Dusty Drake is the debut studio album by American country music artist Dusty Drake. It is also his only studio album, having been released in 2003 via Warner Records Nashville. "And Then", "One Last Time", and "Smaller Pieces" were all released as singles.

Dusty Drake
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 3, 2003 (2003-06-03)
GenreCountry
LabelWarner Bros. Nashville
ProducerBilly Crain
Paul Worley
Clarke Schleicher

Content

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The album contains three singles: "And Then", "One Last Time", and "Smaller Pieces". All three made the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts between 2002 and 2003, with "One Last Time" reaching number 26 in early 2003.[1] "One Last Time" is a memorial to the passengers on the planes of 9/11.[2]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [3]
Country Standard Timemixed[4]
Billboardfavorable[5]

Ray Waddell reviewed the album favorably in Billboard, praising Drake's songwriting and the variety of tempos in the music. He also compared Drake's voice favorably to that of John Anderson.[5] Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine also described Drake as having "songwriting smarts", noting influences of both traditional country music and arena rock. He concluded his review by saying that "A taste for sentiment and silliness may keep this from being continually engaging, but at its best, Dusty Drake is tuneful, rocking, memorable modern country, beating Toby Keith at his own game", rating the album four out of five stars.[3] Country Standard Time writer Stuart Munro was mixed, praising the lyrics of "Smaller Pieces" and "The Wish" while criticizing the same of "Too Wet to Plow" and "Ain't Nobody's Business". He described Drake's singing as "emotive" on "One Last Time", but added that the production "opts for a bombastic Southern rock or arena country sound...And Drake seems prone to mistake passion for singing at full throttle".[4]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Too Wet to Plow"Ron Harbin, Dusty Drake, Jerry Vandiver3:26
2."Not Bad for a Good Ole Boy"Wayne Womack, Drake, Kerry Kurt Phillips3:42
3."Smaller Pieces"Harbin, Drake, Phillips3:24
4."One Last Time"Phillips, Patrick Jason Matthews3:47
5."Going on Eighteen"Michael P. Heeney, Casey Beathard4:31
6."The Hard Way"Al Anderson, Bob DiPiero, Jeffrey Steele4:31
7."Just Can't Take a Train"Trey Bruce5:14
8."The Wish"Frank Highland, Aaron Sain, Drake4:08
9."And Then"Bob Feldman, Robert Vega, Ray Vega3:40
10."Ain't Nobody's Business"Billy Crain, Drake3:55
11."Radio"Greg Johnson, Drake3:08

Personnel

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Chart performance

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Chart (2003) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums[6] 30
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers[7] 22

References

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  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2017). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2017. Record Research, Inc. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-89820-229-8.
  2. ^ Sara E. Quay, Amy M. Damico September 11 in Popular Culture: A Guide 2010 p.296
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Dusty Drake at AllMusic
  4. ^ a b Country Standard Time review
  5. ^ a b "Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. June 14, 2003. pp. 39–40.
  6. ^ "Dusty Drake Album & Song Chart History - Country Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  7. ^ "Billboard Heatseekers". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 21, 2003. p. 6. Retrieved August 18, 2011.