Meat and Candy

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Meat and Candy
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 6, 2015 (2015-11-06)
GenreCountry
Length35:51
LabelRCA Nashville[1]
ProducerShane McAnally[2]
Old Dominion chronology
Old Dominion
(2014)
Meat and Candy
(2015)
Happy Endings
(2017)
Singles from Meat and Candy
  1. "Break Up with Him"
    Released: January 20, 2015
  2. "Snapback"
    Released: January 11, 2016
  3. "Song for Another Time"
    Released: June 20, 2016[3]

Meat and Candy is the debut studio album by American country music band Old Dominion. It was released on November 6, 2015 by RCA Nashville. The album includes the single "Break Up with Him", which has charted No. 1 on Country Airplay. The album's second single, "Snapback" released to country radio on January 11, 2016. The album's third single, "Song for Another Time" released to country radio on June 20, 2016.[3]

Background[edit]

Prior to Meat and Candy, Old Dominion released a self-titled six track EP on October 7, 2014. Four of the EP's tracks, "Break Up With Him", "Nowhere Fast", "Beer Can in a Truck Bed", and Wrong Turns", were reissued as part of Meat and Candy.[4]

Conception[edit]

Songwriter and producer Shane McAnally came up with the album's name, using the words "meat and candy" to suggest the "heftier songs" and "lighter fare" respectively.[2] For the album cover, the band found photographer Michael Elins, to create an image of a female soda jerk before a table covered with meat products and candy. Lead singer Matthew Ramsey told Rolling Stone that the album cover "shows our personality without showing us, and it definitely shows that we're trying to do something different".[2]

Critical reception[edit]

Giving it an "A−", Tammy Ragusa of Nash Country Weekly wrote that "The combination of catchy rhymes, clever lyrics, Matt Ramsey's warm, strong voice, and the band's subtle but delicious harmonie will have you singing, clapping, and dancing along."[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying that "this is a sharper, savvier variation of Rascal Flatts: crossover pop as suited for an office as it is for a make-out session. That's an endorsement, not a dismissal: it's hard to sound this light and easy, but Old Dominion do it with aplomb and they're such talented craftsmen that Meat and Candy sounds better on the fifth play than it does on the first, and it sounds mighty fine that first time through."[5]

Commercial performance[edit]

The album debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Top Country Albums, selling 20,500 copies in its first week.[6] Within the first month of its release, on November 28, 2016, it was certified Gold by the RIAA.[7] It peaked at No. 3 on the Country Albums chart on its 17th week of release in March 2016 due to sale at both iTunes and Google Play stores, with 10,200 sold for the week.[8] The album has sold 192,900 copies in the US as of May 2017.[9]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Snapback"3:26
2."Half Empty"
2:51
3."Wrong Turns"
  • Jenkins
  • Ramsey
  • Rosen
3:26
4."Said Nobody"
  • Tursi
  • Ramsey
  • Rosen
3:06
5."Crazy Beautiful Sexy"3:10
6."Nowhere Fast"
  • Jenkins
  • Ramsey
  • Rosen
3:10
7."Beer Can in a Truck Bed"
  • Jenkins
  • Ramsey
  • Rosen
3:22
8."Break Up with Him"
  • Tursi
  • Geoff Sprung
  • Ramsey
  • Rosen
  • Whit Sellers
3:27
9."Song for Another Time"
  • Tursi
  • Jenkins
  • Ramsey
  • Rosen
3:12
10."Til It's Over"3:28
11."We Got It Right"
  • Ramsey
  • Copperman
  • McAnally
3:13

Personnel[edit]

Old Dominion[edit]

Additional musicians[edit]

Charts and certifications[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Platinum 1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ragusa, Tammy (November 9, 2015). "Reviews: Old Dominion - 'Meat and Candy'". Nash Country Weekly. 22 (45): 23. ISSN 2379-9137.
  2. ^ a b c Hudak, Joseph (October 30, 2015). "Inside Old Dominion's Wildly Irreverent 'Meat and Candy' Album Cover". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Single Releases : MusicRow – Nashville's Music Industry Publication – News, Songs From Music City". Musicrow.com. 2014-06-20. Archived from the original on 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  4. ^ "Old Dominion Reveal Self-Titled Debut EP Details". Taste of Country. 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  5. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Meat and Candy review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  6. ^ Bjorke, Matt (November 17, 2015). "Country Albums Chart Report: November 17, 2015". Roughstock. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  7. ^ a b "American album certifications – Old Dominion – Meat and Candy". Recording Industry Association of America.
  8. ^ Bjorke, Matt (March 8, 2016). "Country Albums Chart Report: March 8, 2016". Roughstock. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  9. ^ Bjorke, Matt (May 10, 2017). "Top 10 Country Albums Chart: May 9, 2017". Roughstock. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "Old Dominion Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  11. ^ "Old Dominion Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  12. ^ "Old Dominion Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  13. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  14. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  15. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.