Gloriana is the debut studio album by American country music group Gloriana. It was released in North America on August 4, 2009[1] and in Australia on January 11, 2010 via Emblem Music Group, with Warner Bros. Records Nashville serving as distributor. The album debuted at position number 3 on US Billboard 200, and number 2 on Billboard Country Albums. The album spawned two singles in "Wild at Heart" and "How Far Do You Wanna Go?". The album was re-released in March 2010 to include "The World Is Ours Tonight," which was released in March 2010 as the album's third single. This is their only studio album with Cheyenne Kimball.
Several of the album's tracks were co-written by Emblem Music Group owner Matt Serletic, who also produced the album. Among his credits are the album's first two singles, "Wild at Heart" and "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" He co-wrote the former with Josh Kear and former Epic Records artist Stephanie Bentley, and the latter with Jeffrey Steele and former Western Flyer member Danny Myrick. "Wild at Heart" was the group's debut single and reached a peak of number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The second single, "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" was released in September 2009, and was a minor Top 40 hit.
The album was re-issued on March 22, 2010, to include "The World Is Ours Tonight," which was recorded for the 2010 Winter Olympics.[2] It was released as the album's third single in February 2010; it debuted at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of April 3, 2010 and reached a peak of number 37. All proceeds from the single went to Team USA.[3]
The album has received mixed reviews, with the main point of criticism being over-production. Chris Neal of Country Weekly magazine gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five. He noted the vocal harmonies and the shared lead vocals among all four members, and added "[Serletic] sometimes obscures the songs with sonic knickknacks they don't need."[5]AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three stars out of five, saying that the band's sound was "stylized synthesis of Fleetwood Mac and '70s Californian country rock" and "country in name only."[1] He also said that the sound was "entirely too slick" on some tracks but reminiscent of "prime Rick Springfield" on others.[1]Jim Malec of The 9513 also gave a three-star review, saying the songs were well written and performed, but lacked a sense of personality.[7]Country Standard Time writer Jessica Phillips considered the album overproduced as well, but added that the band "seem[s] to have found a comfortable niche" and noted a theme of relationships among each song.[4] Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly gave a C rating, saying that the band "falls somewhere between maudlin boy band songwriting clichés and a particularly melodramatic Six Flags country revue." She cited "Come and Save Me" and "Time to Let Me Go" as the strongest tracks due to their simpler production.[6] Bobby Peacock of Roughstock was favorable, criticizing some tracks for their production but also saying, "The lyrics may not be terribly substantial, but at the same time, they're not trite or overused, and none of the songs tries to puff itself up with a sense of melodrama. Most of the melodies are just a little bit different...Each song has a slightly different sound than the one before it".[8]
The album debuted at No. 2 on Top Country Albums, and No. 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 44,000 in its first week.[9][10] As of August 2012, the album has sold over 235,000 copies.[11]
