Eric Church - "The Outsiders"

[McCreerian]

Eric Church's Heavy Trip
.


Rolling Stone
By Patrick Doyle February 7, 2014 8:50 AM


Eric Church's Heavy Trip


"I don't know how people are going to take it," Eric Church says in his twangy Carolina drawl. The 36-year-old singer-guitarist looks a little bleary as he settles into a leather couch at the Nashville studio where he cut his fourth album, The Outsiders. "Shit, I don't know if we'll make another one. I can't imagine continuing to try to push the envelope. How do you keep doing that?"

Boozin' and Cruisin' With Country's Wildest Star, Eric Church

Church's previous album, 2011's Chief, sold 2 million copies on the strength of hits like "Drink in My Hand" and "Springsteen," turning the formerly struggling Nashville songwriter into an arena headliner. Last March, after a long tour, he headed to his cabin in North Carolina with a few songwriter friends and started to think about making a follow-up. "It's not a fun thing for me," he says with a sigh. "You're figuring out what's next, trying to mine everything creatively – just getting on that hamster wheel and working day, night, day, night. But I knew that whatever Chief was, we had to go somewhere else."

He continued working alone on his 700-acre Nashville property, chopping trees and riding around on his tractor. "Sometimes I'll just take a gun and shoot coyotes," Church says. "It's a good space for me."

He had 121 songs by the time he hit the studio with his longtime producer Jay Joyce. "There were probably eight or nine that are legitimate runaway smashes – song-of-the-year-type songs," Church says. "But we didn't record them, because I felt like we'd kind of been there."

See Where Eric Church's "The Outsiders" Ranks On Our List of the 100 Best Songs of 2013

The studio is massive – a converted church with the mixing board on the altar. Joyce cues up the LP, and Church taps his work boots to musically ambitious cuts like "Rollercoaster Ride," which starts with a vintage disco beat and evolves into whirling psychedelic feedback, and "Cold One," a breakup anthem whose bridge is punctuated by biting rhythmic stabs. "Shit, that's fun!" Church says, slapping his jeans after the track plays back. "People are gonna fall down trying to dance to that fucking thing!"

True to Church's word, The Outsiders features fewer pyrotechnic-ready fist-pumpers than Chief. In their place are tunes like "Talladega," a melancholy ode to whiskey-soaked nights at the NASCAR track, and "Like a Wrecking Ball," an Al Green-ish ballad about wild sex. "'I wanna rock some sheetrock, knock some pictures off the wall,'" he says, quoting his lyrics. "I like songs that don't beat around the bush." He stayed up for two nights writing "Princess of Darkness," a spoken monologue about Nashville's failed songwriters-turned-junkies – part of an 11-minute multisong suite that wraps with the furiously heavy "Devil Devil," where Church imagines a drunken, suicidal rampage after a relationship goes south.

Church – who's about to launch another arena tour – says those kinds of demons are very much at bay in his real life, where he's happily married and has a two-year-old son. "I'll have whiskey in my cup onstage," he says, "but I've slowed down." Church pauses, then flashes a menacing grin. "But I'm still faster than everybody else."

This story is from the February 13th, 2014 issue of Rolling Stone.

[phil1996]

Feb 8, 2014 15:35:43 GMT -5 McCreerian said:

Eric Church's Heavy Trip
.


Rolling Stone
By Patrick Doyle February 7, 2014 8:50 AM


Eric Church's Heavy Trip

"s**t, I don't know if we'll make another one. I can't imagine continuing to try to push the envelope. How do you keep doing that?"

I hope this is sarcasm...

[jaseboyhyde]

There was a special on CMT yesterday called "ERIC CHURCH: Inside The Outsiders". It was a behind the scenes look at the recording, methods, and writing behind the new album.
This might help to clarify for some of you who are still confused about why they chose to make an album so far outside the norm. The Full episode available at CMT.com.

Eric Church: Inside The Outsiders

[onebuffalo]

Chief in 2011 opened with 145,000 copies. The question is: How much first week sales will The Outsiders have?

[Markus Meyer]

Feb 9, 2014 13:30:06 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Chief in 2011 opened with 145,000 copies. The question is: How much first week sales will The Outsiders have?

More than 'Chief' probably.

[onebuffalo]

Feb 9, 2014 13:58:16 GMT -5 Markus Meyer said:

Feb 9, 2014 13:30:06 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Chief in 2011 opened with 145,000 copies. The question is: How much first week sales will The Outsiders have?

More than 'Chief' probably.

Do you have a number?

[jdbowman]

Lol at the "8 or 9 song of the year type songs that they didn't record" comment. Classic Eric Church. Can't wait for the next album to hear those songs.

But I do like several of these songs. It's so different.

[Markus Meyer]

Feb 9, 2014 14:07:48 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Feb 9, 2014 13:58:16 GMT -5 Markus Meyer said:

More than 'Chief' probably.

Do you have a number?

I'd say almost double what 'Chief' opened with.

[jaseboyhyde]

Feb 9, 2014 14:10:36 GMT -5 jdbowman said:

Lol at the "8 or 9 song of the year type songs that they didn't record" comment. Classic Eric Church. Can't wait for the next album to hear those songs.

I believe him. They wrote over 120 songs specifically targeted for this album. We're talking about writers with lots of hits under their belts. Eric along with writers like Casey Beathard, Ryan Tyndell, Lynn Hutton, Luke Laird, Michael Heeney, Jeff Hyde, Jeremy Spillman, and a bunch of others. These guys are more than capable of pumping out radio-friendly #1's, and likely lots of the songs they wrote are exactly that. Eric has said from day 1 that he'll never be an artist that cuts a bunch of albums to release a few hits and have a bunch of filler material. He's always said he wants to make a few great albums that are collections of artistic expression, and that's more important to him than having songs do well at radio.
That said, I doubt the songs that didn't make "The Outsiders" will ever be on an Eric Church album, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some of them on other projects.

[rjz]

Feb 9, 2014 14:07:48 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Feb 9, 2014 13:58:16 GMT -5 Markus Meyer said:

More than 'Chief' probably.

Do you have a number?

I"ll play.

200k

[kml567]

Eric Church will sell 350k-400k first week. The pre-sales are huge! Already top 10 on iTunes and album isn't even out yet. Reminiscent of Luke Bryan's "Crash My Party" pre-sales.

[zjames]

Feb 9, 2014 15:04:43 GMT -5 rjz said:

Feb 9, 2014 14:07:48 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Do you have a number?

I"ll play.

200k

I say 230k.

[jaseboyhyde]

Chief sold 145k first week. I'm going to bet The Outsiders sells that in 2 days, and sells 300k+ the first week.

[sabre14]

Feb 9, 2014 12:28:39 GMT -5 jaseboyhyde said:

There was a special on CMT yesterday called "ERIC CHURCH: Inside The Outsiders". It was a behind the scenes look at the recording, methods, and writing behind the new album.
This might help to clarify for some of you who are still confused about why they chose to make an album so far outside the norm. The Full episode available at CMT.com.

Eric Church: Inside The Outsiders

That was a very fun watch. Thanks for the link :).

I love the story about "A Man Who's Gonna Die Young", along with the way the opening prelude to "Devil, Devil" came about. Can't believe they kept the original recording off his Iphone for the album. I think one thing is evident though, that Jay Joyce should never leave Eric's side when it comes to making these albums. Great chemistry between the two of them.

[gjp934]

I also really enjoyed the CMT special, it made me appreciate the creativity even more in all the songs. Does anyone else think there's a good chance that the Dark Side could be the next single? because at the end of the video for Give Me Back My Hometown they show the guy pulling out a gun and since they are making all the videos perty much into one movie i feel like it could lead in to the Dark Side. I'm not sure how there going to do all the videos but that would be my bet, although i would also enjoy Talladega or Broke Record!

[phil1996]

^ Judging by the GMBMH video, I feel "Joint" would fit in with the video sequencing....scary thought, as that would be a really dumb single choice. :/

This album keeps growing on me. "Cold One" may be my favorite EC song of all time, and that's saying a lot. I just hope this wasn't his final album.

[countryfeedback182]

Feb 4, 2014 15:17:19 GMT -5 Spacey_Kacey said:

Feb 4, 2014 14:00:37 GMT -5 countryfeedback182 said:

Went to the iTunes store to buy it (yeah, I'm old school) and it wasn't available yet.

iTunes has been replaced? I must be really old school. I know Google thinks I'm 65+ according to it profile created from my search history, but still. I must be the most out of touch teenager in the world. Excuse me while I go short Apple.


At risk of going off topic, uh, my comments on the album - probably eric's worst, but still pretty good. "A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young" is a masterpiece, and I can't stop listening to the current single. Some decent songs between those, and I didn't hate the lead single. Moderate dislike perhaps, but not hate.

I just meant that it seems like no one buys music anymore, they either stream it or steal it. I thought I was dating myself to say I still buy music!

[aeathin2]

Talladega is just going to be a gigantic gigantic hit.

I also think Dark Side is epic.

I can't stop listening to this thing. It's hard to top Chief, but I think he at least put something thats a little different on the same playing field.

[rsmatto]

go big or go home: I say 350-400k. Folks need to remember "Chief" didn't have it's biggest hits come out until AFTER it hit the market.

[matty005]

This album is going to have to grow on me, but I absolutely love "Talladega." Can anyone help me with the lyrics on it? What is the line after, Like a storm, time rolls on, you can't hit pause." Some lyric sites have it as, "as we just did," but it doesn't sound that way to me.

[matty005]

Feb 11, 2014 10:55:04 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

go big or go home: I say 350-400k. Folks need to remember "Chief" didn't have it's biggest hits come out until AFTER it hit the market.

I like it. I'll say 400,000+

[jaseboyhyde]

#1 on all genres iTunes chart right now, which was expected. Haven't seen an updated Billboard chart or any early numbers.
Give me back My hometown is showing as #25 song all genres as well, which I believe is the iTunes peak.

The Outsiders surges up chart

Matty, I just got a hard copy...here are the official Talladea 2nd verse lyrics:

Like a stone, time rolls on.
You can't hit pause, that's just the deal.
Most days in life don't stand out
But life about those days that will.
Like rockin' Randall, gettin' rowdy
Shooting roman candles at the man in the moon til the Alabama sun was breakin
over Talladega...

[matty005]

Feb 11, 2014 11:43:59 GMT -5 jaseboyhyde said:

#1 on all genres iTunes chart right now, which was expected. Haven't seen an updated Billboard chart or any early numbers.
Give me back My hometown is showing as #25 song all genres as well, which I believe is the iTunes peak.

The Outsiders surges up chart

Matty, I just got a hard copy...here are the official Talladea 2nd verse lyrics:

Like a stone, time rolls on.
You can't hit pause, that's just the deal.
Most days in life don't stand out
But life about those days that will.
Like rockin' Randall, gettin' rowdy
Shooting roman candles at the man in the moon til the Alabama sun was breakin
over Talladega...

Hey thank you so much for looking this up for me. I really appreciate it. That makes MUCH more sense! Thank you again!

[sabre14]

This album is really growing on me. I'm not saying I'm in love with it as of yet but I'm certainly already liking it more than I initially thought I would be. The only tracks I can live without are "The Joint" and "Devil Devil". I'm with jhomes87, "Roller Coaster Ride" is my favorite track from this album. The feel and instrumentation on that song is so intoxicating and unique. It's not really mainstream country but it's not different enough for me to automatically write it off. It would be great to have this be a single at some point. Other than the title track, "Devil Devil", and "That's Damn Rock & Roll", I'm warming up to the rest of this album not being too far from the genre. I think the problem was that those three tracks were such a shock to hear for the first time I had the "what in the world is this" reaction. Watching Eric and Jay Joyce in that inside look helped me appreciate the music that Eric had set out to make and I do have great respect for an artist who is willing to search for a new sound and take some risks in the process of making new music (Other artist need to take some notes).

Overall this is nowhere near my all-time favorite albums, don't get me wrong. But I am starting to enjoy this and finding myself hitting repeat on multiple tracks throughout this album.

[jaseboyhyde]

No worries. I bought 6 copies as soon as I could leave work for a minute. The booklet in the hard copy is pretty cool. The inside of the cover page and front side of the 2nd page lists the first six songs' lyrics/writers. Then there's a 4 page section that's folded backwards like those huge prison doors they walk through on the "Outsiders" promo videos...big picture of the doors on those pages. You "open" the doors and there's a picture of Eric and the Band standing in the open doors as if they've just pushed through. On the Far left page are the production, recording, musician, management, photography credits. On the far right page is a personal message from Eric, recognizing those who have made the journey possible. Close the "doors" and turn the page and you'll find the last 6 songs' lyrics/writers. On the very back there's another picture of Eric crouching in a hole of the prison's large brick wall. Behind the CD, there's another "Chief" image.

It's a creative and unique booklet. The only thing I don't see listed is the lyrics to "Princess of Darkness", which is said to be available at Eric's website. I wouldn't count on it, though, since that site has gone downhill every time they've changed the format. It's a nightmare to use now, and about as non user-friendly as any website could be.

[kim8]

I'm loving the album. A lot of these songs are unique and creative in their own ways. I think it's the kind of album that reveals itself more and more with each listen. Still really like Broke Record. That might be my favorite. I actually really like That's Damn Rock & Roll. I might be the only one on this board lol. Like a Wrecking Ball is probably my second favorite song so far.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2014 14:21:51 GMT -5 kim8 said:

I'm loving the album. A lot of these songs are unique and creative in their own ways. I think it's the kind of album that reveals itself more and more with each listen. Still really like Broke Record. That might be my favorite. I actually really like That's Damn Rock & Roll. I might be the only one on this board lol. Like a Wrecking Ball is probably my second favorite song so far.

You are not alone! I really love that song as well. I just picked up my copy of the album from Wal-mart...man are they stocked up! They are really promoting it too:



Eric Church The Outsiders on the facing of every CD rack, and plenty of CD's in stock as well. I enjoy every song on the album, even the ones that won't work as country radio singles. I can't see "Damn Rock & Roll" or "Devil, Devil" at country radio--definitely not the second one--and I wouldn't want those ones released anyway, although if they sent out TDR&R to rock radio, that'd be cool. I really like the sound of "Like A Wrecking Ball" as well but I also don't see that one as a single.

The ones I keep coming back to the most are "Roller Coaster Ride" and "Talladega". "Cold One" and "Broke Record" are both great songs as well and the ballads, "Dark Side" and "A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young", are really strong.

Hopefully the sales numbers are great. I can see it doing anywhere from 250-450k, to be honest. It seems to be quite the buzzed-about album, and early reviews have been really strong. It currently holds an 86 at Metacritic.

[tim]

I buy very few cd's anymore, especially on the first day of release, but I made a point to make it to Target today to get my copy of The Outsiders. I liked the sound from my very first preview on the NPR stream yet knew it was going to take some a few more listens to come around. I'm liking this album even more with each listen myself.

My favorite by far is "Dark Side" as I just have a spot inside me that enjoys a good mysterious and haunting sounding song. "Talladeg" sounds like a radio ready tune just waiting to enjoy the ride up the charts over the summer. I'm also quite enjoying the sounds of "Cold One" and "Broke Record."

As far as "The Joint," well I'm still trying to figure it out. Seems an odd choice to add to an overall great cd, especially considering it's the final cut on the album.

[Deleted]

Was just listening to KNIX in Phoenix tonight and they played 3 Outsiders songs in a row: "Give Me Back My Hometown" followed by "Talladega" and then "Cold One". Sounded absolutely awesome...the night DJ was praising the album a lot.

[jaseboyhyde]

Sweet! I wonder if there was much response from callers regarding Talladega and Cold One?