That's Why is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Craig Morgan. It was released on October 21, 2008 by BNA Records (see 2008 in country music) after his exiting Broken Bow Records earlier that same year. As with his first two Broken Bow albums — 2003's I Love It and 2005's My Kind of Livin' — Morgan co-produced the album with Phil O'Donnell. They co-wrote the lead-off single "Love Remembers", which became Morgan's sixth Top Ten hit on the Hot Country Songs charts in November 2008. Following this song was "God Must Really Love Me", which became his first single to miss the Top 20 since "Look At Us", which peaked at number 27 in 2004. A May 21, 2009, reissue replaced two songs with new songs, including "Bonfire", which was released that month as the third single. As of September 18, 2010, the album has sold 60,868 copies in the U.S.[1]

That's Why
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 21, 2008 (2008-10-21)
StudioEmerald Sound Studios, Nashville
GenreCountry
Length38:41
LabelBNA Records
ProducerCraig Morgan
Phil O'Donnell
Craig Morgan chronology
Greatest Hits
(2008)
That's Why
(2008)
This Ole Boy
(2012)
Singles from That's Why
  1. "Love Remembers"
    Released: May 5, 2008
  2. "God Must Really Love Me"
    Released: January 20, 2009
  3. "Bonfire"
    Released: May 20, 2009
  4. "This Ain't Nothin'"
    Released: January 25, 2010

Content

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On May 26, 2009,[2] That's Why was re-issued with the new tracks "Bonfire" and "This Ain't Nothin'", which replaced "Every Red Light" and "Summer Sundown."[3] Morgan wrote "Bonfire" with former Lyric Street Records artist Kevin Denney, as well as Mike Rogers and Tom Botkin. Released in May as the third single, it debuted at number 55 on the chart week of June 6, 2009. The song became Morgan's third top 5 hit, peaking at number 4.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [4]
Country Standard Time(favorable)[5]
USA Today     [6]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, reviewing the album for Allmusic, gave it three stars out of five. He said that the production and lyrics were largely uninspired, and that most of the songs were mid-tempo in nature, but added that Morgan's "cured country croon" kept the material from sounding too much like pop music.[4] Jessica Phillips of Country Standard Time gave a more favorable review. Although she said that his lyrics tended towards commonplace country topics such as "patriotism, family, southern pride, faith, and love", she said that the songs were "simple but profoundly observant" and that Morgan's voice recalled Randy Travis. Phillips cited "Lookin' Back with You" as one of the strongest lyrics that Morgan had written, and noted his "almost-power ballad" performance on "Love Remembers".[5] USA Today gave the album two and a half stars and wrote, "Everyday life makes for tricky subject matter -- the best songs come alive when he gets the details just right; otherwise, they just rhyme."[6]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Remembers"Craig Morgan, Phil O'Donnell3:57
2."Lookin' Back with You"Tim James, Morgan, O'Donnell3:57
3."That's Why"Morgan, O'Donnell, Dave Turnbull3:54
4."Sticks"Galen Griffin, Gary Hannan, Morgan, O'Donnell4:20
5."God Must Really Love Me"Jim Collins, Troy Verges3:43
6."Summer Sundown"Jeremy Campbell, Morgan, O'Donnell3:53
7."Every Red Light"Monty Criswell, Rick Huckaby, Wade Kirby3:36
8."It Took a Woman"Jimmy Melton, Turnbull3:21
9."Planet Her"Kirby, Morgan, O'Donnell3:58
10."Ordinary Angels"Angelo Petraglia, Steven Lee Olsen, Richard Supa4:02
Re-issue track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Remembers"Morgan, O'Donnell3:57
2."Bonfire"Morgan, Kevin Denney, Mike Rogers, Tom Botkin2:59
3."That's Why"Morgan, O'Donnell, Turnbull3:54
4."This Ain't Nothin'"Kerry Kurt Phillips, Chris DuBois4:02
5."God Must Really Love Me"Collins, Verges3:43
6."Lookin' Back with You"James, Morgan, O'Donnell3:57
7."Sticks"Griffin, Hannan, Morgan, O'Donnell4:20
8."It Took a Woman"Melton, Turnbull3:21
9."Planet Her"Kirby, Morgan, O'Donnell3:58
10."Ordinary Angels"Petraglia, Olsen, Supa4:02
Cracker Barrel re-issue track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Remembers"Morgan, O'Donnell3:57
2."Bonfire"Morgan, Denney, Rogers, Botkin2:59
3."That's Why"Morgan, O'Donnell, Turnbull3:54
4."This Ain't Nothin'"Phillips, DuBois4:02
5."God Must Really Love Me"Collins, Verges3:43
6."Lookin' Back with You"James, Morgan, O'Donnell3:57
7."Sticks"Griffin, Hannan, Morgan, O'Donnell4:20
8."It Took a Woman"Melton, Turnbull3:21
9."Planet Her"Kirby, Morgan, O'Donnell3:58
10."Ordinary Angels"Petraglia, Olsen, Supa4:02
11."You"Jeffrey Steele, Tom Hambridge, Craig Wiseman3:23
12."Summer Sundown"Campbell, Morgan, O'Donnell3:53
13."Evel Knievel"Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell3:13

Personnel

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Chart performance

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Album

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Chart (2008) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 8
U.S. Billboard 200 39

Singles

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Year Single Peak chart
positions
US Country US
2008 "Love Remembers" 9 73
2009 "God Must Really Love Me" 26
"Bonfire" 4 57
2010 "This Ain't Nothin'" 13 83
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

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  1. ^ "CMA Fest TV Show Impacts Album Sales Charts This Week | New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video". Roughstock.com. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  2. ^ "That's Why Reissue". Allmusic. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  3. ^ Lacy, Andrew (May 28, 2009). "Craig Morgan — "Bonfire"". Engine 145. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "That's Why review". Allmusic. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  5. ^ a b Phillips, Jessica. "That's Why review". Country Standard Time. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Listen Up." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. June 15, 2011.