HARDY - 'the mockingbird & THE CROW'

[Darkest Hour]

The first country album of the year that may do decent impact on album charts.



1. beer [Michael Hardy, Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson & Hunter Phelps]
2. red (feat. Morgan Wallen) [Michael Hardy, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip & Jacob Rice]
3. wait in the truck (with Lainey Wilson) [Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt & Renee Blair]
4. drink one for me [Michael Hardy, David Garcia & Hunter Phelps]
5. i in country [Michael Hardy, Smith Ahnquist, Nick Donley, Jake Mitchell & Hunter Phelps]
6. screen [Michael Hardy, Jessie Jo Dillon, Matt Dragstrem & Hunter Phelps]
7. happy [Michael Hardy]
8. here lies country music [Michael Hardy, Cole Taylor, Brett Tyler & Will Weatherly]
9. the mocking bird & THE CROW [Michael Hardy, Jordan Schmidt & Brett Tyler]
10. SOLD OUT [Michael Hardy, David Garcia & Hunter Phelps]
11. JACK [Michael Hardy, David Garcia & Hillary Lindsey]
12. TRUCK BED [Michael Hardy, Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson & Hunter Phelps]
13. .30-06 [Michael Hardy, Cameron Montgomery & Hunter Phelps]
14. I AIN'T IN THE COUNTRY NO MORE [Michael Hardy, David Garcia & Hillary Lindsay]
15. RADIO SONG (feat. Jeremy McKinnon) [Michael Hardy, Zach Abend, Nick Donley, Jeremy McKinnon & Cody Quistad]
16. KILL SH!T TILL I DIE [Michael Hardy, David Garcia & Hunter Phelps]
17. THE REDNECK SONG [Michael Hardy, Zach Abend, Andy Albert & Nick Donley]

Focus track is red.

[dwindeezy]

Really interested to see how this one debuts especially now that he’s made more of an inroads in the Rock format, while shining in the country format and as a writer for others. He’s #1 on overall iTunes and wanna see how long he holds onto that spot.

[.indulgecountry]

Not that I'm terribly surprised since I didn't care for HARDY much before, but loving the Lainey Wilson collab had me curious, and... yeah, no. The rock side is not my cup of tea in the slightest (every time he just straight up yells, cringe...) and the country half of the record is rather overproduced and noisy as well. Some of the tracks could've been better if they weren't laid on so thick in the production department, but as is, it's a miss for me. I'll stick with "Wait in the Truck" and the maybe 2 or 3 others I could see myself returning to, namely "Red" which I enjoy mostly because of Morgan Wallen. I'm sure the connection with him and it being the focus track makes it a front-runner for the next single, and I wouldn't be mad at it.

[fearlessarrow]

I generally agree with indulge's assessment of the album, although "red" was one of my least favorites from the first half actually (I thought it just lacked melodically and the chorus dragged a bit). The country parts were alright, with "wait in the truck" and "here lies country music" being the highlights for me but a good chunk of the tracks were overproduced. "the mockingbird & THE CROW" is an interesting transition but I did find myself enjoying the country part more than the second half where it transitioned into a rockier sound. The rock part was quite rough imo. "JACK" was decent but otherwise they were all bad to mediocre (some of them are hilariously bad like "RADIO SONG", "KILL SH!T TILL I DIE" etc.). I would've liked the concept of the album if the songs were better especially in the rock section but unfortunately that's not the case here.

[dwindeezy]

HDD is predicting 58k for this at #3 overall (27k albums) and I topping the country chart, which is a really strong start. It seems like he’s connecting.

[josephmorgan]

That means that, for the first time since July 9th of last year when Luke Combs' Growin' Up topped the chart, there'll be a new #1 album in country music.

[CoJoFan]

HARDY needs to stick to country. The rock part of the album isn’t my cup of tea. The country part is just ok. After “Wait In The Truck” is done I could see “Red” being the next single.

[tbc0731]

Jan 31, 2023 16:55:46 GMT -5 CoJoFan said:

HARDY needs to stick to country. The rock part of the album isn’t my cup of tea. The country part is just ok. After “Wait In The Truck” is done I could see “Red” being the next single.

I dig it, but probably because it reminds me of Linkin Park and other assorted rock bands from the 2000s. He’s doing well enough at rock radio that I could see his future releases having a sound that could crossover between both genres.

[Darkest Hour]

Even though the first week performance is posted elsewhere, I am still posting it here for completeness.

HARDY hits the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time as his new double album The Mockingbird & The Crow arrives at No. 4 with 55,000 equivalent album units earned – easily his best week ever in terms of units. Of the starting sum, SEA units comprise 34,000 (equaling 44.68 million official on-demand streams of the set’s 17 tracks), album sales comprise 19,500 and TEA units comprise 1,500. The half-country/half-rock project includes guest turns from Jeremy McKinnon (of A Day To Remember), Lainey Wilson and Morgan Wallen.

HARDY nabs his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 4), as his latest effort The Mockingbird & The Crow flies in atop the tally. The set, a half-rock and half-country project, bows with 20,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 26, according to Luminate. HARDY previously notched one entry on the list, with the No. 8-peaking A Rock in 2020.

Of The Mockingbird & The Crow’s 20,000 sold, physical sales comprise 5,000 (4,000 CDs and 1,000 vinyl LPs) and digital album sales comprise 15,000. The album’s start also marks HARDY’s best sales week, surpassing the 5,000 sold in the debut frame of A Rock in 2020 (Sept. 19, 2020-dated chart).