The Blade is the third studio album by American country music artist Ashley Monroe, released on July 24, 2015, through Warner Bros. Nashville. The album was produced by Vince Gill and Justin Niebank and includes the lead single "On to Something Good." The album made numerous "Best Albums of 2015" lists and was nominated for Best Country Album at the 58th Grammy Awards.

The title track was covered by Ronnie Dunn for his 2022 album 100 Proof Neon.

Promotion In support of the album, Monroe toured with Little Big Town throughout the summer of 2015. Monroe then embarked on a headlining tour, "The Blade Tour," in the fall of 2015.

Promotional appearances in the media included a live performance of "Winning Streak" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on July 27, 2015, "The Blade" on ABC's The View on August 6, 2015, and "I Buried Your Love Alive" on Conan on August 26, 2015.

Critical reception

The Blade received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 86 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 14 reviews.

Rolling Stones Will Hermes gave the album four stars believing "The Blade dials it back...[for] You won't know whether to whoop or weep...It's a beautiful thing." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four and a half out of five stars and states: "She rolls easy, luxuriating in that exquisite sound, her soft touch making the heartbreak and the humor seem equally alluring." The four out of five star review Jewly Hight delivered for Billboard was for Monroe's ability to "sing these songs, many of which she co-wrote, with exquisite, bruised sensitivity." It was Spins "album of the week," and in a seven out of ten rating Alfred Soto writes: "A couple of wooly moments aside, Monroe's third album, The Blade, continues a remarkable hot streak for writers Luke Laird, Jessi Alexander, Chris Stapleton, and Monroe herself." Robert Ham for Paste rated the album an 8.9 out of ten, succinctly sums-up the album, for being a "heartfelt and engaging" affair. This album got an A− from Nash Country Weekly, Tammy Ragusa realizes the release cements Monroe "as one of the premiere and rare female neo-traditionalists in the format." Sam C. Mac, gave the release an A− rating on behalf of The A.V. Club, informs the listener, "The majority of Monroe's superb third album hunkers down with heartache and struggle." Judging the album to be a B+ release, Glenn Gamboa writes for Newsday, asking a hypothetical question: "Monroe is still sorting out her own sound, but who can complain when that process is so compelling?" This album got an eight out of ten stars rating by PopMatters, Dave Heaton reminds it's not how many questions of pain with regards to the release, rather in hearing them, "they sound splendid." The release got a 7.5 out of ten from Pitchfork, Stephen M. Deusner marginally derides, "The Blade could be stronger if it was more streamlined and sequenced with some kind of overarching narrative in mind, but that's almost beside the point when the album sounds so damn good."

Meet-Country.com praised the album, in particular the title track, stating "“The Blade” is the crown jewel on the whole album. Although not penned by Ashley herself, she still took command on this one and sings it as if its one of her own. On the flip side, the narrator is the one who is still in love with someone who isn't in love with them."

Accolades Year Association Category Result2016Grammy Awards Best Country Album

PublicationRankList AllMusic N/A AllMusic Best of 2015 N/A Best Country Albums of 2015 American Songwriter 18 Top 50 Albums of 2015 Nashville Scene 3 Best Country Albums of 2015 NPR N/A 50 Favorite Albums of 2015 Paste 37 The 50 Best Albums of 2015 PopMatters 38 The 80 Best Albums of 2015 1 The Best Country Music of 2015 Rolling Stone 38 50 Best Albums of 2015 5 40 Best Country Albums of 2015 Time 1 Top 10 Best Albums of 2015

Track listing

Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic.Musicians Ashley Monroe – lead vocals Tony Harrell – keyboards, Hammond B3 organ (7) Tim Lauer – keyboards (1, 2) Justin Niebank – keyboards (1, 3, 7, 8), percussion (1, 3, 5, 7–9), acoustic guitar (9), electric guitar (10) Charlie Judge – keyboards (5), Hammond B3 organ (6), synthesizers (8), strings (9) Tom Bukovac – electric guitar Danny Rader – acoustic guitar (1), electric guitar (1), mandola (1) Derek Wells – electric guitar (1, 3, 8) Richard Bennett – electric guitar (2–13) Vince Gill – acoustic guitar (2–5, 7, 8, 10–13), electric guitar (8, 11, 13), dulcimer (9) Paul Franklin – steel guitar (1–9, 11–13) Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass (1) Michael Rhodes – bass (2–13) Fred Eltringham – drums Eric Darken – percussion (3, 8) Anthony LaMarchina – cello (9) Charles Dixon – viola (9), violin (9) Stuart Duncan – fiddle (10–13)Backing vocalists Ashley Monroe – backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 7, 13) Vince Gill – backing vocals (1–4, 7–11, 13) Charlie Worsham – backing vocals (1) Miranda Lambert – backing vocals (5) Paul Martin – backing vocals (6) Harry Stinson – backing vocals (6) Marty Stuart – backing vocals (6) Sarah Zimmermann – backing vocals (7) Alison Krauss – backing vocals (12) Dan Tyminski – backing vocals (12) Jeff White – backing vocals (13)Production'''

Cris Lacy – A&R direction Vince Gill – producer Justin Niebank – producer, recording, mixing Drew Bollman – additional recording, recording assistant, mix assistant Matt Rausch – additional recording, recording assistant, mix assistant Brian David Willis – digital editing Andrew Mendelson – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee) Andrew Darby – mastering assistant Steven Dewey – mastering assistant Adam Grover – mastering assistant Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordinator Shane Tarleton – creative director Mike Moore – art direction, design Joseph Llanes – photography Karolina Kangas – hair, make-up Tiffany Gifford – wardrobe John Grady – management Justin Luffman – management

Chart performanceThe Blade debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard 200 chart and number 2 on the Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart with 12,000 pure album sales during its first week of release. As of June 2016, the album has sold 38,600 copies in the US.

Album Chart (2015) Peakposition

Singles Year Song Chart Peakposition 2015 "On to Something Good" US Country Airplay 53

Release history Region Date Format(s) Label United States July 24, 2015 Warner Bros. Nashville

References