Right in the Middle of It

Background

Right in the Middle of It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, United States and was produced by Ed Seay and Harold Shedd. This was unlike her previous Polydor release entitled Woman in the Moon, which was co-produced by both Shedd and Barry Beckett. Right in the Middle of It contained eleven tracks of material. Three out of the album's eleven tracks were either written or co-written by Wright: the title track, "The Other Woman", and "Gotta Get Good at Givin' Again". The album's production and sound mainly consisted of a traditional country sound that included both uptempo and ballad songs. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic commented that the album's production included much of "natural country twang". The tenth track on the recording entitled "It's Not Too Late" was co-written by American country artist Tracy Byrd. The sixth track "What I Learned From Loving You" was originally recorded by Lynn Anderson and was a Top 20 country single for her in 1983.

Critical reception

Right in the Middle of It received a positive critical response upon its initial release in January 1996. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic gave Right in the Middle of It four and a half out five stars, calling it Wright's "album pick". Dillon praised Wright for having the ability to record both ballads and have enough energy to record uptempo country numbers as well. Dillon also stated that many of Wright's musical influences (such as Connie Smith and Buck Owens) have shown influence on many of the album's individual tracks. In addition, Dillon praised Wright's musical experience, stating, "This might only be her second album, but she's had plenty of singing experience, starting with family get-togethers when she was a small child, where singalongs with fiddles and guitars were the norm. Before she hit her teens she had already formed a country band of her own. Early on Wright was exposed to music greats like Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Connie Smith, and Conway Twitty. Many of those influences can be heard in the songs on Right in the Middle of It."

Release

Right in the Middle of It spawned three singles between 1995 and 1996, all of which charted on the Billboard Magazine country singles chart. The album's lead single entitled "Listenin' to the Radio" was released in October 1995, peaking at #66 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and #84 on the Canadian RPM Country Singles chart. The album's second track "The Love That We Lost" was released as the second single in January 1996, which peaked at #41 on the Billboard country chart and #51 on the Canadian RPM country chart. The final single released was "The Love He Left Behind" in 1996, which failed to chart any Billboard chart or in Canada. Right in the Middle of It was officially released on January 9, 1996 on Polydor Records, and did not chart on any Billboard list either.

Personnel

Sales chart positions