Set This Circus Down
title: "Set This Circus Down" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2001-albums", "albums-produced-by-byron-gallimore", "tim-mcgraw-albums", "curb-records-albums", "albums-produced-by-tim-mcgraw"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_This_Circus_Down" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Set This Circus Down |
| type | studio |
| artist | Tim McGraw |
| cover | Timcircus.jpg |
| released | April 24, 2001 |
| genre | Country pop |
| length | 56:16 |
| label | Curb Records |
| producer | |
| prev_title | Greatest Hits |
| prev_year | 2000 |
| next_title | Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors |
| next_year | 2002 |
| misc | {{Singles |
| name | Set This Circus Down |
| type | studio |
| single1 | Grown Men Don't Cry |
| single1date | March 26, 2001 |
| single2 | Angry All the Time |
| single2date | July 23, 2001 |
| single3 | The Cowboy in Me |
| single3date | November 26, 2001 |
| single4 | Unbroken |
| single4date | May 20, 2002 |
| :: |
| name = Set This Circus Down | type = studio | artist = Tim McGraw | cover = Timcircus.jpg | alt = | released = April 24, 2001 | recorded = | studio =
- Ocean Way Nashville, The Tracking Room, Essential Sound Studios and Final Stage Mastering (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Sound Kitchen (Franklin, Tennessee)
- Sony Music Studios (Santa Monica, California)
- Extasy Recording Studio South (Los Angeles, California)
| genre = Country pop
| length = 56:16
| label = Curb Records
| producer =
| prev_title = Greatest Hits
| prev_year = 2000
| next_title = Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors
| next_year = 2002
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Set This Circus Down
| type = studio
| single1 = Grown Men Don't Cry
| single1date = March 26, 2001
| single2 = Angry All the Time
| single2date = July 23, 2001
| single3 = The Cowboy in Me
| single3date = November 26, 2001
| single4 = Unbroken
| single4date = May 20, 2002
| rev1 = About.com
| rev1Score = (favorable)
| rev2 = Allmusic
| rev2Score =
| rev3 = Billboard | rev3Score = (favorable) | rev4 = Entertainment Weekly | rev4Score = B | rev5 = Rolling Stone | rev5Score = (favorable) | rev6 = Sputnikmusic | rev6Score = (2.5/5) | noprose = yes
Set This Circus Down is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released on April 24, 2001, by Curb Records. The album produced four singles, all of which reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Content
The first single from his album is "Grown Men Don't Cry" released in March 2001 and was written by Tom Douglas and Steve Seskin. "Angry All the Time", the second single, was originally recorded by its writer, Bruce Robison, on his 1996 self-titled album. "The Cowboy in Me" is the third single, and it reached Number One one week after McGraw's duet with Jo Dee Messina, "Bring On the Rain". "Unbroken" became the album's final single in May 2002. "Things Change" is a studio recording of a song which McGraw had previously recorded as a live version, which reached #34 on the country charts in 2000 from unsolicited airplay. Another track from this album is "Telluride". Despite reaching #52, it wasn't officially released as a single. It also appears on Josh Gracin's 2008 album We Weren't Crazy, from which it was released as a single in December 2008. "Angel Boy" was made into a music video, which got some airplay on CMT, but was not released as a single either.
Reception
Commercial performance
The album reached Number One on the Top Country Albums chart. It additionally peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200 while breaking the Top 20 in Canada and peaking at No.95 in Australia. The album has since been certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for shipments of three million copies in the United States, as well as single platinum for sales in Canada.
Critical response
About.com gave a "favorable" review and said it would not "disappoint those used to the excellent song selection of Tim's previous releases." Thom Jurek from Allmusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars and noted that Tim "masterfully and consistently flows from one sound style to the next[, yet] his familiar country-pop sound remains evident throughout, especially on the title track, a song about a fast-paced couple yearning to kick back and relax in the country (no one said the themes would be original)." While Billboard magazine, and Rolling Stone all gave it positive and favorable reviews, David Brown from Entertainment Weekly gave it a B grade and said "From the eclectic songs he and his coproducers have chosen to the simple fact that his face doesn't appear on the cover for the first time, Set This Circus Down presents itself as an Important Statement, McGraw's career defining work[, though] McGraw doesn't write any of his material" when saying that the album "feels conceptual, almost autobiographical." John "weathered old reviewer" Hanson from Sputnikmusic gave it a 2.5 average after saying "Set This Circus Down, in [his] eyes his best album, shows the time where he was at both the least level of cheese, but had not yet 'sold out,' or sold out as much as you can in the Country scene."
Track listing
| title1 = The Cowboy in Me | writer1 = Al Anderson, Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele | length1 = 4:04 | title2 = Telluride | writer2 = Brett James, Troy Verges | length2 = 3:49 | title3 = You Get Used to Somebody | writer3 = Steve Bogard, Tom Shapiro | length3 = 3:58 | title4 = Unbroken | writer4 = Annie Roboff, Holly Lamar | length4 = 4:00 | title5 = Things Change | writer5 = Chris Lindsey, Bill Luther, Aimee Mayo, Marv Green | length5 = 3:20 | title6 = Angel Boy | writer6 = Danny Orton | length6 = 5:11 | title7 = Forget About Us | writer7 = Mark Collie | length7 = 4:09 | title8 = Take Me Away from Here | writer8 = Jeff Stevens, Steve Bogard | length8 = 4:35 | title9 = Smilin' | writer9 = Lindsey, Luther, Mayo, Green | length9 = 3:00 | title10 = Set This Circus Down | writer10 = Bill Luther, Josh Kear | length10 = 3:31 | title11 = Angry All the Time | writer11 = Bruce Robison | length11 = 4:30 | title12 = Let Me Love You | writer12 = Lindsey, Luther, Mayo, Green | length12 = 4:31 | title13 = Grown Men Don't Cry | writer13 = Tom Douglas, Steve Seskin | length13 = 3:55 | title14 = Why We Said Goodbye | writer14 = Douglas, Billy Kirsch | length14 = 3:44
Personnel
Musicians
- Tim McGraw – lead vocals
- Steve Nathan – keyboards (1, 3–14)
- Jeff Babko – keyboards (2)
- Biff Watson – acoustic guitar (1, 3–5, 7–14)
- Larry Byrom – acoustic guitar (6)
- Michael Landau – electric guitar (1, 3–14)
- B. James Lowry – electric guitar (1, 3–14)
- Brent Mason – electric guitar (2)
- Val McCallum – electric guitar (2)
- Byron Gallimore – baritone guitar (7, 11)
- Mike Henderson – baritone guitar solo (11)
- Paul Franklin – steel guitar
- Glenn Worf – bass (1, 3–11, 13, 14)
- Mike Elizondo – bass (2, 12)
- Lonnie Wilson – drums (1, 3–11, 13, 14)
- Peter M. Thomas – drums (2, 12)
- Aubrey Haynie – fiddle
- Rob Mathes – string arrangements and conductor (3, 13, 14)
- Michael Omartian – string arrangements and conductor (8)
- Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor (3, 8, 13, 14)
- The Nashville String Machine – strings (3, 8, 13, 14)
- Gene Miller – backing vocals (1–9, 11–14)
- Chris Rodriguez – backing vocals (1, 3–7, 9, 11–14)
- Curtis Wright – backing vocals (2, 8)
- Curtis Young – backing vocals (8)
- Faith Hill – backing vocals (11)
Production
- Byron Gallimore – producer
- Tim McGraw – producer, concept, direction
- James Stroud – producer
- Julian King – tracking engineer (1, 3–11, 13, 14), string engineer (8), additional engineer
- John Paterno – tracking engineer (2, 12), additional engineer
- Russ Martin – string engineer (3, 13, 14)
- Ricky Cobble – second tracking engineer (1, 3–5, 7–11, 13, 14), assistant string engineer (8), additional engineer
- Samie Barela – second tracking engineer (2, 12)
- Jed Hackett – second tracking engineer (6), additional engineer
- Greg Fogie – assistant second tracking engineer (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 14)
- David Bryant – assistant string engineer (3, 13, 14), assistant second tracking engineer (5, 8, 10, 11, 13)
- Clinton Brown – additional engineer
- Dennis Davis – additional engineer
- Randy LeRoy – additional engineer
- Erik Lutkins – additional engineer
- Jonathan Merritt – additional engineer
- Ronnie Rivera – additional engineer
- Mike Shipley – mixing at Record One (Sherman Oaks, California)
- Jeff Burns – mix assistant
- Robert Hadley – mastering
- Doug Sax – mastering
- The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California) – mastering location
- Ann Callis – production assistant
- Eric Gallimore – song assistant
- Missi Gallimore – song assistant
- Michelle Metzger – song assistant
- Tiffany Swinea – song assistant
- Kelly Clauge Wright – creative director
- Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, design, digital Illustration
- Greg Call – cover Illustration
- Marina Chavez – road photography
- Steven Klein – studio photography
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
::data[format=table] | Chart (2001) | Peak position | Australian Albums (ARIA) | |---|---|---| | 95 | | | ::
Year-end charts
::data[format=table title="Year-end chart performance for ''Set This Circus Down''"]
| Chart (2001) | Position | Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) | Canadian Country Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) | US Billboard 200 | US Top Country Albums (Billboard) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 159 | |||||
| 11 | |||||
| 74 | |||||
| 8 | |||||
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Chart (2002) | Position | Canadian Country Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) | US Billboard 200 | US Top Country Albums (Billboard) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | ||||
| 90 | ||||
| 11 | ||||
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Chart (2003) | Position | US Top Country Albums (Billboard) |
|---|---|---|
| 65 | ||
| :: |
Singles
All singles reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and all reached top 40 on the Hot 100 chart.
::data[format=table] | Year | Single | Peak chart positions | US Country | US | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2001 | "Grown Men Don't Cry" | 1 | 25 | | | "Angry All the Time" | 1 | 38 | | | | "The Cowboy in Me" | 1 | 33 | | | | 2002 | "Unbroken" | 1 | 26 | | | "—" denotes releases that did not chart | | | | | ::
Certifications
References
References
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211355/http://countrymusic.about.com/library/weekly/aa043001a.htm About.com review]
- {{AllMusic. Thom. Jurek
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=BBQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=tim+mcgraw+set+this+circus+down+reviews&pg=PA20 Billboard review]
- Browne, David. (2006-04-23). "Set This Circus Down Review".
- "Rolling Stone review".
- Hanson, John "weathered old receiver". (2006-12-13). "Review: Tim McGraw – Set This Circus Down". Sputnkimusic.
- "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History – Country Albums". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
- "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
- "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History – Canadian Albums". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
- (2014-08-22). "Songwriter Tells Unlikely Stories Behind Faith Hill Hits".
- {{cite Ryan
- "Top 200 Albums of 2001 (based on sales)".
- "Top 100 country albums of 2001 in Canada".
- "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2001".
- "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2001".
- "Top 100 country albums of 2002 in Canada".
- "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002".
- "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2002".
- "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2003".
- "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History – Country Songs". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
- "Tim McGraw Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
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