Summary
Melt is the second studio album by American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released on October 29, 2002, on Lyric Street Records and sold 3,073,000 copies in the United States up to May 2009.[3] The album’s first single "These Days" was the group's first Number One hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The follow-ups, "Love You Out Loud" and "I Melt", respectively reached number 3 and number 2, while "Mayberry" was also a Number One. A music video was also made for "My Worst Fear" in 2004 even though it was never released as a single.
| Melt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 29, 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Studio | The Work Station and The Tracking Room (Nashville, Tennessee). | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 40:10 | |||
| Label | Lyric Street | |||
| Producer | Mark Bright Rascal Flatts Marty Williams | |||
| Rascal Flatts chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Melt | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+[2] |
Writing and recording edit
- Dry County Girl
"I was writing with Marcus (Hummon) last year [2001] and he said, "Mind if I play you a song?" He played it in my truck while we were on the way to lunch and I was blown away. The melody is so captivating. I played it for Jay and Gary and we loved it and put it on hold. It has a lot of energy and a good little story" ~Joe Don Rooney[4]
- Like I Am
"This is a very special song for me, since I wrote it after a conversation with my girlfriend Kassidy. For me, like for a lot of men, when a woman says great things about you it can be hard to believe. I thought, "I don’t see EVERYTHING you see in me, but since you see it, I’ll try to be that way." It was very easy to write, and as soon as I came up with the melody I shared the idea with Danny Orton and we wrote it." ~Joe Don Rooney[4]
- You
The song "You" was originally scheduled to be recorded by Tim McGraw when the band discovered it towards the end of recording. The publishing company told them if McGraw didn't record the song by 2 p.m. that day they could have it. He didn't cut it and the band recorded it that same day.[4]
- Shine On
"When we won the ACM award, the 7th to 12th graders in my hometown, Picher, Oklahoma, made a huge banner and posed in the gymnasium with it. It said, "Shine On, Joe Don." It was so sweet, and I thought, "We’ve gotta write a song called ‘Shine On’." A few months afterward I had this cool melody on the bus and the "Shine On" idea came into my head. I was playing it for Jay and Gary and they started singing this melody over the chord progression. I said, "Sing ‘Shine on’" and boom, right then and there it was married together. It was magic. We wrote it in about 45 minutes." ~Joe Don Rooney[4]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "These Days" | Steve Robson, Jeffrey Steele, Danny Wells | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Too Good Is True" | Jay DeMarcus, Danny Orton | 3:20 |
| 3. | "I Melt" | Gary LeVox, Neil Thrasher, Wendell Mobley | 3:54 |
| 4. | "Mayberry" | Arlos Smith | 4:33 |
| 5. | "Love You Out Loud" | Brett James, Lonnie Wilson | 3:06 |
| 6. | "Dry County Girl" | Marcus Hummon, Chuck Jones | 3:16 |
| 7. | "Like I Am" | Joe Don Rooney, Orton | 4:06 |
| 8. | "You" | Brad Crisler, James LeBlanc | 4:08 |
| 9. | "Fallin' Upside Down" | Derek George, John Tirro | 2:34 |
| 10. | "Shine On" | DeMarcus, LeVox, Rooney | 3:01 |
| 11. | "My Worst Fear" | Al Anderson, Anthony Smith | 3:56 |
| Total length: | 40:10 | ||
Personnel edit
- Rascal Flatts
- Jay DeMarcus – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Gary LeVox – lead vocals
- Joe Don Rooney – electric guitar (2, 4, 7, 10), backing vocals
- Additional Musicians
- Steve Nathan – keyboards
- Tim Akers – keyboards (2, 3, 4, 6, 8), accordion (4)
- Larry Beaird – acoustic guitar, banjo (4)
- Dann Huff – electric guitar (1, 7)
- Jerry McPherson – electric guitar (1-8, 10, 11), bouzouki (5)
- J. T. Corenflos – electric guitar (7)
- Paul Franklin – steel guitar (3, 8, 9, 11)
- Jonathan Yudkin – mandolin, fiddle, cello (6), viola (6), violin (6)
- Jimmy Stewart – dobro (10)
- Lonnie Wilson – drums
Production edit
- Mark Bright – producer
- Marty Williams – producer, recording, mixing, mastering
- Rascal Flatts – producers
- Doug Howard – A&R direction
- Scott Kidd – recording assistant, mix assistant, digital editing
- Derek Bason – digital editing
- Christopher Rowe – digital editing
- Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordinator
- Sherri Halford – art direction
- Greg McCarn – art direction
- Glenn Sweitzer – design
- Fresh Design – design
- David Johnson – photography
- Debra Wingo – hair stylist, make-up
Charts edit
Weekly charts edit
|
Year-end charts edit
|
Certifications edit
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[13] | Gold |
| United States (RIAA)[14] | 3× Platinum |
References edit
- ^ Dinoia, Maria Konicki. "Melt review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
- ^ Nash, Alanna (November 22, 2002). "Melt review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
- ^ Trust, Gary (May 1, 2009). "What Sold The Most". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 29, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d "archived page from Rascalflatts.com from 2002". Archived from the original on December 7, 2002. Retrieved December 7, 2002.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ "Rascal Flatts Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Rascal Flatts Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top 100 country albums of 2002 in Canada". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Rascal Flatts – Melt". Music Canada.
- ^ "American album certifications – Rascal Flatts – Melt". Recording Industry Association of America.