The Nashville Sound

Last updated
The Nashville Sound
The Nashville Sound - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 16, 2017
Studio RCA Studio A (Nashville, Tennessee) [1]
Genre Americana, alternative country
Length40:17
Label Southeastern
Producer Dave Cobb
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit chronology
Something More Than Free
(2015)
The Nashville Sound
(2017)
Reunions
(2020)

The Nashville Sound is the sixth studio album by Jason Isbell, and the third credited to "Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit" (the first since Here We Rest in 2011). It was released on June 16, 2017. [2] [3] The album was produced by Dave Cobb, who had produced Isbell's previous two albums: Southeastern (2013) and Something More Than Free (2015). At the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, the album won the award for Best Americana Album, and the song "If We Were Vampires" won the award for Best American Roots Song.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.9/10 [4]
Metacritic 82/100 [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
American Songwriter Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
The A.V. Club B+ [8]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Pitchfork 6.3/10 [11]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [13]
Uncut 9/10 [14]
Vice A [15]

The album earned Isbell his first CMA Award nomination, which was for Album of the Year at the 2017 ceremony. It won Best Americana Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, and International Album of the Year at the 2018 UK Americana Awards. Additionally, "If We Were Vampires" won the Grammy for Best American Roots Song. [16]

Accolades

PublicationYearAccoladeRankRef.
Rolling Stone
2017
50 Best Albums of 2017
21
Stereogum
2017
The 50 Best Albums of 2017
49
Uncut
2017
Albums of the Year
72
Exclaim!
2017
Top 10 Folk and Country Albums of 2017
4

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 with 54,000 album-equivalent units, of which 51,000 were pure album sales. [21] It is Isbell's highest placement on that chart, besting Something More Than Free , which peaked at number 6 in 2015. [21] As of December 2018, the album had sold 152,500 copies in the U.S. [22]

The single "If We Were Vampires" peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Triple A Airplay chart. [23]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jason Isbell, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Last of My Kind"4:22
2."Cumberland Gap"3:24
3."Tupelo"4:01
4."White Man's World"3:56
5."If We Were Vampires"3:35
6."Anxiety" (Isbell, Amanda Shires)6:57
7."Molotov"3:46
8."Chaos and Clothes"3:34
9."Hope the High Road"3:03
10."Something to Love"3:39

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic. [24]

The 400 Unit

Production and design

Charts

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References

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