Bring You Back is the debut album by American country music artist Brett Eldredge. It was released on August 6, 2013 by Atlantic Records. The album was originally titled One Way Ticket,[1] and was to include Eldredge's second single "It Ain't Gotta Be Love".[2] However, the album was renamed before release and "It Ain't Gotta Be Love" was scrapped from the final track listing.[3] The album includes the singles "Raymond", "Don't Ya", "Beat of the Music" and "Mean to Me", the latter three of which all reached number one on the BillboardCountry Airplay chart. The album has gained critical acclaim by music critics.
Brett Eldredge stated that the last song "Go On Without Me" was written in memoriam about Lindsay Nicole Walleman,[4] the Manager of Midwest/Northeast Promotions, W.A.R. Team at Warner Music Nashville, after she died of cancer in 2013.[5][6] In addition, Eldredge noted that Walleman was "'one of the people who were fighting for me to get on the radio'", and he told that "'When the label heard this song, they agreed that we were finishing the album with it.'"[5][6]
On August 17, 2023, Eldredge released the ten year edition of the album featuring a bonus track called "Adios Old Friend".[7]
Bring You Back garnered critical acclaim from the six music critics to review the album. At Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted that the release is "crisp, chipper, and eager to please, an album that cheerfully checks off every box on contemporary country radio."[8] In addition, Erlewine noted that "everything" contained on the effort "is shiny, happy country-pop -- even the ballads feel bright -- but that's the appeal of Eldredge and his debut: everybody involved worked hard to deliver a piece of gleaming modern country product, and it's hard to resist all that impeccable craft."[8] Giving it a "B+", Bob Paxman of Country Weekly described Eldredge's voice as "soulful", comparing his delivery on "Waited Too Long" and the title track favorably to Travis Tritt. He wrote that some of the songs "travel down the often-trod pavement of small-town odes[…]But never do they sound contrived or overly sentimental". However, he called "On and On" and "Beat of the Music" "ordinary".[9]
Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal told that everyone of the "songs on here are flawless and they each have their own identities", which they are "
not overdone or overproduced", and the tracks are "well-written and sung from the heart."[10] Additionally, Papadatos stated that "if a baseball analogy were used to describe the excellence of this album, it is safe to say that Brett has hit a grand slam with 'Bring You Back.'"[10] Got Country Online's Donna Block noted that "just as his music covers many genres, the songs on his album will touch a wide range of emotions."[11] At Roughstock, Dan MacIntosh felt that "maybe it's this album's overall sonic warmth that makes it feel undeniably Country, even without many of the more obvious aural clues."[12] Billy Dukes of Taste of Country found that "the pace is exhilarating, but also worth noting are the subtle warbles and variations in his voice that make each song on 'Bring You Back' a unique moment."[13]
The album debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart, with 21,000 copies sold in the U.S. in its debut week.[14] It was the best start by a new male artist on Top Country Albums in nearly a year. The album has sold 183,000 copies in the U.S. as of June 2015.[15]
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