Hero (Maren Morris album)

Hero
Studio album by Maren Morris
Released June 3, 2016 (2016-06-03)
Recorded 2015–16
Genre
Label Columbia Nashville
Producer
  • busbee
  • Ian Fitchuk
  • Brad Hill
  • Maren Morris
  • Brett Tyler
Maren Morris chronology
Maren Morris EP
(2015)		 Hero
(2016)
Singles from Hero
  1. "My Church"
    Released: January 19, 2016
  2. "80s Mercedes"
    Released: June 27, 2016[1]

Hero is the major label debut studio album by American singer Maren Morris. It was released on June 3, 2016, by Columbia Nashville. The album is Morris' first release under a major label and her fourth overall. The album's track listing and cover art was released on March 14, 2016.[2] The album debuted and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Background

In August 2015, Morris self-released five songs as a self-titled extended play, Maren Morris, on Spotify.[3] The songs gained 2.5 million streams on Spotify in a month, with three songs appearing in Spotify's US and Global "Viral 50" chart. The success of Morris' EP attracted the interest of major labels, and she became signed to Columbia Nashville in September 2015.[4] The label then re-released the 5-song EP on November 6, 2015 with "My Church" the lead single.[5]

"My Church" would become a success on the chart, reaching number 5 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The success of "My Church" was followed by the release of the Morris' first major label album release, Hero.[5] The songs from the EP are included in this album release with the exception of "Company You Keep". The additional songs in the album were co-written with Chris DeStefano, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally, and others.[2] Morris has writing credits on all the songs in the album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]

Hero was well received by most music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised Morris' inventiveness and how she "skillfully slides between styles, blurring distinctions between genre and eras". Erlewine felt that the album "belongs to the digital era but it's the songs – smart, sharp, and hooky – that make this a great modern pop album, regardless of genre."[6] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times considered the album an outstanding country music debut, and "perhaps the canniest country record in recent memory." Caramanica thought Morris an "astute synthesizer" of various styles, and found the album to be "both utterly of its moment and also savvy enough to indicate how the future might sound." He also noted the profanity in some of the songs that Morris used "fluently, casually, and effectively, which is to say, you hardly notice at all as she's breaking what may be country's last remaining taboo."[7]

Accolades

Year Association Category Result
2016 CMA Awards[8] Album of the Year Nominated
CMA Awards New Artist of the Year Won
Publication Rank List
American Songwriter 40 Top 50 Albums of 2016[9]
NPR N/A 30 Favorite Albums of 2016 (So Far)[10]
Rolling Stone N/A 45 Best Albums of 2016 (So Far)[11]
13 50 Best Albums of 2016[12]

Commercial performance

In the United States, Hero debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart with 45,000 equivalent album units; the album sold 37,000 copies in pure sales, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting the album's streaming and track equivalent album units.[13] It also debuted at number one on the Top Country Albums chart. As of November 2016 the album has sold 133,000 copies in the United States.[14]

Singles

The album's lead single, "My Church", was released on January 19, 2016. The album's second single, "80s Mercedes", was released to country radio on June 27, 2016.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Sugar"  
 3:09
2. "Rich"  
  • Morris
  • Veltz
  • Jessie Jo Dillon
 3:28
3. "My Church"  
 3:17
4. "I Could Use a Love Song"  
 3:15
5. "80s Mercedes"  
  • Morris
  • busbee
 3:31
6. "Drunk Girls Don't Cry"  
 3:32
7. "How It's Done"  
 3:25
8. "Just Another Thing"  
 2:58
9. "I Wish I Was"  
  • Morris
  • Hemby
  • Ryan Hurd
 4:00
10. "Second Wind"  
 3:19
11. "Once"  
  • Morris
  • busbee
 3:53
Notes

Personnel

According to liner notes.[15]

Musicians

Choir singers – The McCrary Sisters (Regina McCrary, Deborah McCrary, Alfreda McCrary, Allen McCrary, Beverly McCrary)

Technical
  • Austin Atwood – digital editing
  • Adam Ayan – mastering
  • Jeff Balding – recording, engineer
  • busbee – production (all tracks except 9, 12, 14), recording, mixing
  • Dave Clauss – recording, mixing
  • Eric Darken – recording
  • Zach DeWall – assistant engineer
  • Ian Fitchuk – production (track 12), recording
  • Kenley Flynn – production assistant (track 14 only)
  • Brad Hill – production (tracks 6, 9, 13), recording
  • Scott Johnson – production assistant
  • Jordan Lehning – digital editing
  • Amanda Miller – assistant engineer
  • Maren Morris – production
  • Ernesto Olivera – assistant, drum recording assistant
  • Juan Sevilla – assistant engineer
  • Aaron Sterling – recording
  • Morgan Stratton – drum recording assistant
  • Brett Tyler – production (track 14), recording
  • Derek Wells – recording
  • Brian David Willis – digital editing

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 69
Australian Country Albums (ARIA)[17] 6
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[17] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 14
US Billboard 200[19] 5
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[20] 1

References

  1. ↑ Single Releases : MusicRow – Nashville's Music Industry Publication – News, Songs From Music City
  2. 1 2 Annie Reuter (March 14, 2016). "Maren Morris Announces Her Major Label Debut, 'Hero'". Taste of Country.
  3. ↑ "Maren Morris". Twitter.
  4. ↑ Jessica Nicholson (September 10, 2015). "Sony Music Nashville Signs Singer-Songwriter Maren Morris". Music Row.
  5. 1 2 Leahey, Andrew (March 14, 2016). "Maren Morris Plots 'Hero' Album Release". Rolling Stone.
  6. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Maren Morris: Hero". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  7. ↑ Jon Caramanica (June 1, 2016). "Review: Why 'Hero' Is an Outstanding Country Music Debut". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Watts, Cindy (August 31, 2016). "Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris leaders in 2016 CMA Awards nominations". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  9. ↑ American Songwriter Staff (December 1, 2016). "Top 50 Albums Of 2016". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  10. ↑ NPR Staff (June 27, 2016). "30 Favorite Albums Of 2016 (So Far)". NPR. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ Rolling Stone Staff (June 20, 2016). "45 Best Albums of 2016 So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  12. ↑ Rolling Stone staff (November 28, 2016). "50 Best Albums of 2016". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  13. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (June 2, 2016). "Drake's 'Views' Album No. 1 for Sixth Week on Billboard 200, Paul Simon Debuts at No. 3". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (November 28, 2016). "Top 10 Country Album Sales Chart: November 28, 2016". Roughstock. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  15. ↑ Hero (CD insert). Maren Morris. Columbia Records. 2016. 88985-32645-2.
  16. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (June 11, 2016). "ARIA Albums: Jimmy Barnes 'Soul Searchin' Is His 11th No 1 Album". Noise11. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  17. 1 2 "Issue 1372". ARIA Report. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Maren Morris – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Maren Morris. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Drake's 'Views' Album No. 1 for Sixth Week on Billboard 200, Paul Simon Debuts at No. 3". Billboard. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Maren Morris – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Maren Morris. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
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