Double Live |
|
Released: November 17, 1998 Recorded: 1996-1998 Peak: 15 US, 18 CW, 57 UK, 11 CN, 43 AU Sales (in millions): 23.0 US *, 0.06 UK, 23.66 world (includes US and UK) * The album shipped 11.5 million in the United States, but was certified for 23 million because it was a double album. Genre: country |
Tracks, Disc 1:Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.
Tracks, Disc 2:
* These songs were new to this album; otherwise all the chart information above refers to the original studio releases of these songs. Total Running Time: 100:11 |
Rating: 3.600 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
|
About the Album:With 18 #1 country songs in the 1990s, Garth Brooks established himself not only as the biggest country artist of the decade, but the biggest artist of the decade period. He already had the record for the biggest selling male solo artist. All that was left was “toppling the Beatles’ status as the best-selling artist of all time. A difficult task, to be sure, but one that was conceivably within Garth Brooks’ reach.” AMG As the decade drew closer to its end, it became obvious that Brooks would shamelessly do whatever it took to reach that milestone. He released a box set called The Limited Series which repackaged his first six studio albums. He added one bonus track to each original album, forcing his fans to plunk down for a box set of albums they most likely owned already just to get six new songs. Back in 1994, he served a similar milk-the-fans-for-every-last-dollar album with The Hits, a collection which sold 10 million despite offering nothing new. It’s hard not to see Double Live as another cash grab, especially since like The Limited Series, it is more than one disc which inflates sales figures. The album has been certified 23 times platinum, twice the 11.5 million shipped since it is a double album. Sales wise, however, it had sold only six million copies as of 2012. WK “The generic titles of both sets suggest that both albums shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than product, since Garth couldn’t be bothered to think of an actual title; he just called it what it is.” AMG “The title alone isn’t what suggests that Double Live is product.” AMG There was also “the elaborate marketing plan – where the disc retails for the low price of $13.99 during the ‘holiday’ season, where the album has a different cover, photos and Brooks-penned liner notes every million copies pressed.” AMG On top of that, “the cassette has completely different artwork than the CD [which] ensures that he’ll move as many units as possible in as short a time as possible…Initial reports suggested that Brooks, his label EMI, and his favorite retailer, Wal-Mart, planned to move a million copies in one week.” AMG It worked. Double Live sold 1,085,000 copies in its first week, passing the first-week sales record previously held by Pearl Jam’s Vs. WK To be fair, “Double Live is a professionally entertaining album with a few nice bonuses – including extra verses for Friends in Low Places and The Thunder Rolls…but much of this record is either identical to the studio counterparts or offers nothing new whatsoever.” AMG There are three new songs – “the dedicated-to-mama It’s Your Song,” AMG the Trisha Yearwood duet Wild as the Wind which was intended for a duets album with Yearwood, and “the rocker Tearin’ It Up (And Burnin’ It Down)” AMG which was originally planned for Brooks’ 1997 album Sevens. WK Brooks also employs the all-too common trick of cleaning up “live” recordings in the studio. “It’s clear that the intros to Two Pina Coladas, The River and We Shall Be Free are pasted on in the studio – and even when the crowd intrudes on The Fever, it feels forced, not like the genuine kinetic energy that can be captured on a live recording.” AMG It doesn’t help that the 25 songs are recorded on 25 different dates. “An album culled from such a wide variety of sources can’t help but feel patchwork…Despite the handful of new twists on familiar material, which will surely satisfy the diehards, Double Live simply isn’t that interesting for the average Garth fan. It’s the kind of record that’s hyped as an event upon its original release, but will be seen as little more than a curio a few years after its release.” AMG |
Resources and Related Links:
Other Related DMDB Pages:
First posted 11/18/2008; last updated 11/15/2023. |
No comments:
Post a Comment