The Reason Why

Little Big Town | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2010)
• Original Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B003NHR7VM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,262 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

This August Little Big Town will release their first full album of new music since 2007 with The Reason Why, highlighted by the group's fastest-rising single, "Little White Church." Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook have sold over 1.5 million albums to date and produced a collection of hits that include "Boondocks," "Bring It On Home," "Good as Gone," "A Little More You," and "Fine Line." Little Big Town will tour with Sugarland this summer and fall on The Incredible Machine Tour. "There's a special connection between the four of us, for whatever reason," Westbrook says. "Who knows why that happens? You like to think that maybe it was meant to be, and I really do believe that. This group of people came together for a purpose."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing new music!, August 24, 2010

By 

K. Stuckey "kateling" (Port Huron, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Reason Why (Audio CD)

LBT's harmonies soar on their fourth release. The first single "Little White church" is sassy and fun with its cheeky lyrics and contagious hand claps. "Life Rolls On" is probably the second-most singable song on the CD and is really positive. I love Phillip's husky vocals on "All Over Again" and "Kiss Goodbye", it is awesome how they switch up leads and everything clicks so well. Karen owns "Shut Up Train", a very simple bluesy song, that is so haunting. And "You Can't Have Everything" is a fantastic COUNTRY song that Kimberly sings like a bird and the pedal steel is over the top. "Lean Into It" has a great message and "Why Oh Why" with its great guitar riffs and tight harmonies. One of the best new CDs this year.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Secret to Nashville Chicken & Dumplings, August 30, 2010

By 

Cabir Marc Davis (Amazon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Reason Why (Audio CD)

As anyone whos been following the music of Little Big Town since 1998 should know, this is one of those rare country bands whose lineup has never changed, and who incorporate sounds of old-time Americana in their work to such an extent that you could easily mistake their recordings for something circa 1986. Of course, this may or may not be a good thing depending upon their target audience, but things have definitely improved on "The Reason Why", which is on their fourth label (hopefully they stick to this one for a while), and noticeably their most slickly produced work to date.

Listen, theres a wide country audience out there that gives equal credit to the likes of George Strait, Brad Paisley & Miranda Lambert, and honestly, Little Big Town is neither better nor worse than those acts. What they do have in spades, perhaps even more than Rascal Flatts & Montgomery Gentry do, is some great harmonizing. Comprised of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet, the equal amount of time given to each singer is commendable, considering that on bands such as Lady Antebellum, or even The Zac Brown Band, there is always one vocalist who hogs the limelight. Not so on this recording.

Lead single "Little White Church" is ironically the weakest cut here. I was supposed to review this album for a country digest that commissioned it, and spent about two days with my promo copy, post which it became clear that this was a keeper. Not in the sense that "Revolution" by Lambert or even "Whoevers in New England" by Reba McEntire were keepers, but the harmonizing here is excellent, and brought to mind The Roches, in places.

For a fourth album, this hits all the right notes. On a scale of modern country music and its effect on the general public, its ironic that music that I do not consider country by any means ("Fearless" by Taylor Swift, for instance), should outsell more rootsy records such as these. While Little Big Town would need more than just this album to hit the big time, this is a great pit stop on their road to further stardom. Sadly, with the likes of Jaron & The Long Road, or even Chuck Wicks clogging up country radio, its hard to imagine that true artistry such as the one displayed on the title track here would get the recognition it so rightly deserves.

Four Stars. A worthy addition to the LBT catalog.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Ever From Little Big Town, August 28, 2010

By 

Isabella (Indiana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Reason Why (Audio CD)

There have always been some of Little Big Town's songs that I don't care for as much as others so I have never bought one of their cds. But, I love everything on their newest cd, The Reason Why. All of their voices are so strong and inflected with emotion, that it is hard to choose who is the most talented. The songs are at times very upbeat and fun and then they become beautiful and haunting and I appreciate the variation. It is obvious much effort and time have gone into this cd and I think the results are well worth the wait. From the very first catchy lines and music of The Reason Why, you will be hooked. I know I was.