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Critic Reviews
100
As ever, Stapleton's songwriting is economical, and he tackles favoured themes with a weathered sensitivity; production from his long-time collaborator Dave Cobb, another of Nashville’s finest, is never over-embellished. Even among the country music gems already released this year, Stapleton’s feels like a small miracle.
5y
80
Stapleton could use a bit of Petty's flair -- there's not a lot of humor here, nor are there any flirtations with modern sounds -- but his straight-ahead style nevertheless satisfies on Starting Over.
5y
80
Fortunately ... Starting Over finds Stapleton not only maintaining his momentum, but also opting for diversity as well.
5y
80
Subversive country star ranges far and wide on rocking, soulful third.
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5y
80
Chris Stapleton returns with a clean slate of sorts and the year's best country album.
5y
78
Starting Over may be a bit of a misnomer ... but it nonetheless is another solid entry in what is proving to be an increasingly impressive catalog from an artist as comfortable with his own material as that of his idols.
5y
70
Starting Over doesn't do so much of what its title suggests as it builds on Chris Stapleton's solid foundation across rootsy music for another decisive step forward.
5y
70
Stapleton’s writing is solid, but his vocals, arrangements, and instrumentation imbue most of these songs with something remarkable.
5y
70
Unlike his authenticity-branded contemporary Sturgill Simpson, Stapleton has never appeared tortured by the idea that he represents some sort of bygone country-rock ideal, and his fourth album, Starting Over, feels similarly at home trying whatever comes naturally.
5y
60
The album’s unvarnished style generally works, but there’s nowhere to hide when the singer drifts into the saccharine.
5y
chris stapleton’s fourth album, “starting over”, is intelligently written and executed. performed with soul and talent, he captures the spotlight and shares it with his collaborators.
“cold”, imo, is the best song on the album. it is a ballad in which stapleton tells of his love’s absence in his wavering baritone. the way stapleton vocalizes “cut me”: his voice cuts through with unrelenting effectiveness. stapleton grabs and thrashes through his ... read more
Aw man!
I was writing my review for this album when I saw that Fantano just gave it a 8. I saw nobody paying attention to this release and thought I'd be wavy af for liking this shit, now it's gonna seem like I'm copying Fantano.
Anyway, yeah. Chris just displays an insane songwriting ability. Chris is almost single-handedly making country artful again. Whereas Sturgill Simpson been making Country cool and stylish. Chris Stapelton is putting his heart and soul into these songs, making these ... read more
Chris is blessed with and incredible voice and brilliant song writing, some of the greatest songs in all of country music.
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Alejandro González, Edgeworth, MarkyC, d_ism, Toasterqueen12, anztec, Nathan, FoxInTheCity, 5almanBecome a Subscriber
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Track List
| 1 | Starting Over 4:00 | 91 |
| 2 | Devil Always Made Me Think Twice 3:51 | 85 |
| 3 | Cold 5:09 | 94 |
| 4 | When I'm With You 3:43 | 73 |
| 5 | Arkansas 2:58 | 83 |
| 6 | Joy of My Life 4:34 | 80 |
| 7 | Hillbilly Blood 4:05 | 78 |
| 8 | Maggie's Song 3:31 | 85 |
| 9 | Whiskey Sunrise 3:22 | 79 |
| 10 | Worry B Gone 3:15 | 75 |
| 11 | Old Friends 4:01 | 75 |
| 12 | Watch You Burn 4:03 | 84 |
| 13 | You Should Probably Leave 3:33 | 87 |
| 14 | Nashville, TN 3:35 | 85 |
Total Length: 53 minutes
Year End Lists
| #7 | / | Vulture |
| #11 | / | The New York Times: Jon Caramanica |
| #13 | / | Billboard |
| #13 | / | The Needle Drop |
| #20 | / | Idolator |
| #24 | / | Chorus.fm |
| #31 | / | The Independent |
| #44 | / | Rolling Stone |
| / | American Songwriter | |
| / | Esquire | |
| / | Glide |
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