Wikipedia

Storm in the Heartland

Storm in the Heartland is the third studio album by American country music artist Billy Ray Cyrus. Released in 1994 on Mercury Records, it produced the singles "Storm in the Heartland", "Deja Blue", and "One Last Thrill", the first two of which entered the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. The album itself was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies.

Storm in the Heartland
Studio album by
Billy Ray Cyrus
ReleasedNovember 8, 1994 (1994-11-08)
Recorded1993–1994
StudioMusic Mill Recording Studio, Screaming Woo Studio, Sound Stage Studios; Nashville, TN
GenreCountry
Length55:18
LabelMercury
ProducerJim Cotton
Joe Scaife
Billy Ray Cyrus chronology
It Won't Be the Last
(1993) 		Storm in the Heartland
(1994) 		Trail of Tears
(1996)

Content edit

"How Much" was originally recorded by co-writer Danny Tate for his 1992 self-titled album.[1]

"Only God (Could Stop Me Loving You)" was later recorded by Chris Ward for his 1996 album One Step Beyond, by Lari White as a duet with Toby Keith on White's 1998 album Stepping Stone, and by the Canadian country band Emerson Drive on their 2002 self-titled album. Emerson Drive's rendition was released as a single in 2003.

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [2]
Entertainment WeeklyC[3]
New Country     [4]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated the album three stars out of five, saying that he considered it an improvement over It Won't Be the Last.[2] Chris Dickinson of New Country magazine gave it 2 out of 5. He wrote that "On Storm in the Heartland, Cyrus kept the pop, the rock, the bombast, and the bluster, but tossed out the memorable hooks." He thought that the album lacked personality and had "cluttered" production, but praised "A Heart with Your Name on It" and "Roll Me Over" as "fun", and "Patsy Come Home" as "sentimental but moving."[4] Giving it a "C", Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Cyrus "sticks to the tried-and-true" but added that "the yahoo factor figures heavily on 'Redneck Heaven'[…]and on 'The Past,' Cyrus misses his notes by a mile. An achy-breaky embarrassment."[3]

Track listing edit

  1. "Storm in the Heartland" (Billy Henderson, Donald Burns, Curt Ryle) — 3:53
  2. "Deja Blue" (Craig Wiseman, Donny Lowery) — 3:36
  3. "Redneck Heaven" (Billy Ray Cyrus, Terry Shelton, Michael Joe Sagraves, Mark Collie, Danny Shirley) — 4:03
    • featuring Mark Collie and Danny Shirley
  4. "Casualty of Love" (Cyrus, Don Von Tress) — 4:29
  5. "One Last Thrill" (Dave Loggins, Reed Nielsen) — 3:38
  6. "I Ain't Even Left" (Cyrus, Corky Holbrook, Joe Scaife) — 3:51
  7. "How Much" (Gregg Sutton, Danny Tate) — 5:30
  8. "Patsy Come Home" (Ronnie Scaife, Katie Wallace) — 3:53
  9. "A Heart with Your Name on It" (Brett Beavers, Phillip Douglas) — 2:44
  10. "Only God Could Stop Me Loving You" (Robert John "Mutt" Lange) — 5:10
  11. "Roll Me Over" (Cyrus, Barton Stevens, Greg Fletcher, Shelton, Holbrook, Sagraves) — 2:33
  12. "Enough Is Enough" (Cyrus, Von Tress, Keith Hinton) — 3:43
  13. "The Past" (Cyrus) — 4:06
  14. "Geronimo" (Cyrus, Von Tress, Hinton) — 3:51

Chart performance edit

Singles edit

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US CAN Country
1994 "Storm in the Heartland" 33 108 17
1995 "Deja Blue" 66 — 60
"One Last Thrill" — — —
"—" denotes releases that failed to chart

Personnel edit

As listed in the album's liner notes.[9]

Sly Dog
Additional musicians
  • Eddie Bayers - drums
  • Mike Brignardello - bass guitar
  • Clyde "Butch" Carr - tambourine, background vocals
  • Mark Collie - background vocals on "Redneck Heaven"
  • Jim Cotton - Indian chants on "Geronimo"
  • Dan Dugmore - steel guitar, lap steel guitar, Dobro
  • Sonny Garrish - Dobro
  • Keith Hinton - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Indian chants on "Geronimo"
  • Mike Lawler - keyboards
  • Dave Loggins - background vocals on "One Last Thrill"
  • Gary Lunn - bass guitar
  • Randy McCormick - keyboards
  • The Oak Ridge Boys - background vocals on "I Ain't Even Left"
  • Matt Rollings - piano
  • Joe Scaife - background vocals
  • Ronny Scaife - acoustic guitar, background vocals
  • Danny Shirley - background vocals on "Redneck Heaven"
  • Joe Shirley - background vocals
  • Don Von Trees - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals
  • Billy Joe Walker Jr. - acoustic guitar
  • Reggie Young - electric guitar

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[11] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References edit

  1. ^ Danny Tate - Danny Tate | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2024-04-16
  2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Storm in the Heartland - Billy Ray Cyrus". Allmusic. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Nash, Alanna (November 11, 1994). "Album Review: 'Storm in the Heartland' Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Dickinson, Chris (December 1994). "Reviews: Billy Ray Cyrus — Storm in the Heartland". New Country. 1 (11): 58–59.
  5. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Billy Ray Cyrus – Storm In The Heartland". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  6. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  8. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  9. ^ Storm in the Heartland (CD booklet). Billy Ray Cyrus. Mercury Records. 1994. 314-526 081-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Billy Ray Cyrus – Storm in the Heartland". Music Canada. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  11. ^ "American album certifications – Billy Ray Cyrus – Storm in the Heartland". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
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