| Chill Factor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1987 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 35:42 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Merle Haggard, Ken Suesov | |||
| Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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Chill Factor is the forty-fourth studio album by Americancountry music singerMerle Haggard, with backing bythe Strangers, released on theEpic label in 1987.
Chill Factor was released in the midst of the "new traditionalist" movement in country music, which saw new, younger country stars such asRandy Travis begin to dominate the charts. While several country music veterans saw their presence on country radio diminish, Haggard was one of the few from the old guard who remained relevant, withChill Factor reaching number 8 on theBillboard country album chart. However, it would be Haggard's lastTop 10 album until 2007. Haggard, who had experienced drug and alcohol problems in the eighties, would be further distracted by financial difficulties in the ensuing years. In addition, long timeStranger guitaristRoy Nichols, who Haggard had played with since the early sixties, informed him that he would be retiring from the road due to ill health.[1] In his 1999 memoirHouse of Memories, Haggard said of Nichols, "He is unquestionably one of the greatest guitar players in the world and definitely the greatest I've ever known closely. Until the late eighties, every successful country singer had a signature instrumental sound. Roy created mine."[2]
After the relatively disappointing chart performance of his previous albumOut Among the Stars,Chill Factor was a commercial comeback for Haggard, who wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album except one. In addition to the chart-topping "Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star", the title track was also a top ten hit, peaking at number 9, but two other singles, "We Never Touch at All" and "You Babe," failed to crack the top 20.[3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Robert Christgau | B−[5] |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic wrote "...while this sound dates the album somewhat, it’s also easy to hear beyond it, to recognize that this is one of Haggard’s strongest collection of songs of the '80s, a record where he remains a peerless craftsman and has yet to succumb completely to the streak of bitter nostalgia that sometimes tainted his records of the '90s."[4]
Spin said, "This is more than just another good Merle Haggard record. His gone-to-hell-and-back voice is sounding better the growlier it gets. The simple, understated production surrounds Haggard with more than a touch of blues."[6]
All songs written byMerle Haggard unless otherwise indicated.
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