Eric Paslay (album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Country Weekly	A[4]
The Oakland Press	[5]
Roughstock	[6]
USA Today	[7]

The eponymously titled album Eric Paslay garnered critical acclaim from five music critics. At USA Today, Brian Mansfield rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of four, stating that he held back some excellent material for himself on which "His sweet-as-Southern-tea debut finds common ground between radio-friendly and flat-out brilliant, incorporating a sense of both spirituality and '80s pop."^[7] Tammy Ragusa of Country Weekly graded the album an A, writing that the album "hosts a heap of winners." In addition, Ragusa says that "The gifted songwriter has done an incredible job of showcasing his ability to create a collection that leans away from lyrical trends and toward depth and texture [...] reveal[ing] the complexity of an accomplished artist, and retains the purity of solid country music."^[4] At The Oakland Press, Gary Graff rated the album three out of four stars, calling this "A strong debut from an established name on the scene."^[5] Steve Leggett of AllMusic rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, noting how Paslay on the release "keep[s] it simple and catchy", but this means that the music "doesn't change the landscape of contemporary country, but it sure recognizes it, and that's Paslay's songwriting strength."^[3] At Roughstock, Matt Bjorke rated the album a perfect five stars, saying that the release "showcases an artist who deserves to be placed on the same songwriting field as singer/songwriters like Rodney Crowell, John Hiatt, Jackson Browne and JD Souther with a little bit of The Band thrown in for good measure."^[6] Also, Bjorke states that "There isn’t a bad song to be found on Eric Paslay and it truly is an early contender for the best Country Album of 2014."^[6]