We Are Tonight is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Billy Currington. It was released on September 17, 2013 via Mercury Nashville. The album includes the singles "Hey Girl" and "We Are Tonight".

We Are Tonight
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 17, 2013 (2013-09-17)
Recorded2013
GenreCountry
LabelMercury Nashville
Producer
Billy Currington chronology
Icon
(2011)
We Are Tonight
(2013)
Summer Forever
(2015)
Singles from We Are Tonight
  1. "Hey Girl"
    Released: March 18, 2013
  2. "We Are Tonight"
    Released: November 18, 2013

Content edit

Currington told Country Weekly that he wanted the album to be "completely happy". Unlike his previous four albums, Currington did not write any of the songs on We Are Tonight.[1]

Among the tracks are a cover of Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes", from his album In Between Dreams,[2] and a duet with Willie Nelson on "Hard to Be a Hippie". According to Currington, the song ended up as a duet with Nelson because Currington had told co-writer Scotty Emerick, a mutual friend of the two, that he wanted to record the song; when Emerick said that Nelson wanted to record it, Currington then suggested that they do it as a duet.[1]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [3]
Country WeeklyA−[4]
Got Country Online     [5]
Music Is My Oxygen     [6]
The Plain DealerC[7]
Roughstock     [8]

We Are Tonight has generally received positive reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic told that "none of [Currington’s] moves feel self-conscious", and that album was "guaranteed to create some nice mellow vibes."[3] Jon Freeman of Country Weekly said that "Billy is a skilled interpreter of songs with a knack for finding the soul in every selection." He generally praised the song selection, but criticized the title track for "fall[ing] back on the small-town truck-riding clichés so prevalent at the moment."[4] Matt Bjorke of Roughstock felt that "We Are Tonight mixes traditional country elements with soul elements and contemporary elements and turns it into a sound that is uniquely and unquestionably Billy Currington."[8] Tara Toro at Got Country Online wrote that the album "will hook ya."[5] Rob Burkhardt of Music Is My Oxygen affirmed that "We Are Tonight is a focused and well-produced record that plays to Billy Currington’s strengths and puts him in the running to be an A-list performer", and that "Time alone will tell whether enough fans will catch on to Currington’s unique style, but this is definitely a record worthy of the attention."[6] Chuck Yarborough of The Plain Dealer stated that the album was "so disappointing. It’s not that it’s all that up-tempo – although most of it is – it’s just that none of it FEELS like it’s coming from a country guy pretending to be a pop guy pretending to be a country guy."[7]

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hey Girl"3:22
2."Wingman"4:00
3."One Way Ticket"
  • Gregory Becker
  • Troy Jones
2:55
4."23 Degrees and South"4:00
5."We Are Tonight"3:52
6."Hard to Be a Hippie" (duet with Willie Nelson)3:40
7."Closer Tonight"4:59
8."Another Day Without You"
4:08
9."Banana Pancakes"Jack Johnson4:37
10."Hallelujah"3:03

Personnel edit

Adapted from liner notes[9]

Tracks 3, 4, 6–9 edit

Tracks 1, 2, 5 edit

Track 10 edit

Chart performance edit

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number 10, and at number five on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 26,000 copies in its first week in the US.[10] It sold 41,000 copies in three weeks.[11]

Singles edit

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US Country Airplay US CAN Country
[15]
CAN
2013 "Hey Girl" 5 1 39 18 58
"We Are Tonight" 12 1 60 17 87

References edit

  1. ^ a b Dunkerley, Beville (22 July 2013). "Billy's Back: After three years under the radar, Billy Currington returns with a flirty new single". Country Weekly. 20 (29): 41. ISSN 1074-3235.
  2. ^ Skates, Sarah (10 June 2013). "Billy Currington Preps First Album in Three Years". MusicRow. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (September 16, 2013). "We Are Tonight – Billy Currington : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Freeman, Jon (September 17, 2013). "We Are Tonight by Billy Currington". Country Weekly. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Toro, Tara (September 13, 2013). "ALBUM REVIEW: Billy Currington "We Are Tonight"". Got Country Online. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Burkhardt, Rob (September 19, 2013). "Billy Currington "We Are Tonight" –Album Review". Music Is My Oxygen. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Yarborough, Chuck (September 20, 2013). "Billy Currington's much-anticipated 'We Are Tonight' misses the mark (CD Review)". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Bjorke, Matt (September 17, 2013). "Album Review: Billy Currington – We Are Tonight". Roughstock. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  9. ^ We Are Tonight (CD booklet). Billy Currington. Mercury Records Nashville. 2013. B0018447-02.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ Keith Caulfield (September 25, 2013). "Jack Johnson Scores Fourth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard.
  11. ^ Matt Bjorke (October 9, 2013). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of October 9, 2013: Tyler Farr Debuts, Luke Bryan Leads, Colt Ford Returns". Roughstock.
  12. ^ "Billy Currington Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  13. ^ "Billy Currington Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  14. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  15. ^ "Billy Currington Album & Song Chart History – Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.