Based on a True Story...

by Blake Shelton

Overview

A few months before he released his seventh album, Based on a True Story..., Blake Shelton weathered a minor storm over comments he made to GAC's Backstory, where he claimed "nobody wants to listen to their grandpa's music." Shelton further explained "old farts" "don't buy records anymore...the kids do, and they don't want to buy the music that you were buying." At 36 years old, Shelton isn't exactly a kid but he sure has his finger on the pulse of what America is all about in 2013, a perspective that informs every cut on Based on a True Story.... Not so coincidentally in terms of attitude, this is the first album Shelton has made since turning into a genuine crossover star thanks to his role on the televised competition The Voice -- Red River Blue, his last album, appeared just a month after the first season of The Voice wrapped -- and it reflects his newfound popularity via its reliance on rocking rhythms, woolly mammoth hooks, red state swagger, and pristine power ballads, all protected in a high-gloss coat of studio varnish. Some of that varnish includes a dose of heavy Auto-Tune on Blake's voice, a bit of trickery he doesn't need -- there's a reason why he's a judge on a singing competition; he has an easy, natural grace to his delivery -- but its artificially correct sound is simply another indication of the thoroughly modern Shelton: few other country albums of 2012-2013 are as unabashedly of the moment as this, celebrating all the tacky oversized glory of the U.S.A. from the fame-hungry Sunset Strip to parties in the boondocks. By playing to both the high and low brow, Shelton consolidates the entire spectrum of his audience, from the country to the coasts. Both audiences buy into his increasingly macho strut, where he tosses out casual profanities, brags that he's "Still Got a Finger" (to flip you the bird, of course), and salutes his redneck brothers via the vaguely embarrassing rapped "chew tobacco/chew tobacco/chew tobacco/spit" chorus of "Boys 'Round Here." That Shelton can pull off this big, swinging bravado isn't much of a surprise -- when his voice trills electronically on "Small Town Big Time" he makes it sound like a joke -- but there's just a little bit too much of the schtick; individually the cuts work fine but they overwhelm not only the gentler moments ("Sure Be Cool If You Did," "Do You Remember") but cancel each other out over the long run. Still, the very sense that more is more is essential to the appeal of Based on a True Story...: every song is bigger, brighter, bolder than the next, super-sized country for a super-sized time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/10/2023
Label:	Warner Music
UPC:	0093624855132
Rank:	56417

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Blake Shelton   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jimmie Lee Sloas   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Rhett Akins   Vocals (Background)
Miranda Lambert   Vocals (Background)
Ashley Monroe   Vocals (Background)
Danny Parks   Banjo,Guitar (Acoustic)
Charlie Judge   Loops,Organ,Synthesizer
Angaleena Presley   Vocals (Background)
Troy Lancaster   Guitar (Electric)
Aubrey Haynie   Fiddle
Tommy Harden   Loops,Drum Loop
Tom Bukovac   Guitar (Electric)
Greg Morrow   Drums,Percussion
John Willis   Banjo
Wes Hightower   Vocals (Background)
Russ Pahl   Guitar,Lap Steel Guitar
Perry Coleman   Vocals (Background)
Ben Phillips   Percussion
Pistol Annies   Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
RaeLynn   Vocals (Background)
Raelynn Rhett   Vocals (Background)
Adam Shoenfeld   Guitar (Electric)
Gordon Mote   Organ,Piano,Wurlitzer
Scott Hendricks   Vocals (Background)
Bryan Sutton   Slide Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (12 String),Guitar (12 String Acoustic)
Rodney Clawson   Vocals (Background)
Dallas Davidson   Vocals (Background)
Gwen Sebastian   Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Ben Phillips   Digital Editing
Michael Dulaney   Composer
Rhett Akins   Composer
Tommy Lee James   Composer
Brian David Willis   Digital Editing
William Gray   Composer
Charlie Judge   Loop
Brad Winters   Engineer,Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Will Gray   Composer
Mike Stankiewicz   Engineer,Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Andrew Dorff   Composer
Blake Shelton   Composer
Phil O'Donnell   Composer
Tommy Harden   Drum Programming
Connie Harrington   Composer
Craig Wiseman   Composer
Wade Kirby   Composer
Charles Quillen   Composer
Brady Barnett   Digital Editing
Dean Dillon   Composer
Justin Niebank   Mixing,Engineer,Recording,Mixing Engineer,Mastering Engineer
Jessi Alexander   Composer
Chris Tompkins   Composer,Programming
Charles Henry   Photography
Tim Nichols   Composer
Joe Martino   Engineer,Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Bobby Pinson   Composer
Drew Bollman   Engineer,Assistant,Recording,Mixing Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Clint Lagerberg   Composer
Scott Hendricks   Engineer,Producer,Digital Editing,Overdub Engineer
Marv Green   Composer
Josh Osborne   Composer
Rodney Clawson   Composer
Dallas Davidson   Composer
Ben Hayslip   Composer
Deric Ruttan   Composer
Allen Parker   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Katherine Petillo   Art Direction
Shane Tarleton   Creative Director
Dave Turnbull   Composer
Trish Townsend   Wardrobe
Sandra Johnson   Photography
Scott Johnson   Producer,Production Assistant,Producer
Sally Carns Gulde   Design
Gary Hannan   Composer
Amanda Craig   Grooming
Ian Kirkpatrick   Composer
Jimmy Robbins   Composer,Programming
Hank Williams   Mastering,Mastering Engineer