Two Lanes of Freedom

2013 studio album by Tim McGraw

Two Lanes of Freedom is the twelfth studio album by the American country music singer Tim McGraw. It was released on February 5, 2013, as his first album for Big Machine Records following twenty years with Curb Records. He co-produced the album with Byron Gallimore, the producer of his previously released albums.^[1] The album includes the singles "Truck Yeah", "One of Those Nights", "Highway Don't Care" with Taylor Swift and "Southern Girl".^[2]

Background

McGraw told The Boot writer Beville Dunkerley about the lawsuit that allowed him to end his decades-long contract with Curb Records and the making of the album.^[3] "Nothing good happens from anything without concentrating on what you do musically,... All this other stuff you can't do anything about...You can't make people do the things that you think are right, but you can make your music the way you want to make your music and that's what I concentrate on." Of his "mindset" behind the album, he said, "There's something special about this record to me, in the optimism that it has,...I'm looking forward to more stuff than I've ever had happen before; there's more ahead of me than behind me. I feel like I've grabbed another gear." He added what he sees in his future as a music artist, "I don't think I'm anywhere close to doing the things I want to do. There's so much more ahead of me, and I have a lot of room to get better... Sonically, there's a freshness to this record and a drive behind it that is new to me and headed in a different place. But I won't know that until I go into the studio for the next record and see where it takes me."

Reception

Critical

On release, Two Lanes of Freedom received generally positive reviews from most music critics.^[4] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[4] The album had positive reviews from AllMusic, American Songwriter, Country Weekly, The Lantern The Plain Dealer, Roughstock, Taste of Country and USA Today. On the other hand, the album received mixed reviews from Country Universe, Los Angeles Times, Omaha World-Herald, PopMatters and Rolling Stone.

Commercial

Two Lanes of Freedom sold approximately 107,000 copies during its first week of release, reaching No. 1 on the country albums chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200.^[16] By September 18, 2013, the album had sold 421,000 copies.^[17]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw.

Personnel

Musicians

• Tim McGraw – lead vocals
• Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards
• Steve Nathan – acoustic piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, organ, synthesizers
• Mike Rojas – accordion (9)
• David Levita – electric guitar, acoustic guitar (1)
• Michael Landau – electric guitar, guitar solo (3)
• Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar, resonator guitar (1, 7)
• Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar (4, 6, 11), mandolin (4, 6, 11), banjo (5)
• Keith Urban – electric guitar (13)
• Dan Dugmore – steel guitar, lap steel guitar
• Paul Bushnell – bass guitar
• Shannon Forrest – drums, percussion
• Byron Gallimore – percussion (6), backing vocals (9)
• Marty Krystall – clarinet (9)
• Lee Thornburg – trumpet (9)
• William Roper – tuba (9)
• David Campbell – string arrangements (3, 7, 8, 10, 12), horn arrangements (9)
• The Nashville String Machine - strings (3, 7, 8, 10, 12)
• Greg Barnhill – backing vocals
• Joanna Cotten – backing vocals (2, 11)
• Chris Rodriguez – backing vocals (12)
• Taylor Swift – lead and backing vocals (13)

Musicians on "Truck Yeah (Live)"

• Tim McGraw – lead vocals
• Billy Nobel – keyboards, backing vocals
• Adam Shoenfeld – electric guitar
• Denny Hemingson – Melobar guitar
• Deano Brown – fiddle, backing vocals
• John Marcus – bass guitar
• Shawn Fichter – drums

Production

• Byron Gallimore – producer, mixing (15)
• Tim McGraw – producer
• Julian King – recording (1-13), string recording (3, 7)
• Heath Stimmel – recording (14)
• Steve Churchyard – string recording (8, 10, 12), horn recording (9)
• Chris Lord-Alge – mixing (1–14)
• Stephen Allbritten – additional recording (1–14), recording assistant (1–14)
• Erik Lutkins – additional recording (1–14), mix assistant (15)
• David Bryant – recording assistant (1–13), string recording assistant (3, 7)
• Lowell Reynolds – recording assistant (1-13)
• Andrew Schubert – additional mixing (1–14), mix assistant (1–14)
• Brad Townsend – additional mixing (1–14), mix assistant (1–14)
• Keith Armstrong – mix assistant (1–14)
• Nik Karpen – mix assistant (1–14)
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Sandi Spika Borchetta – creative director
• Kelly Clauge – creative director
• Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, design
• Nigel Parry – photography

Studios

• Recorded at Blackbird Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) and Essential Sound Studios (Franklin, Tennessee)
• Strings recorded at Blackbird Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) and Ocean Way Recording Hollywood, California)
• Mixed at Mix L.A. (Tarzana, California) and Essential Sound Studios (Franklin, Tennessee)
• Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

1. Wyland, Sarah (October 31, 2012). "Tim McGraw Will Release Two Lanes of Freedom February 5, 2013". Great American Country. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
2. "Two Lanes of Freedom track listing". Roughstock. December 13, 2012. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
3. Dunkerley, Beville (February 5, 2013). "Tim McGraw, 'Two Lanes of Freedom' Drives Legendary Career Into Fresh Territory (Exclusive Interview)". The Boot. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
4. "Two Lanes of Freedom, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
5. Jurek, Thom (February 5, 2013). "Two Lanes of Freedom - Tim McGraw : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
6. Bernstein, Jonathan (February 5, 2013). "Tim McGraw: Two Lanes of Freedom". American Songwriter. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
7. Foster, Ben (February 15, 2013). "Album Review: Tim McGraw, Two Lanes of Freedom". Country Universe. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
8. Brown, August (February 5, 2013). "Album review: Tim McGraw 'Two Lanes of Freedom'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
9. Graff, Gary (February 1, 2013). "Listening Room: Tim McGraw sets off into the sunset on trip of "Freedom"". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
10. Coffey, Kevin (February 15, 2013). "Album Review: Tim McGraw, 'Two Lanes of Freedom'". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
11. Leftridge, Steve (February 27, 2013). "Tim McGraw: Two Lanes of Freedom". PopMatters. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
12. Eddy, Chuck (February 13, 2013). "Tim McGraw: Two Lanes of Freedom (Big Machine)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
13. Bjorke, Matt (February 6, 2013). "Album Review: Tim McGraw - Two Lanes of Freedom". Roughstock. Archived from the original on February 12, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
14. Dukes, Billy (February 8, 2013). "Tim McGraw, 'Two Lanes of Freedom' – Album Review". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
15. Shriver, Jerry (February 4, 2013). "Tim McGraw's 'Two Lanes' finds a new country route". USA Today. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
16. "Tim McGraw's 'Two Lanes' Speeds to No. 1 On Top Country Albums". Billboard. February 14, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
17. Matt Bjorke (July 31, 2013). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of September 18, 2013: Keith Urban Lights Fuse, Debuts at #1; Sheryl Crow at "Home" at #3". Roughstock. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
18. "Australiancharts.com – Tim McGraw – Two Lanes Of Freedom". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
19. 综合榜 2014年 第18周 (in Chinese). sino-chart.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014.
20. "Tim McGraw's 'Two Lanes of Freedom' Debuts at No. 1". Taste of Country. February 15, 2013. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
21. "Official UK Albums Top 100 - 23rd March 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
22. "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company.
23. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
24. "Top Country Albums: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
25. "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
26. "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
27. "Canadian album certifications – Tim McGraw – Two Lanes of Freedom". Music Canada.
28. "American album certifications – Tim McGraw – Two Lanes of Freedom". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

• Billboard magazine article