Four the Record

Lambert wrote or co-wrote six of the album's tracks.{{cite news|title=Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton Record Duet|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1670806/miranda-lambert-blake-shelton-record-duet.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924081635/http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1670806/miranda-lambert-blake-shelton-record-duet.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2011|access-date=September 21, 2011|newspaper=Country Music Television|date=September 15, 2011}} It was recorded in sessions at Jupiter Studios in Seattle, Sugarhill Recording Studios in Houston, The Cave in Dallas, Wincraft Music Studios in England, and the Nashville-based studios Ronnie's Place, Sound Stage Studios, and Tragedy/Tragedy Studios.

Lambert announced in July 2011 that Four the Record would be released on November 1, 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.whatis11111.com/ |title=Miranda Lambert's New Album |publisher=Whatis11111.com |date=2011-06-06 |access-date=2011-07-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713112907/http://www.whatis11111.com/ |archive-date=2011-07-13 }} A month later, Sony Music Nashville announced that Lambert and labelmate Josh Thompson would transfer to RCA Nashville as part of a corporate restructuring.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1669904/miranda-lambert-moves-to-rca-nashville.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103204436/http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1669904/miranda-lambert-moves-to-rca-nashville.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 3, 2011|title=Miranda Lambert Moves to RCA Nashville|date=August 29, 2011|work=CMT|access-date=August 29, 2011}}

In the first week of release, the album sold 133,000 copies in the United States and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the highest-charting album of Lambert's career at that time.[http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/465208/miranda-lambert-makes-record-start-on-country-albums Miranda Lambert Makes 'Record' Start on Country Albums | Billboard] It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 10, 2014,{{cite news |url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Four+the+Record%22 |title=RIAA Certifications |date=January 10, 2014 |access-date=February 12, 2014 }} and by September of that year, it had sold 1,014,000 copies in the US.{{cite web |url=http://www.roughstock.com/blog/country-music-s-top-10-albums-the-week-of-may-28-2014 |title=Country Music's Top 10 Albums: The Week of May 28, 2014 | New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video | Roughstock.com |access-date=2014-05-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529084352/http://www.roughstock.com/blog/country-music-s-top-10-albums-the-week-of-may-28-2014 |archive-date=2014-05-29 }}

{{Music ratings

| MC = 83/100{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/four-the-record/miranda-lambert|title=Reviews for Four the Record by Miranda Lambert|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=December 5, 2017}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}

| rev2 = American Songwriter

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite journal|last=Deusner|first=Stephen|date=November 7, 2011|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/11/miranda-lambert-four-the-record/|title=Miranda Lambert: Four the Record|journal=American Songwriter|access-date=October 1, 2015}}

| rev3 = The A.V. Club

| rev3Score = B+

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4Score = A−

| rev5 = Los Angeles Times

| rev5Score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Randy|date=October 31, 2011|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/10/album-review-miranda-lamberts-four-the-record.html|title=Album review: Miranda Lambert's 'Four the Record'|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 1, 2015}}

| rev6 = MSN Music (Expert Witness)

| rev6Score = A−

| rev7 = PopMatters

| rev7Score = 6/10{{cite web|last=Langhoff|first=Josh|date=November 3, 2011|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/150797-miranda-lambert-four-the-record/|title=Miranda Lambert: Four the Record|work=PopMatters|access-date=October 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104150413/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/150797-miranda-lambert-four-the-record/|archive-date=November 4, 2011|url-status=live}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Rosen|first=Jody|author-link=Jody Rosen|date=November 10, 2011|title=Miranda Lambert Puts Away the Guns|magazine=Rolling Stone|page=83}}

| rev9 = Slant Magazine

| rev9Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Keefe|first=Jonathan|date=October 31, 2011|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/miranda-lambert-four-the-record|title=Miranda Lambert: Four the Record|work=Slant Magazine|access-date=October 1, 2015}}

| rev10 = Spin

| rev10Score = 7/10

}}

Four the Record was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on 12 reviews.{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/four-the-record/miranda-lambert|title=Reviews for Four the Record by Miranda Lambert|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=October 1, 2015}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic believed Lambert was able to expand stylistically by relying more on other songwriters for the record: "She's digging deeper than ever before and finding considerable riches."{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/four-the-record-mw0002186259|title=Four the Record – Miranda Lambert|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=October 1, 2015}} In Country Weekly, Ken Tucker deemed it her best album so far and hailed Lambert as a matured "interpreter of songs, whether she's written them or not",{{cite journal|last=Tucker|first=Ken|author-link=Ken Tucker|date=October 25, 2011|url=http://www.countryweekly.com/reviews/four-record-miranda-lambert|title=Four the Record by Miranda Lambert|journal=Country Weekly|access-date=October 1, 2015}} while Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club felt it showcased some of her most intriguing songs yet, proving "her willingness to color outside the lines of country-music convention goes beyond lyrical statements of bad-assitude."{{cite news|last=Koski|first=Genevieve|date=November 1, 2011|url=http://www.avclub.com/review/miranda-lambert-ifour-the-recordi-64325|title=Miranda Lambert: Four The Record|newspaper=The A.V. Club|access-date=October 1, 2015}} Entertainment Weekly critic Mikael Wood said she explored a variety of human emotions and moods on the record, which he called her "most vivid effort yet, with brilliantly observed songs about lust ('Fine Tune') and disappointment ('Same Old You'), as well as a stirring celebration of diversity ('All Kinds of Kinds')."{{cite magazine|last=Wood|first=Mikael|date=October 26, 2011|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2011/10/26/four-record-review-miranda-lambert|title=Four the Record|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=October 1, 2015}}

Some reviewers were less enthusiastic. Writing for MSN Music, Robert Christgau called Four the Record a "basic quality country album" highlighted by the harder opening songs before delving into trite ballads catering to the housewife demographic, such as "Dear Diamond", "Oklahoma Sky", and "Better in the Long Run".{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=November 11, 2011|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ew2011-11.php|title=Pistol Annies/Miranda Lambert|work=MSN Music|access-date=October 1, 2015}} Spin magazine's Theon Weber lamented most of the lyrics, which he found "flat, even when they're Lambert's",{{cite journal|last=Weber|first=Theon|date=November 1, 2011|url=http://www.spin.com/2011/11/miranda-lambert-four-record-rca-nashville/|title=Miranda Lambert, 'Four the Record' (RCA Nashville)|journal=Spin|access-date=October 1, 2015}} while Jon Caramanica of The New York Times viewed it as a foray into alternative country featuring some of her least inspired singing and songwriting.{{cite news|last=Caramanica|first=Jon|date=October 31, 2011|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/arts/music/new-music-from-miranda-lambert-and-susan-boyle-reviews.html?_r=0|title=New Music From Miranda Lambert and Susan Boyle|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2015}}

{{track listing

| title1 = All Kinds of Kinds

| writer1 = Phillip Coleman, Don Henry

| length1 = 4:26

| title2 = Fine Tune

| writer2 = Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird

| length2 = 4:39

| title3 = Fastest Girl in Town

| writer3 = Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley

| length3 = 3:17

| title4 = Safe

| writer4 = Lambert

| length4 = 4:46

| title5 = Mama's Broken Heart

| writer5 = Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves

| length5 = 2:59

| title6 = Dear Diamond

| note6 = with Patty Loveless

| writer6 = Lambert

| length6 = 3:49

| title7 = Same Old You

| writer7 = Brandi Carlile

| length7 = 3:05

| title8 = Baggage Claim

| writer8 = Lambert, Hemby, Laird

| length8 = 3:18

| title9 = Easy Living

| writer9 = Lambert, Scott Wray

| length9 = 2:45

| title10 = Over You

| writer10 = Lambert, Blake Shelton

| length10 = 4:13

| title11 = Look at Miss Ohio

| note11 =

| writer11 = David Rawlings, Gillian Welch

| length11 = 4:18

| title12 = Better in the Long Run

| note12 = with Blake Shelton

| writer12 = Charles Kelley, Ashley Monroe, Gordie Sampson

| length12 = 3:34

| title13 = Nobody's Fool

| writer13 = Chris Stapleton

| length13 = 3:43

| title14 = Oklahoma Sky

| writer14 = Allison Moorer

| length14 = 4:46

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Deluxe Edition

| title15 = Hurts to Think

| note15 = Bonus Track

| writer15 = Lambert, Hemby, Jessica Bendinger

| length15 = 2:55

}}

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/four-the-record-r2271938/credits|title=Four the Record – Miranda Lambert Credits|work=AllMusic|access-date=November 3, 2011}}

{{div col}}

• Richard Bennett – guitar, bouzouki (13)
• Sarah Buxton – background vocals (tracks 4, 10)
• Brandi Carlile – background vocals (7)
• Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion
• Glen Duncan – background vocals (2)
• Karen Fairchild – background vocals (11)
• Don Henry – background vocals (1)
• John Barlow Jarvis – piano
• Jay Joyce – guitar, clavinet (8), acoustic slide guitar (8), pump organ (1)
• Josh Kelley – background vocals (8)
• Miranda Lambert – lead vocals
• Greg Leisz – Dobro, steel guitar
• Betsey Long – background vocals (3)
• Patty Loveless – background vocals (6)
• Allison Moorer – background vocals (14)
• Gordon Mote – background vocals (2)
• Kacey Musgraves – background vocals (5)
• Stoney LaRue – background vocals (1)
• Kimberly Schlapman – background vocals (11)
• Randy Scruggs – background vocals (2, 9)
• Blake Shelton – duet vocals (12)
• Chris Stapleton – background vocals (13)
• Scotty Wray – background vocals (9)
• Randy Scruggs – banjo, guitar, mandolin
• Steve Winwood – Hammond B-3 organ (8)
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar, upright bass, picked piano (6), background vocals (2)

{{div col end}}

{{div col}}

• Chuck Ainlay – engineering, mixing, producer
• Enzo Angileri – hair stylist
• Judy Forde-Blair – creative producer, liner notes
• Steven Christensen – vocal recording
• Tammie Harris Cleek – imaging, photo production
• Martin Feveyear – vocal recording
• Tracy Baskette-Fleaner – creative director, design
• Tiffany Gifford – stylist
• Emory Gordy Jr. – vocal recording
• Brittany Hamlin – production coordination
• Ryan Krieg – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Frank Liddell – producer
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering
• Mylah Morales – make-up
• Randee St. Nicholas – photography
• Lisa Ramsey-Perkins – A&R
• Brandon Schexnayder – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• James Towler – engineering
• Stewart Whitmore – digital editing
• Glenn Worf – producer

{{div col end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Miranda Lambert|title=Four the Record|relyear=2011|certyear=2014|award=Platinum|type=album|accessdate=July 13, 2017}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

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Category:2011 albums

Category:Miranda Lambert albums

Category:RCA Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Chuck Ainlay

Category:Albums produced by Frank Liddell