| Midwest Farmer's Daughter | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Margo Price |
| Cover: | Margo Price - Midwest Farmers Daughter album cover.jpg |
| Genre: | Country |
| Label: | Third Man |
| Producer: | Alex Muñoz[1] & Matt Ross-Spang |
| Next Title: | All American Made |
| Next Year: | 2017 |
Midwest Farmer's Daughter is the debut studio album by American country singer Margo Price. Released on March 25, 2016, it was the first country album to be released on Third Man Records.[2] [3] Despite the album's limited commercial success, peaking at No. 189 on the Billboard 200,[4] it is considered by many publications and music critics to be one of 2016's best albums.
Midwest Farmer's Daughter was recorded live to analog tape at the famed Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee and mixed at the nearby Ardent Studios.[5]
Midwest Farmer's Daughter received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 86 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 13 reviews.
Will Hermes of Rolling Stone gave the album a favorable review, describing the vocal style of Price as "restrained yet mighty, her songcraft amazingly vivid, and the arranging instinct spot on". Hermes noted that Price had a "taste for retro styling", and that starting from the opening song, "Hands of Time", "you're reminded of the incredible power that lies in tradition well-used. It's a power the rest of this record makes plain." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic saw Loretta Lynn as the primary inspirations of Price, but thought that even though the album may drift toward the traditional in some songs, "Price's sensibility is modern, turning these old-fashioned tales of heartbreak, love, loss, and perseverance into something fresh and affecting." Paul Grein of Hits Daily Double predicted the album would be in contention for the Album of the Year award at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.[6]
| Publication | Rank | List | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AllMusic | N/A | Best Albums of 2016[7] | |
| American Songwriter | 3 | Top 50 Albums of 2016[8] | |
| BrooklynVegan | 23 | Top Albums of 2016[9] | |
| Cosmopolitan | 11 | The 15 Best Albums of 2016[10] | |
| Entertainment Weekly | 15 | The 50 Best Albums of 2016[11] | |
| 2 | The Best Country Albums of 2016[12] | ||
| Exclaim! | 3 | Top 10 Folk & Country Albums of 2016[13] | |
| FLOOD Magazine | 25 | Best Records of 2016[14] | |
| The Guardian | 32 | The Best Albums of 2016[15] | |
| NME | 33 | 50 best albums of 2016[16] | |
| NPR | 20 | 50 Best Albums of 2016[17] | |
| Paste | 12 | The 50 Best Albums of 2016[18] | |
| PopMatters | 30 | The 70 Best Albums of 2016[19] | |
| Rolling Stone | 3 | 40 Best Country Albums of 2016[20] | |
| 21 | 50 Best Albums of 2016[21] | ||
| Rough Trade | 3 | Albums of the Year[22] | |
| Slant Magazine | 17 | The 25 Best Albums of 2016[23] | |
| Stereogum | 7 | The 20 Best Country Albums of 2016[24] | |
| Uncut | 23 | Albums of the Year[25] |
Midwest Farmer's Daughter debuted at No. 189 on the Billboard 200.[26] It also debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, the first time in the history of the chart (which started in 1964) a solo female has debuted in the top 10 with her first release without also having any history on the Hot Country Songs chart.[27] As of June 2017 the album has sold 52,600 copies in the United States.[28]
Adapted from AllMusic.[29] Musicians
Technical personnel