Ripcord (album)

Background

This album has been called Urban's most experimental album to date. Urban told Rolling Stone, "It was a lot of searching, a lot of experimenting, and when you get to work with as many people as I did, you end up with a lot of stuff."

One of the tracks, "Sun Don't Let Me Down" features Pitbull, and Nile Rodgers on guitar. The first verse in that song makes reference to Urban's wife Nicole Kidman's 1995 film To Die For.

Promotion

Urban promoted the album by performing "Wasted Time" on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on 6 May and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 12 May 2016. Three days after the album was released Urban played a free lunchtime concert in front of the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on 9 May 2016. He performed tracks from Ripcord such as "Gone Tomorrow (Here Today)" and "Blue Ain't Your Color". Urban embarked on a world tour in support of the album on the RipCORD World Tour, beginning on 2 June 2016.

Singles

The album's lead single "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" was released on 9 June 2015. It reached number forty on the US Hot 100 chart and number two on both the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. The song was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to Chris Stapleton's "Traveler".

The second single "Break on Me" was released on 23 October and peaked at number one on the Country Airplay Chart and number six on Hot Country Songs. It also reached number 54 on the Hot 100.

"Wasted Time" was released as the third single on 4 April 2016. It has reached number one on Country Airplay Chart and number four on Hot Country Songs. It reached number 51 on the Hot 100 chart.

"Blue Ain't Your Color" was released on 30 July 2016 as a single by Urban via Snapchat. The song reached number one on both Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart and also reached number 24 on Hot 100.

"The Fighter", a duet with fellow country musician Carrie Underwood, was released as the album's fifth single on 6 February 2017. The song was written by Urban and his producer busbee while the two were in London. Its inspiration came from conversations Urban had with Nicole Kidman during the early stages of their relationship.

Critical reception

Ripcord has received generally positive reviews from music critics. Allan Raible of ABC News says that the album "is not really a country record. It is more of an electric-pop influenced record. The album reeks of formula but at the same time, there's something enjoyably adventurous about this record. At the The Sydney Morning Herald, the album received three stars and reports "Urban threads a tight needle, updating the slick contemporary American country sound he, long ago, mastered with the warm washes and bright punctuation of pop music. It is, at first suggestion, an almost ludicrous concept, but it's testament to Urban's craftsmanship that the record is dexterous and pleasing."

Sounds Like Nashville called Ripcord "a remarkably diverse album that pushes boundaries and furthers Urban’s evolution as an artist."

For the collaborations on the album, The News-Sentinel's Michael McCall describes "The Fighter", the duet with Carrie Underwood, as "a modern update of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell", and describes the collaboration with Pitbull and Nile Rodgers ("Sun Don't Let Me Down") as "more like an exercise than a celebration".

Accolades

The album received a nomination for Album of the Year for the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one in Urban's home country of Australia, and number 21 in New Zealand. It stayed at number one on the Australian albums chart for a second week, becoming his first album to spend more than one week at the top of that chart. The album was certified Platinum in Australia for shipment of over 70,000 units.

It debuted at number 3 on the Canadian Albums chart and has been certified Gold for shipment of over 40,000 units.

In the United States, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, his fifth No. 1 on the chart. It also debuted at No. 4 on Billboard 200, earning 106,000 album-equivalent units in its first week (93,000 pure sales). It stayed at number one on the Top Country Albums chart for a second week. It also debuted at number 3 in Canada.

As of March 2017, it has sold 486,600 copies in the United States.

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic and Ripcord liner notes.

Production

Other charted songs

Following the release of the album, the track "The Fighter" featuring Carrie Underwood sold 25,000 copies in the first week and debuted at No.25 on the Hot Country Songs chart and also at No. 18 on Bubbling under Hot 100 singles chart. In the next week, the song jumped to number 11 on the Hot Country Songs and also debuted at number 69 on the Hot 100 chart, selling 50,000 copies. It debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 chart at number 75.

In Australia, the song debuted at No. 30 on the official ARIA Top 50 Singles chart becoming Urban's seventh Top 50 entry and also his third highest charting song on the chart. On the chart dated 10 July 2016, the song climbed from number 27 to number 19, becoming its new peak. The song has been certified Platinum, denoting sales of over 70,000 copies in Australia. It is Urban's third top twenty hit and Underwood's second entry in the Top 100 and also became her highest charting song on that chart.