hart of Dixie.
"Tonight" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in April 2011 as the third single from their album The Incredible Machine. The song was written by Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush and Kevin Griffin.
"Run" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson with Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush of country duo Sugarland, and recorded for Nathanson's seventh studio album, Modern Love (2011). The song is performed as a duet between Nathanson and Nettles, with Bush contributing backing vocals as well as the acoustic and electric guitar accompaniments. It made its debut at the 2010 CMA Awards on November 9, 2011. A remastered country version was released to digital retailers via Vanguard Records the same day as the third single from Modern Love.
That Girl is the debut solo album by American country music artist Jennifer Nettles, lead vocalist of the country duo Sugarland. It was released on January 14, 2014, by Mercury Nashville. The album features 10 songs written or co-written by Nettles and a cover of Bob Seger's "Like a Rock". Nettles collaborated with songwriters Butch Walker, Richard Marx and Sara Bareilles, among others. The album was produced by Rick Rubin at his Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California.
To Celebrate Christmas is the first solo Christmas and third solo studio album by American country music artist Jennifer Nettles, released on October 28, 2016, through Big Machine Records. This is the first Christmas-themed album for Nettles as a solo artist, after previously releasing Gold and Green with Sugarland in 2009.
Bigger is the sixth studio album by American country music duo Sugarland. It was released on June 8, 2018, through Big Machine Records. This is their first album in eight years since 2010's The Incredible Machine, and first on Big Machine.
1 2 Wood, Mikael (October 2, 2010). "In a Big Country". Billboard. p.18. Retrieved November 12, 2016. Sugarland cites OMD and Peter Gabriel as influences.
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