Unstoppable (Rascal Flatts album)

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Unstoppable
Unstoppable (Rascal Flatts album) coverart.jpg
Studio album by
Rascal Flatts
ReleasedApril 7, 2009 (2009-04-07)
GenreCountry
Length45:41 (Standard Edition) 48:56 (J. C. Penney Bonus Track Edition)
LabelLyric Street
Producer
Rascal Flatts chronology
Greatest Hits Volume 1
(2008) 		Unstoppable
(2009) 		Nothing Like This
(2010)
Singles from Unstoppable
  1. "Here Comes Goodbye"
    Released: January 20, 2009
  2. "Summer Nights"
    Released: May 20, 2009
  3. "Why"
    Released: September 29, 2009
  4. "Unstoppable"
    Released: January 4, 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic2/5 stars[1]
About.com4/5 stars[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB-[3]
Roughstock(favorable)[4]
USA Today3/4 stars[5]

Unstoppable is the sixth studio album by American country music group Rascal Flatts, and their final album to be released with Lyric Street Records. It was released on April 7, 2009 and produced four singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. with 351,000 copies sold, making it the band's fourth consecutive number-one debut on the chart. It topped the 1 million mark on October 31, 2009.[6] As of June 2010, the album had sold over 1,230,638 copies in the United States.[7] This was the band's final album to top the Billboard 200.

Content[]

Three tracks were released as digital singles prior to the album's release: "Forever", "Love Who You Love" and "Things That Matter", on March 17, 24, and 31, respectively.

Singles[]

The first single, "Here Comes Goodbye", was released on January 20, 2009. The song was co-written by American Idol season 6 finalist Chris Sligh. Rascal Flatts will tour in support of the album on the Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour, presented by department store chain JCPenney. Editions sold at JCPenney include the bonus track "American Living".[8] "Summer Nights" was released as the second single from the album on May 19, 2009. It reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. "Why" was released as the third single from the album on September 29, 2009. It became their lowest-peaking career single to date, peaking at number 18 on the aforementioned chart. "'Unstoppable" was released as the album's fourth single on January 4, 2010, and was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard country chart.

Critical reception[]

The album overall gained mixed reviews. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the album a favorable review. Similar to his later review of the single "Summer Nights,", Bjorke commented that the album would appeal to fans of Rascal Flatts, but would unlikely bring new fans to the group. He specifically cited "Why" as the best track of the album, writing, "This is the kind of song that got me to personally like Rascal Flatts and it's certainly the best track on 'Unstoppable'" and "There's gotta be 'Song of the Year' accolades somewhere down the line for this song as it's that powerful."[4]

Track listing[]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Who You Love"Jason Sellers, Neil Thrasher, Paul Jenkins3:36
2."Here Comes Goodbye"Chris Sligh, Clint Lagerberg, Charles Kelley4:02
3."Close"Jay DeMarcus, Michael Dulaney, Sellers3:48
4."Forever"Sellers, Thrasher4:16
5."She'd Be California"Jenkins, Sellers, Tim Nichols4:18
6."Unstoppable"DeMarcus, James T. Slater, Hillary Lindsey3:48
7."Things That Matter"Gary LeVox, Thrasher, Dulaney4:41
8."Summer Nights"LeVox, Brett James, busbee4:03
9."Holdin' On"Dulaney, Thrasher, Wendell Mobley4:25
10."Once"Kara DioGuardi, John Shanks, Jeffrey Steele3:50
11."Why"Rob Mathes, Allen Shamblin4:55
Total length:45:41
J. C. Penney Bonus Track
No.TitleLength
12."American Living"3:15

Personnel[]

Rascal Flatts
  • Jay DeMarcus – bass guitar (all tracks), backing vocals (all tracks)
  • Gary Levox – lead vocals (all tracks)
  • Joe Don Rooney – electric guitar (all tracks), backing vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (2, 5, 6, 8, 9), guitar solos (2-11)
Additional Musicians
  • Tim Akers – keyboards (1)
  • Charlie Judge – keyboards (1, 3, 7, 11), synthesizers (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), loops (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), lap steel guitar (2, 10), cello (2), acoustic piano (4, 10), electric piano (5), percussion (6, 8), strings (6, 9), Hammond B3 organ (8, 10), string arrangements and conductor (11)
  • Gordon Mote – acoustic piano (2, 6, 7, 11)
  • Steve Nathan – Hammond B3 organ (5)
  • Tom Bukovac – electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11), acoustic guitar (2, 5, 6, 8, 9)
  • Dann Huff – electric guitar (1-5, 7-11), mandolin (1, 3), acoustic guitar (2, 4, 10, 11), banjo (3), dobro (10)
  • Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10), bouzouki (1), electric guitar (2, 6)
  • Adam Shoenfeld – electric guitar (3, 7, 10)
  • Paul Franklin – steel guitar (1-4, 6, 7, 8, 11), steel guitar solo (11)
  • Dan Dugmore – steel guitar (5, 9, 10)
  • Chris McHugh – drums (1-6, 8-11)
  • Shannon Forrest – drums (7)
  • Eric Darken – percussion (1, 5, 7, 11)
  • Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle (1, 6, 8), cello (5), 12-string bass (5), viola (5), violin (5), string arrangements (5), mandolin (7, 11)
  • David Campbell – string arrangements and conductor (2)
  • Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor (11)
  • The London Session Orchestra – strings (2)
  • The Nashville String Machine –strings (11)

Production[]

  • Dann Huff – producer
  • Rascal Flatts – producers
  • Kirk Boyer – A&R
  • Doug Howard – A&R
  • Darrell Franklin – A&R coordinator
  • Ben Fowler – recording
  • Justin Niebank – recording, mixing
  • Mark Hagen – overdub recording
  • Drew Bollman – recording assistant, mix assistant
  • Seth Morton – recording assistant, overdub assistant
  • John Netti – recording assistant, mix assistant
  • Taylor Nyquist – overdub assistant
  • Mark Petaccia – recording assistant, overdub assistant
  • Lowell Reynolds – recording assistant, overdub assistant
  • Roy Wallace – overdub assistant
  • Nathan Yarborough – recording assistant, overdub assistant
  • Christopher Rowe – digital editing
  • Adam Ayan – mastering
  • Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordinator
  • Sherri Halford – art direction
  • Ashley Heron – art direction
  • Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, package design
  • Chris Kubik – cover design
  • Fresh Film + Design – package design
  • Leann Mueller – photography
  • John Murphy – wardrobe
  • Melissa Schleicher – hair, makeup
Studios
  • Recorded at Blackbird Studio (Nashville, TN) and Capitol Studios (Hollywood, CA).
  • Overdubbed at Blackbird Studio; River City Studios, Ltd. (Grand Rapids, MI); Smart Studios (Madison, WI); Pogo Studios (Champaign, IL).
  • Mixed at Blackbird Studio
  • Mastered at Gateway Mastering (Portland , ME).

Chart performance[]

Singles[]

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US
[16] 		US
Pop 		US AC CAN
2009 "Here Comes Goodbye" 1 11 23 13 48
"Summer Nights" 2 37 — — 61
"Why" 18 102 — — —
2010 "Unstoppable" 7 52 — — 83
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Certifications[]

Region Certification
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum

References[]

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Unstoppable review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  2. ^ Fabian, Shelly. "Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable review". About.com. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  3. ^ Bierly, Mandi (April 14, 2009). "Unstoppable review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Rascal Flatts - "Unstoppable"". Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  5. ^ Mansfield, Brian (April 6, 2009). "Rascal Flatts: 'Unstoppable' force of country". USA Today. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  6. ^ "Week Ending Oct. 18, 2009: Taylor Swift's Minor Miracle". Chart Watch. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  7. ^ Grein, Paul (June 3, 2009). "Week Ending May 31, 2009: "Boom Boom Pow" Sets Digital Record". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
  8. ^ Rascal Flatts news, Rascalflatts.com
  9. ^ "Rascal Flatts Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  10. ^ "Rascal Flatts Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  11. ^ "Rascal Flatts Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  12. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  13. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  14. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  15. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  16. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 732. ISBN 0-89820-188-8.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Rascal Flatts – Unstoppable". Recording Industry Association of America.
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