In Pieces

In Pieces is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 31, 1993. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart. It was also a huge hit outside the United States. In Great Britain it was Brooks' highest placed album on the charts. It reached the top ten of the country album charts before it was issued officially (due to imports from both the United States and Ireland). Critics felt that this would ruin the album's sales once it was issued. However, when it was eventually issued in Britain in early 1994 it went to #1 on the country charts and reached #2 in the pop charts and also produced two top 40 hit singles on the British pop charts.

In Pieces
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 31, 1993
RecordedJack's Track's Recording Studio
GenreCountry
Length37:43
LabelLiberty
ProducerAllen Reynolds
Garth Brooks chronology
The Chase
(1992)
In Pieces The Garth Brooks Collection
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic4/5 stars[1]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[2]
NME(6/10)[3]
Robert ChristgauA−[4]
Rolling Stone3/5 stars[5]

The track "Callin' Baton Rouge" was previously a #37 peaking single in 1987 for the New Grass Revival, whose members back Brooks on his rendition. It was the first time the group had recorded together since they disbanded in 1989.

In an interview with BBC Radio DJ Richard Wooton, Brooks stated that the track "The Cowboy Song" (which was composed in 1987 by Roy Robinson) was found in a trash can by someone on his team who liked the song and played the track to him.

Background

Brooks commented on the album saying: "In Pieces was just time to smile. It was time to laugh, it was time to get loud. It's definitely the most live album that we've ever cut. I think the band went to a different level on this. They seemed to play more like a band that had been together for years than studio musicians that come together and play at time to time. So this one is all there for me. I like to listen to it loud, and I just love the stuff like Baton Rouge and Ain't Going Down Til The Sun Comes Up. From One Night A Day, all the way to the very last song, The Cowboy Song, which is definitely my favorite off In Pieces and it will stand up with anything that I have cut over the past five years. Like the other things, I'm very proud of this one and I hope you like it.''[6]

Track listing

The track ordering has varied on different releases of this album.

Original release

  1. "Standing Outside the Fire" (Jenny Yates, Garth Brooks) – 3:52
  2. "The Night I Called the Old Man Out" (Pat Alger, Kim Williams, Brooks) – 3:12
  3. "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association" (Bryan Kennedy, Jim Rushing) – 3:33
  4. "One Night a Day" (Gary Burr, Pete Wasner) – 4:15
  5. "Kickin' and Screamin'" (Tony Arata) – 4:02
  6. "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)" (Kent Blazy, Williams, Brooks) – 4:33
  7. "The Red Strokes" (James Garver, Lisa Sanderson, Yates, Brooks) – 3:44
  8. "Callin' Baton Rouge" (Dennis Linde) – 2:38
  9. "The Night Will Only Know" (Stephanie Davis, Yates, Brooks) – 3:55
  10. "The Cowboy Song" (Roy Robinson) – 3:59

Limited series

  1. "Standing Outside the Fire"
  2. "The Night I Called the Old Man Out"
  3. "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association"
  4. "One Night a Day"
  5. "Kickin' and Screamin'"
  6. "Anonymous" (Tony Arata, Jon Schwabe) – 2:55
  7. "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)"
  8. "The Red Strokes"
  9. "Callin' Baton Rouge"
  10. "The Night Will Only Know"
  11. "The Cowboy Song"

Subsequent releases (also known as The Remastered series)

  1. "Standing Outside the Fire"
  2. "The Night I Called the Old Man Out"
  3. "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association"
  4. "One Night a Day"
  5. "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)"
  6. "Anonymous"
  7. "Kickin' and Screamin'"
  8. "The Red Strokes"
  9. "Callin' Baton Rouge"
  10. "The Night Will Only Know"
  11. "The Cowboy Song"

Chart performance

In Pieces debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, becoming his third, and #1 on the Top Country Albums, becoming his fourth #1 Country album. In July 1998, In Pieces was certified 8 x Platinum by the RIAA.

Charts

Charts (1993) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 1
Canadian RPM Top Albums 3
Canadian RPM Country Albums 1
Dutch Albums Chart[7] 91
European Albums Chart[8] 11
German Albums Chart[9] 83
Irish Albums Chart[10] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart[7] 3
Norwegian Albums Chart[7] 18
UK Albums Chart[11] 2
U.S. Billboard 200[12] 1
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums[12] 1

End of decade charts

Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard 200[13] 85

Sales and certifications

Region Provider Certification Sales/shipments
Australia ARIA 2 x Platinum[14] 140,000
Brazil ABPD Gold[15] 100,000
Canada CRIA 5 x Platinum [16] 500,000
Ireland IRMA 4 x Platinum 60,000
Japan Oricon N/A[17] 10,000
New Zealand NZ Gold[18] 7,500
Spain PROMUSICAE N/A[17] 20,000
United Kingdom BPI Gold[19] 100,000
United States RIAA 8 x Platinum[20] 8,000,000
World-Wide 8,937,500

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country CAN Country UK
1993 "Ain't Going Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)" 1 1 13
"American Honky-Tonk Bar Association" 1 2
"Standing Outside the Fire" 3 3 28
1994 "One Night a Day" 7 14
"Callin' Baton Rouge" 2 1
"The Red Strokes" 49 38 13

Chart Successions

Preceded by
Voodoo Lounge by The Rolling Stones
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
September 4–10, 1994
Succeeded by
The Three Tenors in Concert 1994 by The Three Tenors
Preceded by
"Zooropa" by U2
Irish Albums Chart
9 September 1993 – 23 September 1993 (2 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell" by Meat Loaf
Preceded by
River of Dreams by Billy Joel
In Utero by Nirvana
Billboard 200 number-one album
September 18 - October 8, 1993
October 16–29, 1993
Succeeded by
In Utero by Nirvana
Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell by Meat Loaf
Preceded by
A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love) by Alan Jackson
Top Country Albums number-one album
September 18 - November 5, 1993
Succeeded by
Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles by Various Artists
Preceded by
Croonin' by Anne Murray
The Other Side by Charlie Major
Who I Am by Alan Jackson
RPM Country Albums number-one album
September 25 - November 19, 1993
January 17–23, 1994
October 10–23, 1994
Succeeded by
Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles by Various Artists
Clay Walker by Clay Walker
Not a Moment Too Soon by Tim McGraw

Personnel

Additional musicians and staff

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (1993-08-23). "In Pieces - Garth Brooks". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  2. David Browne (1993-09-10). "In Pieces Review". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,307923,00.html. Retrieved 2012-08-10. 
  3. "Garth Brooks - In Pieces CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  4. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Garth Brooks". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  5. Evans, Paul (1993-10-14). "Garth Brooks: In Pieces (Bonus Track) : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20091022165128/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/garthbrooks/albums/album/165864/review/5945833/in_pieces_bonus_track. Retrieved 2013-04-14. 
  6. "Garth'S Cd'S". Angelfire.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-11. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 "GARTH BROOKS - IN PIECES". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  8. "Hits of the World - Eurochart". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.): 43. 26 February 1994. https://books.google.com/books?id=LQgEAAAAMBAJ. 
  9. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  10. "Hits of the World". Billboard. 25 June 1994. p. 75. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  11. "GARTH BROOKS". officialcharts.com.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Garth Brooks, Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  13. Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  14. "Australian ARIA monthly Certifications 1990-present". UKMIX. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  15. ABPD (1994). "Brazilian certification (search)". abpd.org.br. Archived from the original on 2015-06-24. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  16. "Canadian Recording Industry Association: Certification Results- February 15, 2010". CRIA. Archived from the original on 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  17. 17.0 17.1 "EMI Makes Brooks a Priority (cont. p. 8)". Billboard. 29 January 1994. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  18. Scapolo, Dean (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts, 1966-2006: Singles, Albums DVDs, Compilations. Maurienne House. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8.
  19. "Certified Awards". bpi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  20. "Gold & Platinum - February 12, 2010". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2010-02-12.