Days of Gold is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Jake Owen. It was released on December 3, 2013 via RCA Nashville.[1] The album's track listing was announced on October 9, 2013.[2] It garnered a positive reception from critics. Days of Gold debuted at numbers 4 and 15 on both the Top Country Albums and Billboard 200 charts respectively and spawned three singles: the title track, "Beachin'", and "What We Ain't Got". Owen promoted the record by touring across North America with the Eli Young Band, Parmalee, Thomas Rhett, and the Cadillac Three as his opening acts.

Days of Gold
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 3, 2013 (2013-12-03)
GenreCountry
Length40:55
LabelRCA Nashville
ProducerJoey Moi
Jake Owen chronology
Barefoot Blue Jean Night
(2011)
Days of Gold
(2013)
American Love
(2016)
Singles from Days of Gold
  1. "Days of Gold"
    Released: August 12, 2013
  2. "Beachin'"
    Released: February 3, 2014
  3. "What We Ain't Got"
    Released: August 11, 2014

Promotion

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On January 7, 2014, Owen announced a 55-city North American tour to promote the album, beginning at Brookings, South Dakota and finishing at Vero Beach, Florida. He was joined by the Eli Young Band, Parmalee, Thomas Rhett, and the Cadillac Three as opening acts on select dates of his tour.[3]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic71/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [5]
Country WeeklyA−[6]
Got Country Online     [7]
Music Is My Oxygen Weekly     [8]
Rolling Stone     [9]
USA Today    [10]

On review aggregator website Metacritic, Days of Gold holds a score of 71 out of 100, based on reviews from five critics, which indicates "generally favourable reviews".[4] The album got some positive reviews from AllMusic, Country Weekly, Got Country Online and USA Today. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it a three-and-a-half out of five stars, and thought that the album had a less polished sound than its predecessor. He wrote that "There's no mistaking Days of Gold for anything earthy, but this sonic thawing winds up emphasizing Owen's inherent sweetness in an appealing fashion."[5] At Country Weekly, Tammy Ragusa graded the album to be an A− and said that Owen's voice was "[e]ffortless and easy", and that its themes seemed like an artistic evolution from the previous album.[6] Donna Block of Got Country Online gave it a perfect five star rating, and called this album "precious", which fans and listeners alike should own this album.[7] At USA Today, Brian Mansfield rated it a three out of four stars, and felt that after the first three songs that the album goes south somewhat, which he noted that the hits are likely to be the "party songs"; however, he affirmed that "the others separate him from the pack."[10]

However, the album got some mixed to unfavorable reviews from Rolling Stone, Country Standard Time and Music Is My Oxygen Weekly. At Rolling Stone, Chuck Eddy rated the release three stars out of five, and noted that the listener should "drink up" to this good album.[9] Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time was less favorable, saying that "Owen sings well enough, although not especially distinctive on materials that is not the most exciting. Parties, relationships and drinking…are part of the mix, but frankly we've heard it all before. And that's the problem. Kenny Chesney has done these types of songs, only a lot better and with far more introspection and depth."[11] At Music Is My Oxygen, Rob Burkhardt rated the album three out of five stars, noting the album has good material that touches on many topics which the likes of Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and Florida Georgia Line do, and this causes it to get lost amongst the others; however, he wrote that "Days of Gold deserves to be heard, but Owen is going to have to dig a little deeper."[8]

In 2017, Billboard contributor Chuck Dauphin placed two tracks from the album on his top 10 list of Owen's best songs: "What We Ain't Got" and "Beachin" .[12]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Days of Gold"
3:21
2."Beachin'"3:11
3."1972"
3:26
4."Ghost Town"3:29
5."Life of the Party"
3:04
6."Good Timing"
3:16
7."Tall Glass of Something"2:55
8."One Little Kiss (Never Killed Nobody)"
  • Gorley
  • Robbins
  • McAnally
2:59
9."What We Ain't Got"
3:39
10."Tipsy"3:39
11."Drivin' All Night"
3:56
12."Sure Feels Right"
4:00
Total length:40:55
Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."After the Music's Stopped"
4:05
14."I Like You a Lot"
  • Phillip White
  • Adam Wright
3:39
15."Summer Jam" (featuring Florida Georgia Line)
3:41
16."Surefire Feeling"
3:35
Total length:55:55

Personnel

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Adapted from liner notes.[13]

Chart performance

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Days of Gold debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 15 and on the Top Country Albums chart at No.4, with 40,000 albums sold for the week.[14] The album has sold 215,400 copies in the US as of February 2015.[15]

Weekly charts

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Chart (2013–14) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[16] 24
US Billboard 200[17] 15
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[18] 4

Year-end charts

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Chart (2014) Position
US Billboard 200[19] 105
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[20] 17

References

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  1. ^ Whitaker, Sterling (October 9, 2013). "Jake Owen Reveals Track Listing for 'Days of Gold'". The Boot. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  2. ^ Bjorke, Matt (October 9, 2013). "Jake Owen "Days Of Gold" Tracklist & Cover Art". Roughstock. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  3. ^ Parton, Chris (January 7, 2014). "Jake Owen Reveals Days of Gold Tour Dates". CMT. Viacom. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Reviews for Days of Gold by Jake Owen". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Days of Gold – Jake Owen". AllMusic. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Ragusa, Tammy (December 3, 2013). "Days of Gold by Jake Owen". Country Weekly. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Block, Donna (November 29, 2013). "ALBUM REVIEW: Jake Owen "Days of Gold"". Got Country Online. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Burkhardt, Rob (December 5, 2013). "Jake Owen "Days Of Gold" –Album Review". Music Is My Oxygen Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck (December 9, 2013). "Jake Owen 'Days of Gold' Review". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Mansfield, Brian (December 2, 2013). "Album of the week: Jake Owen's 'Days of Gold'". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  11. ^ Remz, Jeffrey B. "Days of Gold review". Country Standard Time. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  12. ^ Dauphin, Chuck (October 9, 2017). "Jake Owen's 10 Best Songs: "What We Ain't Got" at number four and "Beachin'" at number eight.Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  13. ^ Days of Gold (CD booklet). Jake Owen. RCA Records Nashville. 2013. 88883-75341-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Matt Bjorke (December 11, 2012). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of December 11, 2013: Garth Brooks, Duck Dynasty, The Sound of Music, Blake, Lady A & Scotty McCreery". Roughstock. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  15. ^ Matt Bjorke (January 21, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For January 21, 2015". Roughstock. Sales figure given in link here
  16. ^ "Jake Owen Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "Jake Owen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  18. ^ "Jake Owen Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  19. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
  20. ^ "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.