Delicious Surprise is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Jo Dee Messina, released on April 26, 2005 via Curb Records. Her first non-Christmas album since Burn (2000), the album was recorded following the release of her first greatest hits collection in 2003. Delicious Surprise is Messina's first album in which she is credited as a producer. Messina also had a bigger hand in the writing of the album, co-writing three songs and solely writing another song.

Delicious Surprise
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 26, 2005 (2005-04-26)
Recorded2004
GenreCountry
Length43:58
LabelCurb
ProducerMark Bright
Byron Gallimore
Tim McGraw
Jo Dee Messina
Jo Dee Messina chronology
Greatest Hits
(2003)
Delicious Surprise
(2005)
Unmistakable: Love
(2010)
Singles from Delicious Surprise
  1. "My Give a Damn's Busted"
    Released: January 3, 2005
  2. "Delicious Surprise (I Believe It)"
    Released: June 20, 2005
  3. "Not Going Down"
    Released: December 5, 2005
  4. "It's Too Late to Worry"
    Released: July 10, 2006
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

The album became her third number one on the Top Country Albums chart and her first top ten album on the all-genre Billboard 200, peaking at number seven. The lead single, "My Give a Damn's Busted", became one of her most successful singles to date, topping the Hot Country Songs chart for two weeks. Follow-up singles "Delicious Surprise (I Believe It)", "Not Going Down", and "It's Too Late to Worry", although less successful, all peaked within the top-forty. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

Following this album, Messina wouldn't release another commercially released album until 2014, with her sixth studio album Me. The singer had attempted a follow up to Delicious Surprise titled Unmistakable. Three singles were released from this album, "Biker Chick", "I'm Done", and "Shine" but after Messina's label refused the release of "Shine" and delayed the album even more, the album was scrapped and it was divided into three EPs, with Unmistakable: Love charting on Billboard charts. It was the last project Messina released for Curb Records before she left the label in 2012.

Commercial performance edit

Delicious Surprise debuted on the Top Country Albums on May 14, 2005 at number one, selling 99,000 copies in its first week.[3] Coincidentally, Delicious Surprise went number one on the country charts the same week "My Give a Damn's Busted" rose to the top of the Hot Country Songs chart. The album gave Messina the best first-sales week of her career. The album also managed to debut at number seven on the Billboard 200, surpassing the number-14 peak set by her 2003 Greatest Hits collection to becoming her highest-charting album on that chart. However, the album quickly fell from its peak positions on both charts due to the poor success of the following singles. Delicious Surprise only spent 40 weeks on Top Country Albums and 16 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Not Going Down"Kevin Savigar; Shaunn Bolton3:16
2."Someone Else's Life"Danny Wells; John Bettis; Chris Farren3:27
3."Delicious Surprise (I Believe It)"Beth Hart; Glen Burtnik3:48
4."It Gets Better"Jo Dee Messina4:32
5."Who's Crying Now"Patrick Jason Matthews; George Teren3:29
6."My Give a Damn's Busted"Joe Diffie; Tom Shapiro; Tony Martin3:18
7."It's Too Late to Worry"Ron Harbin; Danny Wells; Anthony L. Smith3:55
8."Life Is Good"Jo Dee Messina; Mark Selby3:12
9."Love Is Not Enough"Jo Dee Messina; Mike Reid3:55
10."Where Were You"Jo Dee Messina; John Bettis; Wayne Kirkpatrick3:31
11."I Wear My Life"Shaye Smith; Katrina Elam; Christi Dannemiller4:08
12."You Were Just Here"Brett James; Troy Verges; Hillary Lindsey3:27
Total length:43:58

Personnel edit

Compiled from liner notes.[4]

Musicians edit

Production edit

  • Tracks 1, 3, 9: Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw
  • Tracks 4-6, 8, 11: Byron Gallimore and Jo Dee Messina
  • Track 2, 7, 10, 12: Mark Bright and Jo Dee Messina

Chart performance edit

Singles edit

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US CAN Country
2005 "My Give a Damn's Busted" 1 63 1
"Delicious Surprise (I Believe It)" 23 - 24
"Not Going Down" 28 - -
2006 "It's Too Late to Worry" 34 - -

References edit

  1. ^ Delicious Surprise at AllMusic
  2. ^ Rollingstone
  3. ^ "Over the Counter" (PDF). Billboard. May 14, 2005. p. 49.
  4. ^ Delicious Surprise (CD liner notes). Jo Dee Messina. Curb Records. 2005. 78770.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ "Jo Dee Messina Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "Jo Dee Messina Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  8. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2020.