| Product Summary | | Label: Capitol Records | | UPC: 05099923575127 | | Release Date: 3/31/2009 | | Buy.com Sku: 210787097 | | Item#: M4LCHG | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 2060 | Format:  CD |
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Song Listing
| Disc 1 | | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Kiss A Girl | ------ | | 2. If Ever I Could Love | ------ | | 3. Sweet Thing | ------ | | 4. 'Til Summer Comes Around | ------ | | 5. My Heart Is Open | ------ | | 6. Hit The Ground Runnin' | ------ | | 7. Only You Can Love Me This Way | ------ | | 8. Standing Right In Front Of You | ------ | | 9. Why's It Feel So Long | ------ | | 10. I'm In | ------ | | 11. Thank You | ------ |
| "You can't blame gravity for falling in love."
Albert EinsteinOn Defying Gravity, the openhearted and uplifting new album by Keith Urban, there is a deeply felt musical statement, a life-affirming song cycle marked by a clearheaded sense of passion and hope. From the opening romantic yearning of "Kiss a Girl," to the heartfelt gratitude of the closing "Thank You," Defying Gravity offers listeners the inspiring and stirring sound of a great musical artist coming of age and creating his most personal and effecting music yet. "Fortunately, this is where I am at right now in life, in my marriage, and in my home with a new girl," Urban says of Defying Gravity's truly joyful and thankful mood. "And coming the road that I've taken to be here, I do feel a lot of gratitude." Track Listing
1. Kiss a Girl
2. If Ever I Could Love
3. Sweet Thing
4. Til Summer Comes Around
5. My Heart is Open
6. Hit the Ground Runnin'
7. Only You Can Love Me This Way
8. Standing Right in Front of You
9. Why's it Feel So Long
10. I'm In
11. Thank You
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Keith Urban (vocals, guitar). | | Audio Mixer: Justin Niebank. | | Keith Urban's 2006 album, LOVE, PAIN AND THE WHOLE CRAZY THING, was an extremely personal album chronicling a period of personal upheaval both good (his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman) and bad (just prior to the album's release, the singer entered rehab for unspecified addictions), and although it was a success by most commercial measures, it was the Australian country singer's first album not to produce a Number One single on the country charts. The follow-up, DEFYING GRAVITY--from the adoption of a more buoyant mindset in the title song, to the soaring giddiness of the singles "Sweet Thing" and "Kiss A Girl"--is a far less somber affair. Produced by Urban's usual musical partner Dann Huff and consisting mostly of songs written or co-written by Urban (a cover of Radney Foster's sly "I'm In" being the best of the exceptions), DEFYING GRAVITY is a summery, good-time album filled with Urban's irrepressible charm. | | Keith Urban's fourth album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing, was released literally days after he entered an alcohol treatment center to treat his disease. The album was issued, debuted in the top spot in the Billboard country charts, scored four hit singles, and eventually went double platinum. What's so remarkable about this is that Urban's rehabilitation regimen didn't allow him to tour for months after the disc's release, potentially hurting sales. It didn't happen. Urban's now trademark meld of country, pop, and rock & roll connects deeply with fans and they are nothing if not loyal. Defying Gravity is his fifth studio release, and in many ways it simultaneously builds on its predecessor while standing apart from it completely. Certainly, there are similarities in sound and approach: Urban once again worked with Dan Huff to co-produce the set, and his now signature manner of layering everything from strings and drum machines to taut, sheeny electric guitars playing power chords, banjos, pedal steel, and crunchy, crisp drums is a sound that belongs to him alone. The other is that this album is unapologetically one of redemption tomes colored as love songs in various shades and tempos -- though none of them are heartbreak songs. He co-wrote eight of Defying Gravity's 11 songs, and arranged all of them. | | That said, this time out Capitol throws everything into the ring by issuing a pair of leadoff singles in the tight little rocker "Kiss a Girl" and the shimmering, reverb-laden guitar workout "Sweet Thing," which is disguised as a midtempo power ballad. Both are 21st century equivalents of rock & roll love songs that echo everyone from Tom Petty to Greg Kihn and even Dwight Twilley -- though this is clearly not conscious. As radio tracks, they are smart picks, especially with the clever guitar and banjo interplay -- Urban has transformed the role of the backwoods and in-the-hills instrument into a respectable part of the rock & roll toolbox. There are some proper ballads on the disc as well, such as the haunting, nocturnal, and dreamily textured "The Summer Comes Around," his nakedly emotional paean to wife Nicole Kidman ("Thank You") that closes the set, and the shuffling "Only You Can Love Me This Way." The skittering drum loop that undergirds the guitar and Rolling Stones-esque "doo-doo" chorus in "I'm In" makes it an excellent choice for a fourth single, and the clipped pedal steel, distorted electric guitars careening in the bridge, and shuffling hi-hat and snare make the finger-popping "Why It Feels So Long" feel like a contemporary country take on of one of Bruce Springsteen's boulevard songs, or John Mellencamp's "Cherry Bomb." In sum, Defying Gravity builds on the skill set that gave listeners Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing and takes it further, seamlessly combining hook-laden crafty songwriting with a pop sensibility in the modern country vernacular that blazes a new trail and underscores Duke Ellington's dictum that there are only two kinds of music: good and bad. This is a shining case in point for the former. ~ Thom Jurek |
Producer: Dann Huff; Keith Urban |
Engineer: Drew Bollman; Dean Reid; Seth Morton; Rich Ramsey; Justin Niebank |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Keith Urban - Defying Gravity - CD Review By: tink - Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 4/15/2009 9:17 AM | | I don’t know about you, but it feels like I’ve been waiting for a new studio album from Keith Urban for ages. Of course, it’s not like he hasn’t been busy since Love, Pain and The Whole Crazy Thing (2006). He has been touring like crazy and in between then and now, there was his CD Greatest Hits: 18 Kids in 2007 with two new tracks combined with a DVD featuring twelve music videos to help tide me over....read the full review |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 03/31/2009 | | Original Release Date : 2009 | | Catalog ID : 57512 | | Label : Capitol Nashville Records | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 50999235751274 |
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| | Bio | | | Keith Urban Since first moving to Nashville back in 1992, Keith Urban has gradually established himself as an extraordinary singer, songwriter, guitarist, and performer who has brought his own distinctive talent, energy, and charisma to Country music and beyond. In return, Urban has now established himself as both a global superstar and a highly respected artist with the impressive track record to prove it, including Grammy Awards, Country Music Association Awards, Academy of County Music Awards and Australia's coveted Aria Award. He has a loyally devoted worldwide fan base that comes to see him every time he takes the stage, as he connects with the people who have made it all possible. Keith Urban's millions of fans have followed his creative progression from his first American album as a member of The Ranch (1997), through an increasingly accomplished series of the Platinum-selling solo albums, Keith Urban (1999), Golden Road (2002), Be Here (2004), and Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing (2006), as well as the compilation Greatest Hits: 18 Kids (2007). And so for a decade now, Urban has remained a welcome and enduring presence on Country radio thanks to a series of popular and memorable songs, including such #1 hits as "But for the Grace of God," "Somebody Like You," "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me," "You'll Think of Me," "Days Go By," "Making Memories of Us," "Better Life," "You Look Good in My Shirt" and "Start a Band," Urban's 2008 guitar and vocal duet with pal, Brad Paisley. And as a core artist on all Country video outlets, Urban's career to date has also been documented on a series of Platinum video collections. In recent years, Urban's remarkable musical gifts have also brought him to numerous places where Country superstars have rarely gone before, whether powerfully dueting with Alicia Keys on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" on the stage of Live Earth, appearing on Saturday Night Live, or sitting in with the likes of Al Green, Justin Timberlake, BB King and John Mayer at this year's Grammy Awards. "I have a real appreciation for the long, colorful, diverse musical road I've taken to get here," Urban explains of his musical journey. "All through my youth in Australia, I got to play in so many different situations. I grew up in Tamworth which is sort of the Country music capitol of Australia -- playing and competing there, but I also formed my own band playing West Coast Rock stuff that I loved. Then I got a job as a musical director for a cabaret singer, so I was learning "Twelfth of Never" and "Viva Las Vegas" too. At 16, I had to wear a tuxedo and count off the band. You name it -- I played it in every pub and club in Australia, and that's given me a great palette to draw upon. I feel very lucky to have all these opportunities to play with so many artists who I really admire. Playing with people -- and playing for people -- is what it's all about."
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