Leave This Town

Leave This Town is the second album by the American rock band Daughtry, released on July 14, 2009, by RCA Records.^[2] It is the first album that they recorded as a band, as their self-titled debut album was recorded before the band was formed and only lead singer Chris Daughtry was signed to the label. It was also their last album to feature Joey Barnes on drums. The album's style is primarily arena rock, with influences ranging from hard rock to pop rock.^[3][4]

Leave This Town
Studio album by Daughtry
Released	July 14, 2009 (2009-07-14)
Recorded	2008–2009 Los Angeles
Genre	Post-grunge[1]
Length	46:48
Label	RCA 19
Producer	Howard Benson
Daughtry chronology
Daughtry (2006) Leave This Town (2009) Leave This Town: The B-Sides (2010/2011)
Singles from Leave This Town
"No Surprise" Released: May 5, 2009 "Life After You" Released: November 10, 2009 "September" Released: June 1, 2010

Three singles were released from the album, led by "No Surprise", which became the group's fourth chart topper on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart in August 2009.^[5] All three peaked within the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and within the top five on both the Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts.

The album was released to generally mixed reviews, with critics noting the lack of progression from their previous album.^[3][6] It fared better commercially, debuting atop the Billboard 200 and selling over 1.3 million copies in the US alone.^[7] Leave This Town has been certified Platinum by both the RIAA and Music Canada.

Background

Chris Daughtry announced on his Twitter that there would be 14 songs on the record, but 5 bonus tracks in different stores.^[8] Nearly 70 songs were written for Leave This Town, before the selection was narrowed down to 19.^[9] Daughtry co-wrote the songs on the album with Richard Marx, Chad Kroeger from Nickelback, Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, Jason Wade from Lifehouse, Adam Gontier from Three Days Grace, Eric Dill from The Click Five, and Mitch Allan from SR-71 and Tommy Henriksen. On May 29, 2009, Daughtry released the album art cover.^[10] The songs written with Marx, Tedder, Gontier and Wade did not make the standard edition of the album, but were released as bonus tracks in various markets.

Three songs from the CD ("No Surprise," "Every Time You Turn Around," and "You Don't Belong") were used to promote racing on ESPN.^[11] "You Don't Belong" resultantly entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 95.

The title of the album comes from lyrics from the track "September".

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B[12]
IGN	(8/10)[13]
Los Angeles Times	[14]
The New York Times	(Positive)[15]
People	[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
Slant	[18]
Sputnikmusic	[19]
USA Today	[20]

Critical reception

Critical response to Leave This Town was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 59, based on 10 reviews.^[6]

Commercial performance

It sold 269,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., peaking at number one. It peaked at number two in Canada, six places ahead of its predecessor. The album has sold 1,329,000 copies as of May 2, 2012.^[7]

In media

"Ghost of Me" was featured on a CSI: Miami commercial.

"No Surprise" was performed live by the band on the top 4 results show of the eighth season of American Idol on May 5, 2009.

"Tennessee Line" was performed live with Vince Gill during the 2009 CMA awards on November 11, 2009.^[21] It was also used as a music backdrop to the trailer for the TV series "Young Justice".

"Learn My Lesson" has been featured in a commercial of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in Animax-Asia.

"Every Time You Turn Around" was featured in the video game MLB 2K10

"Supernatural" is featured in the preview of the 2010 MLB Division Series, both NL & AL on TBS.

Singles

• "No Surprise" served as the lead single for the album. It was streamed on their official website, on the evening of May 6, 2009.^[22] The song was made available on iTunes May 5, 2009. It debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 the chart week of May 23, 2009. It is the band's highest debut to date on the chart, fueled by strong first week digital sales of 103,000. It has sold 1,201,000 copies in the United States by January 19, 2011.^[23]
• The second single, "Life After You", was released around October 2009. It has sold 890,000 digital downloads in the United States.^[23]
• The third single is "September". It was performed on the American Idol Season 9 Top 4 Results Show. It has sold 419,000 digital downloads in the United States.^[23]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"You Don't Belong"	Chris Daughtry	4:00
2.	"No Surprise"	Daughtry Chad Kroeger Eric Dill Rune Westburg Joey Moi	4:29
3.	"Every Time You Turn Around"	Daughtry Andy Waldeck	3:39
4.	"Life After You"	Daughtry Kroeger Moi Brett James	3:26
5.	"What I Meant to Say"	Daughtry Brian Howes	3:09
6.	"Open Up Your Eyes"	Daughtry Ben Moody David Hodges	4:19
7.	"September"	Daughtry Josh Steely	4:00
8.	"Ghost of Me"	Daughtry Howes	3:38
9.	"Learn My Lesson"	Daughtry Mitch Allan Chris Tompkins	3:50
10.	"Supernatural"	Daughtry Josh Paul Hodges	3:38
11.	"Tennessee Line" (featuring Vince Gill)	Daughtry Brian Craddock	4:37
12.	"Call Your Name"	Daughtry Joey Barnes	4:03
Total length:			46:48

Official website

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Long Way"	Daughtry Jason Wade	4:03
14.	"One Last Chance"	Daughtry Allan Hodges	3:27

iTunes Bonus Track version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"What Have We Become"	Daughtry Craddock Steely Paul Barnes, Tommy Henriksen	3:43
14.	"On the Inside"	Daughtry Kroeger Richard Marx	3:24
15.	"Traffic Light" (pre-order only)	Daughtry Craddock	3:40

UK iTunes Bonus Track Version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Get Me Through"	Daughtry Craddock	3:44
14.	"Traffic Light"		3:40
15.	"Back Again" ("No Surprise" single bonus track)	Daughtry Adam Gontier	3:38

Japanese Edition Bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Get Me Through"	3:44

Target exclusive Deluxe Edition Bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Not Over" (video)	3:52
2.	"Home" (video)	4:16
3.	"Over You" (video)	3:44
4.	"Feels Like Tonight" (video)	4:02
5.	"What About Now" (video)	4:11
6.	"No Surprise" (video)	4:10

Unused tracks

1. "From Where You're Standing" (performed live)
2. "Standing Still" (performed live)
3. "When You Come Around" (performed live)
4. "You're In My Hands" (performed live)
5. "Back to Me" (performed live)
6. "Today" (performed live)

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[24]

Daughtry

• Chris Daughtry – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Josh Steely – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Craddock – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Josh Paul – bass, backing vocals
• Joey Barnes – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (tracks 1–6)
• Robin Diaz – drum (tracks 7–12)

Additional musicians

• Howard Benson – additional keyboards and programming
• Phil X – additional guitars
• Michito Sanchez – additional percussion
• Jamie Muhoberac – additional keyboards
• Aubrey Haynie – additional fiddle
• Vince Gill – backing vocals on "Tennessee Line"
• Debbie Lurie – string arrangements
• Mark Robertson – string contractor

Technical personnel

• Howard Benson – producer
• Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
• Ted Jensen – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2009) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 21 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[26] 18 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[27] 2 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 12 Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 99 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[30] 43 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] 8 Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] 66 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 31 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 18 UK Albums (OCC)[35] 53 US Billboard 200[36] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[37] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2009) Position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[38] 39 US Billboard 200[39] 37 US Digital Albums (Billboard)[40] 22 US Rock Albums (Billboard)[41] 9 Chart (2010) Position US Billboard 200[42] 59 US Rock Albums (Billboard)[43] 9

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[44]	Platinum	80,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[45]	Silver	60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[46]	Platinum	1,329,000[7]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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2. "News | The Official Daughtry Website". Daughtryofficial.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
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4. Fox, Al (2009). "BBC - Music - Review of Daughtry - Leave This Town". BBC Music. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
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7. Mansfield, Brian (2012-05-02). "'Idol' album sales: Who's up, who's down?". Idol Chatter. USA Today. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
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11. "Home". daughtryofficial.com.
12. Leah Greenblatt (2009-07-08). "Leave This Town Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
13. IGN Music (2009-07-15). "Daughtry - Leave This Town Review". IGN. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
14. Ann Powers (2009-07-13). "Album review: Daughtry's 'Leave This Town'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
15. Ben Ratliff (2009-07-13). "New CDs (Daughtry, 'Leave This Town')". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
16. Jessica Herndon (2009-07-20). "Picks and Pans Review: Daughtry (Leave This Town)". People. Archived from the original on 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
17. Rob Sheffield (2009-07-20). "Leave This Town : Daughtry : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
18. Matthew Cole (2009-07-12). "Daughtry: Leave This Town". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
19. Dave Donnelly (2009-07-21). "Review: Daughtry - Leave This Town". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
20. Brian Mansfield (2009-07-17). "Listen Up: Daughtry doesn't travel far on 'Leave This Town'". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
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34. "Swisscharts.com – Daughtry – Leave This Town". Hung Medien.
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37. "Daughtry Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
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39. "Billboard 200 Albums: 2009 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
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41. "Rock Albums: 2009 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
42. "Billboard 200 Albums: 2010 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
43. "Rock Albums: 2010 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
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45. "British album certifications – Daughtry – Leave This Town". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
46. "American album certifications – Daughtry – Leave This Town". Recording Industry Association of America.