Storyteller | ||||
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Studio album by Carrie Underwood | ||||
Released | October 23, 2015 | |||
Recorded | 2014–15 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 46:12 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Carrie Underwood chronology | ||||
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Singles from Storyteller | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 74/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Billboard | |
Entertainment Weekly | A– |
Exclaim! | 6/10 |
Newsday | B+ |
Rolling Stone | |
Spin | 7/10 |
USA Today | |
Vice | A– |
Storyteller is the fifth studio album recorded by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood. It was released on October 23, 2015, by Arista Nashville. Following the release and success of her fourth studio album, Blown Away (2012), Underwood began working on Storyteller in early 2014. However, she tentatively suspended most work on the album because of her pregnancy with her first child. In the midterm, Underwood released her first greatest hits record, Greatest Hits: Decade #1, on December 9, 2014, to much success. After the birth of her son, she took some additional time off before going back into the studio in early 2015 to finish working on the album.
Met with mostly positive reviews from music critics, Storyteller became a commercial success and set multiple records upon its release. By debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, it made Underwood the only country artist in history to have all of her first five studio albums debut at number one or two, and with a number one debut on the Top Country Albums chart, it made her the only artist to score six consecutive number one albums on the chart. Storyteller also performed well internationally upon its release, including a number four debut in Australia, number three in Canada and thirteen in the United Kingdom. As of October 2016, the album has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. It marks Underwood's sixth consecutive album to go either Platinum or multi-Platinum.
The album has produced the back-to-back Billboard Country Airplay chart number-one singles "Heartbeat" and "Church Bells", along with the number-two single "Smoke Break". "Smoke Break","Hearbeat" and "Dirty Laundry" also topped the Billboard Canada Country chart. The first three singles have been certified gold by the RIAA.