Starting Over (Chris Stapleton album)

The singer-songwriter's fourth recording project consists of fourteen tracks produced with Dave Cobb, and features writing by John Fogerty, Mike Henderson, Mike Campbell, Susanna Clarke and Guy Clark.^[4] Interviewed by Vulture Magazine, Stapleton said:^[5] "There’s a lot on this record that I’m finding out, as I’m starting to talk about it a bit, was very reactionary and in the moment. On previous records, there was songwriting that probably took place in a working songwriter vacuum, that sat around for a number of years and found a purpose when it was time to make a record. [...] This project is much more about my current day-to-day life."

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Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
American Songwriter	[8]
The Independent	[9]
PopMatters	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Slant Magazine	[12]

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Starting Over received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 81, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 10 reviews.^[6]

Jonathan Bernstein of Rolling Stone reports that "Starting Over feels comfortable experimenting with whatever its author throws at it" as Stapleton "digs deep into familiar territory, spinning a fiery tale of liberation", finding it a "sincere tale".^[11]

Chris Willman of Variety finds that "Starting Over is not intended to live up to its title; if anyone is so solid in his musical convictions that he could never try to reinvent himself, it's Stapleton. But it would be hard to consider an album that contains not just one but two Guy Clark covers that pay homage to one of Stapleton's songwriting heroes as banal".^[13]

Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine finds the arrangements of the songs "sparse and uncluttered" leaving the singer-songwriter's voice "raw". Although he finds the vocal presence of his wife Morgane a testament to the songs' authenticity, he writes that "predictably, it only shifts his focus from love and tenderness to mild hedonism" finding them "largely limited".^[12]

Starting Over debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 selling 103,000 units in its first week.^[16]

All tracks are produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton.

Adapted from liner notes.^[17]