Paradise (John Anderson album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Paradise
| type = Studio album
| artist = John Anderson
| cover = Paradise John Anderson.jpg
| alt =
| released = January 30, 1996
| recorded = 1995
| venue =
| studio = Loud Recording, Sixteenth Avenue Sound and Sound Stage Studios, Nashville TN
| genre = Country
| length =
| label = BNA #66810
| producer = James Stroud and John Anderson
| prev_title = Country 'Til I Die
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Greatest Hits
| next_year = 1996
}}
Paradise is the sixteenth studio album by American country music artist John Anderson. It was released in 1996 under the BNA Records label. The album produced the singles: "Paradise" (also recorded by Pirates of the Mississippi on their 1995 album Paradise), which peaked at 26 on United States Country charts and 21 on Canadian charts, "Long Hard Lesson Learned", which peaked at 51 and "My Kind of Crazy", which peaked at 67.
Critical reception
Sara Sytsma of Allmusic rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that it "featur[es] a handful of great songs that cancel out the fair amount of filler on the record."{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r230961|pure_url=yes}}|title=Paradise review|last=Sytsma|first=Sara|work=Allmusic|accessdate=4 March 2010}} Chet Flippo of Billboard called it "traditional, uncompromising John Anderson country".{{cite magazine|last=Flippo|first=Chet|date=27 January 1996|title=Reviews: Paradise|magazine=Billboard|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7g4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22john+anderson%22+%22paradise%22+%22billboard%22&pg=PA105}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| collapsed =
| headline =
| total length =
| title1 = Paradise
| writer1 = Bob McDill, Roger Murrah
| length1 = 2:46
| title2 = Long Hard Lesson Learned
| writer2 = John Anderson, Donna Anderson, Michael Anderson
| length2 = 3:26
| title3 = The Band Plays On
| writer3 = J. Fred Knobloch, Gary Scruggs
| length3 = 3:51
| title4 = My Kind of Crazy
| writer4 = John Jarrard, Delbert McClinton, Gary Nicholson
| length4 = 2:42
| title5 = Let the Guitar Do the Talkin'
| writer5 = Kelly Garrett, Craig Wiseman
| length5 = 3:41
| title6 = 30,000 Feet
| writer6 = John Anderson, Troy Seals
| length6 = 3:00
| title7 = It Wouldn't Kill Me
| writer7 = Larry Boone, Paul Nelson, Tom Shapiro
| length7 = 3:07
| title8 = Love Comes Back Around
| writer8 = J. Anderson, D. Anderson, M. Anderson
| length8 = 3:21
| title9 = Bad Weather
| writer9 = J. Anderson, Lionel Delmore
| length9 = 4:09
| title10 = They Spent Forever
| writer10 = J. Anderson, Delmore
| length10 = 3:28
}}
Personnel
As listed in liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=Paradise |others=John Anderson |year=1996 |type=CD booklet |publisher=BNA Records |id=66810}}
- John Anderson – acoustic guitar, lead vocals, background vocals
- Eddie Bayers – drums
- Mike Brignardello – bass guitar
- Larry Byrom – acoustic guitar
- Darel DeCounter – Hammond B-3 organ
- Paul Franklin – steel guitar, Dobro
- Sonny Garrish – steel guitar, Dobro
- Levon Helm – background vocals on "The Band Plays On"
- Dann Huff – electric guitar
- Mark Knopfler – electric guitar on "Let the Guitar Do the Talkin'"
- Matt Rollings – piano
- John Wesley Ryles – background vocals
- Gary Smith – piano
- Joe Spivey – fiddle, mandolin
- Biff Watson – acoustic guitar
- Lonnie Wilson – drums
- Glenn Worf – bass guitar
- Curtis Wright – background vocals
- Curtis Young – background vocals
Chart performance
=Album=
| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1996) !Peak |
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums
|align="center"|40 |
=Singles=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="2"| Peak positions |
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="50"| US Country ! width="50"| CAN Country |
| rowspan="3"| 1996
| align="left"| "Paradise" | 26 | 21 |
| align="left"| "Long Hard Lesson Learned"
| 51 | 71 |
| align="left"| "My Kind of Crazy"
| 67 | — |