Heartbreak Town (album) explained

Heartbreak Town
Type:	studio
Artist:	Steve Azar
Cover:	Azarheartbreak.jpg
Genre:	Country
Label:	River North Nashville
Producer:	Joe Thomas (tracks 1-11) Steve Azar, A. J. Masters (track 12)
Next Title:	Waitin' on Joe
Next Year:	2002

Heartbreak Town is the debut studio album of American country music artist Steve Azar. Released on River North Records in 1996, it features the singles "Someday" and "I Never Stopped Loving You" that peaked at numbers 51 and 50, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts that year. Azar did not release another album until Waitin' on Joe six years later. The track "I Go Crazy" is a cover of Paul Davis' hit single from 1978.

Critical reception

Country Standard Time critic Larry Stephens gave a mostly-negative review, saying that outside "Thunderbird" and "As Long as Harley Gets to Play," the album's songs were too similar to each other in sound and "not strong enough to carry [their] weight on radio."^[1] Billboard was more positive, with an uncredited review calling Azar's songwriting "adept", while comparing his voice favorably to John Mellencamp.^[2]

Track listing

1. "I Never Stopped Lovin' You" (Steve Azar, Jason Blume) – 4:10
2. "Nights Like This" (Azar, Bob Regan) – 3:32
3. "What Are We Waitin' For" (Azar, Roger Murrah, A. J. Masters) – 2:43
4. "Someday" (Azar, Masters, Regan) – 3:06
5. "Thunderbird" (Azar, Masters, Tommy Rocco) – 4:54
6. "As Long as Harley Gets to Play" (Azar, Masters, Murrah) – 3:50
7. "Dreams of a Dancer" (Azar, Masters, Regan) – 3:11
8. "Heartbreak Town" (Azar, Murrah, Regan) – 3:08
9. "I Go Crazy" (Paul Davis) – 3:51
10. "Caught Between the Rock and the Roll" (Azar, Masters, Don Goodman) – 4:15
11. "Love Had No Right" (Azar, Masters, Tony Marty) – 3:20
12. "You Don't Even Have to Try" (Azar, Masters, Murrah) – 3:03

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.^[3]

• Steve Azar – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar
• Eddie Bayers – drums
• Michael Black – background vocals
• Kathy Burdick – background vocals
• Glen Duncan – acoustic guitar
• Larry Franklin – fiddle
• Sonny Garrish – pedal steel guitar
• Greg Leisz – electric guitar, lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• A. J. Masters – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, background vocals
• Matthew Morse – strings
• Steve Nathan – piano, Hammond B-3 organ
• Johnny Neel – piano
• Russ Pahl – pedal steel guitar
• Gary Pigg – background vocals
• Bob Regan – electric guitar
• Michael Rhodes – bass guitar
• Brent Rowan – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• John Wesley Ryles – background vocals
• Joe Thomas – acoustic guitar, piano
• Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle

Notes and References

1. Web site: Heartbreak Town review. Stephens. Larry. Country Standard Time. 25 January 2010.
2. 23 March 1996. Reviews: Country. Billboard. 75.
3. Heartbreak Town . Steve Azar . 1996 . River North Records . CGD 1172 . Nashville, Tennessee.