Something More Than Free

Reception

Something More Than Free received mostly positive reviews. On Metacritic, the album has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."

The A.V. Club's Eric Swedlund praised the album, writing "though Something More Than Free may not repeat Isbell’s album-of-the-year accolades, it continues the magic of that breakthrough LP." In another positive review, Craig Manning of AbsolutePunk wrote "Like Southeastern, Something More Than Free is a masterwork, and while I'm not sure if I quite agree with Isbell that it's better than Southeastern, it certainly offers a different (but equally satisfying) experience." Jon Freeman of Nash Country Weekly gave the album a grade of A, writing "Jason Isbell has a reporter’s eye for detail and a poet’s gift for a beautifully crafted turn of phrase." Freeman continued, "Jason’s throaty rasp, not unlike Tyler Farr’s, is the ideal vehicle for those stories [..] It may not be all pretty, but Something More Than Free is as real as it gets." In a mixed review, Pitchfork Media's Stephen Deusner described Something More Than Free as " an album that contains too few surprises," writing that "the music does little to distinguish these characters or enliven the lyrics." In an otherwise positive review, Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine wrote that Something More Than Free "retains Southeastern's intimate acoustic-based feel and heavyhearted lyrical matter, but it's even more smooth-edged and lacks the emotional gut-punches of its predecessor."

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 6, and on the Top Country Albums as well as the Top Rock Albums charts at No. 1 upon its release in the United States, with 46,000 units sold. As of July 2016, the album has sold 143,000 copies in the US.

Something More Than Free debuted at number 1 on Billboard Magazine's rock, folk and country record charts. Although he had had critical success in the Americana genre, this was the first time Isbell received such high ranking across genres. The album was well received.

The single '24 Frames' peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Triple A chart and at No. 42 on Rock Airplay.

Track listing

All tracks written by Jason Isbell.

Personnel