Twang is the twenty-sixth studio album by American country music artist George Strait. It was released on August 11, 2009, via MCA Nashville, the same label to which Strait has been signed since 1981. It is produced by Tony Brown. The lead-off single "Living for the Night", which Strait wrote with his son Bubba and songwriter Dean Dillon, was released in May 2009. As of the chart dated January 8, 2011, the album has sold 662,023 copies in the US. "Twang" was nominated for Best Country Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards.
Content
The album includes three songs that Strait co-wrote with his son, George "Bubba" Strait, Jr., who is also the sole writer of the track "Arkansas Dave." Among these three songs is the lead-off single "Living for the Night", which was also co-written by Dean Dillon, who has co-written several of Strait's previous singles. This album is also the second of his solo career to contain a song that he co-wrote, with 1982's Strait from the Heart being the first. The album's final track, "El Rey", is a cover version of a Spanish-language song written and originally recorded by Mexican songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez. "Twang" was released on October 13, 2009 as the second single, followed by "I Gotta Get to You" in February 2010 and "The Breath You Take" in July. It is Strait's first album not to feature a number one single since 2003's Honkytonkville.
Critical reception
Twang generated positive reviews overall, with most favorable reviews citing the Straits' co-writing credits and the "El Rey" cover as variations from Strait's typical musical image. On Metacritic, it has been given a score of 75 out of 100 based on "generally favorable reviews". Giving the album four stars out of five, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that Twang was "recognizably within his comfort zone" but had "a few surprises," saying that the "El Rey" cover and the songs that the Straits' co-wrote "give Twang some serious character and make it more than just another sturdy Strait record." Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time gave a favorable review, with his review also citing the "El Rey" cover and the presence of the Straits' songwriting credits as standout tracks, saying of the latter, "Based on the quality of these cuts, one is left scratching the head wondering what took so long." It received a four-and-a-half star rating from Country Weekly reviewer Chris Neal, who said that the album "finds the singer taking several chances with his tried-and-true formula and seeing his bets pay off handsomely." Bobby Peacock of Roughstock also cited the Straits' co-writes and "El Rey" as "surprises" and saying, "Once again, George Strait has proven just why he is still at the top of his game thirty years into his career." Brian Mansfield of USA Today gave it all four stars and said, "Strait has been putting out country hits since before Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood were even born. While much contemporary country courts an ever-younger audience, Strait is making music for adults. And he's doing it masterfully." Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B rating, describing it as "another album of immaculately recorded tracks." Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine gave it three out of five, saying "The risks Strait has taken here are more like slight variations on his tried-and-true formula and image." Eric R. Danton of Hartford Courant gave it a positive review and said that "Strait is Everyman. He picks solid songs with themes just about anyone can relate to, and he sings them with a hint of twang in his warm voice." Julie Thanki of The Washington Post gave it an average review and called the album "a collection as solid as anything the reliable south Texan has ever released." Peter Gerstenzang of American Songwriter gave it a positive review and called it "another stone-cold classic from King George. Now, if only his courtiers would pay attention. Then the whole darn kingdom of country music would be in much better shape." John Metzger of The Music Box gave it a score of three-and-a-half stars out of five and said about Strait: "At times, he is too tentative about leaving his familiar environment, but for the most part, Strait uses Twang to push down the walls that have confined him for years." However, Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle gave it two-and-a-half stars out of five and said that the album "didn't have to be as good as it is, with its punchy Jim Lauderdale songs and Delbert McClinton's "Same Kind of Crazy" hand-carving the edges like Strait was still playing local honky-tonks instead of singing hokum like "Where Have I Been All My Life" for the arena masses." On December 2, 2009, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Album.
