Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton – Cheers, It’s Christmas (Super Deluxe) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:01:55 minutes | 1,00 GB | Genre: Christmas
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Music Nashville

“During the holidays I always celebrate traditions and add new things, so cheers to some new music,” Shelton said in a statement. “After all, what is Christmas without it? I just want to thank everyone for including my music in your festive playlists all these years. It really is ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’”
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Blake Shelton – The Dreamer (2003)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:59 minutes | 436 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Rough, rawboned energy drives Blake Shelton’s sophomore release, but it’s not quite enough to distract from its brevity or the fact that the young singer would benefit from a little more seasoning. His vocal technique is fine, and his willingness to tackle a lyric is admirable; the problem lies more with the material, which represents the doldrum state of songwriting in music city. The story told by “The Baby,” for instance, has been told more than a few times: basically it’s “My mom is dead.” But whether presented tongue-in-cheek, as in the Commander Cody trucker lament “Mama Hated Diesels,” or as poetry, which Merle Haggard achieves in “Mama Tried,” there’s something less formulaic in the older tunes. The same applies throughout The Dreamer, which explains why Shelton is at his strongest on the least-ambitious material, such as “Playboys of the Southwestern World,” a rowdy collision of “Brown Eyed Girl” and “American Pie,” sung with a mischievous twist that suggests, at times, Bruce Springsteen with a corn liquor hangover. None of the drawbacks of The Dreamer suggest any reason for pessimism about Shelton’s prospects; there’s nothing here that an escape from music row wouldn’t cure. – Robert L. Doerschuk
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Blake Shelton – Texoma Shore (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 38:38 minutes | 492 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Texoma Shore is a shout-out to the beaches of Lake Texoma, a body of water that’s close to where Blake Shelton grew up. It’s also near where he recorded this, his tenth studio album, and if there’s an implicit homecoming in his choice of naming the record after his old stomping grounds, it’s a sentiment that can’t be heard in the music. Relaxed and easy, Texoma Shore is the sound of “Blake Shelton: Superstar,” the good ol’ boy who made good in Hollywood. His paramour and Voice co-star Gwen Stefani isn’t heard, but she’s felt, specifically in the album’s deft blend of glamour and comfort, but also in a fleeting lyric reference to Stefani’s endorsement deal for a specific cosmetic line. This line undercuts Shelton’s occasional attempt at down-home charm, particularly on the disingenuous “Money,” a song where he and his girl aren’t able to afford Charmin, sport second hand cut-offs/ and leave “the doors unlocked because there’s nothing left to steal.” The tell in “Money” is how he dreams of sipping sake at Nobu, a reference that flows easily from Shelton’s lips because he’s now a celebrity, not a mere country star. He acts this way throughout Texoma Shore, sanding the twang out of his voice — it only surfaces when things get a little rowdy but things only get a little rowdy, and not that often — and opting for a polish so slick it shines. What distinguishes Texoma Shore from its predecessor, If I’m Honest, is that it’s a groove album, not a collection of ballads. Shelton sounds settled and happy, singing about longterm romances and memories, the kind of songs that reflect a relaxed middle age. There are some surprises to be found in the production by Scott Hendricks — notably, “Beside You Babe” has a nimble R&B beat and “Turnin’ Me On,” the only song co-written by Shelton, plays like Lindsey Buckingham producing Alabama in 1982 — and that’s enough to make Texoma Shore into a cozy record that’s not complacent. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Blake Shelton – Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:16:41 minutes | 894 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

The title Re-Loaded: 20 #1 Hits slyly winks at Blake Shelton’s first hits collection, Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton. Released in time for the holiday season of 2010, a lot has happened between that compilation and this 2015 collection — namely, Shelton has turned into a household name thanks to his starring role on NBC’s televised music competition The Voice (not to mention his headline-grabbing romance with Miranda Lambert), and he’s had the hits to go along with his fame. According to Billboard’s U.S. Country Airplay charts, he had precisely 12 number one hits from the three albums he’s released since Loaded and they’re all here, sequenced in reverse-chronological order beginning with “Sangria,” running through the smooth-rolling “Sure Be Cool If You Did” and the modulated rowdiness of “Boys Round Here,” and ending with “Honey Bee,” the smash that hit in 2011 just as the singer started on The Voice. Next up are his eight number ones from the 2000s — “Hillbilly Bone,” “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” “Home,” “Some Beach,” “The Baby,” and “Austin” — finally concluding with the nicely laid-back, grooving “Gonna,” a song that underscores how Shelton easily transitioned from traditionalist to mainstream crooner. By focusing so heavily on his 2010s, the rest of Reloaded also emphasizes this shift, and leaves behind many of the great, brawnier singles he had from the 2000s, but that’s a fair trade-off: not only will this collection appeal to 2010s converts, it is true to who Shelton is in 2015. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Blake Shelton – Pure BS (Deluxe Edition) (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 52:05 minutes | 602 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Warner Records

With Pure BS, Blake Shelton proves he is one of the country music artists who are in it for the long haul and cannot rest on his laurels. From the cover photo to the last track the listener can easily be startled by what is on offer here. As his first three albums showcased, Shelton has always had a powerful baritone range and can write and sing drinking, heartbreak, and driving songs all night. Working with producer Bobby Braddock, Shelton forged a sound that showcased him as a country music hell raiser who had a tender side, but he did it all with one voice. On Pure BS (a great double entendre), Shelton worked not only with Braddock, but with producers Paul Worley and Brent Rowan as well. What the sum total of these 11 songs reveals is that Shelton is really and truly a singer of modern country music. The opener is a Southern rocker with napalm guitars called “This Can’t Be Good” (a tale with a humorous twist). It’s the Shelton everyone knows, but he reaches for notes he hasn’t hit before. “The More I Drink” is one of the first sobriety songs since Ray Wylie Hubbard’s classic “Hey, That’s Alright” to actually make sense even as it makes the listener laugh. (It’s interesting that they are both from small towns in Oklahoma) Then there’s the bittersweet “I Don’t Care,” with steel guitars and strings, where Shelton digs deep into the heart of his voice where searing honesty, even as it begins in lying to oneself, comes to the fore as he digs deeper into the lyric than he ever has before, and yes, that’s saying something. “Back There Again” is the most haunting and moving loving and leaving songs Shelton’s ever recorded. Written by Tom Douglas, it’s on a par with “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” Transformations, turnarounds, realizations and reflection are at the heart of Pure BS. That’s not to say that there aren’t the trademark Shelton rollicking country-rock tunes here; there are, in the aforementioned “This Can’t Be Good,” “The More I Drink,” and to a slightly lesser degree “I Have Been Lonely,” with its acoustic and electric guitar shuffles and popping snare drums. But even in these songs, Shelton’s ability as a singer (with help from Rachel Proctor on harmony vocals) to get the message across over the music is rather startling. His previous three recordings offered him a solid ground to get this one across. To build on what he’s accomplished as an artist he’s reached inside himself to pull these songs off so convincingly. The album ends with “The Last Country Song,” written by Shelton and Braddock. It’s a stellar, hard-driving country-rock song that offers a very insightful view of how music itself is changing as the landscape changes as corporate interests swallow up the land the music got made on, with help from John Anderson and George Jones quoting from their own songs “Swingin'” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Pure BS is the album Shelton’s been waiting to make his entire career and gives us an absolutely stunning new view of an established artist who is here to stay. – Thom Jurek
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Blake Shelton – Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:08 minutes | 638 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton, is a solid collection of the country singer’s singles, hits, and favorites from his five studio full-lengths, and the two six-track EPs he released in the latter year. Fifteen tracks deep, it begins with the two cuts that put him on contemporary country’s radar — “Ol Red” and “Austin” — from his self-titled debut album in 2001. The Dreamer, from 2003, is represented by the its two best cuts, “The Baby,” and the classic “Playboys of the Southwestern World.” There are three from 2004’s Blake Shelton’s Bar & Grill, including Shawn Camp’s stellar “Nobody But Me,” and Shelton’s reading of the Conway Twitty smash “Goodbye Time.” Pure BS, from 2007, is showcased by a pair of numbers, including “The More I Drink” and a third, “Home,” comes from the deluxe edition of album. There’s a solid version of “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” from 2008’s Startin’ Fires to round things out. The first 11 tracks were a given, and Shelton’s annotations in the booklet make a solid case for their inclusion. That said, Shelton also tacks on the title track from the Hillbilly Bone, “Six Pack,” as well as “Kiss My Country Ass” from the same set. Further, “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” and the title track from the second EP are here. All four of these songs were released earlier in the calendar year, making their appearances seem redundant at best and, frankly, like a cynical money grab at worst. Oftentimes, less really is more. – Thom Jurek
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Blake Shelton – Hillbilly Bone (2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 22:00 minutes | 257 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Hillbilly Bone feels like a stopgap between albums for Blake Shelton, but it’s not. This “Six Pak” is a budget-priced, six-track EP featuring a smash single as the title track. Pal Trace Adkins helps out on both the cut and in the video. The format is Warner Bros’ attempt to deal with growing customer dissatisfaction with the traditional full-length format; they will release a second part later in 2010. As for the music, it’s a formula contemporary country chartmaker: highly compressed dual lead guitars, layered acoustic guitars, good-time honky tonk lyrics, and big rocking drums. It’s a good-natured dig at city folks, and you can’t help but like Shelton, no matter how many cliché’s he spews. A radio skit outro is the actual intro to “Kiss My Country Ass,” a pure “redneck-and-proud” anthem worthy of Hank Williams, Jr. at his most ornery. Were it not for the title, it would no doubt score as a single as well. Things get a bit slower and softer with four different kinds of “love” songs that follow. The first, “You’ll Always Be Beautiful,” is about the real thing; it’s among the more sensitive ballads on Shelton’s records. “Can’t Afford to Love You” is a humorous take on trying to find the right person in the wrong place. “Delilah” is a classic contemporary country betrayal number. The set’s final cut, “Almost Alright,” is a midtempo recovering-from-love narrative with a catchy chorus, an unusual use of steel drums, and a more complex rhythm pattern — the idea for which was likely borrowed from Jimmy Buffett. Hillbilly Bone is a sure thing for Shelton’s fans, and a risky experiment in marketing for his label. – Thom Jurek
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Blake Shelton – Bringing Back The Sunshine (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 44:53 minutes | 530 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

There was a sense that Blake Shelton needed to prove he was still country on 2013’s Based on a True Story, the first album he recorded after turning into a television superstar thanks to his starring role on The Voice. Despite the macho boasts of “Boys Round Here” — the record’s biggest hit — the songs from True Story that charted were largely ballads, which may be the reason why the album’s quick follow-up, Bringing Back the Sunshine, relies on sweetness, not swagger. Underneath the gloss, there are remnants of redneck rhetoric — drinks mixed in Sonic cups, a reliance on a corny backwoods growl on “Buzzin'” — but they’re just the accent, not the foundation. At its core, Bringing Back the Sunshine is a middlebrow makeout record that can double as a fine morning tonic. Nothing here rocks (although the closing “Just Gettin’ Started” tries to work up a full head of steam), nothing is gritty, even the ode to a “Good Country Song,” which isn’t a slice of hardcore honky tonk but rather a slow-burner in the vein of Keith Whitley and Earl Thomas Conley, who are both name-checked in the tune. This insistent mellowness is the strength of Bringing Back the Sunshine. Shelton has an easy touch with a ballad and he never gets subsumed in the thick overdubs of his midtempo pop songs because his warm, resonant voice anchors them both, making them seem slightly more substantial than mere cannily crafted contemporary country-pop. Yet, that’s exactly what Bringing Back the Sunshine is: a state-of-the art country-pop record, a modern update of urban cowboy that works because it never hides its soft aspirations but never makes a fuss about them either. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Blake Shelton – Blake Shelton (2001)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 35:15 minutes | 406 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records – Nashville

This impressive ten-song compilation is an earnest debut full of lots of promise and originality. Shelton delivers a wealth of traditional country music in its most honest-to-goodness form, with his young, delightful cowboy-esque charm. The Oklahoma-bred Shelton sure can fire off a tune with the sincerest tenacity. Notables include “Austin,” a tremendously imaginative song about getting back together with someone by leaving messages for one another on their answering machines; “I Thought There Was Time” about neglecting a relationship; and “Same Old Song” about an artist looking for some originality in country music today. Along with producer Bobby Braddock (“He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”) and Shelton’s “all-time musical hero,” writer Earle Thomas Conley, the cast is rounded out on an album destined for musical greatness.
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Blake Shelton – All About Tonight (2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 21:53 minutes | 253 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Blake Shelton and the folks at Reprise must have been encouraged by both the reception and sales of his “six pack” EP, Hillbilly Bone, because barely five months later, he followed with another one in All About Tonight. There are certain advantages to the format: the artist can be reliant on one single instead of three or four, and cohesion and flow are not as important as they would be on a traditional long-player. Finally, the price point is more attractive to fans. Shelton does two things, and he does them extremely well: rowdy, rocking contemporary tunes about raising hell and making romantic mischief, and singing (mostly) believable ballads. The rollicking title track reached number ten on the Billboard Country chart before this set was released. In addition, it features two contributions from real-life fiance Miranda Lambert. The first is the duet “Draggin’ the River,” a sassy, good-time, honky tonk love song designed for dancing — their voices trade lines easily enough and it’s capped by a popping slide guitar solo. The other one is “Suffocating,” written by Lambert and Hillary Scott. It’s a convincing midtempo ballad with big production — particularly in the drums and the electric guitars — and the requisite dynamics that make it swell from the middle toward the end, where it becomes anthemic. Another fun track is “That Thing We Do,” a designed-to-be-sexy uptempo number written by Jeff Bates and Jason Matthews. It is, as country records go in the early 21st century, both innocent and brazen. Like Hillbilly Bone, All About Tonight wasn’t recorded to reach a new audience, so much as shore up Shelton’s fan base while furthering his chosen marketing experiment. – Thom Jurek
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Blake Shelton – Red River Blue (Deluxe Version) (2011/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 45:42 minutes | 920 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Blake Shelton’s sixth album (not including compilations), Red River Blue features production by the in-demand, award-winning Scott Hendricks. It is preceded by smash single ‘Honey Bee,’ which reached number one on the Billboard and Mediabase country single charts within seven weeks, and has logged a million digital downloads; it holds the record for the fastest-selling digital single to be certified gold by the R.I.A.A. by a country male. It’s his fourth straight number one single and his ninth overall. In fact, given that Shelton had less than half an album completed when the single was released, he and his team were given two weeks to complete the album after it hit number one. The energy is evident throughout the 11-song set.
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Blake Shelton – Fully Loaded: God’s Country (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 43:05 minutes | 543 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Music Nashville

Blake Shelton has revealed the cover art and track listing for his upcoming album, Fully Loaded: God’s Country.

The country superstar and coach on TV’s The Voice is set to release Fully Loaded: God’s Country on Dec. 13. The 12 tracks include seven of Shelton’s previous hits and five new songs, including his recent No. 1 hit, “God’s Country.” Fans have also heard Shelton’s current single — a duet with Trace Adkins titled “Hell Right” — as well as “Jesus Got a Tight Grip.”

Shelton is set to promote the new album with a tour that launches in February. He is reviving the lineup from his previous 2019 Friends and Heroes Tour for his upcoming Friends and Heroes 2020 Tour. The new dates will feature special guest Lauren Alaina, along with support acts the Bellamy Brothers, John Anderson and Trace Adkins. The tour is set to commence on Feb. 13 in Portland, Ore., and it will visit 16 cities before wrapping up in Detroit on March 21.

“God’s Country” is nominated for Video, Single and Song of the Year in the upcoming 2019 CMA Awards, and Shelton is also nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Dive Bar,” his collaboration with Garth Brooks.
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Blake Shelton – Body Language (Deluxe Edition) (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 52:01 minutes | 683 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Music Nashville

Blake Shelton is releasing a deluxe edition of his latest album, Body Language, on Dec. 3. The expanded project features four new tracks, including collaborations with Brooks & Dunn and Hardy, as well as a love song written with longtime friend Craig Wiseman. The deluxe edition also features his brand new single “Come Back As A Country Boy,” which was just released at country radio. The original Body Language album has already yielded the Platinum-certified No. 1 “Happy Anywhere” with Shelton’s wife, Gwen Stefani.
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Blake Shelton – Body Language (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 38:21 minutes | 500 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Music Nashville

The superstar is set to release Body Language, his first full-length studio album in three and a half years, on May 21. The project features 12 tracks, including the chart-topping “Happy Anywhere” and his current hit single, “Minimum Wage.”
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Blake Shelton – Based on a True Story… (Deluxe Edition) (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 50:51 minutes | 997 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Warner Records

Country superstar/’Voice’ coach Blake Shelton is all about getting personal on ‘Based On A True Story…,’ his seventh studio album to date. ‘Every song on the album, I’ve either been through those situations, or I’m going through them right now,’ Shelton admitted. Among the most relevant in Shelton’s life at the moment are cuts like ‘Doin’ What She Likes’ and ‘Ten Times Crazier.’ If fans felt like they got to know the real Blake on the hit NBC show, they’ll get another close look with this batch of songs.

The new album is also gearing up for a strong showing on the charts. Lead single ‘Sure Be Cool If You Did’ currently sits at No. 24 on the Hot 100, its highest position in its 10 weeks on the chart. But there are plenty of other potential hits on ‘True Story’
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