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Riser (stylized RISER) is the seventh studio album by American country music singer Dierks Bentley. It was released on February 25, 2014, by Capitol Records Nashville, and debuted at number 6 on the US Billboard 200, becoming his seventh top ten album. The album was nominated for Best Country Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

Content

The album includes the singles "Bourbon in Kentucky", "I Hold On", "Drunk on a Plane", "Say You Do". and "Riser". The album was originally scheduled to be released in late 2013, but the first single peaked at number 45 on the Country Airplay chart, becoming Bentley's lowest-charting single. The label decided to postpone the album's release date, and quickly began promoting the album's second single "I Hold On", which reached number 1 on Country Airplay. "Drunk on a Plane", the album's third single, also reached number 1 on Country Airplay. "Say You Do" served as the album's fourth single. The fifth single, "Riser", was released to radio on June 15, 2015.

Bentley told Roughstock that “You have one ear monitor in, one ear out, and the crowd’s there and your voice feels really great. There’s a certain amount of gravel to it because you’re tired, but you’re all jacked up on whatever you're drinking and adrenaline, and the crowds and the fans are there and there’s this feeling, fists in the air—it’s that thing that’s hard to transfer into a studio environment. There’s a rawness.”

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Country Weekly	A
Got Country Online
Nashville Country Club
Rolling Stone
Roughstock
USA Today

Riser garnered positive reception from eight music critics ratings and reviews. At Metacritic, they assign a "weighted average" score to selected independent ratings and reviews, and based upon six reviews the album has a Metascore of an 70, which means the album received "generally favorable" reviews. Brian Mansfield of USA Today rated the album a perfect four stars, writing that "Grief over his dad's death infuses Riser so deeply that the emotions his loss triggered seep even into songs about girls", and observes this in how "Bentley bares his soul in meditations on love and loss, death and rebirth." At AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that because of the big issues dealt with on the album "it's no wonder that Riser doesn't quite feel brimming with lighthearted singles, but it's a sturdy, often absorbing record from a singer who is determined to be in it for the long haul." Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe gave a positive review, noting how Bentley has a career that he's built on the "bedrock concepts that feel more quaint all the time: musicianship, emotional integrity, and hard work", which just happens that "Those elements again make themselves known on his stirring seventh album".

At Country Weekly, Jon Freeman graded the album an A, stating that the album is "leaps and bounds" from his first song and shows how Bentley grew as an artist "incrementally, in a way that feels effortless and natural." Dan MacIntosh of Roughstock rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, noting how "The quality of his songs speak for themselves" on the album, which he declares Bentley has "never been better." Yet, MacIntosh writes that "Riser may pass the emotional balancing test, but it’s nevertheless a few rungs short of content perfection." At Got Country Online, Tara Toro rated the "ballad heavy" album four-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "an unhurried record" that is "full of reflective, emotional and mature songs"; and "Throughout the record, one hears Dierks’s gravelly vocals, perhaps at the best they have been, pouring emotions into every song." Nashville Country Club's Lisa Coleman rated the album four stars out of five, alluding to how the release "features an excellent track listing of songs of both intense and light hearted nature."

However, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times gave a mixed review of the release, indicating this is a "hit-or-miss album." At Rolling Stone, Andrew Dansby rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, noting that "Compared to what gets played on country radio, Dierks Bentley can almost sound like a traditionalist, with his hickory voice and songs about drinking"; however Bentley on Riser "devolves into a standard-issue world of bikinis and Bud Light."

Commercial performance

Riser debuted at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 selling 63,000 copies in its opening week, becoming his seventh top ten album. It also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, his fifth No. 1 on the chart. The album has sold 334,700 copies in the U.S. as of June 2015.

Track listing

Bold text==Personnel==

• Jessi Alexander- background vocals
• Sam Ashworth- background vocals
• Dierks Bentley- lead vocals
• Ross Copperman- acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, mandolin, programming, background vocals
• Dan Dugmore- dobro, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar
• Fred Eltringham- drums, percussion
• Kenny Greenberg- acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Rob Hajacos- fiddle
• Lee Hendricks- bass guitar
• Mark Hill- bass guitar
• Dan Hochhalter- banjo, fiddle
• Jedd Hughes- electric guitar
• Jaren Johnston- banjo, acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Brian Layson- banjo, electric guitar, mandolin
• Jason Lehning- Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards, synthesizer
• Hillary Lindsey- background vocals
• Tony Lucido- bass guitar
• Kacey Musgraves- background vocals on "Bourbon in Kentucky"
• Jon Randall- background vocals
• Mickey Raphael- harmonica
• F. Reid Shippen- percussion
• Chris Stapleton- background vocals on "Hurt Somebody"
• Bryan Sutton- acoustic guitar, mandolin
• Ilya Toshinsky- banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
• Ryan Tyndell- electric guitar, keyboards, mandolin, percussion, background vocals
• Charlie Worsham- electric guitar, keyboards, mandolin, percussion, background vocals
• Craig Wright- drums, percussion
• Jonathan Yudkin- string arrangements, strings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

• Current single.

References

1. Rutherford, Kevin (6 January 2014). "Dierks Bentley Announces New Album 'Riser' for February". Billboard. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
2. Shelburne, Craig (6 January 2014). "Dierks Bentley Schedules New Album for Feb. 25". Country Music Television. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
3. "Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert Pop Corks On Country Charts". Billboard. 7 March 2014.
4. Bjorke, Matt (27 January 2014). "Dierks Bentley "Riser" Tracklist and Cover Art". Roughstock. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
5. ^ Metacritic (February 25, 2014). "Critic Reviews for Riser". CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (February 24, 2014). "Riser - Dierks Bentley". AllMusic. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
7. ^ Freeman, Jon (February 25, 2014). "Riser by Dierks Bentley". Country Weekly. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
8. ^ Toro, Tara (February 24, 2014). "ALBUM REVIEW: Dierks Bentley "RISER"". Got Country Online. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
9. ^ Coleman, Lisa (February 25, 2014). "Dierks Bentley 'Riser' Album Review". Nashville Country Club. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
10. ^ Dansby, Andrew (February 25, 2014). "Dierks Bentley, 'Riser' Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
11. ^ MacIntosh, Dan (February 25, 2014). "Album Review: Dierks Bentley - RISER". Roughstock. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
12. ^ Mansfield, Brian (February 24, 2014). "Listen Up: Other notable releases". USA Today. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
13. ^ Rodman, Sarah (February 24, 2014). "Dierks Bentley,'Riser'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 24, 2014. Cite error: The named reference "bg" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
14. "Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert Pop Corks On Country Charts". Billboard. 7 March 2014.
15. Bjorke, Matt (June 11, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For June 11, 2015". Roughstock. Sales figure given here
16. "Dierks Bentley Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
17. "Dierks Bentley Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
18. "Dierks Bentley 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.
21. "Dierks Bentley Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
22. "Dierks Bentley Album & Song Chart History - Country Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
23. "Dierks Bentley Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
24. "Dierks Bentley Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
25. "Dierks Bentley Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
26. "Single Releases". MusicRow. Retrieved June 2, 2015.

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• 2014 albums
• Capitol Records albums
• Dierks Bentley albums