Justin Moore (album)

Justin Moore is the debut studio album by American country music artist Justin Moore. It was released on August 11, 2009 by Valory Music Group, a subsidiary of Big Machine Records. The album includes the singles "I Could Kick Your Ass", "Back That Thing Up", "Small Town USA", "Backwoods" and "How I Got to Be This Way". "Small Town USA" became Moore's first number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in September 2009. Moore co-wrote all but one of the songs on the album.

History
This album was part of a special promotion called "So You Want to Be a Record Label Executive." This promotion placed Moore's music on social networking sites such as MySpace and iLike, where fans could make playlists consisting of ten songs, and the top ten songs that are picked were included on Moore's album.

Critical reception
The album received mixed reviews from music critics. Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave it three stars out of five, saying that Moore "pull[s] off his[...]influences with a country authenticity more capably than any other country up-and-comer at the moment;" she added that many of the other songs seemed to repeat the theme of "Small Town USA," but that "Grandpa", "Like There's No Tomorrow", and "Hank It" "rely on important details that obviously matter." Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the album a favorable review, saying that "Moore isn't making a record to not be on the radio, that is his goal, and he wants to bring a heavy dose of southern, country charm and twang back to it." The album received a two-and-a-half star rating from Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who said that Moore "sees no shame in pandering" and called the album "anonymous country-rock." In 2017, Billboard contributor Chuck Dauphin placed three tracks from the album on his top 10 list of Moore's best songs: "Small Town USA" at number three, "Backwoods" at number five and "Back That Thing Up" at number ten.

Personnel

 * Steve Brewster - drums
 * Perry Coleman - background vocals
 * Larry Franklin - fiddle
 * Tommy Harden - drums
 * Mike Johnson - steel guitar
 * Charlie Judge - keyboards
 * Doug Kahan - bass guitar
 * Troy Lancaster - electric guitar
 * Justin Moore - lead vocals
 * Mike Rojas - keyboards
 * Steve Sheehan - acoustic guitar, banjo
 * Russell Terrell - background vocals