American Middle Class (album)

American Middle Class
Studio album by Angaleena Presley
Released October 14, 2014 (2014-10-14)
Genre Country
Length 46:48
Label Slate Creek Records
Producer Jordan Powell
Angaleena Presley

American Middle Class is an album by Angaleena Presley, released in 2014 by Slate Creek Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Billboard[3]
CuepointA[4]
Exclaim!9/10[5]
The Daily Telegraph[6]
The Observer[7]
Popmatters[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Tampa Bay TimesA[10]
Uncut8/10[11]

American Middle Class received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 84 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on nine reviews.[1]

In a four out of five star review Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes that the album "will linger for some time to come."[2] In the three and a half out of five star review from Rolling Stone's Jonathan Bernstein, he remarks how it is an "impressive solo debut".[9] There was a four star rating granted to the album from Neil Spencer of The Observer, where he revealed he felt "Presley's vocal and lyrical touch are exceptional on an impressive state-of-the-nation album."[7] At The Daily Telegraph, Martin Chilton believes "the musicianship is top notch."[6] The four star review delivered from Billboard's Elias Leight is for "a focused collection of songs."[3] The Uncut magazine rated the album an eight out of ten because "Presley has a wry, modern take on country music."[11] In Cuepoint, Robert Christgau called it a "moderately astonishing bunch of songs" on which "she sings pretty as you please."[4] The eight out of ten rating bestowed on the release from Anthony Easton at PopMatters is in response to "the corruption and failure of the market rotting from the bottom and squeezing from the top, is profoundly realized here."[8] Stuart Henderson rates the album a nine out of ten for Exclaim! because "this debut is about as accomplished as one could reasonably expect."[5] The Tampa Bay Times grants the release an A, and Sean Daly sees how "she has a persistent knack for showmanship, small scenes but grand gestures."[10] Nate Chinen of The New York Times declares "American Middle Class, (Presley's) debut album, comes fully formed, clear about its purpose."[12]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Ain't No Man"  Angaleena Presley 3:44
2. "All I Ever Wanted"  Presley 5:27
3. "Grocery Store"  Presley, Lori McKenna 3:42
4. "American Middle Class"  Presley 3:47
5. "Dry County Blues"  Presley, Mark D. Sanders 4:01
6. "Pain Pills"  Presley 2:58
7. "Life of the Party"  Presley, Matraca Berg 5:24
8. "Knocked Up"  Presley, Sanders 3:54
9. "Better Off Red"  Presley 3:38
10. "Drunk"  Presley, Sarah Siskind 2:57
11. "Blessing and a Curse"  Presley, Bob DiPiero 3:37
12. "Surrender"  Presley, Luke Laird, Barry Dean 3:39

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] 29
US Top Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[14] 14

References

  1. 1 2 Metacritic. "Critic Reviews for American Middle Class". CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "American Middle Class – Angaleena Presley". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Leight, Elias (October 14, 2014). "Album Review: Pistol Annies' Angaleena Presley's 'American Middle Class' a Strong, Focused Debut". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (November 28, 2014). "Expert Witness". Cuepoint. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Henderson, Stuart (October 14, 2014). "Angaleena Presley American Middle Class". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Chilton, Martin (January 20, 2015). "Angaleena Presley, American Middle Class, album review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Spencer, Neil (January 11, 2015). "Angaleena Presley: American Middle Class review – exceptional vocal and lyrical touch". The Observer. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Easton, Anthony (November 21, 2014). "Angaleena Presley: American Middle Class". Popmatters. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Bernstein, Jonathan (October 21, 2014). "Angaleena Presley American Middle Class Album Review". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Daly, Sean (October 15, 2014). "Miranda Lambert pal Angaleena Presley releases great, gritty country debut". Tampa Bay Times. Times Publishing Company. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Uncut. "Angaleena Presley - American Middle Class". Uncut. p. 81. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  12. ↑ The New York Times (October 14, 2014). "Albums by Mary Lambert, Nico Vinz and Angaleena Presley". The New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Angaleena Presley – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Angaleena Presley.
  14. ↑ "Angaleena Presley – Chart history" Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums for Angaleena Presley.


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