Hopechest

Hopechest is the only studio album by American country music artist Stephanie Bentley. It was released on January 9, 1996 via Epic Records Nashville and it accounted for four singles, in addition to reprising a single from Ty Herndon's debut album What Mattered Most on which Bentley provided duet vocals. The album reached a peak of 60 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums charts.

This article is about the album by Stephanie Bentley. For the type of chest, see Hope chest. For other uses, see Hope chest (disambiguation).
Hopechest
Studio album by
Stephanie Bentley
ReleasedJanuary 9, 1996
GenreCountry
Length38:35
LabelEpic
ProducerTodd Wilkes and Paul Worley;
"Heart Half Empty" produced by Doug Johnson and Ed Seay

Content

Before the release of this album, Bentley had charted as a duet vocalist on Ty Herndon's 1996 single "Heart Half Empty", the third single from his debut album What Mattered Most, issued on Epic Records. After this single (which is also included on Hopechest) was Bentley's first solo release, "Who's That Girl". This song, her only solo Top 40 country hit, peaked at number 32 on the Billboard country charts. Following it were "Once I Was the Light of Your Life" at number 60, "The Hopechest Song" at number 47, and finally "Dead Ringer", which failed to chart. The album was produced by Paul Worley and Todd Wilkes, except for "Heart Half Empty", which Ed Seay and Doug Johnson produced. "Half the Moon" was previously recorded by Tanya Tucker on her 1992 album Can't Run from Yourself.

Critical reception

Hopechest received a B+ rating from Entertainment Weekly critic Alanna Nash. She thought that Bentley did not have a distinctive voice but still "delivered with smarts and sass". Nash also called the song selection "nearly faultless."[1] Chet Flippo of Billboard gave the album a positive review, saying that Bentley "has a big, controlled voice, solid writing chops, and an ear for a good song".[2]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Listening"Matraca Berg, Ronnie Samoset2:54
2."Who's That Girl"Stephanie Bentley, Don Pfrimmer, George Teren3:04
3."Once I Was the Light of Your Life"Hugh Prestwood3:40
4."What's Wrong With You (Is You Ain't Got Me)"Kevin Welch, Wally Wilson2:38
5."Half the Moon"Prestwood3:05
6."Permanent Hurt"John Hiatt3:25
7."The Hopechest Song"Angela Kaset4:11
8."If Promises Were Gold"Shawna Harrington-Burkhart, Karl Hasten3:24
9."Dead Ringer"Todd Cerney, Stewart Harris4:00
10."Heart Half Empty" (duet with Ty Herndon)Gary Burr, Desmond Child4:55
11."Think of Me"Bentley, Richard "Spady" Brannan3:19

Personnel

Chart performance
Chart (1997) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 60

References
  1. Nash, Alanna (1996-01-26). "Hopechest review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  2. Flippo, Chet (March 2, 1996). "Reviews: Hopechest". Billboard. p. 67.
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