Off the Beaten Path (Justin Moore album)

Critical reception

Off the Beaten Path garnered generally positive reception by music critics to critique the album. At Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that the release had "an air of authenticity." Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal proclaimed that Moore "stays true to his roots" on an album that was "highly eclectic and a real treat", and called the album "a well-crafted musical work". At Roughstock, Ashley Cooke wrote that "Justin Moore stays true to his cowboy hat, the Country way and the twang we've grown to love with Off The Beaten Path." In agreement, Raina Smith of Got Country Online felt that "Justin stays true to his cowboy hat and roots that’s for sure in this modern and traditional country music album." At The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote a positive review, and noted that Moore "engages in a bait and switch: cloaking old-school values with new-school references. He is in no way a dissenter, merely someone who understands that old forms can stand even stronger with injections of new ideas." Furthermore, Caraminica vowed that "Mr. Moore is solid in his convictions: that country music of the 1970s, the more accessible side of the outlaw years, is worth preserving, and that the true modern spirit of that sound is mindful of the rest of the world." However, Bob Paxman at Country Weekly evoked that the release "mostly serves up an array of clichéd, mediocre tunes about the majesty of the country lifestyle." At USA Today, Brian Mansfield told that Moore "may sing about small towns, heaven and redemptive love with unquestionable conviction", but he "just can't recover" to make his album truly special.

Personnel