If I'm Honest

Background

According to Shelton the album is very personal and addresses his high and lows of 2015.

One of the album's tracks, "Green", was previously featured on Shelton's fifth studio album, Startin' Fires in 2008.

The album's tenth track "Friends", appears in the movie and corresponding soundtrack album for the 2016 film The Angry Birds Movie.

Singles

"Came Here to Forget" is the lead single from the album and was released on March 8, 2016. It debuted at number one on the Country Digital Chart and has sold 136,000 copies as of March 2016.

"Savior's Shadow" was released as the second single from the album on April 8, 2016. It impacted Christian radio on April 11, 2016 in addition to the country format.

"She's Got a Way with Words" was sent to country radio on June 6, 2016 as the third overall single and second promoted country single.

"A Guy with a Girl" was released as the fourth single from the album on September 26, 2016.

"Every Time I Hear That Song" was released as the fifth single from the album on February 20, 2017.

Critical reception

This album has a 58 Metascore from Metacritic utilizing five reviews, meaning it has been given mostly mixed reviews by critics. The reviewer from AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes, "If I'm Honest is at its core a balladeer's record, and Shelton pulls off these romance tunes with a sly, masculine grace that complements the album's sleek modern surfaces." Jim Farber, reviewing the album for Entertainment Weekly, states, "What's more: the album’s breezy Nashville-pop tunes never strike below the surface. Small wonder the toss-off songs seem more credible." Giving the review at Rolling Stone, Keith Harris describes, "Shelton's warmly confident delivery makes those romantic twists and turns sound both lived in but universal".

Glenn Gamboa, writing the review for Newsday, says, "But the bulk of 'If I’m Honest' is a mix of letting old relationships go and starting new ones." Signaling in a review at Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood suggests in the home of country music, "the default setting is polished professionalism; rawness actually takes time. And here Shelton seldom pushes beyond that finesse to reach something less smooth." Erik Ernst, indicating in a review from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, opines, "this disc's balance of modern verve, emotional introspection and country inflection is where Shelton is supposed to be." Doing the review at Consequence of Sound, Janine Schaults responds, "Country pop star's post-breakup album flounders under too many glitzy, cheesy pop flourishes." Chuck Campbell, the reviewer from Knoxville News Sentinel, responds, "Blake Shelton sounds more like a savvy marketer than any kind of artist".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 3 on Billboard 200, selling 153,000 copies (170,000 album equivalent units) in its first week. It also debuted at No. 1 the Top Country Albums chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 23, 2016. It became the eleventh best-selling album of 2016 in the United States with 522,000 copies sold that year. It has sold 559,000 copies in the US as of February 2017.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the standard edition of If I'm Honest.