Montevallo (album)

Montevallo is the debut studio album by American country music singer Sam Hunt. It was released on October 27, 2014, by MCA Nashville.[4][5] Hunt co-wrote all 10 tracks on the album.[6] The album was produced by Zach Crowell and Shane McAnally.[7] "Cop Car" was previously recorded by Keith Urban on his eighth studio album Fuse, who released it as a single in January 2014.

Montevallo
Studio album by
Sam Hunt
ReleasedOctober 27, 2014 (2014-10-27)
Recorded2013–2014
Genre
Length38:19
LabelMCA Nashville
Producer
Sam Hunt chronology
X2C
(2014)		 Montevallo
(2014)		 Southside
(2020)
Singles from Montevallo
  1. "Leave the Night On"
    Released: June 16, 2014
  2. "Take Your Time"
    Released: November 24, 2014
  3. "House Party"
    Released: June 1, 2015[2]
  4. "Break Up in a Small Town"
    Released: September 21, 2015
  5. "Make You Miss Me"
    Released: March 7, 2016[3]

In 2015, Montevallo was nominated for Best Country Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.[8] It won the 2016 American Country Countdown Awards for Digital Album of the Year.[9]

Background

The album's name is a nod to the town of Montevallo, Alabama, the hometown of Hunt's wife, Hannah Lee Fowler.[10] He played football for the UAB Blazers and met Hannah during his time in Birmingham. Hunt moved to Nashville in 2008 but continued to date his girlfriend on and off. Fowler and Hunt married in Georgia in 2017. Many of the songs on the album are inspired by their relationship challenges.[11]

Singles

"Leave the Night On" was released as the lead single from the album on June 16, 2014. The song peaked at number one on both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart, as well as peaking at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of February 2015, it has sold 1,002,000 copies in the US.

"Take Your Time" was released as the second single from the album on November 24, 2014. The song became Hunt's most successful single up to that time, crossing over to pop and adult contemporary formats, peaking at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart. It topped the year-end charts on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2015. It has been certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA. As of March 2016, it has sold 2,001,000 copies in the US.

"House Party" was released as the third single from the album on June 1, 2015. Like the previous singles, "House Party" also reached number one on both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart. It peaked at number 26 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of February 2016, it has sold 1,121,000 copies in the US.

"Break Up in a Small Town" was released as the fourth single from the album on September 21, 2015. It peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Hunt's first single to miss the top spot on the Hot Country Songs chart and the Country Airplay chart, peaking at number two on both charts. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of March 2016, it has sold 1,230,000 copies in the US.

"Make You Miss Me" was released as the fifth single from the album on March 7, 2016. It topped the Country Airplay chart, making Hunt the first solo male artist to land four number ones on the Country Airplay chart from a debut studio album. It peaked at number two on the Hot Country Songs chart and at number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100. As of September 2016, it has sold 607,000 copies in the US.[12]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Billboard[14]
PopMatters[1]
Vice (Expert Witness)(1-star Honorable Mention)[15]

Upon release, Montevallo received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, and drew heavy attention to Hunt's incorporation of hip hop, R&B, and pop music elements into the project. At Album of the Year, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70 based on 3 reviews.[16] Elias Leight from Billboard provided a favorable review, describing "eighty percent of this album could compete easily in the top 40", and stated the album "comes from a guy with a hit on the country charts, but has little to identify it as country." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album 3.5 out of 5, saying that "Hunt is unabashedly a modern guy and his taste for busy electronic arrangements and facility with fleet-footed rhythms distinguish him from the pack of modern country bros...What grounds the album is his clean, commercial songwriting, heavy on hooks but also sturdily constructed. Ultimately, Hunt's ability to fuse his classical construction with modern flair and pass it off as no big thing is what makes his debut something more than just another album from the bro next door."[13] Writing for Vice, Robert Christgau cited "Take Your Time" and "Cop Car" as highlights and summarized the album with the following: "Popmeister from a small town hooks women for a living, defies cops for show".[15]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number three and on the Top Country Albums chart at number one, with 70,000 sold for the week. The lead single from the album, "Leave the Night On" also reached number one at the same time on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, which made Sam Hunt the first country artist in 22 years to reach the top of three country charts simultaneously since Billy Ray Cyrus.[17] Montevallo topped the Top Country Albums chart for nine non-consecutive weeks. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on April 14, 2015, and 2× Platinum on February 1, 2016.[18] The album reached over a million in sales in the US by February 2016.[19] As of April 2017, the album has sold 1,292,400 copies in the US.[20]

For the year-end charts of 2015, Montevallo was ranked at number one on the Top Country Albums chart and at number 11 on the US Billboard 200.

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Take Your Time"
4:02
2."Leave the Night On"
  • Hunt
  • Osborne
  • McAnally
3:12
3."House Party"
3:10
4."Break Up in a Small Town"
  • Hunt
  • Crowell
  • McAnally
3:49
5."Single for the Summer"
  • Hunt
  • Crowell
  • Osborne
  • McAnally
5:10
6."Ex to See"
3:18
7."Make You Miss Me"
  • Hunt
  • Osborne
  • Ramsey
3:45
8."Cop Car"
4:13
9."Raised on It"
  • Hunt
  • Crowell
  • Flowers
3:55
10."Speakers"
  • Hunt
  • Kylie Sackley
  • Brandon Hood
3:46

Personnel

Mix engineers

  • Zach Crowell – "House Party", "Cop Car", "Single for the Summer", "Make You Miss Me", "Speakers"
  • Billy Decker – "Leave the Night On", "Raised on It"
  • Ryan Gore – "Take Your Time"
  • Reid Shippen – "Break Up in a Small Town", "Ex to See"

Musicians

Production

  • Brad Belanger – cover photo
  • Kenley Flynn – production coordination
  • Andrew Mendelson – mastering engineer
  • Karen Naff – design
  • Stephanie Wright – A&R

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[54] Platinum 80,000^
United States (RIAA)[55] 4× Platinum 3,000,000‡ / 1,292,400[20]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Easton, Anthony (19 November 2014). "Sam Hunt: Montevallo". PopMatters. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  2. "R&R :: Going For Adds :: Country". Radio & Records. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  3. "Sam Hunt's 5th single announced" (PDF). CountryAircheck. Retrieved Feb 29, 2016.
  4. Allers, Hannahlee (September 12, 2014). "Sam Hunt Announces Debut Album". The Boot. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  5. Howell, Coti (September 16, 2014). "Sam Hunt Reveals 'Montevallo' Album Details". Taste of Country. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  6. Nicholson, Jessica (September 9, 2014). "Sam Hunt To Release 'Montevallo' In October". MusicRow. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  7. Bjorke, Matt (September 11, 2014). "Sam Hunt "Montevallo" Tracklist & Cover Art". Roughstock. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  8. "Final Nomination List : 58th Grammy Awards" (PDF). Grammy Award. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  9. Angela Stefano (May 1, 2016). "2016 American Country Countdown Awards Winners List". The Boot.
  10. "Sam Hunt Reveals the Meaning Behind His Album Title, "Montevallo," Out Now - Music News - ABC News Radio". abcnewsradioonline.com. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  11. Wray, Cheryl (2017-08-31). "12 things to know about Sam Hunt's time at UAB". al. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  12. Bjorke, Matt (September 19, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Singles Chart: September 19, 2016". Roughstock.
  13. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Montevallo review". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  14. Leight, Elias (October 30, 2014). "Album Review: Country Singer Sam Hunt Already Sounds Post-Country on His Debut Album". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  15. Christgau, Robert (July 1, 2016). "Expert Witness". Noisey. Vice. Retrieved July 9, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  16. "Sam Hunt - Montevallo". Album of the Year. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  17. Jessen, Wade (November 7, 2014). "Sam Hunt Scores Country Charts Feat Last Achieved 22 Years Ago". Billboard.
  18. "American album certifications – Sam Hunt – Montevallo". Recording Industry Association of America.
  19. Caulfield, Keith (February 2, 2016). "Sam Hunt's 'Montevallo' Hits 1 Million Sold in the U.S." Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  20. Bjorke, Matt (April 18, 2017). "Top Country Catalog Album Sales Chart: April 18, 2017". Roughstock.
  21. "ARIA Report". ARIA. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  22. "Ultratop.be – Sam Hunt – Montevallo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  23. "Sam Hunt Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sam Hunt – Montevallo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  25. "Italiancharts.com – Sam Hunt – Montevallo". Hung Medien.
  26. "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  27. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  28. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  29. "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  30. "Sam Hunt Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  31. "Sam Hunt Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  32. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
  33. "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  34. "ARIA Top 50 Country Albums for 2015". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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  40. "ARIA Top 50 Country Albums for 2017". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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  53. "Decade-End Charts: Top Country Albums". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
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  55. "American album certifications – Sam Hunt – Montevallo". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
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