We started our year end recap with a list of the most popular albums released this calendar year. Now it’s time for the hard part – ranking the top ten. The list that follows is comprised of the albums that we find to be the most listenable from start to finish without skipping any tracks. You’ll notice some key absences and some interesting inclusions. These are Country Music North’s top ten albums of 2014:
As we have predicted for the past couple of months Eric Church is set to finish 2014 as the top selling country artist. Since the release of his fourth studio album, The Outsiders, has been one of the best selling albums each week.
The album will finish the year with the best first week sales of any country album, beating out Jason Aldean’s Old Boots, New Dirt and Brantley Gilbert’s Just As I Am. However, the commercial success of The Outsiders stretches beyond country. The record will finish the year with the fourth best opening week sales trailing only Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Coldplay – an impressive feat. It hasn’t just been commercial for Church however as the album has been consistently recognized as one of the best works of the year.
The Outsiders has been nominated for album of the year at shows such as the CMA’s, American Music Awards, and recently took home the award at the inaugural American Country Countdown Awards. For Church, both commercial and critical success, serve as vindication for his doubters; many of whom thought the album was a bit too far outside the scope of country.
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