The Generous Mr. Lovewell | ||||
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Studio album by MercyMe | ||||
Released | May 4, 2010 | |||
Recorded |
2009–2010 in the United States
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Genre | Christian rock, pop rock | |||
Length | 43:07 | |||
Label | INO | |||
Producer |
Brown Bannister Dan Muckala |
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MercyMe chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Generous Mr. Lovewell |
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Billboard | |
CCM Magazine | |
Christianity Today | |
Christian Music Review | A+ |
Cross Rhythms | |
Jesus Freak Hideout | |
New Release Today | |
Plugged In | (positive) |
USA Today |
2009–2010 in the United States
The Generous Mr. Lovewell is the sixth studio album by Christian rock band MercyMe. Released in May 2010, the album is a concept record revolving around a fictional character, 'Mr. Lovewell', and the overall theme of love. Produced by Brown Bannister and Dan Muckala, the album met with positive critical and commercial reception. The album sold over 88,000 copies its first week and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Christian Albums chart.
Three singles were released in promotion of the album, all of them reaching number one on Billboard's Christian Songs chart. Lead single "All of Creation" spent ten weeks at the top of the Christian Songs chart, also peaking at No. 14 on the Heatseekers Songs chart and No. 2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. "Beautiful" and "Move" also reached number one on the Christian Songs chart, holding the top spot for one and nine weeks, respectively, with "Move" also peaking at No. 20 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
The idea for the character of "Mr. Lovewell" and the album came up while the band was attempting to figure out concepts for the record. According to lead singer Bart Millard "we [MercyMe] were trying to come up with the concept for our next record. For some reason, the words 'love well' got stuck in my head". Millard elaborated that "we're very good, as a nation, at loving well when a massive tragedy takes place... We all of a sudden become very unified, which is a great, great thing. But on a day-to-day basis, we pass up opportunities. We look the other way, or we try to ignore. So the idea of loving well is almost a kind of 'pay it forward' that revolves around the cross". With that general idea, MercyMe was going to name the album Love Well. However, the band decided to make a character that personifies the idea of 'loving well', and came up with the character of 'Mr. Lovewell', partly inspired by The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Because of the character and the more diverse sound the album was going to have, the band felt the original name didn't fit and changed the album name to reflect the character of 'Mr. Lovewell'. Millard has described the character of 'Mr. Lovewell' as "like Buddy the Elf meets Forrest Gump. He sees the good in everyone and knows his neighbors enough to know their needs. Mr. Lovewell may not be the next Billy Graham, but he’s changing the world each day in every little word and deed.”