Mr. Misunderstood

Church started his songwriting of the album on his guitar, nicknamed "Butter Bean" by his son, in the latter part of the summer.{{cite journal|first=Jessica|last=Nicholson|title=(Updated): Eric Church Surprises Fans, Industry With 'Mr. Misunderstood'|url=http://www.musicrow.com/2015/11/eric-church-surprises-fans-industry-with-mr-misunderstood/|journal=Music Row|access-date=November 4, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}} Within just twenty days, he had twenty songs written for the album, when he went into the studio, where twenty days later after some recording sessions, the ten tracks that comprise this album were finished. The recording sessions for this album took place in mid-to-late-September to early-October 2015. Church got Jay Joyce to produce the album, while his label EMI Records Nashville was the imprint used.{{cite magazine|author=RS Country|author-link=Rolling Stone|title=Eric Church Releases Surprise Album 'Mr. Misunderstood'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/eric-church-releases-surprise-album-mr-misunderstood-20151104|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 4, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}}{{cite magazine|first=Chris|last=Payne|title=Eric Church Drops Surprise Album Using Zany New Method|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/6752981/eric-church-surprise-album-mr-misunderstood-mail-fan-club|magazine=Billboard|access-date=November 4, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}} This album was produced at St. Charles Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.{{cite web|first=Billy|last=Dukes|title=Eric Church, 'Mr. Misunderstood': Everything You Need to Know |url=http://tasteofcountry.com/eric-church-mr-misunderstood-album/|publisher=Taste of Country|access-date=November 6, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}} The song, "Mixed Drinks about Feelings", featured blues and blue-eyed soul performer, Susan Tedeschi. Its song, "Chattanooga Lucy", featured country artist, Joanna Cotten, while the song, "Kill a Word", has two singers featured, in Kentuckian, Andrea Davidson, and Americana singer, Rhiannon Giddens.{{cite magazine|author=RS Country|title=Eric Church's 'Mr. Misunderstood': 10 Best Moments on Surprise LP|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/eric-churchs-mr-misunderstood-10-best-moments-on-surprise-lp-20151106|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 7, 2015|date=November 6, 2015}} Church put on the cover, McKinley James "Mickey" Smay, who is a 14-year old in the ninth grade at a high school located in Rochester, New York, where he also makes an appearance on the music video for this song, while his father is a rock music drummer, Jason Smay.

This album was released to his fan club members, known as The Church Choir, where it is a paid membership, on November 3, 2015, via email,{{cite magazine|first=Madison|last=Vain|title=Eric Church reportedly releases surprise album to fan club|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/04/eric-church-mr-understood-surprise-album|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=November 4, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}} and some select fans and radio-stations got copies of the album on compact disc and vinyl.{{cite web|author=WREN|title=Eric Church Surprises Fans By Mailing Them New Cd|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/eric-church/news/eric-church-surprises-fans-by-mailing-them-new-cd_5010176|publisher=Contactmusic.com|access-date=November 4, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}} His music club fans posted snippets of the songs on YouTube, where they were quickly removed for copyright infringement. It came out on Apple Inc.'s iTunes, the subsequent day, where it was distributed exclusively through them. Church performed, "Mr. Misunderstood", at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards, where the news of the new album became evident.{{cite web|first=Andrea|last=Dresdale|title=Eric Church Releases Surprise Album, 'Mr. Misunderstood,' During the CMA Awards|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/eric-church-releases-surprise-album-mr-misunderstood-cma/story?id=34982064|publisher=ABC News|access-date=November 4, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}}

The musical style of this album has been described as the following; country,{{cite web|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=Mr. Misunderstood – Eric Church : Review|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/mr-misunderstood-mw0002895958|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=March 27, 2015}}{{cite journal|first=Jon|last=Caramanica|title=On 'Mr. Misunderstood,' Eric Church Pays Homage to His Influences|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/arts/music/on-mr-misunderstood-eric-church-pays-homage-to-his-influences.html?_r=0|journal=The New York Times|access-date=November 11, 2015|date=November 10, 2015}}{{cite web|first=Sarah|last=Rodman|title=No misunderstanding this Eric Church surprise|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2015/11/12/misunderstanding-this-eric-church-surprise/krO8Vvsh7fwkLoPFLnqb5I/story.html|work=The Boston Globe|publisher=John W. Henry|access-date=November 15, 2015|date=November 12, 2015}}{{cite journal|first=Erik|last=Ernst|title=Album Reviews: Ellie Goulding, Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Billy Gibbons|url=http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/musicandnightlife/album-reviews-ellie-goulding-eric-church-tim-mcgraw-billy-gibbons-b99607105z1-341696281.html|journal=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=November 9, 2015|date=November 6, 2015}}{{cite journal|first=Jonathan|last=Bernstein|title=Review: Eric Church Retreats From the Dark Side on 'Mr. Misunderstood' |url=http://www.spin.com/2015/11/review-eric-church-mr-misunderstood/|journal=Spin|access-date=November 12, 2015|date=November 11, 2015}} rock, blues,{{cite magazine|first=Jon|last=Dolan |title=Eric Church's New Album: Mr. Misunderstood|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/eric-church-mr-misunderstood-20151112|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 13, 2015|date=November 12, 2015}} folk, gospel, soul, funk,{{cite web|first=Tom|last=Breihan|title=Album Of The Week: Eric Church Mr. Misunderstood |url=http://www.stereogum.com/1842846/album-of-the-week-eric-church-mr-misunderstood/|publisher=Stereogum|access-date=November 11, 2015|date=November 10, 2015}} pop, alternative country, alternative rock, country rock, country blues, country gospel, gospel blues, bluegrass, folk rock, roots rock, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, Southern gospel, Southern rock,{{cite web|first=Matt|last=Bjorke|title=Album Review: Eric Church – "Mr Misunderstood" |url=http://roughstock.com/news/2015/11/39294-album-review-eric-church-mr-misunderstood|publisher=Roughstock|access-date=November 11, 2015|date=November 5, 2015}} and Southern soul. His music here has been compared to the likes of The Allman Brothers Band, John Mellencamp, The Marshall Tucker Band, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Stephen Thomas Erlewine believes, "where other country is provincial, Church embraces the world without repudiating his home."

{{Album ratings

| MC = 84/100

| rev1 = AllMusic

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

| rev2 = AbsolutePunk

| rev2Score = 8.0/10{{cite web|first=Craig|last=Manning|title=Album Review: Eric Church - Mr. Misunderstood |website=AbsolutePunk |url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=3736274 |access-date=November 23, 2015|date=November 16, 2015}}

| rev3 = Nash Country Weekly

| rev3score = A

| rev4 = PopMatters

| rev4Score = {{Rating|7|10}}

| rev5 = Rolling Stone

| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev6 = Spin

| rev6Score = 7/10

| rev7 = Vice (Expert Witness)

| rev7Score = {{Rating-Christgau|hm3}}{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|date=July 1, 2016|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ew2016-07.php|title=Expert Witness|department=Noisey|magazine=Vice|access-date=July 9, 2020|via=robertchristgau.com}}

}}

Mr. Misunderstood received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a "weighted average" rating out of 100 from selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a Metascore of 84 out of 100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web|author=Metacritic|author-link=Metacritic|title=Reviews for Mr. Misunderstood by Eric Church|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/mr-misunderstood/eric-church/critic-reviews|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=December 7, 2015}}

Awarding the album five stars out of five, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated "Mr. Misunderstood is built for the long haul: it settles into the soul, its pleasures immediate but also sustained." Jon Dolan, giving the album four stars at Rolling Stone, judged that "Church's well-observed writing and warm, generous wit ground the album, particularly on two examples of the small-town vignettes he does so well". Rating the album a seven out of ten from Spin, Jonathan Bernstein said that it is a "small shame, then, that he chose what might have been the safest move: making what is sure to become the most agreeable, least controversial record of his career." Jon Caramanica, writing a review at The New York Times, said: "The album, a love letter to his influences, is the gentlest of Mr. Church's releases, the one that least wears his rowdy tendencies on its sleeve." Reviewing the album for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Erik Ernst felt that "Church is country music's weird kid, who bucked the industry's expectations to chase cookie-cutter radio hits and defiantly forged his voice as an innovative, authentic songwriter." Sarah Rodman, critiquing the album from The Boston Globe, remarked, "He vaults over that bar with 'Mr. Misunderstood,' in some ways a love letter to music itself and to the ways it can save a soul, a heart, a sense of self." Assigning the album an A-grade from Nash Country Weekly, Bob Paxman opined that "Mr. Misunderstood is more of the stripped-down, heart-in-the-heartland version of Eric that won fans over in the beginning, without the overproduction that sometimes plagued The Outsiders."{{cite journal|first=Bob|last=Paxman|title="Mr. Misunderstood" by Eric Church |journal=Nash Country Weekly |url=http://www.countryweekly.com/reviews/mr-misunderstood-eric-church |access-date=November 23, 2015|date=November 19, 2015}} Craig Manning, giving the album eight out of ten at AbsolutePunk, wrote: "Mr. Misunderstood is the first album from Church where I've viewed him not just as 'good, for mainstream country,' but as 'great, 'period.'" Anthony Easton, signaling in a seven out of ten review from PopMatters, remarked that "it includes excellent vocals, sophisticated musical choices, and strong storytelling chops."{{cite web|first=Anthony|last=Easton|title=Eric Church: Mr. Misunderstood|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/eric-church-mr-missunderstood/|work=PopMatters|access-date=December 20, 2015 |date=December 3, 2015}}

Within two days of sales in its first chart week, Mr. Misunderstood debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 76,000 equivalent album units (70,000 from digital sales).{{cite magazine|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|title=Chris Stapleton Soars to No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart After CMAs|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6754084/chris-stapleton-soars-to-no-1-on-billboard-200-albums-chart|access-date=November 9, 2015|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Prometheus Global Media|date=November 8, 2015}} The following week, its first to count a full week of sales, the album climbed to number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling an additional 65,000 units (58,000 pure album sales).{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6762538/chris-stapleton-tops-billboard-200-second-week|first=Keith|last=Caulfield|title=Chris Stapleton Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart|magazine=Billboard|date=November 15, 2015|access-date=November 18, 2015}} The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA on January 3, 2018, for a million units in combined sales and streams. As of June 2018, the album has sold 599,600 copies in the United States.{{cite news|url=http://roughstock.com/news/2018/08/43253-top-10-country-albums-august-14-2018 |title=The Top 10 Country Albums: August 14, 2018|first=Matt|last=Bjorke|work=Roughstock|date=August 15, 2018|access-date=August 15, 2018}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Eric Church, with additional co-writers as noted

| total_length = 38:41

| title1 = Mr. Misunderstood

| writer1 = {{hlist|Casey Beathard}}

| length1 = 5:18

| title2 = Mistress Named Music

| writer2 = {{hlist|Beathard}}

| length2 = 5:22

| title3 = Chattanooga Lucy

| note3 = featuring Joanna Cotten

| writer3 = {{hlist|Jeff Hyde|Ryan Tyndell}}

| length3 = 3:23

| title4 = Mixed Drinks About Feelings

| note4 = featuring Susan Tedeschi

| writer4 =

| length4 = 3:00

| title5 = Knives of New Orleans

| writer5 = {{hlist|Travis Meadows|Jeremy Spillman}}

| length5 = 4:02

| title6 = Round Here Buzz

| writer6 = {{hlist|Luke Dick|Hyde}}

| length6 = 3:35

| title7 = Kill a Word

| note7 = featuring Andrea Davidson & Rhiannon Giddens

| writer7 = {{hlist|Dick|Hyde}}

| length7 = 3:20

| title8 = Holdin' My Own

| writer8 =

| length8 = 3:56

| title9 = Record Year

| writer9 = {{hlist|Hyde}}

| length9 = 2:59

| title10 = Three Year Old

| writer10 = {{hlist|Beathard|Monty Criswell}}

| length10 = 3:45

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Deluxe Edition{{cite web|url=https://www.oldies.com/product-view/38579P.html|title=Mr. Misunderstood [Deluxe Edition]|website=Oldies.com|accessdate=July 31, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/mr-misunderstood-deluxe-edition-mr0004686979|title=Mr. Misunderstood [Deluxe Edition]|website=AllMusic|accessdate=July 31, 2021}}

| total_length = 51:50

| title11 = Chattanooga Lucy

| note11 = live at Red Rocks

| length11 = 3:59

| title12 = Hallelujah

| note12 = live at Red Rocks

| length12 = 4:48

| title13 = Knives of New Orleans

| note13 = live at Red Rocks

| length13 = 4:20

}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Mr. Misunderstood|artist=Eric Church|award=Platinum|relyear=2015|certyear=2018|refname=RIAA}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true|noshipments=true}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Eric Church}}

{{CMA Album of the Year}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Misunderstood}}

Category:2015 albums

Category:Eric Church albums

Category:EMI Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Jay Joyce